Hit a pothole with the BMW and drove 90 miles on the runflat.

[304065]

Hit a big pothole with left front on the Taconic going 55 MPH. Loud bang, hit the bump stops, TPMS light immediately came on, had to hold some right lock, got safely off the parkway. Interestingly, at the same exit were a M-B E-class and a Honda Accord, both with flat front tires presumably from the same pothole.

Tried the compressor, tire wouldn't hold air. Upon closer inspection, what I thought was just damage to the rim protection bead was in fact a pretty good slice of the sidewall, caused by the rim itself.

Call AAA, they tell me that local wrecker will not flatbed the car to the City 66 miles away, I have to wait until Monday for that. I have BMW assist but don't bother hitting the button as the car still rolls albeit requiring right lock and a bumping noise.

I drove back to the City with the proverbial egg between foot and gas pedal, radio off, max speed 40 mph, hazards on. Left myself an "out" if the tire suddenly decided to separate from the rim. Uneventful trip.

Dropped off my stuff and immediately drove it to the BMW dealer I prefer in New Jersey.

So I suppose the moral is, Runflats, for all their harshness due to stiff sidewalls, and the lack of suitability of 225/45R17 all-season Continental ProContact SSRs for winter duty, actually performed, in this case, as expected.

At the dealer I noted that the sliced sidewall had opened up into a full-blown window. And yet this stayed on the rim.

Your mileage may vary.

[911dean]

I was just complaining about them on my wife's BMW and was happy the Audi we were looking at has an actual spare.

They are great when you need them, but I certainly don't like them.

[IROC]

My previous manager reluctantly drove hundreds of miles of interstate on a completely deflated run flat (BMW X5) due to the inability to find a replacement tire on a weekend. Worked as advertised.

[fastfredracing]

That is pretty awesome that tire held that long. Dismounting, and mounting one is a monumental feat

[Gretch]

I am on my second set of run flats on a 2007 335xi. got them from my local tire guy, he had no issues with mounting and balancing.

The do suck in snow. no doubt, though probably only marginally worse than any other "all season" tire, due to the stiff sidewalls.

On the whole scheme of things, very nice to have on the wife's car and ok for my DD. Wouldn't put them on any of my sports cars........

[Rot 911]

Good to know they will hold up if needed, but just think, if you had a real spare, you could have just installed it and been on your way.

[5String43]

I have the Continentals on my Clubman S. Good to know that they work, I s'pose, but god, the ride is so harsh.

[David]

I had more impact failures on run-flats leading me to believe a go-flat tire would have just deformed, bounced back, and not gone flat.

[cashman]

I just purchased pilot super sports (non run flat) for my BMW. Hope to never find out if I miss the run flats. Never had to "use" them before.

[airwrench]

Did you notice that it was much louder?

I was surprised - we had a run flat go (small hole - not obvious like yours). The TPMS light came on - then shortly following that started hearing a much louder noise from that wheel. I thought maybe the tire had left the rim, as it sounded like what I think that would sound like. But no, it was still mounted. We drove it that way to have it replaced.

Interesting thing was that outside of the noise, I didn't really notice any change in the way the car drove. Makes me wonder why the thing is inflated at all other than to reduce the noise.

[Tobra]

I do not like run flats at all. If I were ever interested in a car that had them as original equipment, they would have to change them out before I would take delivery on it. I suppose if it had those on it, it would not have a spare tire or a jack, or a place to put them, so I guess I would just have to pass on it altogether, unless I could figure something out.

[304065]

Epilogue:

Continental ContiProContact 225/47R17 =$250 + $50 installation (they are a bear to put on)= $300
(Tire Rack offers this tire for $191 shipped, so the extra $60 is the BMW "tax" and the Service Advisor said that it has the star on the side, it is a BMW-spec version. This is important because when I go to turn this car in at the end of its lease in three months, it has to have the BMW-spec tires on it, or I will have to buy one THEN and have it put on. This has nothing to do with engineering or physics, it's a reality of the lease turn-in process.)

Bent wheel, $150. Rim was visibly bent. I asked, did you do what I would do, set the wheel up without the tire on a hub and fixture a dial indicator and spin it to check the runout? He said, uhh, no, we just looked at it and could see it was bent. Which in fact is true. So they claim to have a machine that can straighten the rim. I looked, it's straight again.

Alignment, $150. I demanded the before and after specs and it was in fact pretty badly out of spec in the front, with excessive toe, and the thrust axis was pretty off on the rear axle as well. Now everything is nicely back in spec.

$622 for a pothole. On we go.

[911SauCy]

Broad I grew up with posted 3 cut tires on the Merritt in CT on Facebook, within one week.

Problem there exists between seat and wheel.

[recycled sixtie]

Was looking at a used BMW X1 a while back and the 2 things that were deal breakers were the run flat tires and that idiotic electronic gearshift(auto trans.).

Imagine driving between here and Vancouver which is about 800 miles and getting a flat tire. No BMW dealership between the 2 points. Just what is BMW thinking?

Guy

[cairns]

No more BMWs here. On the fifth and last. Run flats are a big part but the general decline on overall quality is a big factor too.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

Just what is BMW thinking?

Guy

They are thinking they can save a little weight and expense with no spare or jack.

I sort of lost interest in BMW when I found out they no longer have a dipstick to check the engine oil level.

Ostensibly, how far can you safely drive on a runflat with no air in it?

[Gretch]

I am sure the mfgrs don't recommend it........ but I have done 120 miles, at highway speed, on a run flat........ which was essentially, flat.

They really do work.

[SoCal911T]

Originally Posted by 304065

I drove back to the City with the proverbial egg between foot and gas pedal, radio off, max speed 40 mph, hazards on.

I don't know what the "Taconic" is but if it's a regular highway, were you seeing a lot of other driver's middle fingers during the trip?

[304065]

Nah, I drove on the back roads, took me another 40 minutes to get home, but I was in no hurry. Had the hazards on and from time to time would slide over and let accumulated traffic by.
Nobody honked or fingered or otherwise exhibited aggressive behavior.