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Tyres..what's the best alternative to run flats


Acebladesoldier
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Morning Roy

What are you trying to achieve?? Better Ride ? More Grip ? Quieter Ride ? 

Runflats are well known for delivering a harsh ride, particularly towards the end of their useful life, as well as more road noise.

So if you are keeping the same wheels buy the same size tyres but non run flat, just don't buy cheap. Tyre footprint is about the size of a saucer, and that's all there is to accelerate, stop and steer your car. I always stay with recognised brands I am on Yoko's at the moment 275 x 40 x 20 Front 315 x 35 x 20 Rear. My brother inlaw has 535d touring and runs 245 x 40 x 19 Front 275 x 35 x 19 Rear Bridgestone non runflats.

If changing wheels to try and improve ride quality by fitting tyres with a taller side wall Brake size will dictate what will fit (18" I believe) so something like 245 x 45 x 18 may give a more forgiving ride

Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/31/2021 at 7:30 AM, Greydog said:

Morning Roy

What are you trying to achieve?? Better Ride ? More Grip ? Quieter Ride ? 

Runflats are well known for delivering a harsh ride, particularly towards the end of their useful life, as well as more road noise.

So if you are keeping the same wheels buy the same size tyres but non run flat, just don't buy cheap. Tyre footprint is about the size of a saucer, and that's all there is to accelerate, stop and steer your car. I always stay with recognised brands I am on Yoko's at the moment 275 x 40 x 20 Front 315 x 35 x 20 Rear. My brother inlaw has 535d touring and runs 245 x 40 x 19 Front 275 x 35 x 19 Rear Bridgestone non runflats.

If changing wheels to try and improve ride quality by fitting tyres with a taller side wall Brake size will dictate what will fit (18" I believe) so something like 245 x 45 x 18 may give a more forgiving ride

Dave

If changing from run flats, the suspension should be adjusted too. You should also let your insurance company know, as it would be classified as a modification.

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Hi Philip

How is the suspension adjusted on the 335d?

I know the tracking and wheel alignment can be set/re-set which is good practice at every tyre change. Also as long as tyres are within the BMW specification why would you have to inform insurers, bearing in mind wheel/tyre combinations are available from 18" to 20" in a range of width combinations and tyre widths as standard OEM equipment dependent on customer order. This of course does not include Winter wheel and tyre combinations which are non runflat yet an OEM fitment with no recommended changes to the suspension shown in BMW TIS

I agree Insurers would want to know if the wheel tyre combination were outside the OEM specification. But if every time a new set of tyres are purchased ??

Dave

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Morning Richard

The Michelins have had som good write ups and there seem to be some good deals going as well

When had the 4.4 it was LPG converted to the spare wheel is still in the garage full size 17" never seen the light of day let alone the road 😁 I carried a small compressor and a can of tyre goo in case of punctures. Still got those in the back of he 4.6. Tempt fate now in 18 years and a lot of miles I have used it once.

Dave

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  • 1 month later...
On 8/31/2021 at 7:30 AM, Greydog said:

Morning Roy

What are you trying to achieve?? Better Ride ? More Grip ? Quieter Ride ? 

Runflats are well known for delivering a harsh ride, particularly towards the end of their useful life, as well as more road noise.

So if you are keeping the same wheels buy the same size tyres but non run flat, just don't buy cheap. Tyre footprint is about the size of a saucer, and that's all there is to accelerate, stop and steer your car. I always stay with recognised brands I am on Yoko's at the moment 275 x 40 x 20 Front 315 x 35 x 20 Rear. My brother inlaw has 535d touring and runs 245 x 40 x 19 Front 275 x 35 x 19 Rear Bridgestone non runflats.

If changing wheels to try and improve ride quality by fitting tyres with a taller side wall Brake size will dictate what will fit (18" I believe) so something like 245 x 45 x 18 may give a more forgiving ride

Dave...cheers dave

 

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Hi Greydog

Apologies for not having responded to your earlier post, although, I don't know how the suspension would be adjusted to accomodate 'normal' tyres. I believe the suspension is softer to accomodate the harder ride of run flats.

Today, I picked up my new (to me) 523i. When I saw the car, I asked the dealer if the tyres were run flat, and had a reassuringly vague reply, so assumed they were. I got the car home, had a look, and aarrggh! they're not! Serve me right for falling for the charm, and not getting on my hands and knees to check. There isn't a space saver nor can of puncture repair gunk in the boot, so if I'd had a punture on the way home, I'd have been stuffed! Halfords first thing in the morning!

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Morning Philip

No apologies required, the suspension on your Beemer is either "Standard" "M sport" or full M series or Hard, Harder and Very Hard. Some of the newer cars have adjustable dampers which are controlled from the drivers seat by a switch (normally 3 settings) 

Your suspension is adjustable for alignment front and rear so advice is always have a 4 wheel alignment after new tyres.

Call me a cynic but first Space Saver spare were introduced not just by BMW but all manufacturers soon adopted it. Lets be honest it doesnt save a lot of space but it does save the manufacturer a load of cash when you compare the costs of a Full alloy an tyre against a Space saver. Then the Tyre manufacturers came up with Run Flats initially from a safety angle as cars were maintaining consistent high speeds on Motorways. Great Idea. Now the manufacturers could not only save the cost of a spare but also the Jack and Wheel brace !!

No one considers that if a run flat tyre is as it says "run flat" the side wall integrity will be compromised needing replacement even if the tread is in perfect condition (or may be they did?? Cynic again) 

The saving grace is you can fit standard tyres to a runflat wheel 

Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

What is your reason for changing to normal tyres. I just changed three of my run flats due to some bulging in the side walls caused by pot holes. They are Goodyear F1's on 19 inch rims and the prices are now pretty reasonable. They were about £140 each. If they were the old price of £250 each I would have thought twice about it.

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