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No matter what new car you purchase (hopefully it will be a new BMW, 2007 they are great driving machines) , I suggest you purchase a used Toyota Corolla to drive during your work day. than drive the new car all other times. As far as the tires go, the new conties are fine. Dont give up your dream because of the tire posts, Life is too short. a little excitement goes a long way.
Owner6
Are they that bad during wet (rain) weather? I would hate to hit the hills of San Fran with an inferior tires that have no attraction, especially during a light rain.
And, what kind of action can I take to replace the tires? Such as assitance from the dealer.
Thanks.
Wrote, called and faxed NUMEROUS letters to BMW of North America. I have posted the same here before.
They LIE and NOn-ATTENTIVE to customer complaints. Good-Bye BMw!
If you want, I'll sell you my 2006 GS300. It's been back to the dealer around 10 times to fix problems, and Lexus has ignored all my complaints. The dealer has been responsive, but for every problem they fix two more crop up.
Thanks.
Dealer is Lexus of Manchester, in NH, but like I said: I've been pretty happy with the dealer. It's not their fault that Lexus built an unsatisfactory car.
The problems I have been having are: dozens of rattles, creaks, pops, clicks, and squeaks; noises from the air conditioner; premature tire wear; and engine "chugging".
>Never heard of a Lexus (nor BMW) for one problem two popping up.
I'm not really sure what you're saying there.
Can anyone offer their experiences and or opinions concerning a car with RFT's vs a car with regular tires and a full size spare. I would feel safer on a long trip through sparsely populated areas knowing that I have a spare tire.
Seems like regular tires are cheaper, repairable, and having the spare can keep you from being stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere if you have a severe tire failure. Thoughts?
That said, after having our wagon for several months now I would definitely go for the Audi. The tires are really loud and I'm constantly worried about them. We had a nail in one tire, went to the dealer for a replacement and were quoted $395 for one tire. I literally went across the street and got the same tire for $215 installed. I'm embarassed for the dealership for trying to take advanatage of that situation and embarassed for BMW for making such a poor decision with these tires.
Of course, when I took my wagon back to the dealership, no one could figure out how to reset the tire monitoring system, so we had a failure light for two weeks until I eventually figured it out.
I really like the wagon, but HATE the tires and how my local dealership handled our situation. So much so that I've decided against a 550 and am getting an Infiniti M45 for our second car. It's a compromise, but at least I won't be worrying about the tires all the time.
Good luck with your decision.
I can get a 328 wagon for 4300 below MSRP through a military sales program, and I'm still thinking of not going for one because of those tires.
Why should the customer have to spend time working with the dealers and BMW to have the problems fixed in the first place? Who has time to work with the dealers? RFL case is just one case out of all of the complains on this board about RFT's.
RFT's might be the wave of the future. However, I still do not understand how not having a spare tire is a good thing. There are rare occurences where a tire can shred or have a catastrophic failure where even a RFT won't make a difference. What do you do then? Now, if there were a spare in combination with RFT', then I could understand the safety advantage because you may not have to stop the car to change the tire out for a normal flat. For a tire shred or bad flat, you probably wont have a choice anyway.
Also to be noted is you have BMW Roadside Assistance available through the on car installed Satellite Communications everywhere. Free towing to the nearest dealer and even a replacement car should the car break down on a trip. Be sure to buy a tire warranty/insurance from the dealer. Free replacements for 60,000 miles I believe should one fail. It also covers the rim if one is damaged beyond use for the same mileage. A big pot hole hit at speed could easily be very expensive.
I had a pretty nasty event yesterday when I had to go off roading in my 2006 330i due to an idiot backing up on an on-ramp to a freeway. I was at fairly high speed and didn't see the idiot till to late due to approaching the ramp over a rise in the roadway so I exited into a muddy field and then I ended up going over a shallow concrete drainage ditch with 6" curbs on both sides. No damage to the Bridgestones, no flats anyway! No damage to the rims either! Severe damage to the right front wheel suspension though. Completely knocked out of fit. It will be in the shop for a couple of weeks at least. :mad:
I do have concerns with the possibility of getting a flat in a rural area. However, the tire shouldn't catastrophically shred. Also, a can of fix-a-flat should keep the tire working if you don't drive on it...
The runflats definitely cost more.. And while i've never had a blowout while driving, i have had to change tires on the side of the road, which was very unpleasant.
I don't know, it's a tough call. I guess i get a flat every year and a half or so. So far, it's been a few bucks/free for a patch. Hate to think of paying $200 bucks every time i get a nail in a tire.
I've looked into getting a space saver, but honestly haven't figured out where to put it.
Thanks for making me feel like I am not alone. I just got off the phone with BMWUSA and the guy was rude, and said that there was no known problem with runflat tires. What a jerk. You all were right! I am out of ideas except one. Please send me or respond to me about these continental run flats. I checked tire rack but didnt see them under BMW. I have a 2006 330i with sports package...My car sounds like an 18 wheeler, in fact when I was on the phone with the rep from BMW he said he was having a tought time hearing me...I explained to him that I was in my car and the sound drowning me out were my tires. HELP!
BMW charged me $100 to put the Conti's on this brand new 06 (mine was shipped with Bridgestones) After all the talk about Bridgestones, I decided to make the switch. They are not wisper quiet. But I LOVE this car! I think it handles great; its fun, sporty and seems to be well built. The Conti runflats? Will let you all know if the tires hold up when I get more mileage.
1) Insist that they install Conti's and NOT the Bridgestones. My dealer did this without any extra charge. If they do charge you, go to another BMW dealer!
2) Get the tires & rims warranty. If they say they don't have it, they are lying or not informed! Here in Montreal, it's offered as of Sep 18th. Call other dealers.
If the rft's are really bothering you, the other option is to get regular tires installed. With roadside assistance and a tire repair kit, this should give you piece of mind. Yeah I know, lots of compromise to fix the rfts problems but I really think it's worth it. The car is beautiful and yes, there is a difference driving a G35 vs a BMW.
For example, if you wear out the tread on all the RFT's can you replace them with NON-RUN FLATS? Or will that void the terms of the lease? Once the lease ends and you have to turn the car back in will they penalize you for not having RFT's on the car?
(RFT = Run Flat Tire)
He also stated that he has never heard of anyone complain about Bridgestone RFT's (LOL) and gave me a price for the
tire insurance ($760.00). You can switch the tires out to whatever you like, but when you return your vehicle it must
be with RFT's.
I just started my lease couple of weeks ago and the rain season in the Bay area will start in couple of months....
What's the going wisdom on getting the tire insurance. It is pricey. What are folks actually paying and do you guys think it is worth it? I generally consider extended warranties to be a waste of money but reading this forum makes me wonder.
The dealership has been very understanding and just as frustrated as I am with it. He said they are getting one of these cars in every day. If we all log it in to customer service, there's a record and BMW will HAVE to address it.
I did call the customer service people and, get this, they told me to take my car to a Bridgestone outlet and have them check them out (not sure what this will do for me). My guess is they will tell me to go to my dealership.
One more thing, I mentioned the Continental run flats to him, he said that he wouldn't recommend that tire. They are having even worse issues with that one. He recommended either Michelin or Dunlop run flats.
I love my car, it was my absolute dream car, but I'm embarrassed for anyone to ride with me!
I see these posts about "pressing their dealerships to get new tires," but I'm not getting anywhere with that.
Frustrated in Texas
My ride is louder than normal but it does not bother me because the performance of the car far outweighs this issue. I have 10K miles so far and the EL42's still look good but they really are stiff on the bumps.
Try Tirerack.com to see reviews of the Conti's and Michi's. Good luck. I'm changing over to the best available chice RFT next year so I'm committed.
Good luck txgal.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+- A%2FS+ZP&partnum=445YR7SPORTASZP&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=8
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