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[Bimmer325]

i'm thinking of changing those runflats to normal tyres in probably 12-18 months' time.
Do you think there is sufficient space in the boot to accomodate a spare wheel?

[Hornet]

At least not under the boot floor. If you need the boot space the only choise is to get some kind of a tirefit kit.

[scottz5]

I dont think so! Well a tire will fit but you will lose your trunk, just use roadside asst. Plus its fun living on the edge.

[tiga901]

I'm replacing mine too...I will just buy a can of emergency flat tire kit of some sort and use road assistance as needed.

[DozyDriver]

You wouldn't even get a space-saver spare in the ex-tyre compartment. I'm thinking about replacing mine too because I've already got a nail in a tyre. (no tyre pressure alarm warning as yet). The dealer picked it up at the 5000k check up and a replacement tyre will be $400AUD. The dealer said I can keep driving with the nail in as long as I keep an eye on it. So tiga901's advice seems the way to to.

[davinet78]

i will definately not fit beneath the boot space, i personally dont think that the run flat are that bad so im keeping them

[mapezzul]

Why does everyone want to change the tires? Because they are more money...? The suspension on the E90 was designed AROUND the runflat, they gave the suspension a progressive rate to compensate for the tires, and to be honest they feel fine, they are much safer (no blow out) and perform better (I posted on this already but in a nut shell they are quicker responding thus better on the track and street.) and who wants to get towed for a flat since you won't have a spare or jack, and from what I was told that if you do not have RF on a RF equipped car the flat is your issue (from a local SA). Just my .02

[markh]

I think making decisions for 12 - 18 months time may be a bit premature. I'm sure that runflat technology will have advanced significantly, costs will have dropped and there will be a larger number of tires to choose from.

Although I find my 18" tires quite hard, I decided not to change to standard tires for safety reasons. I'm hoping that they will improve over time, ready for when I replace my first set of tires.

Mark

[Joker]

After reading the posts about runflats I thought that the ride would be hard but it's much smoother than my old E46. No complaints here. The E90 is much much better than the E46.

[F32Fleet]

Good question in previous post.. Will Roadside assistance cover a tow for a flat on a non-runflat tire?

[longtran]

Originally Posted by Socom

Good question in previous post.. Will Roadside assistance cover a tow for a flat on a non-runflat tire?

yes they will. if they dont, disconnect the battery line and call them and say your car just died. they will come out for sure.

[mapezzul]

From what I was (not sure) they will come out and tow you that is not the issue, BMW will not pick up the bill as the car is not correctly equipped with the RF's. Can someone else look into this, not that I will ever take the RF's off but just that I am curious, if it is a dealership call or a policy.

[chazmtb]

Here is a great spacesaver spare kit for someone who is not going to use runflats. It doesn't look too obtrusive. It's marketd towards Z4 and M3 owners who have the M mobility kit.

http://leatherz.com/Merchant2/mercha...tegory_Code=Z4

[markh]

I contacted BMW regarding the effects of running non runflats on emergency assistance and warranty. Both are unaffected if you change from runflats to standard tires.

The only issue is needing to ensure that your insurance company is aware of the change, since it could be argued that the enhanced safety is factored in to premiums.

Mark

[voltron1011]

Another good thing about runflats is that they save your 18" 162's from bending if you hit a pothole. The sidewall is so stiff that the rim shouldn't be affected by day-to-day driving.

[voltron1011]

I used to have a 300zx TT a long time ago, and it had an ingenious sparetire in the trunk. It was basically a small spacesaver rim with an un-inflated tire. It also had a small nitrogen cylinder that would allow you to inflate the tire only when you needed to use it. The entire setup was very small since the tire was not inflated.

[UCe90]

Originally Posted by chazmtb

Here is a great spacesaver spare kit for someone who is not going to use runflats. It doesn't look too obtrusive. It's marketd towards Z4 and M3 owners who have the M mobility kit.

http://leatherz.com/Merchant2/mercha...tegory_Code=Z4

Anybody have this Mobility Kit? Is it the same as the Continental ContiComfort Kit at the Tire Rack? How about the lower priced SLiME Tire Repair Kit?

[jas]

Originally Posted by Bimmer325

...i'm thinking of changing those runflats to normal tyres in probably 12-18 months' time...

How about changing them as soon as you get your E90 ? I'd be more than happy to buy them off you (Style 161 + runflats).

I'll be getting my 320i soon but it's coming with those ugly Style 154 rims . . . yuck !

[Bimmer325]

Originally Posted by voltron1011

Another good thing about runflats is that they save your 18" 162's from bending if you hit a pothole. The sidewall is so stiff that the rim shouldn't be affected by day-to-day driving.

can you confirm this that rims fitted with runflats are protected against bending?

[Bimmer325]

Originally Posted by markh

I think making decisions for 12 - 18 months time may be a bit premature. I'm sure that runflat technology will have advanced significantly, costs will have dropped and there will be a larger number of tires to choose from.

Although I find my 18" tires quite hard, I decided not to change to standard tires for safety reasons. I'm hoping that they will improve over time, ready for when I replace my first set of tires.

Mark

but over here in my country, RF tyres is still too new and there arent many choices partly they are too expensive and i'd doubt the latest offerings are available here like in the UK/US...

[BrunoT]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

Why does everyone want to change the tires? Because they are more money...? The suspension on the E90 was designed AROUND the runflat, they gave the suspension a progressive rate to compensate for the tires, and to be honest they feel fine, they are much safer (no blow out) and perform better (I posted on this already but in a nut shell they are quicker responding thus better on the track and street.) and who wants to get towed for a flat since you won't have a spare or jack, and from what I was told that if you do not have RF on a RF equipped car the flat is your issue (from a local SA). Just my .02

1. Not all of us live in the city near tow trucks, tire shops, etc, and want to have to wait for a tow truck if we get tire damage beyond what a run-flat can handle. Ever hit a broken golf club and have it insert itself and shred your tire before? I have. Not pretty. I'm also just not comfortable continuing on my merry way with a huge rip in a tire.

2. Not all of us like the flinty performance of the stock all season runflats that came with our particular car. We switched and even my WIFE knew the car handled much better with regular tires. We went wider too, so that may be the reason, but I was not into buying one of just a few runflat selections for double the price of the affordable non-runflats I got. Especially as we burn 22,000 miles a year on the car. It adds up.

3. Some of us want/need to upgrade to wider wheels/tires and the runflat selection is too expensive and limited

4. Not sure where, if anywhere, you got the "quicker responding" information on the run flats. But the car responds nicely w/o them, trust me.

5. You can BUY a jack and wrench for about $40 that fits perfectly and will store out of the way. You can buy a spare for $100-$200. Even with those expenses (new tires/jack/lug/spare) you're still spending less than a replacement set of run flats will cost you extra vs. regular tires. You then sell your runflats/wheels to someone who wants them to help with the costs.

6. What kind of a man needs roadside assistance for a routine flat tire? Handicapped, maybe? You can be back on the road in 10 min. You have your spare and with a air compressor ($20) and patch kit ($5) you can be on the road even w/o jacking it up if you find the nail or screw that did you in. Not a permanent solution, but gets you to the tire store. My wife laughs at guys in her office who call roadside assistance.

7. No kids, usually travel alone or at most the two of us. Still enough trunk room for two bags even with the stupid spare back there. If not, will just use the back seat.

8. Oh yes, I guess a runflat is safer in case of a "blowout", but then with 18" low profile tires I'm not sure how bad a blowout is. There's not much tire there to begin with. It's not like it's a Ford Explorer. One of the problems we had on our 540 with just 17" wheels/tires was that my wife had a hard time realizing she had hit something and got a flat tire. It didn't "blow out", but it went down within a few minutes time, since she got about a mile and a half from home.


I drive long stretches almost weekly from home to home, along a relatively deserted stretch of road. I was not comfortable with the idea of a flat that required me to limp along at 50mph for up to 3 hours before I even hit a city that knew what a BMW was. I also can't afford to sit in some town overnight waiting for them to ship in a new tire. And many of my trips are on Sundays, when no tire store is even open in these places.

So that's why I went with non-run-flats.

[nimo]

I feel exactly the same way as brucec32 does. Great write up- clear and to the point.

If I do call roadside assistance I may have to wait for several hours before they get to me. I rather have control of the situation. Let say the side walls of the run flats tire is puncture, is it still safe to drive 30 mph with the tire? Shall I have them to tow me to a Bridgestone tire dealer during after hours and get a ride back the next morning to purchase a RFL tire or should tow it back to the dealership and pay twice the price for the same tire.

With my new non-RFL tires, the car responds better due a higher performance design and less mass. It may even have better mileage due to the significant weight difference of the rotating mass.

I don't believe the E90 suspension was designed just for run flats tires. There are many of us on this forum that run aftermarket tires and wheels and feel that the new tires respond just as good or better then the stock tires. I think it is marketing scheme between the tire and car manufacturers. Similar to buying cheap printers and pricy ink cartridges or cheap cell phones and expensive monthly plans.

My question is why did BMW design the trunk storage compartment to a similar shape of a spare tire storage compartment. The plastic storage looks like it could be replaced with a different molded shape storage for a space saver tire. Did BMW have a backup plan B just in case the run flats fad/concept were to fail?