Sticks, I agree, plenty people on here and other forums are running normal tyres for years on these wheels.
Tires
- Thread starter 20ducks
- Start date
One thing that those in the UK should be careful about is insurance. Its possible that changing from runflats to normal tyres could be seen as a modification. There are plenty of examples of people with even simple mods like fitting Xenon lights having claims rejected. They seem particularly wary of suspension mods and tyres could be put into that category by them. I also run a Porsche 993 with various mods and updated my insurance company on them, they were fine with the changes and didnt actually increase the annual policy amount by much but its peace of mind to know you are covered. The trigger for this was one of the Porsche forum guys coming unstuck with suspension mods.
Didnt Auto Express run a recent test comparing run flats to non run flats with cars designed for the former and came out showing that the run flats were generally better on things like braking distance?
Didnt Auto Express run a recent test comparing run flats to non run flats with cars designed for the former and came out showing that the run flats were generally better on things like braking distance?
Andy said:whilst we're on tyres:
I bought 2) Vredesteins.. £529 all round and love them.. very predictable, grippy, nice big lip over the alloys and sexy Guigario designed tread
Because of:
EVO Magazine 2007 Tyre Test
The excellent guys at Evo Magazine have just published the results of their 2007 tyre test.
They scored each tyre in 5 categories - wet handling, aqua planing, braking, dry handling and a road test to judge comfort. They also back up the raw time data with subjective reviews on how the tyres felt which counted for 40% of the score.
The results:
1 ) Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric
2 ) Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta
3 ) Continental Contisport Contact 3
4 ) Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A
5 ) Michelin Pilot Sport PS2
6 ) Pirelli PZero Nero
7 ) Kumho Ecsta STP KU31
8 ) Dunlop Sport Maxx
9 ) Yokohama S.Drive
If you'd like to read the full article pick up issue 110 of Evo Magazine.
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2007-evo-tyre-test.htm
Are we supposed to pay any attention to that list if... of all the tyres in production... the Potenzas come fourth!!!!
The Potenza RE050-A as a non RFT is an excellent tire. I had them on my old Honda S2000 and absolutely loved them both as a summer performance street tire as well as out on the track.
For me that was the biggest disappointment with the RFT version that came with my Z4 - I could not believe how a tire that was so nice could turn into such a worthless piece of junk when it became an RFT.
For me that was the biggest disappointment with the RFT version that came with my Z4 - I could not believe how a tire that was so nice could turn into such a worthless piece of junk when it became an RFT.
induscreed
New member
I currently have a 3.0i Z4/Sport with 18 inch ellipsoid wheels. The Z4's come standard with the expensive RFT's. That being said, a tire had a flat this weekend. Thanks to the RFT set up, I drove it around a good 3-4 miles to compare prices on new tires. The two shops I approached would not touch the RFT's given (how difficult it was to remove). NTB had a $15 Difficult Installation charge for each wheel. Given I had no intention of replacing the flat tires with RFT's (plus all tires were due to replaced soon..) I asked for a 4 tires quote from NTB.
*NTB'S quote was $1407 (incl. labor) for 4 Michelin Pilot All seasons incl. the aforementioned $15 charge per wheel.
*Given I had trouble digesting the quote, I called Tires Plus. They had a set of 2 Falken's ZIEX 912's for $139 each (not Incl. labor), these tires were All season performance tires and had a good reviews online. Given they were not charging me $15 like NTB, I decided to pounce on it and had them installed.
*I went home and found a set for the rears (Falken 512's) for $160 each incl. free shipping at discounttiredirect.com
All summed up...when it comes to tires shop around esp. online. Total cost to have all 4 tires replaced (w/non-RFT's) = $750 (Incl. labor)
Performance= Spades better than the standard ridiculous heavy Bridgestone's RFT's. Downside, if the Non-RFT's puncture-call a tow truck (still cheaper than getting a new RFT)
*NTB'S quote was $1407 (incl. labor) for 4 Michelin Pilot All seasons incl. the aforementioned $15 charge per wheel.
*Given I had trouble digesting the quote, I called Tires Plus. They had a set of 2 Falken's ZIEX 912's for $139 each (not Incl. labor), these tires were All season performance tires and had a good reviews online. Given they were not charging me $15 like NTB, I decided to pounce on it and had them installed.
*I went home and found a set for the rears (Falken 512's) for $160 each incl. free shipping at discounttiredirect.com
All summed up...when it comes to tires shop around esp. online. Total cost to have all 4 tires replaced (w/non-RFT's) = $750 (Incl. labor)
Performance= Spades better than the standard ridiculous heavy Bridgestone's RFT's. Downside, if the Non-RFT's puncture-call a tow truck (still cheaper than getting a new RFT)
I have just emailed my insurer regarding changing to non-runflats (swift)
Response:
"as long as the tyres are designed to be used with the vehicle and approved by the vehicle manufacturer then we are fine to cover"
So in other words i have to stick with the runshats for a year before i can change my insurer. This seems crazy to me as how many cars run on none approved tyres, and ditch finders from china!!!
I hate that bmw force us to use these awful tyres
Response:
"as long as the tyres are designed to be used with the vehicle and approved by the vehicle manufacturer then we are fine to cover"
So in other words i have to stick with the runshats for a year before i can change my insurer. This seems crazy to me as how many cars run on none approved tyres, and ditch finders from china!!!
I hate that bmw force us to use these awful tyres
Phone and speak to them and explain what you're wanting to do. At first my insurer didn't understand what I meant by changing thte tyres from runflats and I had to explain what they are.Monkey3.0 said:I have just emailed my insurer regarding changing to non-runflats (swift)
Response:
"as long as the tyres are designed to be used with the vehicle and approved by the vehicle manufacturer then we are fine to cover"
So in other words i have to stick with the runshats for a year before i can change my insurer. This seems crazy to me as how many cars run on none approved tyres, and ditch finders from china!!!
I hate that bmw force us to use these awful tyres
That's the first time I've heard of an insurer refusing to cover non-runflats
Monkey3.0 said:I have just emailed my insurer regarding changing to non-runflats (swift)
Response:
"as long as the tyres are designed to be used with the vehicle and approved by the vehicle manufacturer then we are fine to cover"
So in other words i have to stick with the runshats for a year before i can change my insurer. This seems crazy to me as how many cars run on none approved tyres, and ditch finders from china!!!
I hate that bmw force us to use these awful tyres
Time to change your insurer perhaps.
Good news
I sent a challenging e/mail to swift questioning the decision and have now received this back
"i can confirm that we would be able to provide cover for the vehicle if the tyres are changed to a normal type and not the BMW runflats. As long as the tyre is road legal then we can provide cover"
Happy days
I sent a challenging e/mail to swift questioning the decision and have now received this back
"i can confirm that we would be able to provide cover for the vehicle if the tyres are changed to a normal type and not the BMW runflats. As long as the tyre is road legal then we can provide cover"
Happy days