Runflats

R

road warrior

Senior member
 Burton On trent
So tell me.. We all know run flats are a pain in the arse - literally. So how many times have they been of actually use.
IE, how much as my times have you had a flat and you have been grateful you could plod home and the chance to buy another runflat the next day. ?
 
road warrior said:
So tell me.. We all know run flats are a pain in the arse - literally. So how many times have they been of actually use.
IE, how much as my times have you had a flat and you have been grateful you could plod home and the chance to buy another runflat the next day. ?
Click to expand...

To be honest?
Every day my wife goes out in her 2-series and I have peace of mind knowing she can get somewhere safe if she has a puncture.
But personally? Nothing yet........................... searching for wood to touch now!
 
That's my point you see, I agree it's a good idea, but how often does it happen ? Hence the question, who has had it happen and had reason to be grateful ,?
 
I once read somewhere that statistically you can expect a puncture once every 8 years.
Don't know what the assumptions were on mileage, type of driving etc, etc though.

It didn't work out for my wife as she had 3 in 2 to 3 years. She was very considerate though and managed to puncture the most worn tyre every time :D

Having said that, I can't remember the last time I had a puncture, (that's done it now! :() so maybe the statistic is right :wink:
 
We had a puncture in our 330d on the way to the Lakes as we crossed the Pennines on the A66 right in the middle of nowhere. We carried on driving carefully to Keswick, a good 50 miles or so. The car had only covered a couple of thousand miles from new but we needed a new tyre £210. It was four wheel drive and we were warned by the tyre fitter that there mustn’t be more than a few mms. difference in tread between tyres on the same axle otherwise we would need a second tyre. The computer on the car warns you if there is a problem. Fortunately we were OK and got away with buying just the one tyre. So we did benefit from having run flats in that we were able to complete the journey but the garages are not keen to repair them in case there is hidden damage because you have driven on them. So it proved a bit expensive.
 
I was really glad my 123d had them when I got a puncture on the way to work while it was snowing in January 2010 - just carried on then went out a lunch-time and got 4 new tyres fitted. At 30K miles it was due some anyway!

Next time I got a puncture in it was in January 2013, and once more it was snowing! I was only a few miles from home so drove home and checked the pressures to see which one it was, and it hadn't lost much.

So next day I pumped it right up and took it the 8 miles or so to my regular tyre place and they were able to repair it for £10. Result - I got another 12K miles out of it. :)

Even so, I'd much rather have non-RFTs and a full size spare wheel as well as somewhere to put it.

In my 5 years of Z4 ownership (all on RFTs) no punctures so far - so now it'll probably happen next time I use it! :roll:
 
In about 11 years between me and the mrs we have had 3 punctures, once in my car and twice in hers and one of those was a nail found during a routine check the pressure wasn't dropping so the car was still being driven so not technically stranded.
 
Had two punctures, one either side of the Christmas just gone, both times the tyre just gave up and fell apart, had to stop and get the AA man/woman out.

Both were quite serious tares in the tread though rather than screw/nails, and both were at 70+mph, so possibly they stopped a more serious accident as I was able to slow down and pull over without much more than a loud bang/hiss. Handling was still OK but once I looked at them from the outside there was no way I was going any further on them. :driving:
 
Got one last year on my 4 series at xmas. Didn't realise you were only meant to do 50 miles max before replacing. I did over 100 and it was sounding bad. But it gave me time to get a new tyre without messing about at the side of the road.
 
Over 10 years of driving, I have had one puncture which was a few weeks ago in my E91 with runflats. It was more a tyre failure, which resulted in very sudden pressure loss at national speed limit, and I was thankful to have the runflats, as I subsequently nursed it to the petrol station 5 or so miles up the road.

However, it was a Sunday, so couldn't get to a tyre shop to get a new one, and nearly had to be towed from Dorset up to Nottingham. In the end I borrowed a space saver from AA, and drove back to Nottingham at 50mph with my offending tyre/wheel in the boot. In short, I don't think there's ever a replacement for 'normal' tyres and a spare.

In all, do I think runflats are handy in the worst case scenario? Yes. Is the worst case scenario likely? No. Even with runflats, you can still be in the position I was in.

Armed with all this information, I still opted to replace all 4 tyres with a set of Toyo Proxes non-runflat. They are about half the price and offer a number of improvements to ride quality. In doing so, just make sure you have a puncture kit or breakdown cover and you should be good to go.
 
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