Insurance and non-run flat tyres

J

Jasonn

Member
Good evening all,

In this quarantined state, I've washed and waxed the zed (and the X3) and checked the tyres.

Zed had new Potenzas fitted to the front by the dealer when I picked her up in November, the rears are beginning to look like the love children of Kojak, still just about legal though.

Looking at various tyre shops non-rft are cheaper but Nationwide says on their website that changing from RF to non-RF can have insurance implications. I can't get through to Hastings for a definite answer, but has anyone done anything similar (identical size, profile and rating)?

Cheers
Jas
 
Insurance don’t care. Tell them if you like, it’s always good to be honest with them. As long as they are BS / E marked tyres (you won’t find any that aren’t) then they are fine.
What wheel size do you have?
 
I have a vehicle that is insured and have full NCB on it, but I also have a separate insurance policy on my motorbike, which I have now sold can I use the NCB I built on my motorbike to go towards insuring a Z4
 
mikenico said:
I have a vehicle that is insured and have full NCB on it, but I also have a separate insurance policy on my motorbike, which I have now sold can I use the NCB I built on my motorbike to go towards insuring a Z4
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That’s up to the insurance co, best contact them & ask.
Rob
 
Pedantically, since the tyres you are fitting are not approved by BMW, then it is a non approved modification and therefore amongst other things you should inform the insurance company.

From a practical viewpoint there are other views.

If it was an aircraft and the aircraft was ramp checked it would be the basis for a finding...

I appreciate its a degree of pedantism

For the record I informed my insurance company on all 3 cars we have..but then again I do operate as a ‘post holder’ in aviation and want to be seen as an exemplar...

Bad news if you are responsible for the safety of others and you do not follow the law, best practice and acceptable means of compliance and alternative means of compliance :thumbsup: :evil: :headbang: :tumbleweed:
 
I informed LV Insurance that I was putting non-rft and non-oem alloys and they just noted it on the policy but no additional charge. I know with a previous insurer they wanted to add 10% for the alloys.
 
Fitting run flats on one axle and normal on the other is an issue.
On my 23i I bought two pilot sport 4 for the rear as they wear out first, guy checked the car and said no way we will not fit them.
I took it to another two dealers who told me the same, so back to asda tyres for two fronts as well.

And for gods sake dont buy potenza tyres, they are 50% teflon or similar, got them on my 35i.
 
mcbutler said:
Fitting run flats on one axle and normal on the other is an issue.
On my 23i I bought two pilot sport 4 for the rear as they wear out first, guy checked the car and said no way we will not fit them.
I took it to another two dealers who told me the same, so back to asda tyres for two fronts as well.

And for gods sake dont buy potenza tyres, they are 50% teflon or similar, got them on my 35i.
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I'd have to agree about the Potenzas, got them on a spare set of wheels in non runflat form and they're god awful compared to the goodyears I have on my main set
 
Lazza said:
Insurance don’t care. Tell them if you like, it’s always good to be honest with them. As long as they are BS / E marked tyres (you won’t find any that aren’t) then they are fine.
What wheel size do you have?
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I'm running on 17 inch rims, 245/45
 
Pbondar said:
Pedantically, since the tyres you are fitting are not approved by BMW, then it is a non approved modification and therefore amongst other things you should inform the insurance company.

From a practical viewpoint there are other views.

If it was an aircraft and the aircraft was ramp checked it would be the basis for a finding...

I appreciate its a degree of pedantism

For the record I informed my insurance company on all 3 cars we have..but then again I do operate as a ‘post holder’ in aviation and want to be seen as an exemplar...

Bad news if you are responsible for the safety of others and you do not follow the law, best practice and acceptable means of compliance and alternative means of compliance :thumbsup: :evil: :headbang: :tumbleweed:
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I'm in a similar position where I can't be seen to compromise H&S (an Environmental Health Officer and I've been a consultant on H&S for larger organisations) so any negative publicity for me would be "problematic"
 
Looking at it in more detail, I'm favouring the Goodyear asymmetrics (years ago though that the original eagles back in the late 80s were great) - the Bridgestone potenzas don't seem to have any redeeming features (early 90s I had a Bridgestone come off the rim when I went round a corner too fast and ive never liked them since).

My question now is whether I should get the 94y as opposed to 91y - is the stiffer sidewall worth it on the Zed or won't I notice much of a difference in road driving?

To be honest I've given up driving like a d**k everywhere but still enjoy the occasional play when the road is empty (as well all do, otherwise we wouldn't drive fun cars)
 
Jasonn said:
Looking at it in more detail, I'm favouring the Goodyear asymmetrics (years ago though that the original eagles back in the late 80s were great) - the Bridgestone potenzas don't seem to have any redeeming features (early 90s I had a Bridgestone come off the rim when I went round a corner too fast and ive never liked them since).

My question now is whether I should get the 94y as opposed to 91y - is the stiffer sidewall worth it on the Zed or won't I notice much of a difference in road driving?

To be honest I've given up driving like a d**k everywhere but still enjoy the occasional play when the road is empty (as well all do, otherwise we wouldn't drive fun cars)
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If you can afford it Pilot sport 4 or 4s are the best choice.
 
Jasonn said:
My question now is whether I should get the 94y as opposed to 91y - is the stiffer sidewall worth it on the Zed or won't I notice much of a difference in road driving?
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Is there actually a choice in any given size?
 
Lazza said:
Jasonn said:
My question now is whether I should get the 94y as opposed to 91y - is the stiffer sidewall worth it on the Zed or won't I notice much of a difference in road driving?
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Is there actually a choice in any given size?
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Yep, many of the tyre suppliers such as black circles list the 94s above the 91s, there's only a couple of quid difference between them, but the 94 is a higher load weighting, so might be stiffer - I just do t want to swap out the potenza runflats with something that isn't much better
 
i think you'd have to be a professional tyre tester to be able to tell the difference between and 91 and 94 load rating on an otherwise identical tyre... personally i'd stay with how michelin designed them - 94 for heavier cars, 91 for lighter cars. a non-RF michelin willl be miles better than a RF potenza regardless of whether its 91 or 94.
 
Interesting thread, can I ask (I'm new to Z4's and run flats) are run flats better or worse than non run flats? Yes I understand if I get a flat tyre but is there a noticeable difference. Also I've only just got my Z and noticed that the front tyres are bigger than the rear, is this safe?
 
Andyhunn said:
Interesting thread, can I ask (I'm new to Z4's and run flats) are run flats better or worse than non run flats? Yes I understand if I get a flat tyre but is there a noticeable difference. Also I've only just got my Z and noticed that the front tyres are bigger than the rear, is this safe?
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Most people who swap to non-runflats find the ride quality much better and experience far less tram-lining on the front.

Your set up sounds wrong. Typically wheels up to 17" have the same width rims front and rear with the same tyre sizes.

18" wheels tend to have wider rear rims, and therefore tyres, than the front. Might someone have fitted the wheels on the wrong ends on your car?
 
I wondered that, the garage I bought it from replaced the rear tyres for the mot but have now closed due the covid issues so I can't talk to them. :(
 
Andyhunn said:
I wondered that, the garage I bought it from replaced the rear tyres for the mot but have now closed due the covid issues so I can't talk to them. :(
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The Z4 is rear wheel drive, so the wider tyres would go on the back, performance front wheel drives would have all four corners the same so that they don't look "odd" and so that the back doesn't end up tail happy.

If you want to check (I am a bit "belt and braces" - hence my post) then Kwik Fit, Halfords etc, have an on line "tyre finder" which will confirm that the wider ones go on the back

I'd put the wider ones on the rear once you've reassured yourself that it's wide ones at the back and find a different garage - they would have given you that info as a bit of advice even if it isn't an MOTable item (I don't know if that falls under the MOT test)
 
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