[WhiteCoatGeek]

I am working on my build and confused between getting RF vs NRF tires with a spare wheel. The car will primarily be driven by my wife with kids on board most of times and her main priority is comfort. This is also he main reason for not going with 22s. Our current MB GL has Non-RF tires and the ride is very comfortable. Couple of X7 that I test drove had RF tires on them and I was unable to do any A/B comparison.

Has anyone here done A/B comparison between and RF and Non-RF tires? What do you think?

Since I have AAA membership, I think non-RF tires with spare would be an adequate option for tire puncture scenarios. From my past experiences with BMW, once RF tire gets puncture and you drive on it to the dealership, the car is unusable until it gets fixed and more often than not you end up buying a 'overpriced' new tire and in some cases even 2 (if the tire on the other side has reasonable wear on it).

Any suggestions or opinions?

[RSouthern]

We ordered and bought a 2020 M50i and I configured it for the spare with all season tires, which were non-RF. We chose these options for a few reasons:

1) we use this car in the snow when we go to our cabin, and having separate summer and winter tires wasn't really something I was interested in, as I don't have a place to store the set not in use, these are giant tire+wheels!

2) to get to our cabin we are going through areas where we have an hour or more of no cellular coverage, so there's a possibility of getting a flat and not being left stranded with no way to call for help

3) when we're at the cabin the nearest BMW dealership is 2 hours away, and we'd have to hope they were a) open and b) had the tire in stock if we had to flat bed the X7 to it

4) the spare tire option needed to be ordered when the car is built, there doesn't seem to be a way to retrofit this easily or cost effectively and the dealer didn't order this car with the spare or the all season tires - most people get the X7 for the sportyness I guess and don't drive it in the cold/rain/snow here in Northern California.

We did a test drive with the sport wheels before we ordered the X7 we now have, and although I think they look better, the all seasons, non-RF tires with spare was the better choice for us. I don't remember there being any noticeable difference in road noise or handling, but I don't really performance drive too much on test drives, it tends to scare the salesperson (yes, I have done this - sales guy in the back seat of aGTR on a test drive with me at the wheel and testing the car's performance is not an enviable position to be in )

[thenew3]

Even if you decide to go with the standard runflat, you can still get the spare wheel option. It's a $150 option.

I have the non-run flats on my car. It feels a bit softer than the run flat but not noticeable unless you drive them back to back.

I got the non-run flats for a few reasons
1) I wanted the spare tire as our road trips often take us into the mountains/woods with no cell reception.
2) Non RF tires are lighter than RF by about 6 to 7 pounds each. You know what they say about unsprung weight. And the lower tire weight will hopefully partially or mostly offset the weight of the M sport brakes I got.
3) Most tire shops near me don't carry the size and RF are harder to obtain then non-RF (Experienced first hand when we need tire for my wife's X3, Shops around me either had the non-rf size in stock or could get it within 24 hours, but the RF version took 2 months to get in stock)
4) I'm hoping in a few years when I need new tires they will have more tire choices and typically Non RF have more options than RF.
5) Non RF are cheaper to replace and more place are willing to patch them if there's a puncture. Many places are unwilling to patch a RF tire.

[cvp33]

I switched to non-runflats. The ride is definitely better with a less stiff sidewall. I drive 40K miles per year on average and have for 30+ years. I’ve never had a flat tire. I’ve picked up a nail or screw here and there, but never had a flat.

[Phillymb75]

I've had nails in a couple of my run flats in my X5's over the years, they were always able to fix them. I put over 30k miles on one after the plug with no issues, it was a fairly new tire and I drove it over 20 miles back to my tire guy. I'd rather be able to drive slower but safer with a runflat than be stuck somewhere I wouldn't want to be with a flat tire.

[like2short]

Originally Posted by Phillymb75

I've had nails in a couple of my run flats in my X5's over the years, they were always able to fix them. I put over 30k miles on one after the plug with no issues, it was a fairly new tire and I drove it over 20 miles back to my tire guy. I'd rather be able to drive slower but safer with a runflat than be stuck somewhere I wouldn't want to be with a flat tire.

The key is if you get a puncture , it has to hold a reasonable amount of air while driving to be repairable.

If you drive an RFT with minimal air pressure, the sidewall losses strength.

Some of the tire companies say not repairable because they don't know how it was driven after puncture. Others say repairable If pressure stayed above a certain number (eg 20 PSI)

[WhiteCoatGeek]

Originally Posted by RSouthern

We ordered and bought a 2020 M50i and I configured it for the spare with all season tires, which were non-RF. We chose these options for a few reasons:

Originally Posted by thenew3

Even if you decide to go with the standard runflat, you can still get the spare wheel option. It's a $150 option.

Is the spare tire included if you get the car with non run-flat tires or does it still needs to be ordered as an option?

[thenew3]

Originally Posted by WhiteCoatGeek

Is the spare tire included if you get the car with non run-flat tires or does it still needs to be ordered as an option?

If you choose the non run flat tire then the spare is included as standard equipment.

[RSouthern]

I just went through the configuration tool (online) for the USA and it doesn't look like there's an option for non-run-flat tires listed in any wheel option.

We got the 754M double spoke 21" wheels on our 2020 M50i, and the configuration tool only lists all-season runflat tires. Guess I ended up with that since that caused me to double check the original order options we submitted. Runflats only. Anyway, we have run flats and the space saver spare in the trunk, so I have options

The taller sidewalls seem to offer a better ride and the 21" wheel size gives us more options when we have to replace the tires. Also, 21" was the only size option to get all-season tires. Keep that in mind if you drive in areas with cold weather and/or snow. The 22" wheels only offer performance (i.e. summer) tires.

[MomoM3]

No-seasons

[thenew3]

Originally Posted by RSouthern

I just went through the configuration tool (online) for the USA and it doesn't look like there's an option for non-run-flat tires listed in any wheel option.

We got the 754M double spoke 21" wheels on our 2020 M50i, and the configuration tool only lists all-season runflat tires. Guess I ended up with that since that caused me to double check the original order options we submitted. Runflats only. Anyway, we have run flats and the space saver spare in the trunk, so I have options

The taller sidewalls seem to offer a better ride and the 21" wheel size gives us more options when we have to replace the tires. Also, 21" was the only size option to get all-season tires. Keep that in mind if you drive in areas with cold weather and/or snow. The 22" wheels only offer performance (i.e. summer) tires.

You can only get non-run flats with non-M package. And only with 21" Y-spoke bi-color ferric grey wheels.