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Sedans BMW 3-Series BMW 3-Series Run Flat Tires
2414 messages, Last post on Nov 04, 2009 at 5:51 PM
You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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I just read the message below on TireRack.com and it made me wonder what kind of opinions and experiences 2006 3-Series owners were having. Please share. "I am driving a 2006 BMW 325 with the standard OEM Bridgestone run flat tires. These are simply the worst tires I have ever experienced (I must add that I have had many sets of Bridgestone Turanzas and Potenzas that performed extremely well on other cars). The run flat tires provide a rough jostling ride, do not corner well, and are incredibly noisy on rough pavement. I have only had the car a few weeks but I am going to switch out these tires with something else that will provide ride and handling that is acceptable. Carrying a compact spare and a jack is a small inconvenience compared to riding on this poor excuse for a tire. There is a long way to go on this technology and BMW should not have ruined an otherwise great car with these tires. -- Review Submitted 2005-10-10"
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Replying to: tturedraider (Nov 02, 2005 4:44 pm) tidester, host
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Replying to: tturedraider (Nov 02, 2005 4:44 pm) Jeff
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I have to agree. I have the 18" OEM Bridgestone RF's also on my sport tire. I'm in the process of putting winter tires on my style 162's and then I'll be selling my RF's for good. New wheels in the spring! |
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| I just bought this car and have some long-term concerns re the RFT tires... that's what brought me to this web site. I wanted to see if anyone else had problems. So far I have no issues with these tires. My daughter has a 2005 325xi w/std tires and the ride in my car is better than hers. We took a 600 mile trip this past weekend over many different road conditions and I didn't find the ride or noise objectionable... although the noise was more noticeable on some roads. I also have a 2004 Mercedes E320 and the ride/road noise is about the same. Watch the tire pressures faithfully. Be sure they are set to the mfg recommended tire pressures. My 330xi tire pressures off-the-lot were 5 psi higher than the recommended. As I get more experience, I will report back to this forum. | |
| After two thousand miles on the 06 with RFT, I have worked through my initial dislike of these tires and come to understand it to be the total weight reduction program as the BMW corporate goal. However they certainly could have chosen better RFT than these Bridgestone RL42 which is standard for all 06 series coming to the US at least at this time. These tires do fine on smooth surface on the turnpike. Any variation of pavement other than smooth becomes challenging and the handling deteriorates. Particularly on wet surface, these tires are horrible and sometimes downright dangerous in not keeping on track. I wonder BMW did thorough testing on various road conditions before deciding on these tires. Now I don't even worry about the alleged short tread life of these tires as I look forward to replacing them ASAP. These are the worst performing tires BMW has ever put on their cars! Really a shame as the E90 is such a superb driving machine! | |
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I've got more bad news about the run-flats on the 3-Series. We have a 2006 BMW 330 with the stock Bridgestone run-flats and in addition to all of the other problems that they have, they are also extremely short-lived. My wife’s were toast within 6000 miles. When I complained, Braman BMW asserted that she had probably been doing donuts. We have an infant (he is often in the car) and she is not really the donut type. The head of service for all Braman called be to apologize that they are really made to last all that long – maybe 10,000 to 12,000 miles tops and he admitted that we will probably not be the last to complain that they wear out so quickly. Get used to a $4000/year ($500 x 4 x 2 sets/year) tire budget on a car advertised as having all free maintenance included. Or buy a C-Class. I don’t have the energy or time to sit in the tire department every 6 months. Fall back, get new tires. Spring forward, get new tires. Fall back, get new tires. It’d be ridiculous and exhausting. How weird is it that with this projected lifespan, you might want to rotate them every 5-6 weeks?!? I’m getting new ones because I need my car back, but next time they’re bald I’m trading this rubber-whore on an E-Class. |
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Replying to: jeffersonk (Dec 03, 2005 8:30 am) As a matter of fact there are quite a few RFTs on the market now with some getting good reviews in handling along with good durability and the replacement cost is averaging $200 or less per tire rather than the $300 you have mentioned. If interested, go to Tirerack website and you'll find many replacement possibilities with many rated superior to the Bridgestone RL42. To trade in a car because of the tires seems drastic to me unless you really dislike the car. Also remember this is the trend for all cars, at least those high scale ones, to be equipped with RFT now.
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BMW should match a car with tires that work with the car. I thought all was well and happy at 2,000 miles as well. Just be patient and you too will experience the joys of getting new run-flats by Easter. Undoubtedly the price will come down as demand should trend up dramatically when all of these new 3-Series hit 6000 miles. You are certainly correct that it will cost less if you buy $200 tires and install them yourself. You might even bring your tire budget down to under $2000/year. Yay! That seems reasonable! Yay!
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If you do want to replace them with OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE050A RFTs, you can get a new set at TireRack.com (which often has great prices) for $1106.00 + installation. I should probably just go ahead and set up an account with TireRack. For Christmas this year, I'm signing the wife up for the TireRack "Tire of the Month Club." They are $330 each at Braman, my local BMW hucksters, plus installation.
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