Run Flat Tire Repair

[3forme]

At the end of last fall, I got a nail in my summer RFTs on my 2007 335i (sedan with sport pkg). The nail is between treads in the road surface of the tire and not on the edge near or on the side wall.

Not that it matters, but it's one of the rear tires, the 255s (OEM Potenzas).

Can the RFT tire be repaired like a regular one? It's only a year old and has 2/3s of its useful life left and if I had to replace it, I'd want to replace both rears.

I don't race the car, but I have been known to drive in a "spirited manner" in terms of cornering, etc. Nothing stupid, but definitely driving I wouldn't do in a Honda.

Thoughts? Can I safely have the tire repaired? These are my first RFTs, so I'm a noob in this regard.

Thanks all!

[M62pwrdE38]

This has been answered many times if you search. There are generally 2 answers, some say they are repairable some say they are not. The reason they are not repairable is because it isn't known how long the tire was driven on flat since the sidewall is so stiff. A tire that is driven on with no air has the integrity of the sidewall compromised (even runflats) and therefore should not be repaired but instead replaced.

[meccasda9]

honestly your are not suppose to repair run flats. the guy above is right. i work for big o tires. we have had customers come in with 1 rft to try to fix and leave with 4 non rft just because of the price.

[3forme]

Thanks all...it is as I feared....
Could I put non-RFT Potenza Pole Positions on the back and leave the fronts as RFTs and be OK from a handling, characteristics perspective??

That would cut my costs in 1/2. Then if/when the fronts get worn down or punctured, I would do the fronts the same.

I'll probably get raped on lease return....

[M62pwrdE38]

I think you will notice a difference. The sidewalls are so stiff on runflats that anything else will definitely change the feel of the car. You could go to a Firestone and get non-RFT tires and you have a 30-day buy and try period so if you don't like them you can return them and pay the difference on runflats.

[ChaseBimmer]

They can be repaired. Take it to a Discount, I work at one still. It just depends on if the tire is "safe" to be repaired. If there is no noticable damage, then it will be fine. I believe a run-flat tire can only be repaired once though.

[samger2]

Yeah...let's listen to the salesman and techs at discount tire instead of the engineers at Bridgestone...sounds like a safe plan to me :confused

The engineers and manufacturer of the tire plainly state that you should not repair a runflat...plain and simple.

[M62pwrdE38]

They can be repaired. Take it to a Discount, I work at one still. It just depends on if the tire is "safe" to be repaired. If there is no noticable damage, then it will be fine. I believe a run-flat tire can only be repaired once though.

Very rarely will you ever see sidewall damage on runflat tires. There is no way to determine if it is still "safe" so it needs to be replaced. Why would it matter if its been repaired once or 3 times?