The dealer SA said the rep drove it. At speed? Only the rep knows for sure. Not only did he not allow me to ride he apparently avoided me, even though I asked to speak with him when I arrived. Very disappointing! It comes across as BMW not caring about customers. WOW.
I don't know if it would help or accomplish anything, you might consider contacting the club ombudsman, who might have some suggestions about pursuing the matter further, or at least relaying your disappointment with your experience with the regional representative. You weren't asking much, and how much effort could it have possibly taken for the rep to have a conversation with you while he was there, even if all he could tell you was that he can't hear what you're hearing. He really blew a chance to positively represent BMW there and at least try to maintain goodwill; you deserve better treatment as a customer and owner. It's that type of callousness that really damaged BMW's customer service reputation a long time ago, a shame to see a resurgence, even if only in one instance. Sounds like you're quite a distance from a dealer, so the thought of finding another club member in your area with the same car for a comparison drive, or swapping out runflats for non-rft's or a different type of tire from another friend or member's car might not be plausible - just wondering if any local club members or resources might be available. Try googling for your issues, maybe something like "BMW F10 wind noise" and see what comes up - there are many internet BMW forums, that might get you to finding others with a similar issue or experience. I guess there is some logic to the recirc idea - cutting the incoming airflow apparently reduces the air pressure in the cabin. Makes you wonder what effect having the interior under total vacuum would have - unfortunately, being in a NASA spacesuit & helmet to survive the experience probably would negate the ability to hear anything, never mind any difference or improvement. Scratch that idea!
Contacting the ombudsman is a really good suggestion. I'll start there. Yes, let's not do to the vacuum thing. I googled the issue and found the same concerns on some forums but I find the best responses on this one. I'm thinking of putting non-RFTs on next time. Any thoughts - pro and con? THANKS for your input and assistance.
I just wish all your efforts had identified a cause & solution! I think other threads in these and other online forums have pretty exhaustively covered rft's - if there's any consensus, it seems some rft's are noisier than their non-rft counterparts, & new rft's get better as each generation supercedes its predecessor. As for one vs. another, depends on your preference and degree of risk aversion, relatively. I bought a mini-spare kit and stow it in the trunk of my E92. If you need to use the trunk space a lot though, perhaps the loss of space might be too inconvenient, you can weigh that vs. the inconvenience of getting stuck due to a flat on non-rft's & no spare available, although rft's also aren't immune to failures that leave them un-drivable. I don't get flat tires w/ any frequency, but, it has happened from time to time; last one was on my pickup truck from running over some piece of wood or something in the road I didn't see while driving at night - ended up changing a tire in a grocery store parking lot on a cold but thankfully not freezing fall evening a couple years ago. I suppose I might be more prone to consider rft's a plus if I was regularly transiting major metropolitan areas with the potential to get stuck someplace where personal safety might be more of a concern.
I'm leaning toward non-RFTs plus a spare, but we'll see when the time comes to replace tires. I contacted an ombudsman and received a very prompt and professional reply. So, we're working on the matter. THANKS
Update: A retired BMW tech did the smoke test and found no leaks. I also spoke with a door engineer for one of the US car manufacturers and he immediately said it must be the mirrors. He said mirrors are noise generators. So, I'll turn the music up!!
