Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[Tzu]

Hey Guys,

I just sent an email out to Gary; waiting for a response.

Background:

07 E90 335i premium, non-sport

I purchased some WS-70's from tirerack about 6 weeks ago. I put them on the car on Dec 9'th, so about 4 weeks ago, on the stock rims. I got into my car, all tires were fine. It's the driver side front tire that went and I usually have a habit of checking the tires before I drive off. They were in fine condition.
I drove about 25 km's, picked up a friend, and on the highway back I felt like I was fighting the steering wheel. It felt like an alignment issue, but being that I've never hit a curb or anything, I discounted the idea. When I got to my destination, I saw that my driver side front tire was flat. I put air into it, and could hear a distinct hiss where it was leaking. This poses the following questions:

1) I believe this car doesn't use TPMS, but a run flat monitor instead. How come it didn't alert me?

2) Have I done much damage to the sidewalls by driving ~40km on a flat tire?

3) After taking the tire off and re-pressurizing, it turns out to be at the very outer tred, very close to the sidewall (see pics). Looks like a slit, not a hole like a nail. Is it patchable?

Bubbles:


Trying to spread the slit (thats what she said):


edit: pic size. 56k beware.