Runflat Tire Puncture

[E92Vancouver]

I got a huge screw nail in one of my tires. I picked it up before the tire pressure warning light did because the clicking sound of the nail hitting the road as it turned drove me crazy.

Since I have the road hazard warranty, I drove to the dealer. To my surprise, they fixed it instead of giving me a new tire. The puncture was in the middle of the tread. The SA said that if the tire has more than 15 psi in it and if the nail is not in the sidewall, they can fix the tire.Is this true? I am certain if I did not have the road hazard warranty they would have said, "sorry, you need a new tire. That's $700 please!".

Has anyone else had a Runflat tire fixed? They plugged it from the inside with a mushroom type, vulcanized patch. They did wash my car.

[RBrylawski]

I got a huge screw nail in one of my tires. I picked it up before the tire pressure warning light did because the clicking sound of the nail hitting the tire as it turned drove me crazy.

Since I have the road hazard warranty, I drove to the dealer. To my surprise, they fixed it instead of giving me a new tire. The puncture was in the middle of the tread. The SA said that if the tire has more than 15 psi in it and if the nail is not in the sidewall, they can fix the tire.Is this true? I am certain if I did not have the road hazard warranty they would have said, "sorry, you need a new tire. That's $700 please!".

Has anyone else had a Runflat tire fixed? They plugged it from the inside with a mushroom type, vulcanized patch. They did wash my car.

I haven't had the need, but I was told by my service advisor that a run flat can be fixed like any tire as long as the sidewall was not compromised in any way. I too have the tire and wheel insurance, but I believe you are fine and shouldn't be too concerned.

[mryakan]

I got a huge screw nail in one of my tires. I picked it up before the tire pressure warning light did because the clicking sound of the nail hitting the tire as it turned drove me crazy.

Since I have the road hazard warranty, I drove to the dealer. To my surprise, they fixed it instead of giving me a new tire. The puncture was in the middle of the tread. The SA said that if the tire has more than 15 psi in it and if the nail is not in the sidewall, they can fix the tire.Is this true? I am certain if I did not have the road hazard warranty they would have said, "sorry, you need a new tire. That's $700 please!".

Has anyone else had a Runflat tire fixed? They plugged it from the inside with a mushroom type, vulcanized patch. They did wash my car.
I believe you are right they would have told you to replace it if you didn't have the warranty, but I also believe they are correct to tell you it can be repaired under such conditions. The thing is if you drive on them deflated, they need to be replaced since the sidewall reinforcement is probably compromised.

[smitty8237]

I had a nail in my right front tire and it was plugged. I later found out that the sidewall of the run flat was bulging slightly. I had a brand new tire replaced at no charge yesterday. The tires had 11,000 miles on them.

[mryakan]

I had a nail in my right front tire and it was plugged. I later found out that the sidewall of the run flat was bulging slightly. I had a brand new tire replaced at no charge yesterday. The tires had 11,000 miles on them.
Did you drive on it deflated?

[Emory]

My TPM sensor went off when I had 13,000 miles. I checked all the tires and added air to the low tire, but didn't find the source until about two weeks later - a small nail in the dead center of the tread. I called America's Tire, who assured me that a RFT can be repaired by qualified shops, which they were. They took the tire off, patched it from inside, and put it back on the rim. I've put on 10,000 miles since without any problem. You should be okay.

[smitty8237]

No. The tire wasn't deflated. Just a slight bulge on the side was present. Since I bought the car used from a dealer, they replaced the tire. When I first test drove it, the 325i definitely needed a wheel alignment and they fixed that, but no one noticed the tire. I bet the car was driven over a pothole and knocked the alignment out as well as causing the tire damage.

[SocratesBMW]

This is why I don't finance $14 a month over the term of the car. Unless the tire or rim is undrivable and unfixable, they won't replace it.

[Jhunter]

The dealer may sell the tire warranty but they do not underwrite it. They are paid a commission to sell it. If they replace a tire under the warranty they are paid by the underwriter, perhaps at a discounted rate. There is no motivation not to replace a tire if it is called for. In fact they would make more money by needlessly replacing tires under warranty except that they may need to prove the work was necessary in order to get paid.

[DTRJ]

I picked up a brochure when I was at my BMW service Center today. The brochure was about 4 color pages and produced by BMW of North America. It says and I quote " While some tire manufacturers will allow tire repairs, BMW only recommends replacement of damaged tires." I think that says it all

[Rolyf]

I picked up a brochure when I was at my BMW service Center today. The brochure was about 4 color pages and produced by BMW of North America. It says and I quote " While some tire manufacturers will allow tire repairs, BMW only recommends replacement of damaged tires." I think that says it all
I'm in the trade, and get several tire biz mags every month. Removing an RFT from the rim and doing a proper plug from the inside, ON AN OTHERWISE SOUND TIRE is a safe and accepted practice. I have never heard of a failure of a properly plugged RF tire. That said, one never knows for certain whether cords were cut and will distort, or result in a weak spot. Me, if it were my tire I'd examine it closely and plug it if good.

[E92Vancouver]

I had a nail in my right front tire and it was plugged. I later found out that the sidewall of the run flat was bulging slightly. I had a brand new tire replaced at no charge yesterday. The tires had 11,000 miles on them.

I had to replace a front tire too because I hit a pot hole too hard and the sidewall belt in the tire herniated. The belt gets overstretched and then there is too much material when the tire returns to its original shape after deforming, from hitting a curb or pothole too hard.

[E92Vancouver]

My TPM sensor went off when I had 13,000 miles. I checked all the tires and added air to the low tire, but didn't find the source until about two weeks later - a small nail in the dead center of the tread. I called America's Tire, who assured me that a RFT can be repaired by qualified shops, which they were. They took the tire off, patched it from inside, and put it back on the rim. I've put on 10,000 miles since without any problem. You should be okay.

Thanks.

[E92Vancouver]

I'm in the trade, and get several tire biz mags every month. Removing an RFT from the rim and doing a proper plug from the inside, ON AN OTHERWISE SOUND TIRE is a safe and accepted practice. I have never heard of a failure of a properly plugged RF tire. That said, one never knows for certain whether cords were cut and will distort, or result in a weak spot. Me, if it were my tire I'd examine it closely and plug it if good.

Good point! The SA told me if I drove the car in with no air in it, they would have automatically given me a new tire. I guess I should have let the air out, hahaha.

My E46 had several patched flats and I never had any problems.

I was just a little confused because when the dealer sold me the tire warranty they said "you can not patch a run flat. If you get a flat, you are going to pay $700 for one tire". This comment alone sold me on the tire insurance.

When I drove into the dealer this morning, I prayed that the underwriting company had not gone out of business. When my car was ready, I made the comment to my SA "I am lucky you had a tire in stock" and she said, "oh.....we patched it".

If I didn't hae the insurance, they would have sold me a new tire. At least they vacuumed and washed my car and got me in without an appointment on an express service.

As an aside, I carry a portable, electric tire pump with me. Not having a spare freaks me out. My E46 had a full size spare mounted on a magnesium rim.

[SocratesBMW]

"when the dealer sold me the tire warranty they said "you can not patch a run flat. If you get a flat, you are going to pay $700 for one tire".

Of course they're going to say that. Did you just taked their word for it that the tires were $700 or did you actually verify costs before going to the dealer?

[E92Vancouver]

"when the dealer sold me the tire warranty they said "you can not patch a run flat. If you get a flat, you are going to pay $700 for one tire".

Of course they're going to say that. Did you just taked their word for it that the tires were $700 or did you actually verify costs before going to the dealer?

MSRP for the BMW spec tire is $958 CAD. The dealership sells them for $650 CAD. The high volume tire shops in town sell them for $475 CAD.

[Rolyf]

Today the exchange rate is $500 CAD is $480 USD. So 475 CAD is about $450 US

[mryakan]

MSRP for the BMW spec tire is $958 CAD. The dealership sells them for $650 CAD. The high volume tire shops in town sell them for $475 CAD.
and unfortunately, if they are out of stock except at your dealer, then you'd have to pay the dealer price. That's one other thing the tire warranty gives you indirectly: price fluctuation protection (if you end up using it of course).

[E92Vancouver]

and unfortunately, if they are out of stock except at your dealer, then you'd have to pay the dealer price. That's one other thing the tire warranty gives you indirectly: price fluctuation protection (if you end up using it of course).

Exactly! The tire shops who sell these tires for $450 do not stock them. It is a 3 to 5 day order period. If your tire is shredded and you need one immediately because you are on a trip, you are paying $650 to the dealer.

[piyush]

Any one here switched to Non RFT's on their 2006 330i ??
I switched to Non RFT's this weekend and so far liking it . Car is much quieter and the ride is smooth too compared to RFT's. So, far I dont feel any difference in handling while driving in city.
Comments welcome ..
Now I want to keep some alternative in case of flat tire situation ..
- Full Spare
- Donut
- Emergency kit

Can anyone suggest what could be the best alternative?

And btw I had a very bad experiance with RFT thats why I switched to NonRFT's. I had around 14000 miles on my RFT's, and last weekend had a flat tire in the rear passenger side. I had the flat tire very near to my house so I drove less than half a mile back to my garage and got the car towed to BMW dealer the next day.
That evening dealer called my and told me that they need to replace 3 tires , one that's gone flat ( they wont repair it) and two others that had less than 3mm of tread left. To me they were OK until the time dealer called me. And he gave me an estimate of 1600 for 3 tires.
Frankly speaking 500 a tire is a bit much for me to afford every 14-15K miles. Thats when I started searching omnline and found thousands of posts where people are complaining about the same thing.

Now I got the nonRFT's for less than half the price.

[mryakan]

Did you have the potenzas? They have a tread rating of 140 I believe. 220 and above is more common among non-RFTs. But you can also find 140 on non-RFTs (e.g. Potenza Pole Position) and much higer on non-RFT (the Continental ContiSportContact 2 SSR RFT is rated at 280). In short, it is not directly related to RFT technology, but to brand. So next time you might want to check out your options before you buy.

P.S. The harshness and noise are definitely related to RFT though.

[piyush]

Yes, I know RFT had the tread rating of 140. But there are not a lot of options available for RFT's and I dont want to spend 400$ for each tire every 14K mile or everytime I have a flat tire.
This time I got non-RFT with 280 tread rating. Toyo T1R's to be specific.
So far I dont see any difference in handling and the ride quality is much better.

[callahan1]

I had a nail in the middle of one of my Bridgestone Turanza runflat tires. It was holding pressure, the low pressure light never went off. I was told by both BMW dealership and a Bridgestone tire shop that these tires cannot be patched, but must be replaced. To me, this looked like a very repairable puncture. I didn't know who to believe, so I took the $311.00 hosing to have BMW replace my tire. My only hope is that as more runflats come into use, the prices will go down and the confusion will be resolved over the fix v.s. replace debate.

[galahad05]

Check out Tirerack's FAQs--I think I recall seeing a section where they basically said that runflats can indeed be repaired, under certain conditions.

[mryakan]

I had a nail in the middle of one of my Bridgestone Turanza runflat tires. It was holding pressure, the low pressure light never went off. I was told by both BMW dealership and a Bridgestone tire shop that these tires cannot be patched, but must be replaced. To me, this looked like a very repairable puncture. I didn't know who to believe, so I took the $311.00 hosing to have BMW replace my tire. My only hope is that as more runflats come into use, the prices will go down and the confusion will be resolved over the fix v.s. replace debate.
Amen to that. Sorry you had to be hosed by the dealer, it is hard at this point to judge whether they are intentionally trying to make a few bucsk off of your misfortune or if they are just misinformed!

[Terry @ BMS]

I got a huge screw nail in one of my tires. I picked it up before the tire pressure warning light did because the clicking sound of the nail hitting the road as it turned drove me crazy.

Since I have the road hazard warranty, I drove to the dealer. To my surprise, they fixed it instead of giving me a new tire. The puncture was in the middle of the tread. The SA said that if the tire has more than 15 psi in it and if the nail is not in the sidewall, they can fix the tire.Is this true? I am certain if I did not have the road hazard warranty they would have said, "sorry, you need a new tire. That's $700 please!".

Has anyone else had a Runflat tire fixed? They plugged it from the inside with a mushroom type, vulcanized patch. They did wash my car.

I have, as long as they did a good job it should be no problem.

[crwbaird]

Hey Guys
I have heard that some others have had this same problem with the BMW tires making weird noises, often after 10,000 km.
One link that came up for me was when I was researching it was (www) bmwtirenoise (.com)
Hopefully you can garner some information from that site as well.

[trek1500]

I purchased the tire & road hazard warranty knowing that these run flats are not cheap..

Most of the routes I've driven have been relatively smooth & trouble free...no potholes..construction areas..etc..but you never know..I heard one pothole can pretty much tear up a run flat instantly..hopefully I won't run into that problem...

[mryakan]

I purchased the tire & road hazard warranty knowing that these run flats are not cheap..

Most of the routes I've driven have been relatively smooth & trouble free...no potholes..construction areas..etc..but you never know..I heard one pothole can pretty much tear up a run flat instantly..hopefully I won't run into that problem...
Actually the runflats have a better chance surviving a pothole than regular tires due to the stiffer sidewall, but true if they get ruined they are more expensive to replace. The warranty is worth it IMO. I got it and it already almost paid for itself after 1 nail and he tire being replaced for 450$.

[samger2]

I think when it comes down to it, the dealer is doing what they have to do to make money.

You aren't supposed to repair a runflat...case closed. It doesn't matter what the technician says, it doesn't matter what your service advisor says, it doesn't matter if it's worked for you, the manufacturer of the tire says DO NOT REPAIR RUNFLATS.

We don't offer roadhazard at our dealer here...so I looked into getting an aftermarket roadhazard program and my biggest question to the supplier was, if a customer has a damage in a runflat will your company pay to replace the tire and they said "no".

So my dilemma was then, do I go with the aftermarket road hazard company and make sick profit on my customers by selling them roadhazard and then just repairing the tires when they come in...or do I listen to the manufacterer and not go with the aftermarket company because they won't pay to replace runflats?

Of course we as a dealership chose not to go with the aftermarket roadhazard company because they are blatantly going against manufacturer specifications.

Basically the dealer should've replaced your tire if they sold you roadhazard on a runflat tire. Fixing it goes against BMW and runflat specifications.

So in other words...to the OP...they made their sick profit off you when they sold you roadhazard and now they're not standing behind it.

[PlayerN07]

Hi, I am a tire tech and deal with this kinda stuff all the time. When running on low tire pressure there is an incredible amount of friction that is built up due to rolling resistance. Along with the friction comes a troumendous amount of heat that mainly effects the sidewall literally eating it away. The deal with RFT is that when a customer brings them in under inflated we do not know how long it has been running at that low pressure. Due to the fact that the sidewalls are at least 3 times as thick it is nearly impossible to tell whether or not the sidewall is weakend unless there is significant noticeable wear. Instead of jeopordizing the customers lives we are advized to repair the tires at our own discretion or just replace the tire. If the nail is caught soon enough repair it, but if you have been driving on it enough to notice a heat ring on the sidewall do not chance it.

[samger2]

^^^^^^^

Exactly what he said about the sidewall integrity. People don't think of that when they want their runflats fixed

[samger2]

And furthermore...if you do have a runflat repaired and it did have excessive sidewall damage that you didn't know about and it caused an accident with thousands of dollars to your car...where is the first place you're going to look? The place that fixed your non-repairable runflat tire of course...

So dealers and tire shops should be trying to avoid this situation all together by doing what the manufacturer tells them to do.

[rf130]

e92vancouver -- I can't believe that a run flat tire costs $700.00 in Vancouver. I may just be a small town guy from Edmonton, but we do have a number of tire shops in town that carry Bridgestone run flat tires -- So at least the tire shops here have to be a little competitive on their prices. Although they are certainly more expensive at the tire shops in Edmonton than they are buying them from a large volume tire distributor like TireRack or TireTrends (where they cost well under $200.00), the highest price I've been quoted here for a 17" Potenza RFT (which is exactly the same tire that they would put on the vehicle at the BMW dealership) is $349.00.

[The HACK]

I had a nail in the middle of one of my Bridgestone Turanza runflat tires. It was holding pressure, the low pressure light never went off. I was told by both BMW dealership and a Bridgestone tire shop that these tires cannot be patched, but must be replaced. To me, this looked like a very repairable puncture. I didn't know who to believe, so I took the $311.00 hosing to have BMW replace my tire. My only hope is that as more runflats come into use, the prices will go down and the confusion will be resolved over the fix v.s. replace debate.

If the puncture is anywhere within a thumb and a half width to the sidewall, it can not be repaired, run-flat or not.

[samger2]

It's interesting...this just happened yesterday sometime after I commented on this thread...the picture below is a 245/40R18 Dunlop Sp Sport DSST runflat tire on a 545:

Notice the puncture in a very repairable area:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j275/samger2/PUNCTURE2.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j275/samger2/PUNCTURE.jpg

Now...notice after the tire was dismounted the LARGE crack that appeared on the insided of the tire due to the tire being run on for who knows how long without air in it.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j275/samger2/CRACK.jpg

If someone would've assumed they could just plug this tire because it was in a very repairable area...it would've been an accident waiting to happen.

An experienced shop should have taken this tire off and noticed that crack if they had any intention of repairing it however, let me mention that the customer came to us after they were at Discount Tire and Discount couldn't figure out how this crack happened....

Once again...runflat tires should not be repaired and this is why...not only that but you shouldn't trust anyone to handle your tires...

[Marcknco]

Hmm, when we bought a brand new X1 - with the wheel and tire warranty and found that we ran over a nail (new construction by our house), we took it back to the dealer and they told us that the run flat can not be fixed like any other tire that we would need to replace all 4 tires and since the warranty covered them we did with out any issue.

I recently hit a curb with my 435xi, so hard that the curb was cracked at the base and split in the middle - pushed back into the dirt. I requested that the tires be changed out due to the fact of how hard I hit the curb and the ability for the tire to actually run if I got a flat later down the road. I drive a lot and do not want to be stranded because I have no spare and have to wait 4 to 5 hours for the tow truck from BMW assist to get there (it took that long when I hit the curb and we were in town).

I am being told that the tires are ok and I am not sure I trust them - anyone have any experience in the quality of the run flats when they are in an accident and there is no apparent damage to the outside but can not tell if the material on the inside is compromised.

thannks
Marck

[agentrnge]

Yikes. The incident involving hitting a curb hard enough to crack the curb seems deserving of its own thread.
At the very least would they do/check the alignment after the impact?