Rear tyre won’t inflate

PrettyBoy · 09-03-2019 2:01pm #1

Was a petrol station this afternoon as I felt the tyre pressures in my car were off the last couple of days, I don’t know what it is but it didn’t feel like it was driving smoothly. So I went to the machine to inflate the tyres, filled the front 2 up to 32psi which is what they were hovering around anyway, then the back left one to 38psi which was fine, but then I got to the back right one and put the nozzle in but nothing happened, the nozzle didn’t distribute any air, the machine displaying the pressure didn’t change display, it just didn’t recognise the back right wheel. I tried another garage and it wouldn’t work there either - any ideas what the reason for this is? Car is an 08 BMW 3 series if that matters.

magentis · 09-03-2019 2:06pm

Valve is most likely banjaxed a tyre place will fit a new one for a few euro.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy · 09-03-2019 2:29pm

Is it one of those machines where you drop in €1? Sometimes you’ve to hit the flat tyre button before it will dispense the compressed air.

Wildly Boaring · 09-03-2019 2:40pm

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

Is it one of those machines where you drop in €1? Sometimes you’ve to hit the flat tyre button before it will dispense the compressed air.

Yep if it's below a normal level it wont pump until you push that one first

PrettyBoy · 09-03-2019 4:03pm

Thanks for the replies lads, took it to Fast Fit who suspected it was the valve when I was explaining it to them but when they tried to pump it up with no luck they jacked it up and the tyre is very noticeably split

they didn't have a replacement in that depot but told me the cost of a new one would be €290 as it's a run-flat.

I haven't had the car for long so I'm not exactly familiar with run-flat tyres and what the difference is but I recall reading mixed opinions about them here over the years. Should I stick with run-flats or can I replace with a regular tyre?

The alloy in question is these 19 inch M-Sports

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Squidgy Black · 09-03-2019 4:11pm

PrettyBoy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies lads, took it to Fast Fit who suspected it was the valve when I was explaining it to them but when they tried to pump it up with no luck they jacked it up and the tyre is very noticeably split they didn't have a replacement in that depot but told me the cost of a new one would be €290 as it's a run-flat.

I haven't had the car for long so I'm not exactly familiar with run-flat tyres and what the difference is but I recall reading mixed opinions about them here over the years. Should I stick with run-flats or can I replace with a regular tyre?

The alloy in question is these 19 inch M-Sports

You were likely driving on flats and tore the tyre apart, that's the way the run flats work.

I removed the run flats off my E90 3 series, stuck on regular compounds.

Be warned though, if your car had runflats then it won't have a spare wheel, and you'll be in a pickle if you get a flat.

PrettyBoy · 10-03-2019 1:22am

Squidgy Black wrote: »

You were likely driving on flats and tore the tyre apart, that's the way the run flats work.

I removed the run flats off my E90 3 series, stuck on regular compounds.

Be warned though, if your car had runflats then it won't have a spare wheel, and you'll be in a pickle if you get a flat.

Doing a bit of research it seems a lot of people have done the same as you and made the switch back. It seems like the only benefit of run flats is that they let you drive for a while so when you get a flat you can go to a tyre shop without being stranded. But from what I've read it seems like run flats are more prone to punctures - so they're less reliable, harder to find and considerably more expensive to replace

Would it make sense to have compound tyres on the rear and run flats on the front (until they need to be replaced in which case I will do with compounds)?

Wildly Boaring · 10-03-2019 8:49am

The run flat also has a much harder side wall. The car was designed with this in mind.

A lot of people give out about run flats.

A local mechanic who does almost exclusively BMW advised me to never move from run flat on my last 5 series. He reckoned the handling goes to ****e.

No idea about that 3 series I'm afraid.

10-03-2019 9:15am

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

The run flat also has a much harder side wall. The car was designed with this in mind.

A lot of people give out about run flats.

A local mechanic who does almost exclusively BMW advised me to never move from run flat on my last 5 series. He reckoned the handling goes to ****e.

No idea about that 3 series I'm afraid.

Its ride is meant to be way more comfortable though

Squidgy Black · 10-03-2019 10:36am

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

The run flat also has a much harder side wall. The car was designed with this in mind.

A lot of people give out about run flats.

A local mechanic who does almost exclusively BMW advised me to never move from run flat on my last 5 series. He reckoned the handling goes to ****e.

No idea about that 3 series I'm afraid.

I don't think that's true to be honest. You can also get normal compounds with stiffer sidewalls, so unless he was referring to replacing them with cheap Chinese tyres with barely any sidewall it won't have an adverse effect, and the handling in general is actually nicer.

Wildly Boaring · 10-03-2019 10:43am

Squidgy Black wrote: »

I don't think that's true to be honest. You can also get normal compounds with stiffer sidewalls, so unless he was referring to replacing them with cheap Chinese tyres with barely any sidewall it won't have an adverse effect, and the handling in general is actually nicer.

Yeah I'm no expert.

Man knows his BMW though.

Wildly Boaring · 10-03-2019 10:44am

Double post

tphase · 10-03-2019 11:16am

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

A local mechanic who does almost exclusively BMW advised me to never move from run flat on my last 5 series. He reckoned the handling goes to ****e.

not true in my experience

CrowdedHouse · 10-03-2019 11:32am

I'd be more concerned about why you did't get a low pressure alarm.

PrettyBoy · 10-03-2019 11:56am

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I'd be more concerned about why you did't get a low pressure alarm.

I did a couple of weeks ago. I checked all the pressures straight after and they appeared to be normal. I wasn’t actually aware that they were run-flat tyres (I don’t have the car long) so on visual inspection they looked ok to me. I thought the tyre pressure sensor might have been acting up. So the last couple of weeks I’ve done small mileage but it’s been on a tyre that was going flat. Only the last couple of days it’s become very noticeable. This is the first car I’ve ever had with run flats so it’s been a learning experice. I’m an idiot, I know.

tphase · 10-03-2019 12:20pm

PrettyBoy wrote: »

I did a couple of weeks ago. I checked all the pressures straight after and they appeared to be normal. I wasn’t actually aware that they were run-flat tyres (I don’t have the car long) so on visual inspection they looked ok to me. I thought the tyre pressure sensor might have been acting up. So the last couple of weeks I’ve done small mileage but it’s been on a tyre that was going flat. Only the last couple of days it’s become very noticeable. This is the first car I’ve ever had with run flats so it’s been a learning experice. I’m an idiot, I know.

I suspect the car measures the difference in rotational speed to determine low pressure rather than pressure sensors in each wheel. Probably it needs to be driven in a straight line, over a certain speed for a certain amount of time in order to make the measurement so you simply may not have driven enough to trigger an alarm.

Rear tyre won’t inflate

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