Run Flat Tires

It is BMW part number 71106773536. It's kind of expensive, but it is a nice compact jack and lug wrench in a bag. In the E90, I stuff it under the trunk floor panel.

At Tischer BMW, www.getbmwparts.com, it is $130 (BMWNA list is $162.50). I think I paid a bit less than this last year for it, but I can't recall. Go to the "shop parts" section and put in that part number. If you're not familiar with Tischer's online parts site, it is a great place to buy OE BMW parts at very good discounts. You can see the real BMWNA MSRP for parts there too (to see how much your local dealer marks up the list price).

In my case, the tire was shredded. The inner sidewall had a rip about 6 inches long. No sealant or pump would have helped one bit if I had been on a road trip. If I had a 3, I would go with a sealant/pump and hope beyond all hope that it's just a very simple puncture and not a rip like the one my tire had.

Ironically, since getting two new rear tires on my 535i, the handling has gone from BMW-good to Lexus LS-bad. I only have a couple of hundred miles on the tires but on offramps where I used to go around without any issues at 50mph, I now have the traction control light coming on (and the car immediately jerking as it automatically slows down) while attempting the offramps at the same speed. I'm hoping that as the tires wear in a bit that this will go away. I really, really hate these runflat pieces of Scheiße!

So with a sidewall tear with either type of tire and you're down?

True. But Audi and MB give you a spare tire in their A4 and C class. Why can't BMW do the same for the 3 series? Like I said, the spare tire was one of the main reasons I chose a 5 over a 3 (I personally prefer the way the 335i drives over the 535i).

Oh I'm with you all the way, I'd rather have regular tires and a spare. I'm just asking questions to learn about experiences people have had with flats with run flats to help me decide which way to go on my 3 when the time comes.

And another thing - how about no dipstick? - oh don't get me started! I do like the computer monitoring system, but I'd love to have a stick as well for piece of mind.

It's sad that BMW is being run mostly by beancounters now. Whereas before you could see the incredible engineering that went into the cars to make them run for hundreds of thousands of miles, now you only see the lease market as their main target. Basically make the car free to maintain during the life of the lease and afterwards it's someone else's problem - certainly not BMW's. Oil changes every 15K miles? Lifetime fluids for the transmission and differential? Lack of dipstick? That's insane.

Not to mention stupid things like I-drive, while great while it's working and under warranty, what will happen when the car is 10 or 15 years old, I-drive breaks and you lose access to HVAC settings, radio settings, etc.? When I sold our 1984 733i in 2001, it was still rock solid (not a rattle or squeak anywhere), everything worked flawlessly and the car felt as solid as the day we bought it in 1983. That car could have easily gone another 300K miles without any major expenses. Should anything have broken, it was so easy to fix or replace that it was no big deal. I do not see the current crop of BMWs (Z4 and I-drive-less 3 series being the probable exceptions) being so easy to live with 17 years from now.

Yeah, truly sad. However, they are getting what they asked for. They have evolved into a typical "modern MBA" run company that only pays homage to past success because they feel they have to. The reward structure in "modern MBA" run companies has been such that, as always, what's rewarded is what gets done. Reward employees with stock options that incent them to go for near term profits, and you get many years of accomplishment and corporate good will extracted from a company over a short period of time to accomplish that short term goal. In the meantime, few if any are looking at the big picture and the long term (as we've seen the past 18 months in many industries). How else do we end up with a 3500+ lbs M3? How else does the new Z4 end up weighing 500 lbs more than the prior one? Insane stuff. Perhaps 15 years from now there will be iDrive gurus who can maintain/repair this stuff, and the aftermarket will be alive with rebuilt transmissions and differentials due to the stupid "lifetime" fluid policy. On the E90 (non-M3) differential, they have even eliminated the drain plug so you can't easily change the fluid.

Like so many other members, I too have not felt comfortable in my E90 with run-flats and no spare. So I ordered the option 2 kit from LeatherZ. It arrived today and I thought I'd try everything out. The smallish jack worked okay but the lug bolts must have been installed by a 500 pound gorilla. The bolts were torqued so tight that I could not loosen them with the small lug wrench provided in the kit. I'll be shopping tomorrow for a heftier lug wrench tomorrow......

Continued from yesterday. I bought the larger lug wrench and a small section of iron pipe. Was able to break loose the lug bolts on my 08 335xi. Then, I found the wheels stuck to the hubs (as many others have reported). I tried several of the earlier suggestions and found the best way to break the wheel loose from the hub was to remove all the lugs, then to hit the tire with the spare tire. It's rubber on rubber so won't do any damage. After a couple good whacks around the tire, each of my stuck wheels broke free. I think this method is much better than the other solutions.
Installed the spare wheel I bought from LeatherZ. All worked well so I now will feel a bit more comfortable on long trips. When I took off all 4 tires I added some anti-sieze to the hubs after I had cleaned them. Wasn't my favorite way to spend a Saturday afternoon but I am now ready for some long trips.......

We just received a notice from Paragon that they are canceling our policy and that they no longer cover Audi, BMW, Cooper, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz and Porsche.

The Bridgestone run flats on my wife's 2006 CPO 325i sport package were shot at about 15K. Ever since she got the car she had been complaining about poor ride and the car wanting to follow every groove or depression in the pavement. After researching on TireRack.com, I bought Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus. They are ultra high performance all season with a 500 tread wear rating. The change was immediate and amazing. It is like having a brand new car. I would recommend abandoning the rfts at the first opportunity, and also recommend the Michelins.

wes,

I finally got around to checking with LeatherZ. I needed the option 3 as mine is a 2008 328i sedan. Their website indicated they were out of stock so I emailed Andy Maddux (I assume he is the owner). The guy responded kindly and promptly acknowledging he was out of stock and had them backordered. He assured me he would let me know if he got them in. However, he implied he may never get them. Anyone got any ideas about other sources for a space saver spare that properly fits an E90?

I don't know if I'm going to go with non flats at this point or not but I'm going to order the spare tire kit with net from Tischer BMW.
The only thing that bothers me is the jack is for a E60.
Would that jack work on a E90?
Here's a pic of the set up from a guy on a E90 forum.

http://www.trademotion.com/partloca...fo&PartID=766537&siteid=214672&catalogid=4462

Glad the run-flats are gone

Had a Bridgestone run-flat disintegrate on our '04 530i Sport Package coming home from a trip on a Sunday. Sidewall near the tread failed. Had to spend the night to get a new run-flat from the warehouse the next day. Total cost about $550 between tire, hotel and meals. I decided right then I would ditch the run-flats when it was time for tires. When the tires were removed to mount the RE960AS Pole Positions, the run-flat that had been replaced was also failing in the same area of the sidewall. I was fortunate I didn't have another catastrophic failure. Therefore, our BMW will never again have run-flats. Air pump and patches are in the trunk. Plus, the noise from the run-flats were ridiculous, not to mention the harsh ride. The RE960s ride like a dream and I've found I haven't lost any cornering ability (i.e. my wife still screams "I'm not going to let you drive my car if you do that again" when I go through an S curve on our way to one of our favorite restaurants). This car sure is fun to drive!!!

Did it look like this? This is one of the original Dunlops that came with our 535i, thankfully BMW engineers had not totally lost their minds and designed the E60 to be equipped with a spare tire.

I bought from TireRack.com a set of 4 Goodyear Eagle GT XL (225/40ZR-18) and put them on 18x8 ASA AR1 BLK MA LP wheels. I drive ~45,000 miles a year and needed to be able to rotate them, as well as getting good tread life.

I was surprised at the agressive tread for all weather and equally surprised that they hold the road very well. The rep at TireRack said they are rated for 40K miles. I've only gone about 5000 miles thus far and they look good.

As a side note, I've gotten mixed information about putting non-run-flat tires on stock BMW wheels. BMW says no, but the TireRack said yes. I opted for new wheels because I had existing Blizzak tires LM-60 tires (awesome!) in this size. Plus, the wheels I removed were larger in the rear and couldn't be rotated.

BMW says no because the car is designed for runflats (i.e., has no spare) and switching to non-runflats amounts to an aftermarket modification, the stock response to which is "it's your car, your risk but we don't recommend it." Tire Rack says yes because the tires will fit and perform as intended; whether you have a spare is your concern.

Enjoy the new boots.

If looking for a mobility kit, I suggest getting the Slime Smart Spare from WalMart for about $20. It includes an air compressor and bottle of slime that can help get you on your way. It's a better deal than the ContiComfort Kit that costs $79 at TireRack.

On my 2008 Z4, I just replaced my Bridgestone Potenza RFT's with non-RFT Michelin Pilot Sport A/S plus. They were shipped from Tire rack to the BMW dealer and installed there. They did express any concerns with installing the non RFT's on the BMW wheels and had previously offered to sell me a different brand of non-RFT tires, but I wanted to go with the Michelins.

So far, great ride and lower noise level.