BMW Run Flat replacements?

Django x2

Django x2

Django x2

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My friend has 19" Bridgestone runflats on her E93.

They need replacing. BMW want, wait for it, £420 a tyre :eek: Bathwick are £380, camskill online look like they can do them for £200 a wheel.

If all else fails we'll get them online but can I not ditch all four tyres in favour of normal rubber (ie, not Lego)?

Sizes are 225/35 19 front and 255/30 19 at the rear if anyone can help.
 
I could be wrong, but I was always under the impression that run-flats can't be changed to normal can they?
 
I'm reading similar things. I think you can but some say it might invalidate the warranty or not ride / handle as well as the car is designed to run with runflats geometry wise.
 
You can put normal tyres on instead of the BMW approved run flats as long as they are of the approved speed and load rating(it cannot affect your warranty). The car should actually drive better with normal tyres too. Make sure you have some form of flat tyre protection though such as the Continental Comfort kit or I think BMW even do a tyre inflation kit or a spare wheel.
 
I assume the car is still covered by BMW assist so you may need to check this is okay with BMW as there may be problems if you call out BMW assist for a wheel/tyre related problem.

The main thing to check though is that the insurance company will allow it. Changing runflats for normal tyres is considered a modification and some insurers consider it extra risk and will refuse to insure the car without them.

As Dandle has said, some form of backup will be needed. Most people seem to go for a couple of tins of tyre weld and an air compressor that'll run off the cigarette lighter socket.


I'll probably get rid of the runflats on my car when they are worn out. The planned replacement is a set of Vredstein Ultrac Sessanta as they get a hell of a lot of good reviews. Second choice will probably be Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetrics.
 
I can't see it being a problem for insurance at all as if you spec different size wheels(19") on the 5 series they dont come with runflats anyway. Changing from runflats to non runflats is no more of a modification that changing the tyre brand the vehicle came with as long as the tyres are of the correct speed and load rating and approved for sale in the UK.
 
Try explaining that to some insurance companies. A friend back home who has runflats on his Z4 was told that he could not be insured of he replaced them with normal tyres. I don't recall who that insurer was but he drove with illegal tyres for about 6 weeks (kind of negating the point :p) until his policy expired then changed the tyres as well as insurer.

Most insurers should be perfectly fine with it as long as you notify them, for example I'm with Bell and they said that it wasn't a problem. There are some out there who don't like it though so it's always best to check.
 
Ok, the definitive answer is this:

Because the car is homologated it is possible to fit normal tyres to the rims without question. But, because of the above, you can only do so if you have the express permission of BMW and you inform your insurance company as the above is classed as a modification.

Without doing the above you and the company that fitted the tyres will be in trouble. Apparently.

Having said that, I have found the tyres for £299 rear and £244 front a pop.
 
Sorry for being a bit naïve, but why buy a car with run-flats if you're not prepared to fork out for new ones when they inevitably wear down? :confused:
 
philjohn said:
Sorry for being a bit naïve, but why buy a car with run-flats if you're not prepared to fork out for new ones when they inevitably wear down? :confused:
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Because some cars come out of the factory with runflat tyres and with no option to change them:confused:

Would you seriously discount a car, even if you thought everything else about it was awesome, because it came with runflat tyres?
 
I looked at changing the Runflats to normal tyres when I had my 130i. The insurance company (Elephant) didn't have a problem with it but BMW Assist said if they had to be called out for anything puncture related then I would be charged for the call out.:(

Runflats are very expensive and I've found that they wear down twice as quick as normal tyres too.
 
Killa_ken said:
You can change them to whatever you like, why does it affect insurance companies with what tyres you put on?
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Of course you can change them to whatever you like but your insurance cover may be affected if you do not inform your insurance company. Whether you like it or not, that's a fact as some BMW owners in particular have found out.

I'd imagine the reasoning behind it is that normal tyres will make the car handle differently (according to some it's like night and day) and respond differently to varying road conditions and driver inputs. Unless the car has been specifically tested in these circumstances, I doubt the insurance companies who have a problem with getting rid of runflats will change their policy.

Take a blow out for example. According to the service manager I spoke to at BMW, a blow out with a runflat tyre is a complete non-event. The only warning some people get is the TPWS sounding an alarm in the car. A blow out on a normal tyre can also be a non-event in some circumstances but it can also result ina catastrophic failure and loss of control of the vehicle.

I'm not defending the insurance companies as I think the whole thing is a bit anal but I can see why they'd be interested.
 
I read somewhere that the cars suspension is set up differently to use run flat tyres and would need to be adjusted if you fitted normal tyres, I have an E92 with the same size tyres as above and will be replacing them with run flats when the time comes.

I don't think it will be long before I need to change my rears as I seem to unintentionally light them up quite often even with the traction control on when pulling away at islands and traffic lights.
 
TONY said:
I read somewhere that the cars suspension is set up differently to use run flat tyres and would need to be adjusted if you fitted normal tyres, I have an E92 with the same size tyres as above and will be replacing them with run flats when the time comes.

I don't think it will be long before I need to change my rears as I seem to unintentionally light them up quite often even with the traction control on when pulling away at islands and traffic lights.
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Its not on the E60/61 as you can buy the car without runflats with certain wheel options and they will supply either a spare for £100 or their tyre repair system.
 
Slackworth said:
Runflats are very expensive and I've found that they wear down twice as quick as normal tyres too.
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Certainly not true of RE050aRFT's.

Referring to my s-class here (~1850kg) running 245/45/19 & 275/35/19 the fronts still have good tread after 25k, and the rears only went recently after about 20k. Thats better than i ever imagined possible and can be no worse than any others.
 
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