Falken 452 Tyres plus fitting in UK, Best price/place?

[Bradders75]

That's why before getting any tyres fitted, I always ask the fitter if they're confident in fitting without damaging the rims. Not had one damaged yet by someone who said yes! Mind you, I've never had runflats replaced. I'd be absolutely livid if I were you but did you ask the guy before fitting if he could do the job properly?

 

[laurahenley]

To be honest, I was there watching for most of the time and to be fair he was trying to be careful but the tyres were so tight that it was nightmare. He rang another garage for advice and they tipped him off about cutting the beads out from both sides of the tyre with a stanley. This helped the rear wheels not get as damaged (the fronts were done on the machine).

On one hand I was annoyed as the wheels were basically mint and now they're damaged but on the other I was there watching how hard it was for him to do. Maybe i'm just nice (pansy) of a person to call them up on it, he did apologise but then that's not going to fix the damage so at the moment I'm on the fence. I'm just hoping it's not go to be too excessive to get the laquer done and I can swallow putting it down to experience.

 

[Bradders75]

Sounds like you did all you could then. There are obviously places that specialise in getting the RFTs off without damage, so I guess you'll know to ask specifically next time. I bet the poor guy was gutted at spending 3.5 hours if you both agreed a fixed price?!

I don't know if it's possible to just touch up a localised area of laquer damage without it looking a bit rubbish. Hopefully someone who has suffered similar damage can advise you.

I'm bricking it a bit now as I need 4 new tyres myself in the next month!

 

[laurahenley]

The poor guy had his shirt off in the end and also managed to slice a hole in his trousers, he was physically drained from the experience. I even helped out by trying to hold the wheel in place while he tried to cut the tyre off. That's why it was so hard to pull him up on it when the wheels were damaged, if I had walked away and come back 4 hours later with scuffed wheels without knowing what he had gone through I would have complained but I didn't have the heart.

I would have given him a tip if the wheels weren't damaged and still kind of felt bad for not bunging him a few extra quid but the damage is enough that I'd be even more of a mug than I already am.

@Bradders75, just learn from my experiences and make sure they've done RFT with low profile! Good luck

 

[mmm-five]

What would they have done if the tyres were still legal and were just being swapped out for comfort sake? Would they have still recommended cutting them off???

If it had been me, I'd have been off the moment the first tyre became a problem for them :thumbsdown:

I know you're marking it down to experience, but surely they must be held responsible for any damage caused - and they should have insurance to cover this anyway.

 

[IK.]

This concerns me, too. I want to keep my front RFTs, since they have 6mm left on them!!! I'd ideally like to be able to sell them afterwards...

 

[srhutch]

If the fitters know what they are doing they shouldnt cause any damage to the rims and should also be able to remove the existing Runflats without damaging them. My fronts had 5-6mm left so want to keep for resale time.

The fitters I use used to do my local BMW delaers tyres until they built their own facilities, so I have confidence in their abilities. It pays to check that they can remove/refit runflats, as if they havent done them before (which is unlikely I would have thought) or would rather not do them at least you know and can make in informed decision as what to do.

As always cheapest isn't always best.

 

[Bradders75]

The poor guy had his shirt off in the end and also managed to slice a hole in his trousers, he was physically drained from the experience.

That bit cracked me up! I'm not laughing at your misfortune but had a vision of the guy chasing you down the road with a torque wrench if you'd asked for compensation. :lol:

I'm planning to get mine changed at Tyres Northampton who apparently do a lot of the Evo fleet cars, including Harry's Zonda. If they're good enough for him, they should be good enough for my baby. Fingers crossed!

Out if interest, how are you finding the car drives now you've ditched the RFTs? I'm going for a set of Goodyear F1 Assymetrics for £560 fitted.

 

[Bradders75]

As always cheapest isn't always best.

Couldn't agree more. My local KwikFit alloy-scuffers gave the cheapest quote for a set but I factored in the likely cost of a £250 refurb for all 4 wheels and thought better of it.

 

[jdurkin]

Just a note chaps

Tyre places use different tyre machines

Try to find one which uses a machine that has special rollers on that dont damage or mark alloys.
Theres a quick fit by us that will fit your own tyres who use one.
So I guess other quickfits have them.
Sundays the best time to get them fitted (think the boss is off :wink: )

 

[laurahenley]

The poor guy had his shirt off in the end and also managed to slice a hole in his trousers, he was physically drained from the experience.

That bit cracked me up! I'm not laughing at your misfortune but had a vision of the guy chasing you down the road with a torque wrench if you'd asked for compensation. :lol:

I'm planning to get mine changed at Tyres Northampton who apparently do a lot of the Evo fleet cars, including Harry's Zonda. If they're good enough for him, they should be good enough for my baby. Fingers crossed!

Out if interest, how are you finding the car drives now you've ditched the RFTs? I'm going for a set of Goodyear F1 Assymetrics for £560 fitted.

haha, yeah - I didn't fancy a wrench to my face! I found a place that will do a refurb for £40 per wheel so may go that route. Had the tracking done today and with the new tyres the car is awesome. Road noise has dropped right down with roof down, haven't noticed any tram lining (although I haven't gone far yet) and the whole car feels less sluggish and more ready to rip!

Just need to get some tyre gunk now! :!:

 

[laurahenley]

Just a note chaps

Tyre places use different tyre machines

Try to find one which uses a machine that has special rollers on that dont damage or mark alloys.
Theres a quick fit by us that will fit your own tyres who use one.
So I guess other quickfits have them.
Sundays the best time to get them fitted (think the boss is off :wink: )

I'll certainly keep that in mind for next time, his didn't have any rollers - just a piece of metal which came down to the rim and with the tyre being so tight it pulled the metal arm in to the rims on occasion. With rollers I could see it not being a problem, damn! Won't be making that mistake again.

 

[spandexx]

Need to get my bald rear runflats changed, but due to heavy levels of skitness I have a few questions (sorry for the thread hijack):

I want to change them for Falcon non runflats too like the OP. Can i just get the back runflats replaced with Falcons and keep the front runflats on until they need changing? I would have thought that as long as fronts were the same and rears were the same then that should be OK?

I had a puncture in one of my rears and when the tyre monkey was changing it he said i had run flat rims only. Is that bollocks? I have the same rims as in the Z4 in Ozzie's signature and jarjarmustdie's avatar (dont know what they are called).

How does the car know when it has a flat and the runflat light comes on? Will changing the tires affect this widgit?

Will BMW whinge next time the car is in and it is not clad in runflats?

 

[gannet]

Many people have mixed runflats and non runflats with success... just something I wouldnt do...

Wheel design is number 135

Run flat indicator works via ABS sensors so that doesnt care if you have runflats on or not - at least thats the case here in the UK I believe.

BMW should surely only winge if you are asking them to buy the car off you?

 

[srhutch]

Need to get my bald rear runflats changed, but due to heavy levels of skitness I have a few questions (sorry for the thread hijack):

I want to change them for Falcon non runflats too like the OP. Can i just get the back runflats replaced with Falcons and keep the front runflats on until they need changing? I would have thought that as long as fronts were the same and rears were the same then that should be OK?

I had a puncture in one of my rears and when the tyre monkey was changing it he said i had run flat rims only. Is that bollocks? I have the same rims as in the Z4 in Ozzie's signature and jarjarmustdie's avatar (dont know what they are called).

How does the car know when it has a flat and the runflat light comes on? Will changing the tires affect this widgit?

Will BMW whinge next time the car is in and it is not clad in runflats?

BMW have no issue with non runflats and it wont effect any warranty if you have. Also as gannet said ABS sensors contol TPS in UK cars so tyre type is not an issue.

Wouldnt run non frts on rear and rfts on the front though as they are like chalk and cheese in the way they handle.

 

[spandexx]

Sorry to resurect an old thread but I have just had some fun changing my tyres from run flats to Falken's. Because I was only changing the rears SelectaTyre went ape s**t and refused to change them. I had to take the car to my friendly local backstreet indi to get them on the car.

With the few miles i did on the way home the car feels great, less crashy and a better ride. It grips properley in the wet too but that may have something to do with the rears now having some tread on them.

Moral of the story, if you are going to do this check with the fitting garage first that they have the balls to do it.

 

[SittingBull]

If you just use your car on normal roads as most people do, replace your tyres with Falken's or Kumho's for less than half the cost of Conti's/Pirelli's. I have done so for over 20 years & can't see one jot of difference - other than saving shedloads of money.

 

[SittingBull]

Need to get my bald rear runflats changed, but due to heavy levels of skitness I have a few questions (sorry for the thread hijack):

I want to change them for Falcon non runflats too like the OP. Can i just get the back runflats replaced with Falcons and keep the front runflats on until they need changing? I would have thought that as long as fronts were the same and rears were the same then that should be OK?

I had a puncture in one of my rears and when the tyre monkey was changing it he said i had run flat rims only. Is that bollocks? I have the same rims as in the Z4 in Ozzie's signature and jarjarmustdie's avatar (dont know what they are called).

How does the car know when it has a flat and the runflat light comes on? Will changing the tires affect this widgit?

Will BMW whinge next time the car is in and it is not clad in runflats?

BMW have no issue with non runflats and it wont effect any warranty if you have. Also as gannet said ABS sensors contol TPS in UK cars so tyre type is not an issue.

Wouldnt run non frts on rear and rfts on the front though as they are like chalk and cheese in the way they handle.

Crap. You & many others just spout forth what you read on the internet! As long as the tyres on one axle are the same then why is there a "handling" issue? RFT's fitted to one end (front or rear) & "normal" tyres fitted to the other end will make absolutely NO difference unless you drive like an absolute idiot.

 

[sp3ctre]

Crap. You & many others just spout forth what you read on the internet! As long as the tyres on one axle are the same then why is there a "handling" issue? RFT's fitted to one end (front or rear) & "normal" tyres fitted to the other end will make absolutely NO difference unless you drive like an absolute idiot.

Firstly I am getting a little sick of your confrontational attitude on here...

Secondly, don't second guess the level of expertise of fellow forum members. You have no idea of the level of knowledge they have. It has been reported a few times that people did mix RFT's on the reat with NON RFT's on the front (or vice versa) and ended up going back to swap the others because the car handled funny. Not to say that if you drive slow it would be a problem.

This leads me to point three... These are high performance sports cars and as such are capable or high speeds and high speed corners... some people buy them to do that (on or off the track, that's not the point here). Do not assume that people who have bought a Z4 are going to drive like an 80 year old granny... some people push the cars and as such need tyres to suit.

 

[SittingBull]

Crap. You & many others just spout forth what you read on the internet! As long as the tyres on one axle are the same then why is there a "handling" issue? RFT's fitted to one end (front or rear) & "normal" tyres fitted to the other end will make absolutely NO difference unless you drive like an absolute idiot.

Firstly I am getting a little sick of your confrontational attitude on here...

Secondly, don't second guess the level of expertise of fellow forum members. You have no idea of the level of knowledge they have. It has been reported a few times that people did mix RFT's on the reat with NON RFT's on the front (or vice versa) and ended up going back to swap the others because the car handled funny. Not to say that if you drive slow it would be a problem.

This leads me to point three... These are high performance sports cars and as such are capable or high speeds and high speed corners... some people buy them to do that (on or off the track, that's not the point here). Do not assume that people who have bought a Z4 are going to drive like an 80 year old granny... some people push the cars and as such need tyres to suit.

Young man (I am 52) Ban me. You know nothing!!!!