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Comments
http://www.bmwtis.com/tsb/bulletins/bulletin_graphic_temp/B360606g.htm
I wonder if I'm eligible for any sort of reimbursement. If anyone is in similar situation (paid for your own replacement recently), please let us know.
I had over 12K miles and my dealer absorbed all costs for switch to Conti SSR's.
Thank you!
Regards,
OW
This implies that the EL42 has, as rumors have suggested, been re-developed to eliminate the problem. But no explicit confirmation of this is contained in the TSB text link.
Still, based on my time in the industry, re tuning the construction of a tire is entirely expected in a case such as this. If BMW have gone as far as a TSB and dealer reimbursement, you can bet they've fixed the unusual wear/noise problem in the tire if they are still using it.
But as to the general discussion on the relative merits/demerits of RFTS, nothing has really changed. Sure, these presumably "new" EL42s could ride a bit better than the old ones, but its going to be hard to know until someone who makes the switch under this TSB reports in.
Twitter: @Edmunds_Test
The service rep called back and told me that they had similar complaints with the EL42 and that they would change the tires at no cost to me to continental run flats.
The sales rep called me back to make sure I had made an appointment for the change!!!
Regards,
OW
Its just so SAD that I had to put up with 20 Months of hell on Bridgestone.
Owner6.
Do you ( or anyone ) know if you can put reg tires on wheels that RFT tires came with ?
According to my dealer you can not .
That means new set of wheels and tires ?!
I hope the dealer is wrong.
Thanks and Regards
Webby
According to my dealer you can not .
What the dealer is telling you is BS. Its more a case of will not than can not. Only cars that use Michelin's PAX run-flat system have a real physical/mechanical restriction. (If you BMW guys think you've got problems, take a peek at the Honda Odyssey RFT discussion.)
Normal RFTs as found on BMWs use rims that have a standard bead profile which can accept any tire. Or to say it another way, RFT beads are shaped the same as GFTs, and a rim that can accept one will also accept the other.
Twitter: @Edmunds_Test
2. i do have a question about the whole road noise thing though. don't you guys listen to music? thats all i do, maybe thats why i can't hear sh*t. also, i have never owned a bmw before so i'm not really sure what impact these tires have on making it a harsh drive.
3. at this point i think our posts should be all about the bridgestone refund link that somebody posted here. who tried to show this to the dealer and was succesful? how did you do it? information that will help us fix this problem and not really get into Lexus, Avalon's etc.....
Rarely have the radio on. Prefer silence. Until this football season I had never used my car's radio to listen to over-the-air transmissions as I have an ipod connected in the car.
The harshness is readily apparent on a bad road. My 2003 with 18s would get jostled by bad roads but my 2006 with RFTs would bounce!
BMW USA is not willing to stand behind the reason why tires are cuppimg and howling.
Thanks,
eds1325i
I'd suggest a continental tire kit for emergencies, like flats.
Regards,
Webby
It does not ???
Regards,
Webby
I drove the basic 335i 4dr sedan with RFT contis grand tour touring tires and suspension felt just right for me.
Drove the 335i coupe with Bridgestone tires and 18" wheels with sport suspension and it felt like a old truck with damaged suspension....made a U turn after 100 meters and returned the vehicle.
Tomorrow I am testing a 335i 4 dr with sprt suspension.
It feels really nice to go back to my 330i after test driving 335i's. The turbo engine is great but the engine in 330i is so smoooooth!
Still 50/50 re getting the 2007 335i sedan
Thinking of 335i sedan with sport suspension, 18 wheels , sport seats, and dumping RFT for reg tires.
Regards
Webby
These tires are definately an upgrade to the original EL42's before they modified the rubber (est. mid 2006)
My 330Xi has no sport suspension (not offered).
Regards,
OW
So far they are a BIG change from my EL42's.
Owner6
Drove the 335i coupe with Bridgestone tires and 18" wheels with sport suspension and it felt like a old truck with damaged suspension....made a U turn after 100 meters and returned the vehicle.
so you want a car with a soft suspension. to each his own. I feel sick when riding in a non-sport equipped BMW or pretty much any car with a soft suspension.
The e92 coupe comes with the sport suspension, I believe. So really, the only difference would be the seats and tires on the coupe with sport package.
I also have a 330i and plan to test the 335, however the dealers around here dont have a 335 coupe. They are sold as soon as they are driven off the delivery truck. There are waiting lists in the greater Baltimore/Washington area for the coupes.
Owner6
I guess it depends on what you consider soft suspension.
My 330i 2004 std suspension feels just right for me....but then again I like auto tranny now after many yrs of driving manual.
Regards,
Webby
I guess it depends on how much power do you want/need ?
Perhaps owners of 335i can comment if the engine performance changes with more miles ?
Regards,
Webby
I was told that the tires are "feathering" and I had to replace them. The dealer offers to pay 50% of the tires, so I will end up paying one tires plus labor, which comes to $260.
Unfortunately, I learned about numurous Bridgestones RFT problem today, and didn't have a chance to ask the dealer, what kind of tires they are giving me.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
I'll pick up the car tomorrow. Should I try to pursue to ask for something like Continental Conti RFT?
Also, I will likely have to get a set of winter rims for the car. Can I go down to 16 inch without too much pain?
Thoughts and advice most appreciated!!
FWIW, a second set of alloy wheels for your car is only $340, and you'll easily burn that in twice per year mounting and balancing charges should you decide to stay with your factory wheels.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I heard that Bridgestone changed the rubber compound for the EL42's.
I picked up the car today, and they gave me the Bridgestones Turanza again. The explaination I got was it's their protocol and would not give me something else.
I did try to explain to the technician about how Bridgestones tires are the problem, but he said that he cannot do anything beyond what's in the protocol and he cann't speak for BMWNA.
I asked what if the new set tires have the same problem again, but then this time my car will go over 20000 miles. He said that now I have to pay 100% for the tires. Nothing He can do. Great!
Best Regards,
Shipo
I got the same line from my Acura dealer when I tried to swap from EL42s to Michelins. With that car, the dealer had nothing good to say about the EL42, and recommended changing brands at the first replacement. But no luck with them either. Bridgestone must have engineered some very close relationships with the car manufacturers. The retail prices are certainly high enough.
Thanks for the advice. Will definitely look into the Bridgestones with 16" ASA rims.
The other thing was when I asked the technician about rotation of tires. He said that BMW does not recommend it. But he said that the tire manufacturer all do recommend it. I asked him what should I do. I didn't get a straight answer from him.
Anybody with any input?
BMW's recommendation is based on handling concerns. The tire manufacturers' recommendations are based on wear concerns.
So the answer depends on what you want to have - good handling or good wear - you can't have both.
In my case, while I never tracked my 530i, I did lean on it pretty good. With that in mind, my experience of rotating my tires is that IF there was a handling difference, it was so very slight (and short lived as the tires wore in for their new position on the car) that it wasn't noticeable. I suggest rotating.
Said another way, I am a very definite fan of SP equipped BMWs, unfortunately, virtually every "i" model SP package from the factory now comes with staggered wheel and tire sizes (my 530i SP was possibly the last exception from this rule). Were I to go out and fetch a new 3er or 5er with the uprated suspension, I would also invest in at least a set of new rear wheels and go to the same tire size all around. Why? Simply to allow me to rotate my tires.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Regards,
OW
Hmmm, when will I be in the market for a new car? Tough call. As of last November when my (then) current contract was ending I was looking forward to finding a new assignment a little closer to home and thus changing the economics of a new car back into my favor. Prior that that contract I'd driven between ten and fifteen thousand miles per year for some twenty years, and so leasing new cars (through my business) was an easy decision. Coincidentally, the lease on my 530i ended just as that contract was about to begin, and given that it was only a six month gig, I opted to drive our old spare car for the duration and wait on the new car. Turns out that was a good decision as the contract lasted seventeen months, during which time I bumped the mileage on our old car (a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.8) from about 86,000 to just over 130,000. Yikes, 44,000 miles in seventeen months, I haven't driven that many miles in that period of time since I put 72,000 miles on my 1979 Scirocco in twenty-two months back in 1980 and 1981.
So, come January this year I started looking for another contract and wouldn't you know it, I ended up accepting an offer from a different division of the same company I'd just left. This new assignment has me once again driving about the same number of miles as before, not good for my new car prospects. To make matters worse, they are moving to a different building this September, a move that will tack ANOTHER fifty miles per day to my commute. With the prospect of accruing an easy 45,000 miles per year staring me in the face, I'm back to a plan that I cooked up a year ago or so, namely to shop for a deal on a low mileage/good condition 2000 528i 5-Speed with PP, SP and the "M" interior as my minimum set of requirements. These cars are fairly rare, however, at any given point I usually can find a few for sale, typically for ~$16,000 with ~70,000 miles on the clock.
Assuming I don't scare up a better paying contract closer to home in the near future, this looks like a much more viable option for me as I figure that a car such as that can be fairly easily pushed to a quarter of a million miles without too much difficulty.
To your other questions:
"If you go for a 3er or 5er (I believe you mentioned the wagon for more room back a few posts) and will you keep run flats or go for the RFT's? Since I know you prefer GFT's and snows, that would be a rather large investment in rubber."
Hmmm, assuming I go for a 328iT SP, I have a couple of options for the summer rubber, and both would cost about the same (although I'd probably get 10,000 to 15,000 miles out of the OEM set first, taking them down to ~6mm of tread depth, enough to send back at end of lease).
Option 1: Find two 17 x 8 Style 161 wheels via E-Bay or Craig's List (probably cost about $500-$600) to be used for the rear of the car. Then I would pull the rear wheels and the two front tires and mount something like a set of 225/45 ZR17 Kumho ECSTA ASX GFTs at all four corners (235/45 ZR17s are an option too). Total cost (including the necessary mounting and balancing): ~$1,100.
Option 2: Buy something like a set of 17 x 8 ASA AR1 wheels for $676 or the Rial Combo wheels (which kind of look like the Style 161s) in the same size for $596 and wrap them with the same tires from above. Total cost (no mounting and balancing charges here at all): ~$1,100.
The second option is probably my best bet as it saves me from paying for a couple of mountings and balancings, and I like both sets of wheels as much as the OEM wheels. In either case, since I won't have to buy a new set of worn out factory RFT rubber (at about $1,000 per set), the cost of the new wheels and tires will be a wash.
For the winter set, tires that I'll need to buy whether I opt for the old 528i or a new 328iT, I'd probably opt for a cheap set of 16 x 7 Sport Edition F6 wheels for $340 and a set of 205/55 R16 Michelin X-Ice tires for $408 giving me a total of about $800 with shipping. Given that if I simply stayed with the factory rubber year round I'd probably need to buy a third set of the expensive RFTs, this set of tires will pay for itself too.
The thing is, if I opt for "Option 2" for the summer rubber and buy the winter set as well, I'll end up with two complete sets of wheels and tires on my hands when the lease ends. Since those sets will have been completely paid for by virtue of the fact that I was able to send the car back with the actual wheels and tires it was built with, I effectively got them for free. Of course they still have value, and I would certainly be willing to sell them via Craig's List. In the end I suspect that I will actually SAVE about a thousand dollars by spending about two thousand dollars up front. Go figure.
Best Regards,
Shipo
For those still wrestling with the dealers to pay for the swap, here is the process I went through and hope this helps others get rid of the bridgestone's:
*The dealer has to call the BMW NA territory "rep" to get approval as well as a bill-back code for the "faulty tires"
*Once this is done, the dealer of your choice can then get full reimbursement for the work from BMW NA
*The total invoice was $1,280, of which, I paid $0
Good luck...and for anyone teetering about whether or not to make the switch to another set of RFT's, I say "go for it" and happy driving.