BMW Runflats - Never Again

PaddyofNine

I have an '09 3-series coupe, which I (foolishly) bought with 19" allows and runflats. This alloy-wheel combo has been nothing short of a disaster over the last year or so - repeatedly getting flat tires and discovering it's because of a cracked alloy. I tried welding them for a while but it's just been a temporising measure, and I think I need to change my alloy-tyre combo altogether.

I'm basically looking for recommendations/suggestions as to a good looking rig out that won't bankrupt me. I really like the look of the 19"ers that the car came with but God knows the just aren't cut out for Irish roads. What would you put on the car?

rebel.ranter

Most just ditch the runflats & fit regular tyres, that's what I did. Much nicer drive too.
There is one particular style of 19' BMW alloy that is prone to cracking, style 225m. Is that what you have on yours?
Have a look at wheelwizards.ie for wheel repair too.

Cerbera

The tiny sidewall of the 19" tyres (what are they, probably 35?) will almost always cause you grief on the majority of Irish roads.

If the suspension set up is any way hard then the sidewall will suffer even more.

There's got to be some bit of "give" in the suspension somewhere and if the spring / shock set up is hard then the sidewall of the tyre needs to do some of the work.

At a 35-profile there's no significant sidewall.

The "impacts" over the bumps aren't able to be soaked up by the suspension or the sidewall then that energy has to go somewhere and in your case it's the wheel rim that is suffering

If, as was suggested, your rim as are one of the types that are prone to cracking anyway then you're fu(ked

Standard non run-flats will probably puncture way more if the profile is that low, it will probably improve the ride only marginally though if the suspension is hard

I've got 40-profile on 18" rims with a hard suspension and even that is not comfortable and I broke a rim on a pothole.

A 17" rim with probably a 45- profile would start to be comfortable but if you're like me and want to keep the car looking as it does then you're just going to have to live with it.

Something you could try with the run-flats is to drop the pressure in them and see if it improves comfort / reduces damage, I've reduced mine from the recommended 38 psi to 30 psi and it has made it more comfortable on rural roads at sensible speeds (obviously if you're doing track days, etc you'll need to increase the pressures accordingly) as it allows the hard run-flats to flex a little bit more

Dublinstiofán

Hey Paddy I've heard three cases of this over the last few years including that of a buddy of mine. The problem is the tyres are so low profile the wheels don't have a chance and damage occurs.

Anyway long story short my buddy bought 4 new wheels and Tyres from BMW directly to the tune of over €1200. He is also selling the two good wheels he has left from the old set with good runflat tyres for €300 or so. If you want to post a picture of the type of alloy on your car I'll get him to have a look and if it's the same it could get you outta paying a fortune and you'd have a spare to play around with incase any of the others go!

copacetic

Sound like you have the famous 225M wheels. This is a known issue with a massive campaign in the UK to get BMW to resolve. The combination of the wheel not being strong enough and 19 inch runflats sending extra force their way is considered the problem.

Other BMW wheels don't tend to have the same problem, so saying our roads can't handle them in general isn't true however.

Also, plenty of people haven't had the issue. I had them myself for 2 years without a single issue. It's a pain that the wheel with the issue is the one that looks the best on the car.

blade1

Friend of mine had this problem on 18s on his 08 m-sport.
Welded them and they lasted a few weeks.
Both fronts cracked.

DuckSlice

If you do change to normal tyres will you not have to buy a spare wheel then? a work mate done this and then he realised he had no spare wheel. he then got a spare wheel from somewhere and had no where to put it so had to have it in the boot all the time. it was that or those puncture repair kits.

rebel.ranter

It's not only the Style 225m that fails, I had a 19' Style 218 fail on my 6 Series:







It was a rear wheel that cracked.

With regards to a spare wheel solution you can pick up a space saver kit. There's usually ones advertised on Adverts.ie or DoneDeal.ie. Here's mine:


You can get a tidy bag to put them in if you don't have a spare wheel well:





The other options for a spare include:

- A compressor powered via cigarette lighter socket
- A tyre plug kit, available on EBay
- A can of the compressed Goo, lots of different brands.

I also have the compressor & tyre plug kit. Handy if you don't want to remove the wheel.

PaddyofNine

Cerbera wrote: »

A 17" rim with probably a 45- profile would start to be comfortable but if you're like me and want to keep the car looking as it does then you're just going to have to live with it.

Mine are 225s - I (now) know how much of a problem they are! Going to have to bite the bullet and (a) buy new alloys and (b) ditch the runflats this year. Shudder to think how much it'll cost me...


What do ye all think the best rim-profile combo would be, to strike a balance between keeping the car looking good and not having to buy new alloys every six months? Any ideas? 17"s? 18"s?

JohnBoy26

copacetic wrote: »

Sound like you have the famous 225M wheels. This is a known issue with a massive campaign in the UK to get BMW to resolve. The combination of the wheel not being strong enough and 19 inch runflats sending extra force their way is considered the problem.

Other BMW wheels don't tend to have the same problem, so saying our roads can't handle them in general isn't true however.

Also, plenty of people haven't had the issue. I had them myself for 2 years without a single issue. It's a pain that the wheel with the issue is the one that looks the best on the car.

our roads cant handle them? More like they cant handle our roads

corkgsxr

Most type of runflats have much harder sidewalls coupled with low profile I donno how the ride isnt atrocious.

If it was me id just go for normal tires. The idea youd get more punctures with either type is horse. Maybe try 18"s with slightly higher profile on normal tires

PaddyofNine

corkgsxr wrote: »

Most type of runflats have much harder sidewalls coupled with low profile I donno how the ride isnt atrocious.

If it was me id just go for normal tires. The idea youd get more punctures with either type is horse. Maybe try 18"s with slightly higher profile on normal tires

That's what I was thinking.... Any recommended sites/dealers I should check out?

corkgsxr

PaddyofNine wrote: »

That's what I was thinking.... Any recommended sites/dealers I should check out?

Few friends of mine got very good deals on ebay.uk with tires an all

rebel.ranter

I'd stick with the 19's, just switch to a regular tyre but don't cheap out on the brand.
I got Pirelli P Zeros, 275/35/19 x 2 rear, 235/4019 x 2 front for €1,165

I'm sure you could get lesser brands cheaper but the car drives really well on these tyres.

corkgsxr

I love Bridgestone pozensas myself.

Heselfs hyundai coupe on 215/??/17's really feel uncrashable. Even in the wet you have to ridiculous stuff to unsettle the front

bazz26

OP if you are changing rim sizes then here is something to go by. On my old E90 M Sport it came with these sizes from the factory - front 225/40/r18, rear 255/35/r18. I ditched the Michelin run flats in favour of regular Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta, they were great tyres and ditching the run flats improved the ride substantially.

One thing I will say though, I've read it a few times on the web, is that changing rim size on BMWs can sometimes cause the car's ABS/traction control warning system to go haywire. Something to be aware of.

Caliden

If/when you do ditch the runflats, get a spare wheel and jack/wheel brace straight away.

don't do what I did and just have a can of tyre weld. Got a puncture on the motorway and by the time I came to a stop the tyre was beyond repair. I was glad that I had breakdown assistance and could get a tow/courtesy car but could've avoided it if I got the spare.

porsche959

Just bumping this as I have exact same issue.

Does anyone know are these alloys still subject to the cracking issue if 'normal' tyres are installed or is it only with the runflats?

Trying to decide whether to replace runflaits with standard tyres or go whole hog and replace wheels & tyres too. (and, no, I didn't just win the lotto. )

mossy50

try TONY MEEGAN BREAKERS in louth 042 9377626 / 042 9377627 got a set of alloys with run flats for 560euros
then get ur self a bottle of OKO PUNCTURE FREE OFFROAD TYRE SEALANT
no more problems with punctures

porsche959

^ thanks. Will bear in mind wat you said as regards the sealant. I am not bothered about getting spare wheel as have breakdown assist and there is limited enough space in boot as it is the convertible coupe model I have. I'm going to try and get quotes for replacing the 19'' with 17'' alloys and runflat with non-runflat tyres.

mossy50

Have a look at find a part.ie and youll see what cars with pictures available around the country

RedorDead

Im assuming you all ordered your cars probably based on a demo with probably 17" or 18" wheels? Anyone actually test drive the car with the actual setup they ordered?

porsche959

RedorDead wrote: »

Im assuming you all ordered your cars probably based on a demo with probably 17" or 18" wheels? Anyone actually test drive the car with the actual setup they ordered?

Test drive a demo, lol

Can't speak for the rest, but I bought an '07 last year, choice of wheels/tyres wasn't mine.

Preset No.3

2008 E70 20" RF. Both rear wheels cracked at some stage. Both welded at some stage. Both replaced!!!!

porsche959

All done. €1200 for four new alloys and (non-runflat) tyres. The alloys are a nice charcoal colour, I actually prefer them to the originals. Ride a lot smoother. Went to Route 66 Automotive.

http://www.route66dublin.ie/index.php