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Comments
I've got an 07 335 with 15k on it. I know run flat performance tires don't last that long but I've already had to replace one tire a couple of months ago and I just discovered a bubble in a second tire today (most likely due to potholes and crappy streets in Los Angeles). And as you know the potenzas cost a pretty penny. My question to you guys is:
1) Do any of you buy another set of less expensive (non run flat) performance/sporty everyday driving tires and swap them for everyday use? I'd just have to buy a jack and a spare I suppose. And once the lease is up you can just put the run flats back on? If so, what specific tires do you recommend?
2) If the above is not recommended, what websites can you find good deals on Potenza's. Or if you're in the LA area, what tire shops can you recommend.
Any advice is well appreciated. I'm sure I could find the answer by going back and reading some of the thousands of posts but I'm crunching on time here.
Thanks, Eric L. :confuse:
I would switch over to GFT's (Go Flat Tires) They are much cheaper to replace and are less hassle to repair. if you live in a major city you can get by with a can of fix a flat. Tire Rack sells a repair kit.
I'd take the RFT's off and put them in my basement until it's time to trade in the car.
Believe me you'll save money and have more options if you don't worry about RFT's.
I need a spare so I'd just buy a stock rim and put in in the trunk and tie it down with bungee cords or something.
If you live in the boonies or snow country my area is both , you need snow tires anyway and RFT's won't cut it for snow and ice. Note, you will still need snow tires even if you get an xi if you live in a snowy area.
BMW really needs to offer non-RFT's at least as an option. MINI too for that matter. I didn't buy the BMW 335i this time because of the RFT hassle. The Sport package has staggered sizes front and rear so quite a lot more for rims AND GFT's and no excuse for that on a $40K+ car. Be easier if the SP was offered with all the same size tire on all 4 wheels.
But GFT's and a spare is the way to go. A jack with a case will set you back $25 or so.
Make sure the jack you buy will fit under the car. I used to use a mini hydraulic on another car and it worked great and was easy but cost me like $50 and took up a lot more room than a scissor jack, heavier too.
I would attempt to nix the deal based on this broken promise, however, I think the CA tried but was unable to locate any 17" staggered-sized Conti SSRs in any of the neighboring BMW dealerships either. Again, I wasn't too surprised, especially considering even Tire Rack has had the rear-sized Conti SSRs on backorder for quite a while, with no ETA in sight.
There weren't too many reports of problems with Sport package, summer run-flats...
Of course, most people complain about all the sport package tires, once they find their rears are wearing out at 20K miles...
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My dealer is offering this for 3 years; repair or replace; excluding normal wear.
Protection is offered by JMI something.
He says it's honored by almost all BMWs.
I mainly travel in the south - AL, TN, SC, GA, FL.
I had 3 flats on GFT's with my other car in the past a year or so and I was glad I had purchased this program with a tire retailer.
Q
Is this worth getting?
Does the cost sound reasonable?
If you purchased it in the past, please describe your experience with dealers & etc.
Sounds like a very good deal considering a high cost of replacing a RFT.
Thanks in advance!
what can I do now? order the Continental contiprocontact SSR and let the dealer install it? I don't have much time.
damn tirerack had them Back Order
damn. compare to $120 each Tirerack sell it.
The results, Its definate night and day. Its like the first day I drove it off the lot. I love driving again, sooo smooth. Shame that BMW don't alert theor customer, I had to get this feeling again from my own pocket.
BMW is pushing noisy tires that wear out too soon, can't be repaired, cost $200-$300 to replace, and ruin the enjoyment of the car. It's like playing with wooden sneakers in the NBA. But it will cost you about $700 to swap out for Air-Michelins.
Excellent -- phrase of the week. Enjoy your tires. If I pick a BMW in the next few weeks, I'll need to pony up for real tires, just as you've done.
Regards,
Kirk
Regards,
OW
If leased for 36K miles you will almost certainly have to replace the tires of any car when returned or be subject to a substantial charge.
Isn't the MXV4 more of a luxury touring tire than a performance tire?
Best Regards,
Shipo
I want a car with real tires, a manual transmission & the aforementioned dipstick. As a bonus, the Acura TSX not only has a donut spare, but the well is big enough to hold a full-size spare, if you're that way inclined. The standard setup is to have the donut with a tire tool tray (jack, etc) on top of it, but if I put the tools elsewhere, I can carry a real spare tire. Never thought of such a thing as a luxury before, but I do now.
Maybe in a few years BMW will have sorted all this out. I had hoped to take European delivery of one about now. Perhaps later. Perhaps not. Based on what I've seen from them of late, I'm confident they couldn't care less.
Best Regards,
Shipo
P.S.
Congrats on the new ride.
A letter from me to BMW would mean next to nothing, given that I've never owned one. From you, it very well could -- feel free to refer to on-line acquaintances who feel the same way.
The A3 was my second choice. I had to throw RWD under the bus to get what I want these days, which was painful. With luck, BMW will get their act together over the next few years. I figure the TSX will hold its value well, as I wait to see if there will ever be such a thing as a RWD small-displacement diesel with a manual transmission and real tires (with a dipstick). Could turn out to be a Mercedes C. It's looking less likely that it'll be a BMW.
Stay well.
Regards,
OW
A word of advice if you're planning on buying at Nashua Audi: take a trip to Stratham instead. My Dad has an A8 and loves it, but is looking at other cars just because of the hassles he's had in Nashua.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Very interesting. Out of curiosity, if you do go with Audi, would you get AWD or FWD?
Bruce
Well, tough question. The only car that meets our requirements is the A3 2.0T, and if we were to buy today that would mean FWD. Why the 2.0T? Simple, the A3 3.2 Quattro is only available with an automatic transmission.
That said, I read an interview last week with the head of Audi U.S.A. that all but confirmed that the 2.0T was going to hit our shores this fall with the Haldex Quattro system as an option, what wasn't clear in the interview was whether the Haldex system would also require you to order the automatic transmission.
Assuming the FWD model is the only way to order a car with three pedals under the dash, then A3 2.0T FWD will be what is ordered.
Best Regards,
Shipo
So we were testing a new version of a BMW 3-series in Pahrump, Nevada. Go ahead, make your own joke and get it out of your system.
Ready?
There isn't much in Pahrump, and there is even less (read: nothing) when you take the two-lane blacktop south toward Shoshone, California, (near Death Valley,) on your way back to Los Angeles. Some miles down the road, the low-pressure warning lamp comes on at 8:30 pm. Shoshone is one of those places where the population is lower than the elevation--by a lot.
We could go back to Pahrump, but that's the opposite direction of home. And we've just come from Pahrump, so we know they'll neither have an RFT in this size nor an open tire store. Las Vegas lies a further 55 miles beyond that, but now we're talking further from home, a driving distance close to the assumed 100-mile limit of the RFTs and a guaranteed overnight stay.
Going south along our intended path is no better. 70 miles down the road lies Baker, California, another place not likely to have ANY 35-series tires of any sort during broad daylight, let alone a RFT at 10:00 pm or so. There are no towns to the east. Death Valley awaits to the west.
Since we are automotive professionals and we're geared-up for track testing, we have an ace up our sleeves: A high-capacity, off-road, direct-to-battery air compressor. We decide to blow the offending tire up to 45 psi (it had been at 20-something) and see how far we can get before the light comes back on.
Answer: 35 miles. But now we're between Shoshone and Baker and we still have 240 miles 'til we get home. It's even darker, we're STILL in the middle of the desert, and even if we do find a tire store it's so late we won't find one tonight. At least there are 4 of us in a convoy.
More air, back on the road. Another 35 miles, another warning lamp. This time, it should be noted, the warning lamp came on at 33 psi. That's 25% below the 45psi we set the tire to, not 25% below the door sticker. BMW must have some crazy software in their TPMS. We could have gone farther, but it’s still a leaker and we can't see the nail, so we re-air it to 45 psi.
We do this three or four more times, working our way closer to home. But the distance between warnings drops to 30, then 25, then 20 miles. We're not getting into the RFT's mileage limit, because, so far, we haven't run below 30 psi for any length of time, let alone zero pressure.
When the nav system says we've got less than 100 miles to go, air is leaking out in 6 miles. We're in Victorville now, with tire stores a plenty, but it is 11:30 pm and they're all closed.
We decide to go with the nuclear option: After checking three "gas marts" we find one with a can of fix-a-flat (FAF).
I know, I know. Here's our logic. If we don't do this, the next 100 miles of airless operation will get us home, but the tire will be junk because it'll have run its RFT distance limit. But we're not sure that 100 miles is the magic number; this BMW has no FM to R (fine manual to read,) as it's a loaner and the prep shops frequently forget to leave them in the car.
If we do use FAF, we might save the tire--no run-flat mileage means we might be able to patch it after we scrape the FAF out. We'll need a new pressure sensor because FAF clogs the mechanism, but they're cheaper than a tire. If it doesn't work, we're no worse-off for trying. We just want to get ourselves home.
After squirting-in the FAF, the pressure still drops in the next 10-miles. The TPMS sensor doesn't say so, because we couldn't re-set the system on account of it being plugged with FAF, but a precautionary stop to check the pressure manually tells the tale. We top off one more time and drive the last 80-something miles at 55 mph. We finally get back bleary-eyed at 2:00 am--some 3.5 hours later than expected.
The southwestern USA is full of wide-open spaces and this could happen many, many such places. The day before we'd driven through Death Valley, where multiple stretches of 70+ miles have nothing more than a simple fuel station. None of them were service stations--they sold fuel and junk-food, that's it. Getting a tire, especially an exact replacement of this RFT, would be impossible in many of the places (city, town or village do not apply) we could have stopped for fuel. We never saw any place with mounting equipment the entire day.
BMW engineers just HAVE to know this. We see them testing in great numbers in Death Valley every summer. The same thing must have happened to them. At the very least, they must have imagined the scenario. Why this didn't have an effect on the BMW brass in Germany is beyond me.
This would have been such a non-story if we'd only had a spare. Five minutes and we'd have been on our way. If we hadn't had the compressor, we'd have been stranded in some garden spot like Baker. I might still have been there, waiting for a tire, right now.
With this state of affairs, I find it impossible to recommend a new BMW (or Mini) to anyone, no matter how much I personally like them and relish what they can do. No more RFT-equipped cars! At least not without spares, that is. RFTs should never be anything more than a stand-alone option, and I'm no longer a fan of spareless running with GFTs and a Conti kit, either.
Twitter: @Edmunds_Test
This would have been such a non-story if we'd only had a spare."
Damn straight.
I've spent most of the last six years planning to buy (or lease) a BMW, but I live in the West and treasure the week or so that I can spend driving in the empty spaces out here once a year (if I'm lucky). This RFT thing is a big piece of why I chose not to go with a BMW this week when I got a new car. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I've spent much of my life driving in areas where it's possible to go 75 miles between gas stations, let alone tire stores. The only way I could have dealt with RFT's would have involved carrying a spare tire of some sort, bringing along a jack & lug wrench, obtained on my own. Before long, it became apparent that the whole thing was far more trouble than it was worth.
Your story perfectly illustrates my concerns.
Northern Nevada, driving north & south (state highways only) makes the route you described sound like rush hour -- and I love driving in Northern Nevada. It's possible to drive over 200 miles with only one or two towns and fewer than a dozen cars met or passed. Pure joy. I did have a tire issue up there a few years ago & put my (full size) spare on in 15 minutes and that was that. With RFT's, that day & possibly the memory of the whole vacation would have been ruined; without, it was a non-event.
Incidentally, I've been to Pahrump. Let's call it an acquired taste.
Glad you (eventually) made it home.
Spring Mountain Raceway.
Twitter: @Edmunds_Test
Regards,
OW
Funny thing, even though I live in New England where seemingly every third town has a BMW dealership, I'm still balking at the thought of buying a car with no spare tire. Why? Primarily because depending upon which client I'm visiting, I often spend hours on the road between New Hampshire and NYC (and Philidelphia too, just less often), and I usually do my driving off-hours (too damn much traffic around here otherwise). While I wouldn't be faced with something like your most recent ordeal, I would still end up being seriously delayed (by as much as a day) if no spare tire was available.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Best Regards,
Shipo
Not 24 hours after I made that last post, Mrs. Shipo (who just started a great new job this week) announced that she wants a treat herself to a new car (I pretty much knew that), and that she wants to fetch the new car via another European Delivery trip like we did with my 530i. After playing car salesman for a while I've narrowed her criteria down to the following:
- European Delivery option
- Wagon format (we now have a 75 pound Labrador retriever that we have to schlep around)
- Room for four people and five at a pinch
- All-Wheel Drive (she just backed her van off of a neighbor's driveway into some very deep icy/slushy snow and mud and had to get towed out, and while I'm skeptical, she thinks that with AWD she wouldn't have gotten stuck)
- Manual transmission
- August 2008 pick-up somewhere in Europe
I presented her with the following cars:
- Saab 9-3 SportCombi -- Rejected due to its looks
- Volvo V50 -- Rejected due to the inability to order a manual transmission with the AWD option
- Audi A3 2.0T -- Rejected due to the lack of AWD
- Audi A3 3.2Q -- Rejected due to the lack of a manual transmission
- Audi A4 Avant 2.0TQ -- Rejected due to the lack of rear seat leg room
- BMW 328xi Sports Wagon -- She loves it
So, it looks like I'm going to have to deal with a car with RFTs and no spare tire after all. Fortunately the car won't be pressed into service on long trips (we're keeping one of our MiniVans for that purpose; both have full-sized spare tires).
I'll keep y'all posted as we continue to talk about her options and how we make out negotiating price, delivery time and of course which tires the car comes with (I kind of doubt we'll be able to demand Continental RFTs for a European Delivery).
Regarding the tire thing, as this will be her car; I'm undecided as to whether I'll switch it over to GFTs (given that there's no jack and spare tire) or just soldier along with the RFTs. Regardless I am very much inclined to order a set of new rubber early on and just stash them in the basement so that if/when one or more new tires are called for, I have them at hand, and if she needs to take it on a trip to NYC or something, I'll just toss one in the back, just in case.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I am looking forward to your progress! That 540i is a beautiful thing, though.
Regards,
OW
Best Regards,
Shipo
Nope, this is going to be her car. If it was for me there's absolutely no way I would have opted for AWD.
"I am also confident you will set up the tire config exactly right for you. As you know, I have the conti's and they are good but I am hopeful you can get them even with ED."
I've already done the ED thing once and am quite familiar with the way they set up the delivery center, and as such I'd be extremely surprised if there was any way to get them to put Contis in it there if it didn't come that way from the factory.
"You might want to get the 4 snows/rims and keep one of them as a spare."
Yup, a set of winter tires is a foregone conclusion.
"I am looking forward to your progress! That 540i is a beautiful thing, though."
Just because Wifey gets a Sport Wagon doesn't mean that I cannot still get a 540i 6-Speed.
Best Regards,
Shipo
That would have been my plan, had I ended up with a sport wagon (high on my list up until the last year or so), except that I'd probably have strapped the RFT spare on the roof rack on vacations, since my bike would have taken up the bulk of the cargo space.
Something I'm sure you've noticed is that the lease deals on the wagons aren't nearly so good as on the sedans. As I recall, the monthly hit was most of $100 higher for a similarly-equipped wagon.
In any event, I'll be interested in hearing about this as it unfolds. I certainly envy you your delivery trip. I'm still hoping that in 3-4 years BMW may have something for me that I'll really want to drive, then it'll be an ED vacation for us as well.