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[Dizzy330i]

Well, yesterday I was on the Florida Turnpike, southbound, somewhere near 836 following a "wall" (side by side) of trucks and one silver Mitsu Galant all going about 68-70. Running late as usual, I am getting increasingly agitated at my inability to drive at my usual 75-80. The Mitsu then slows down and turns his blinker on and slowly moves behind one of the trucks and I quickly see this as an opportunity to get past them so I merge onto this lane and...
BLAMBLAM! My right wheels run over something in the road that shakes the entire car loudly and painfully. Sh*t.

I drive further about 15-20seconds or so at 70 and the entire time I'm dreading the computer will detect something wrong due to the incident. Lo and behold, the flat-tire warning flashes on the display. I slow down to 50 and try to "feel" if anything is wrong with the car. The car feels fine, but I get off the highway to inspect the car. As I slow down I detect an audible, aberrant sound my rear passenger-side tire is making. I didn't think it was supposed to make a sound with a normal puncture so I assumed the tire must have sustained some serious damage.

This morning I drove my car to the dealership all the while hoping that the tire wouldn't split and fall off the rim. I figured the tire had gotten a long gash and I'd need a new one, but I knew they'd try and overcharge me for the tire, so I called a few close-by tire dealers. None of them had the Bridgestone Turanza EL42 225/45R17 RFT that comes with the E90. I finally localized ONE about 45mins away in Pompano Beach for $199 (wholesale price). Dealer wanted $340--what a rip, eh?

Anyhow, turns out that some brake sensor cables got disconnected from the front passenger side and that the rear wheel had a gaping hole. I left the car there and hope this is all that's wrong with it. I'm using the B7 Passat today.

Run-flats are an interesting concept, but it seems having a spare is still preferable/necessary. They are rare, expensive, and annoying to mount. The RFTs themselves are also heavy and hard (I had no idea to what extent, until I picked one up today). I used to be a fan of the concept, but now I don't think this was such a great idea on BMWs part. They need to improve the technology a bit further.

Well that's all. If you read all that, thanks. I needed to vent.

[xsb00st]

Was the gaping hole caused by loose sensor cable disconnection? If so, could that flat be a warranty issue?

[stretch]

The other way to look at it is that maybe you were lucky that you had runflats because getting a sudden drop in tyre pressure at 70MPH is not a nice feeling.Especially if you had gotten a blowout in a front tyre you could end up in serious trouble e.g under one of those trucks. Runflats have their advantages and disadvantages. Hope your car is back in action soon.

[noflash]

Well at least you were able to safely get your car to the dealer.

Hope it all works out.

[Bimmerista]

Yeah, I hear you on the RFTs, but it sounds like you have other damage which would have required you to get dealer help even with normal tires.

I can live with the rarity for now (I imagine more outlets will carry the RFTs once they become more popular), but it is the road noise and the weight I cannot get used to either.

[triton.]

Sorry to hear that. At the same time though, it looks like the tires performed exactly like they should have. They got damaged, the system detected it and you were able to bring your car to your desired location. Going 70 mph with a normal tire the care would have felt a lot differently when you popped it and you might have lost control.

It does suck though. I bought the tire wheel warranty with my car for 5 years 48,000 miles, 2nd week I had it I ran over a nail and they had to replace the tire so pretty much paided for itself in the first two weeks.

Also I'm sure you just found out that RFT usually can't be repaired/patched like traditional tires depending on if the hole / tear is near the reinforced wall. My nail was very small but was right on the reinforced wall so they said they couldn't patch it cause that point needs to be the strongest and patch it would not guarentee that it would perform the way it's suppose to.

The dealership i went to (Otto's) actaully said they don't do any patching of RFT because of liability. They knew I had the warranty, which I got through them, so there was no reason for them to try to push a new tire on me if I didn't need one. Cost me $0.00 plus I got to try the X3 for 2 hours while they fixed it and washed my car.

[bimmer4me]

Am I supposed gleen something more negative about run-flat tires other than price and/or availability from this incident?

[Lost Rider]

It's good to hear that no one was hurt, and understand wanting to vent.
I think your story, even if you stated that you didn't like them is a good testament to the RF technology.
It's a textbook situation where with standard tires, except the statement after BLAMBLAM!
go's something like, then i lost steering and my car pulled heavily to the right, straight into the 2 semi trucks..........................

I do understand that they are "hard to find, expensive, and annoying to mount", but am willing to deal with it.
It's a hassle, but much less of than dealing with a major accident, or worse.


Again, I'm glad to hear that the RFT's did exactly what they are supposed to, and you are safe and sound, minus a little cash.


BTW I gather you don't have any tire/wheel insurance?

[triton.]

Originally Posted by bimmer4me

Am I supposed gleen something more negative about run-flat tires other than price and/or availability from this incident?

I personally love them and have no issues with noise. I always have music on, and even when I don't wind noise is alot higher than the wheels, at least for me. The fact that I can go at my own time to my desired location to have em fixed outweighs any negatives the have.

[DonnyGirl]

Originally Posted by Dizzy330i

I drive further about 15-20seconds or so at 70 and the entire time I'm dreading the computer will detect something wrong due to the incident. Lo and behold, the flat-tire warning flashes on the display. I slow down to 50 and try to "feel" if anything is wrong with the car. The car feels fine, but I get off the highway to inspect the car.
.

Hmmm you get a puncture at 70mph, and you are complaining cos of the price of the tyres. Jeeze, you should be thanking BMW that the highway police didn't have to scrape you off the highway.

[noflash]

Give him a break. RFT are still a pain.

I had a blowout at 70 mph in my e46. I made it to the shoulder fine.

We're not driving Ford Explorers here.

[Brunotheboxer]

i hope everything works out ok for you

[triton.]

Originally Posted by DonnyGirl

Hmmm you get a puncture at 70mph, and you are complaining cos of the price of the tyres. Jeeze, you should be thanking BMW that the highway police didn't have to scrape you off the highway.

Let's not be harsh. I was upset too when I got my flat. But love the fact that I could wait till 3 days later and still use my car that time.

[sdorn]

Originally Posted by DonnyGirl

Hmmm you get a puncture at 70mph, and you are complaining cos of the price of the tyres. Jeeze, you should be thanking BMW that the highway police didn't have to scrape you off the highway.

I had my right front tire blow out at 90mph once in my old '90 Nissan 300z. I got over to the shoulder just fine without losing control. The biggest reason people lose control of their car when they get a blowout is they overreact.

[GoBonesGo]

I'll have to admit I, too, don't really understand why the complaint about runflats in this case. Yes, the replacement is going to cost more and take longer, which obviously less than desirable.

But the fact is that you sustained major tire damage while changing lanes (i.e. not traveling in a straight line) at 70 MPH and the only way you knew there was a problem was that the car shook "loudly and painfully" and the pressure monitor alerted you. One possible alternative scenario with standard tires is losing control of the vehicle and slamming into the
"wall of trucks" and /or the Mitsubishi in the immediate vicinity.

Runflat tires are certainly not perfect and the technology and availablity have plenty of room to improve, but it sounds like they did their job and saved your ass in this case.

[wheeler]

I also had a flat 2 weeks into ownership. My wife was driving on a freeway on a cold, rainy day. I'm really glad the car had run-flats, 'cause she's a terrible driver!

I took it to a tire repair place and they did not want to fix it. But since they had to order a tire, I talked them into fixing it so I could drive the car until the new tire arrived. I told them that the worst that could happen was that it would go flat again, and since it is a run-flat, there is no safety issue with that. They agreed and patched it.

Even after the tire came in, I drove two more weeks on the patched tire with no problems. Eventually I did have the new tire put on, but saved the patched one for the next replacement I might need, so there's a "spare" in my garage now.

I might eventually pull off the run-flats, but it will be for handling and weight isues, not safety or convenience.

[Mr. BMW]

Originally Posted by Dizzy330i

None of them had the Bridgestone Turanza EL42 225/45R17 RFT

Turanza? Is that right? I thought they were Potenza?

[sdorn]

Originally Posted by Mr. BMW

Turanza? Is that right? I thought they were Potenza?

I think mine are Turanzas too.

[voltron1011]

Sounds to me like the RFT saved you from buying a new rim as well. Had that happened with a normal tire (at that speed), the rim would have scraped the ground causing a lot of damage.

[G8Btech]

I've been wanting to change my tires to non-RFT due to the same complaints as the others. Man, now after reading your story, I'm glad a have RFT.
Thanks for sharing and I'm glad nothing major happened to you and your car.

[Dizzy330i]

Thanks for all the replies! I'll pick up my car tomorrow and post the details then, but I thought I'd clarify and debate some specifics.

xsboost: The cable came off the front tire and the rear one was the one that got punctured. They told me that any damage resulting from road debris was not covered by warranty. Tires are excluded from warranty too.

Mr.BMW: Turanza's are std equip on my non-ZSP 330. I think BMW sometimes uses a couple of different types of tires across a model line. Like the ContiTouring Contacts on the E46 (I think there were alternates). So you still might be right.

About the Tire Warranty thing: I see a lot of you have the Tire Insurance thing. Can you believe my dealer doesn't offer it? I asked my SA about it today and she said they personally don't offer it, but she's aware of its existence.

While it's true that the first thing I thought after the warning light came on was "Thank goodness for RFTs", once I started hearing the noise I couldn't be happy because I didn't know how far the tire would go before it fell off and I ended up riding on the rim. It sounded like a split tire that was just hanging on. It didn't come off, I know. But the point is, had BMW included a even just a space-saving spare, like a donut or whatever, I wouldn't be as frightened during the entire time I drove that day and the next day to the dealer. Peace of mind is sometimes worth the 30mins of my time it takes to change to a spare, IMO.

Another thing. I have had the great luck to never have gotten a blowout at highway speeds. As some people here have pointed out however (noflash, sdorn, etc. thanks ) as well as some of my car enthusiast friends, if you drive a stable enough car, a 70mph non-runflat blowout is not an impossible situation to get out of.

But all this is just speculation-based debate on my side. The points I'm trying to make:

-A donut or spare of any sort would sometimes be a nice thing to have.
-RFTs are awesome conceptually but are far from perfect (Michelin PAX is moving in the right direction).

Thanks again!

EDIT: Some links

<a href="http://www.michelin.fr/uk/front/index.jsp?codeRubrique=20050427154130&codePage=20050427154130_27042005154717&lang=EN">Michelin PAX basic specs</a>
<a href="http://www.michelinman.com/difference/innovation/paxsystem.html">PAX System overview</a>

[Driv3r]

dizzy, i know what you mean....i few days ago i was on 95 and i was driving from miamibeach " julia tuttle" to 125th st exit..and as i get home my flat tire moniter light comes on, so i check pressures and guess what i find..not 1, nor 2 but 3 screws in my back tires!! and the tires were new and i wasnt going to buy new ones so i just patched them up (but let me tell you, patching a runflat is harder than flying) and its been 500 miles and the tires havent lost pressure. Ive been driving at a max speed of 150ish too and the tire has been PERFECTO! dont listen to people who say you cant patch these tires up....edit:you still cant patch if youve got a puncture in your sidewall though...