Non RFT’s wreck handling?

[Calverz]

Hi,

Sorry if this has come up before but today I went to get some Michelin PS5’s on my 2.5i z4 e85. Before I left them to change the tyres, they told me that because the car was designed to have run flat tyres, the handling would be “wrecked” by putting normal tyres on. I asked what they mean by wrecked and they said it will feel looser in the steering.

Is this right? As everywhere Iv looked online about this says the ride is much more comfortable and handling is improved? When I said this the guy basically said they are putting normals on because it’s cheaper. Just looking for advice on this. As I don’t want to make the car unsafe to drive.

 

[enuff_zed]

Hi,

Sorry if this has come up before but today I went to get some Michelin PS5’s on my 2.5i z4 e85. Before I left them to change the tyres, they told me that because the car was designed to have run flat tyres, the handling would be “wrecked” by putting normal tyres on. I asked what they mean by wrecked and they said it will feel looser in the steering.

Is this right? As everywhere Iv looked online about this says the ride is much more comfortable and handling is improved? When I said this the guy basically said they are putting normals on because it’s cheaper. Just looking for advice on this. As I don’t want to make the car unsafe to drive.

Glad they didn't say that to me! I would still be laughing derisorily as I drove my car to a different tyre fitters.

 

[B21]

PS5 outstanding choice..I ride in an E85M ..only been up to 120mph, but on PS5s..sound as a pound!

 

[Calverz]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was worrying quite a bit about it lol. I thought I had missed something major. My current run flats are hard and the tramlining is annoying as hell

 

[Nanu]

PS5 outstanding choice..I ride in an E85M ..only been up to 120mph, but on PS5s..sound as a pound!

You forgot to mention that 125mph was not on a public road of course

 

[B21]

PS5 outstanding choice..I ride in an E85M ..only been up to 120mph, but on PS5s..sound as a pound!

You forgot to mention that 125mph was not on a public road of course

Of course..it was on a private road called Scotland and it was 120 mph not 125 mph..don't exaggerate!-

 

[RMB]

They were just trying to sell more expensive rft’s perhaps.
My E82 was transformed when I went from RE050 rft to MPS4.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Just don't buy tyres from that place then!

I like to think BMW had some idea of what they were doing when they supplied their quickest E85/86s (MR and MC) on normal tyres. And they work fine at 3 figure speeds on B21s private road.

 

[tiglon]

The amount of nonsense I've been told by garages over the years... is why I drive 2 hours to get my car looked after by people who at least sound like they know what they're doing.

"These tyres you've ordered will catch on the suspension" - no they won't, the wheels have a lower offset than standard and the tyres aren't any wider. And I've measured.

"Your front brake pads will need changing very soon, shall we book you in?" - erm, no thanks, just the tyre change as requested please, because I had the car inspected last week and it's pretty clear they've got 10,000 miles left minimum.

"It took longer to change your springs because your car is the MSport" - speechless.

"It took longer to change your springs because your car has complicated suspension due to the size of the engine. Imagine an engine that size in a Golf, it'd go straight into a ditch" - those R32 with bigger engines seem to stay on the road ok.

"Your brakes are juddery because the brand new discs are not OEM" - I doubt it, but go on then let's try, just to prove you wrong. New OEM discs fitted, still juddery. I &%£#ING TOLD YOU SO.

Sorry, got a bit carried away there... but the point is, sometimes garages tell you bollocks because they haven't got a clue, sometimes because they're lazy, and sometimes because they think you're stupid and they can get more money out of you.

 

[MikeyH]

The amount of nonsense I've been told by garages over the years... is why I drive 2 hours to get my car looked after by people who at least sound like they know what they're doing.

"These tyres you've ordered will catch on the suspension" - no they won't, the wheels have a lower offset than standard and the tyres aren't any wider. And I've measured.

"Your front brake pads will need changing very soon, shall we book you in?" - erm, no thanks, just the tyre change as requested please, because I had the car inspected last week and it's pretty clear they've got 10,000 miles left minimum.

"It took longer to change your springs because your car is the MSport" - speechless.

"It took longer to change your springs because your car has complicated suspension due to the size of the engine. Imagine an engine that size in a Golf, it'd go straight into a ditch" - those R32 with bigger engines seem to stay on the road ok.

"Your brakes are juddery because the brand new discs are not OEM" - I doubt it, but go on then let's try, just to prove you wrong. New OEM discs fitted, still juddery. I &%£#ING TOLD YOU SO.

Sorry, got a bit carried away there... but the point is, sometimes garages tell you bollocks because they haven't got a clue, sometimes because they're lazy, and sometimes because they think you're stupid and they can get more money out of you.

Tyre companies are the worse at this.

 

[Pondrew]

Tyre companies are the worse at this.

I asked my local (national franchise) tyre garage if they could fit tyres on wire wheels a few weeks ago.
The first response was "what's a wire wheel"?
So I explained.
The second response was "dunno, but we'll give it a go".

I will take my expensive wire wheels elsewhere, thanks.

Another local tyre garage owner (independent) spent about five minutes telling me how I must tell my insurance if they fit non-RFTs to my daughter's Mini. I told him to fit the tyres and mind his own business. The irony is he fitted the cheapest, nastiest 'ditch finders' but never mentioned they could be crap. :lol:

 

[MikeyH]

Of course this is what happens when you get rid of proper apprenticeships.

 

[Gebbly]

I once needed an MOT on a sunday whilst on holiday as I had forgotten and left it so late. Took the car to a nearby Kwik-fit. MOT passed. I drove out of the garage and onto the dual-carriageway and immediately noticed that to drive straight the wheel had to be turned slightly to the left. Took it straight back and asked them to correct whatever they had done. Their response was of course "It wasnt us, you must have done something." They however agreed to look at it and it was shortly fixed. One and only time I went to a Kwik-fit for anything.

 

[Chippie]

Speaking of MOT’s, years ago I had a voucher for a half price MOT, unfortunately my headlights needed adjusting to pass, which just happened to cost the same as the voucher, never went there again.

 

[tiglon]

I once needed an MOT on a sunday whilst on holiday as I had forgotten and left it so late. Took the car to a nearby Kwik-fit. MOT passed. I drove out of the garage and onto the dual-carriageway and immediately noticed that to drive straight the wheel had to be turned slightly to the left. Took it straight back and asked them to correct whatever they had done. Their response was of course "It wasnt us, you must have done something." They however agreed to look at it and it was shortly fixed. One and only time I went to a Kwik-fit for anything.

That's eerily familiar. I took a car to KwikFit for an MOT once too. Drove in fine, after picking up it overheated within 2 miles. Took it back "no not us, nothing to do with us, can't even see a problem" but miraculously the problem was mysteriously solved.

Similar thing happened with an indy once - they had left the cap off. They drove out to me to sort it with a new cap and apologised.

Mistakes happen, it's how you deal with it that matters.

 

[Gebbly]

Mistakes happen, it's how you deal with it that matters.

This is the all important. I wouldnt have minded but it was the fact that they denied it and then tried to blame me. I've had problems with companies before. The ones that are courteous and resolve things without complaint I still do business with, the others, never again.

 

[coldel]

Its why I take no notice of reviews where everything went fine but look harder at those where they didnt and how things panned out. Its a joke when you see people give a glowing 5 star review for a company delivering a pack of bolts in the post, like they did exactly what you paid them for and it was pretty simple and easy to do. Its when things go wrong and how they engage their brains and problem solve outside of the day to day routine they do that gives you much more insight and if they are actually worth 5 stars.

On the issue of the original post, I see this a lot, you go to a regular tyre fitter who's customer base is joe public coming in with boring cars that just need like for like or OEM replacements, and have littler or no understanding of the nuances of specific models - they think the rules apply broad brush, but they dont. If you try to educate them, of course they get all uppity and tell you to go elsewhere, and thats the right thing to do, but not because they told you to :rofl:

 

[BMWZ4MC]

I once needed an MOT on a sunday whilst on holiday as I had forgotten and left it so late. Took the car to a nearby Kwik-fit. MOT passed. I drove out of the garage and onto the dual-carriageway and immediately noticed that to drive straight the wheel had to be turned slightly to the left. Took it straight back and asked them to correct whatever they had done. Their response was of course "It wasnt us, you must have done something." They however agreed to look at it and it was shortly fixed. One and only time I went to a Kwik-fit for anything.

When I was a student I had new front tyres fitted by KwiklyF*ct. They forgot to torque up the wheel bolts. Fortunately, I noticed the strange knocking noise and unusual “looseness” to the steering before either of the wheels parted company with the car. I’ve not been back.

 

[abar121]

Lol, it's always like this at Costco. Always a commotion and always some useless 'advice' to hand out!

I remember having this conversation a few years ago at another genius bar. The tyres I wanted for the zed were only available in an MO or Mercedes OEM fitment, on the back.

The conversation went like this:

"er, these are for a Mercedes mate". I replied,"yeah I know."
"your car ain't a Merc, it's a Beemer". Yeah, just fit the fcukers.
"Well I'll have to talk to the boss"..

15 mins later they were fitted. God damm it!

 

[MikeyH]

Lol, it's always like this at Costco. Always a commotion and always some useless 'advice' to hand out!

I remember having this conversation a few years ago at another genius bar. The tyres I wanted for the zed were only available in an MO or Mercedes OEM fitment, on the back.

The conversation went like this:

"er, these are for a Mercedes mate". I replied,"yeah I know."
"your car ain't a Merc, it's a Beemer". Yeah, just fit the fcukers.
"Well I'll have to talk to the boss"..

15 mins later they were fitted. God damm it!

:rofl: