Bought a car yesterday and having done 100 motorway miles , exited the M Way, pulled into a layby to make a phone call. After 30 seconds back on the road , noticed the back end felt a bit "funny" and this is why.............
Bridgestone Potenza, original factory fit 5mm of tread left !!!
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
I ditched mine as they are crap.
Why oh why has somebody quoted the OP? picture and everything, why? it is so pointless?
That's a "LOL" :)
Runflat tyres are still junk. I rode in a new 5-series some time ago and despite the standard suspension, got jiggled around by the slightest imperfection; the 18 or 19" tyres probably caused it. In 4-5 years' time, the interior of that car is going to be creaking like a mother, its body welds crying out in pain. Thankfully, the cartwheels can be ripped off and chucked into landfill in mere minutes, but it's a shame to have to spend another £1,000 to fit the car with proper tyres. Best buying a Jag instead...
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
We've got one of those, with super low profile 19" rims. Looks the nuts but the ride comfort is shocking, I've punctured 3 corners in the past 12 months and they cost nigh on £500 each to replace. No one other than BMW seem willing to touch them and last time (3 weeks ago) they had to order the bloomin' tyre from Germany which took 2 weeks to arrive.
Never again.
That was lucky! Not the best introduction to a new car.
That is what happens if a run flat tyre is used with out air in it for a long time.
The sidewall gets hot and it collapses/falls apart.
I would check your other tyres as well.
Runflats are a PITA - at best they are pretty useless and rarely do what they are supposed to do even with the gunk in.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Ouch! That is pretty nasty!
What are the implications if you decide to change your runflats to regular tyres? You would have to tell your insurance company, right? Would that mean it might invalidate the policy, or push the premium up?
And would tyre companies agree to put non-run flats on your car?
No need to tell your insurance company but you would have to make provisions of getting the car mobile in the event of a puncture. This is a legal requirement so you would need to have a can of inflation foam in the boot.
As for the original picture, it looks like you have driven on the tyre with a puncture and this has caused the sidewall to fail. By the look of it, it's got a bit of negative camber on the back end, E46 BMW?
Fair cop guv, I misread the title, I thought it meant he wished he had runflat Tyres (forums and three year old twins aren't a good mix).
+1......that's exactly what I did! Picked up a lovely XF 3.0 Diesel at 10 months old for around the same price as a decent spec 320 diesel Beemer.
One of the many nice things about the Jag is the fact that it isn`t a Beemer! BMWs leave me totally cold, something sterile about them.
Paul
That looks like a tyre that has been "run flat" well beyond the recommended speed and or distance.
Cinical maybe, but that might just have been punctured prior to yesterday.......
Been there and done the 'crawling along' at the recommended speed and been a passenger in a car where the driver thought it was ok to just carry on - same result.
Shite idea designed to save on cost, lighten the car slightly to improve fuel efficiency and annoy the tits off the owner.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
It really is horrible! Scary place to be trying to crawl home at a speed like 50 (which I don't even view as slow). No drivers on the M-way seem to appreciate that people may have genuine reasons for having to travel at the speed in the 'slow lane'. I did it once due to non-runflat reasons for a short distance and it wasn't nice.
Yes you do - it counts as a "mod" unless you are fitting a wheel and tyre that BMW or whoever offer as a standard option on that model of car ( and you should still tell them anyhow ).
If you write the car off and the insurance surveyor happens to notice that you have changed the wheel size without telling them they will refuse to pay out as you have "modified" the car from its standard specification.
I had this once when i changed to a higher profile tyre for comfort reasons - checked with the insurance company and they were happy once they established it was an OEM alloy wheel ( and tyre size ) which the manufacturer, Ford, offered for that model with that engine size. There was no change in premium.
Insurance forms usually ask if you have fitted any " non origonal manufacturer " parts for this reason.
Michael I'm not talking about "modding" the tyres by virtue of the size I'm talking about like for like but not run-flat, and in this case there is absolutely no need to inform your insurance company just as you don't need to tell them if you swap from say Bridgestone to Pirelli.
The consequences if you don't tell them? None.
The consequences if you do tell them? A possible hike in premium and in some case an admin fee to boot. It has been known.
As stated by Dave above, you do need to make provision for punctures i.e. carry a can of gunk.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
Disagree, manuals get lost, people just buy tyres at KwikFit that fit.
What about the guy in 10 years time who buys Chinese remoulds, manual long since lost?
If it's legal you're fine.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Exactly if it's not a big deal why wouldn't you???? better safe than sorry......
I defintiely would (althought I wouldn't change from run flats but thats another story) Simple fact is you are changing the car from the manufaturers specification, if you read the small print in your insurance policy it might just say that you are obliged to let them know.
Your experience sounds very unusual. Only ever seen this ripped side wall when the tyre indicator has been repeatedely reset (can pick that up from the cars fault memory) and driven for say 400 miles or car driven over 50mph.
The picutre of the tyre above I have never seen in any other instance, in fact we change approx 100 run flats a month and it's extremely rare to see a tyre in that condition.
I said size of tyre - not brand.
If its a different SIZE to one that the manufacturer approves for that model, with that engine, with that suspension etc,etc,etc - then the insurance company will regard it as "non standard" and IF they find out then they wont pay out.
It is, of course, your choice - but i am correct in this matter as far as insurance companies go.
It's a change in spec they care about. RF to non RF, size etc.
So I fully agree.
I also agree it does not make sense in most cases, but I an not making the rules.
It's a pointless discussion here, it takes no effort to check before you do anything. Like I said, I checked when I bought winter wheels and tyres and what I have put here is what AXA told me.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
Had them on both of our cars. I changed mine to normal tyres about 2 years ago and bought a space saver and jack and brace and have never looked back. We've recently changed my wifes tyres over and are still playing with the pressures due to softer sidewalls and tramlining. Even so, it's a vast improvement over the Bridgestones that the car had before.