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[shark330i]

Had to vent on this! Got a nail in my passenger rear tire on my 335. Took it to Goodyear Tire store to get it patched, as I did a year-to-the-day earlier on the other rear tire! I was on pins and needles as I awaited their 'response'. Sure enough, the manager came out and said that they couldn't fix the tire because of it being a RFT! And, yes, I know the manurfacturer recommends that it cannot be patched/fixed. Even though they fixed the other one a year earlier, they would/could not fix this one! Ugh. Only 14K miles on it and was in perfect tread condition. He even said that he wouldn't get a new tire and would try to find someone to patch it! No dice. Tried just about every tire store in my area and they all declined due to their 'liability'!! End result is that I had to shell out $370 for a new one (mounting, balancing, etc. included). This sucks. I'm paranoid as hell to drive around now....worrying about getting another 'flat'. I didn't get the tire warranty from the dealer, since they did not offer that insurance product. Beyond all the other nonsense of these tires (ride, weight, etc.), they are like a ticking timebomb.....one nail and you're opening the wallet! Until there is more competition with the RFT manufacturers, the price will be prohibitive. Something, not sure what, needs to be done! That's my rant for the day!

[Pink Taco]

reason why I always hated these tires

[1CEBITN]

$250 for a doughnut from Tischer (see Bimmerfest.com) and some non-RFT tires will fix that problem...

I don't worry about having to buy a new tire as much as getting a flat more than 50 miles from my house and being stranded for 3-5 days waiting on a new tire to get shipped since 90% of all tire places don't carry our size in 18's (sport pkg) in stock.

[JRJ1970]

Discount Tire patches mine. I have insurance through them, purchased days after I bought my vehicle new. Peace of mind....

This "cannot patch" spiel is what the dealer tells you so you'll buy their insurance. They can be patched and there are places who will patch them without question. Maybe you need to check the cheesy side of town for "we fix flats cheap" places.

[Bimmer335i]

Sorry to hear bro. I always dreaded the day when one of these flats popped and you had to replace one of it, but I was fortunate to ride them out after 36K miles...i just replaced my RFTs 2 weeks ago with the hankooks..running great so far..feels like i'm floatin on air with these tires...they're lighter and much cheaper than the RFTs...now I just need to get me a mobility kit and stuff it in the trunk...

[Vacek]

My Bridgestone RFT's were pieces of shit ! Worst tires I have ever owned.

After drilling my dealer on the noise issue, they pulled them off and put on a new set of PS2's (at zero cost to me)

Threw a mobility kit in the trunk, and never looked back.

Life is now good !

[shark330i]

ya know, that's not a bad idea...checking out the 'cheesy' places! I talked to Discount Tire here in Bradenton, FL and they wouldn't do it. Next time (hopefully not!!), I'll cut the cheese!

[dassub]

This is the exact reason why I bought V710s with non-RFT rubber off someone on these forums. My winters are still the stock Blizzak RFT, but when they need replacing they'll be gone too. Just gonna get the M mobility kit before summer comes.

[Nalod]

Lease cars need RFT with tread. Im pretty sure RFT can't be remounted once they come off.

Non Lease cars can do what they want.

Coupe standard 17's are half the price of the staggared 18's! Sedan Sport staggared are also expensive.

[Michael Schott]

Find another shop that will patch. As others say, it can be done. And next time, buy the tire and wheel insurance. I've had 2 RFT's replaced at no charge from my dealer. One for a bubble in the sidewall and the other for a nail. This more than paid for the insurance.

[dassub]

Originally Posted by Bargamon

Lease cars need RFT with tread. Im pretty sure RFT can't be remounted once they come off.

Non Lease cars can do what they want.

Coupe standard 17's are half the price of the staggared 18's! Sedan Sport staggared are also expensive.

When I got one of my RFT repaired, they unmounted it and repaired it from the inside, and re-mounted.

[BlueC]

Originally Posted by Bargamon

Im pretty sure RFT can't be remounted once they come off.

Sure they can...

[David1]

Wait till the day comes that tire places will not patch even a regular tire.

[pruettfan]

I just had a similar issue but my tire was bubbled so repair was not an option. Solution, get rid of the RFT's. I bought a set of Vredestien tires for $650 shipped to my door. I am having them mounted today. I have sold two of the three remaining RFT's for $250 and will sell the third for about $125. Since they have 80% of their life left and so many people have problems with these tires. At the end of the day I would have paid 370 for one tire and been stuck with RFT's and a mismatched set on top of that. This way I will have a new set of four for the cost of $275 plus mounting and balancing of $100.00. I will buy the continental comfort roadside kit for 70 bucks and be set. The Vreds last twice as long and cost half as much, all the reviews are excellent, other than the fact they are tough to find they are one of many good solutions to the challanges of RFT's.

I have yet to figure out why anyone sees RFT's as a good thing.

[cgpublic]

A rant is a rant, money is money, and the bottom line is that getting a flat sucks for everybody regardless of the circumstances and cost. That said, a 335 is a 45K to 60K car, and if you can't afford to either a) buy tire insurance, or b) pay to replace, not repair, a damaged tire, perhaps you should c) switch to non-RFTs or d) buy a different make of car that e) features a standard tire or f) is cheaper.

My story is fairly straightforward: hit the edge of an exposed sewer grate at 60 MPH, checked the tire damage, tire held up beautifully on the highway at 50 MPH for the 30 mile drive home, was able to be driven 15 miles to the local BMW dealer the NEXT day, and new tire & rim covered by my $450 for three years of coverage insurance policy. Makes sense to me.

Now, if you want to go ahead and swap out the RFTs, buy summer's and/or winter's, that's fine. Never mind the tires, the rims are where the hurt comes in spades. Which leads us back to tire insurance.

Must. Buy. Tire. Insurance.

[maswastage]

I had 5 separate punctures in my runflat, and my local mechanic patched it for 20 bucks. Haven't had a problem since. Maybe I was just lucky?

[shark330i]

....but as I said in my original post, the tire insurance was not available from the dealer! Believe me, I would have gotten it, since this is my second consecutive BMW with the run flats! Up until now, I was able to get someone to patch the puncture. As for not being able to 'afford' a new tire considering I own a BMW......gimme a break bro. In this economic environment, everyone is watching the dollars. Gosh, a BMW is not a Lambo or Bentley....now, with that kind of coin, I could see the point. Just my 2 cents....(no pun intended)!

[BMWfan07]

Been there, Done that!!

Three weeks after i took delivery of my new 335 I got a big nail stuck in my inner sidewall of my rear Potenza runflat. Dealer said sorry, we can't help you, get a new tire. I just had spent A Wad of money buying the car and now 3 weeks later I was spending nearly 400 bucks with installation to replace a tire that looked fine but could not hold air. I was so upset....

Now, I run Hankook v12s, they are awesome. I had PS2s before that, but they wore out fast and were noisier.

[cfabluenose]

Originally Posted by cgpublic

Must. Buy. Tire. Insurance.

That's absolutely ridiculous that you have to buy tire insurance on a car. The sooner that BMW dumps RFT's the better. It is without any doubt the worst aspect of the cars.

[pruettfan]

To pay $500 bucks to insure a $1300 set of tires that will last 20,000 miles is crazy. Everyone who ever has cashed in on this insurance can't wait to post how smart they were because the won the tire insurance lottery. Fact is the other 95% of folks that flushed their money down the drain never posts that they didn't get anything out of their investment. Sorry for the rant but that is the way I see it. Also my calculator sees it that way.

[Magic Man]

My guess is that BMW goes with the runflats as a way to cut weight to increase gas mileage by eliminating the need for a spare. I hate them too, and I think it is very shortsighted of them to continue to use them.

[David1]

Run flats themselves are not the problem it is the choice of the primary tire supplier BMW is using. I am one of the lucky ones to get the Michelin PS2 runflats. My 07 had the Bridgstone RE050. You can not tell that the PS2 is a runflat and is the way to go. This tire is also 30 bucks less a tire to replace compared to the RE050. There design advantages to produce a car with no spare tire. Better weight balance (spare and jack is about 35 pounds), better transient response, etc. I don't have an issue with the technology, just supplier. It's the same with my new X5. It has Bridgstone runflats and is harsh at times, but then I had a service loaner that had a Michelin runflat, it rode much better, but in the X5 I like the handling of the Bridgstone.

Also, the tire and wheel insurance is not available in every state.