Run flat change help - Z4

[turboguru]

Hi Guys,

I have a 2004 Z4 3.0 with 18'' 5 spokes and the run flats are ready for changing. I am keen to ditch them and get normal tyres to improve the ride and handling - which ones are best to get on it?

thanks

Craig

[LC23]

My brother did exactly what you are looking to do. Falken 452s. He has been very pleased with grip and wear on them. I think he paid around £375 for a full set.

[The Count]

Have a quick look here, loads of info. Clicky

Another vote for Falkens

[turboguru]

cheers lads! nice one :-)

[izabar]

what most people dont realise is this invalidates your insurance if you fail to notify them

[wrightyrs]

Easily solved,just tell your insurance company.

They had no issue when i ditched the runflats for proper tyres.

Best thing i've done to my 130i.

[Romanymagic]

izabar said:

what most people dont realise is this invalidates your insurance if you fail to notify them

Not strictly true I am afraid. When I had my Z4 I moved it off of "runflats" and onto Goodyear Eagle F1's - BTW much more grip, less tramlining and more comfortable ride - anyhoo I checked with my insurance company about the tyre change (Priviledge) and they were happy as long as the car was on tyres!!!

Secondly I checked that BMW themselves were okay with the tyre change (as I had a full main dealer warranty), again they were happy with the tyre change.

Ironically the only people not comfortable with the tyre change were the tyre fitters themselves. Turns out getting the runflat tyres off the rim is a nightmare and they wanted me to sign a piece of paper confirming I would not claim if they damaged the outside edge of the alloy rims whilst removing the run flats. They also wanted me to sign another piece of paper confirming that I had asked them to change the "format" of the tyre as replacements.

[izabar]

just saying to check first my insurance and my bmw warranty became invalid

[Tony 1234]

My insurance Co wanted another £13.00 when I fitted non-runflat's to my Z

[TX1]

I had the same from the tyre fitters making me sign a note stating it was me who wanted non runflats.
Also the first tyre he tackled give him a hard time coming out after that he got the hang of it but me watching over him did not help his confidence.
Regarding the insurance I got in touch with swift and the person I spoke to was very knowledgeable about the swap to non runflats. Did not have to change anything on my policy and my premium stayed the same.

[turboguru]

Hi Guys,

I went to order my tyres and was advised not to go with Falken as I would be swapping out a high end tyre for a low end tyre. I was advised to go for Goodyear Eagle F1's instead. What is your experience on this? thanks

CJ

[Luvmyzed]

My Z4 3.0 is on Goodyear F1's.I understand the Falkens are good until they are half worn then their performance dips as they wear.The Goodyears are fine all the way to the wear bars.My insurance co wasn't bothered by the swap.

[turboguru]

Hi Guys,

I can get a set of F1's for £564 fitted on the 18's so that seems pretty good.

The Falkens come in at £426 for a set

For the £138 I am seriously tempted by the Goodyear.

Does anyone else have experience of Falkens vs Goodyear and how long they last on average?

thanks

CJ

[LC23]

Not had specific experience of Goodyears on a Z4, but I did have them on the Elise a few years ago and they were excellent.

[a11y_m]

Can only comment on the Falken FK452s on my Z4 - £400 fitted for 4 x 18" around 18 months ago. I believe some folk on z4-forum have paid less than £400 recently for a set fully fitted though.

I've covered 6k miles on mine so far - mainly non-commuting, i.e. driving for fun. Plenty of tread left, no complaints on performance other than being crap at sub-zero temps (but probably no worse than anything else bar cold-condition tyres). I've not had experience to compare them directly against the F1's though, but that price difference is still a significant amount IMO.

[Sticks.]

turboguru said:

Hi Guys,

I can get a set of F1's for £564 fitted on the 18's so that seems pretty good.

The Falkens come in at £426 for a set

For the £138 I am seriously tempted by the Goodyear.

Does anyone else have experience of Falkens vs Goodyear and how long they last on average?

thanks

CJ

No regrets with F1s, after they've settled in c 500 miles. Did notice pressures were low last time but hadn't checked them for a while and don't use the car much. Worth keeping an eye on. They do offer rim protection, which I understand the Falkens don't. Your price seems good.

[soprano]

Ive got a full set of Falkens on my Z4 3.0 and been very happy with them. Grip is excellent and now covered about 11k miles on them and wear is good, fronts are still at 6mm and rears about 5mm.

Have never had Goodyears on the Z4 but I used to have them on an E46 328ci and again grip was good. I found that the goodyears tramlined quite badly but that could have been the car/suspension set up rather than the tyres. Again wear was good.

Personally I would go with the Falkens, a fair bit cheaper and I have been very happy with them. The only real advantage I can think of as someone has said above is that the goodyears have a far better rim protection than the Falkens.

[Jimbeaux]

I posted on another thread here regarding my chang over from RFTs. I needed them quickly and there were not many of the usual choices in stock that matched the off setting sizes of the front and back of the Z4. I am going for the Sumitomo HTRZ IIIs. I will report back on how they do.