Has anyone dumped his/hers runflats on 20s?

[Danielsand]

No experience with RFTs on X5 yet, but I have some from the Mini Cooper. By carefully maintaining the tire pressure, I managed to get 60K on the RFTs that Mini came with. About two months ago I replaced them with conventional tires (Yokohama), and the difference was dramatic. Better handling, smoother ride, and less than half the price.

No spare either, but a plug kit with compressor (for out in the "boonies" where waiting for the tow truck can go on for few hours!), and the AAA membership (free towing in urban settings, max wait 30 min).

Once I burn through the RFTs on the X5 (only 1100 miles on the clock so far!), I will replace them with "normal" tires. But I'm lucky too, my X has a spare wheel.

[Christiaan]

is it true that the non RFT are lighter?

[soldmystang]

Originally Posted by Christiaan

is it true that the non RFT are lighter?

per TireRack's comparo page yes.

[Texas5]

Originally Posted by art4.8i

Sorry to bring an old thread back!

But, after having switched, last Spring, to Michelin Latitudes Tour HP for my 20", I have decided to switch back to my Dunlops (Which are in my garage still). Let me explain why:

At first, when I had them put on, I noticed an immediate improvement in ride comfort. However, after having driven it aggressively, i must say that they are no good for the X's capabilities. The steering feels a lot lighter, the on-center feel is not the same, and you have to give more steering effort to turn. The DSC seem to kick in a lot more therefore constraining the power delivery. Even on even surfaces, if I floored it and tried to change lanes at the same time, the DSC would engage and not allow for any acceleration. Needless to say, you can forget about even increasing speed while taking those long-turn on-ramps, as DSC would prevent the fun yet again. I was thinking that maybe the DSC software could be upgraded, but no luck with that. I also played with the tire pressure, but no improvement.

I also noticed that the Michelins are rather noisy on concrete highways: all other surfaces seemed very quiet.

Additionally, they are not as wide as the 214 style wheels, which makes the X look less aggressive.

Anyway, sorry for a long write-up, but I really thought somebody may benefit from this.

I must say, that after almost 7K miles, the Michelins look like new.

Does anybody have any thoughts or other experiences?

Thanks

I'm in an almost identical position. After about 7K miles on the Dunlops, I switched to Mich Tour HP non runflats - initially liked the improvement in ride quality, but over time it appears to be offset by other sacrifices in looks, handling and noise.

The Michelins (esp. the front tires) don't have the same tread width as the Dunlops, so they look a little weak. We're talking OEM size, identical to the original 20" Dunlops.

Regarding noise, agree that they can be very noisy on certain concrete road surfaces (very common here in Dallas). Also, on any type of road surface, at speeds above 80 mph, the Michelins begin to howl. I've tried various inflation pressures to see if it helped - it didn't.

Bottom line - when they wear out, I'm probably switching back to the Dunlops (or any better alternatives that may be available at the time). One positive for the Michelins is it appears they will last much longer than the Dunlops. I'm guessing I'll get close to 30K miles out of the Michelins. I'd be lucky to get half that out of the Dunlops.

[zizo72]

Was switching to the michelins non runflat. You guys are making me think twice.

[art4.8i]

Originally Posted by zizo72

Was switching to the michelins non runflat. You guys are making me think twice.

yes, it was switching from runflats to non runflats. I just put the Dunlops back and the performance is fantastic.

[soldmystang]

i have the 19's which are Bridgestones. i wonder how the Michelins compare. the Bridgestones have been fine so far, i just don't want to run RunFlats. i would think the loss of 40 or so pounds of unsprung weight can only be a good thing.

[Fredo]

To be honest I am amazed that anyone thinks the RFT's offer superior performance to regular tyres, lets not forget that BMW's M/// division to date has always shod there cars with normal tyres even when regular cars in the range have RFT's. Maybe the performace version of the X5/^ will change that.

Of course tyre "performance" has many different characteristics ride, road noise and grip (both wet and dry) being just three of them. The performance of RFT's in the UK when combined with our roads is very poor I certainly noticed a huge improvement in the ride on my old 535d when I changed it to regular tyres and I will do the same with my X5 when the time comes.

[art4.8i]

Originally Posted by Fredo

To be honest I am amazed that anyone thinks the RFT's offer superior performance to regular tyres, lets not forget that BMW's M/// division to date has always shod there cars with normal tyres even when regular cars in the range have RFT's. Maybe the performace version of the X5/^ will change that.

Of course tyre "performance" has many different characteristics ride, road noise and grip (both wet and dry) being just three of them. The performance of RFT's in the UK when combined with our roads is very poor I certainly noticed a huge improvement in the ride on my old 535d when I changed it to regular tyres and I will do the same with my X5 when the time comes.

Nobody is saying that regular tires do not offer performance. I am just saying that the Michelins Tour HP's in particular are not performing well. I would certainly like to know if anybody has put Michelin Diamaris or Contis Sport on his/ her X.

[zizo72]

too bad because the Tour HPs are the only "all season" offered in those 20" rims.