Leasing & Tires

[xoutpostking]

The OEM Dunlop runflats on my 35i Sport are almost done, one of the front ones needs to be replaced ASAP while the other three can go another few thousand miles. The dealer wanted close to 700 for just that one......

The car just started the second half of the lease, so if I go with the OEM tires now I am looking at 3000 which will probably wear out again by the time I turn it back in, so I will be looking at yet another 3000. Or I can trash the OEM ones now and get a new set of the Conti all seasons for 1200. Its a nobrainer anyone with go with the Contis. But would BMW give me a hard time if I return the car with non OEM tires?

[X-cellent]

If it came with run-flats, it has to go back with them and they need more than 3/32nds at the shallowest spot. I went through three sets of tires in my lease, the last set were used from ebay (went from dunlop to bridgestones) and had about 6/32nds, full of patches and howled like a wolf at the moon, but they were just for turn in. They won't care about brand, just need to be four matching tires (brand) and RFT if it came with them.

My co-worker took the initiative (after watching me) to replace his first set just as they hit 5/32nds and saved them for turn in, sounds like you're past that point, but i think i spent $600 for four tires installed (used) for turn in.

Maybe you can replace the bad OEM ones with used from ebay and save the good ones on the truck for turn in, buy yourself whatever you want now and enjoy and throw the originals back on to turn it in.

[BGM]

Yeah you have to put RFTs on them. The Dunny's are expensive-- the only other RFT option are the Bridgestone Duelers and those are about $1,300 installed (Discount Tire) + they have a slightly longer treadware rating (should be able to get 30K miles on them). I have 15K miles on my Dunny's and still 6/32 tread left so I think I can get at least 6K more miles on them but will go with the Duelers when these are done.

[xoutpostking]

Good advice guys, used ones on eBay will be the way to go.

[ard]

I thought the lease return guidelines is 4/32.

If your current tires, or 3 of them, are above 4/32- take them off and stack them in the garage. use them when you return the car. If you need one more, ebay it. (I picked up some Michelin Latitudes with 5/32 for $35 per when I had to replace 2 for a lemon return.) FYI, I got 32k on the Michelins.

[xoutpostking]

excuse the ignorance, what does 4/32 or 5/32...... mean? and how do you measure the wear on your own?

[ard]

4/32 is a fractional inch measurement. "Four-thirty seconds of an inch"

Tread is measured in 32nd (usa) or mm (ous)... you need a tire gauge, or a vernier caliper, (the backside or 'sliding part' of a vernier will allow you to measure the tread depth)

You measure all 3 or 4 'major tread grooves' from the surface of the tread to the bottom of the groove. If you look closely, you may see a 'wear bar' in the tread of some tires- when this is worn down to the level of the tread, the tire has reached the 'legal limit' of 2/32. Note that BMW requires MORE than 'legal tread' for leases.

[X-cellent]

Thought my paperwork said 3/32, but i was returning more than one car at the time so I could be wrong...either way, used tires for turn in are the way to go ....

the guy I bought mine from (made sure he was local) was actually pretty good as when he mounted them, two had split sidewalls and he found me two more that matched and were not split. All had lots of tread, but were just SOOOOO noisy it wasn't funny. Only had them on the truck for a week so it really didn't matter.

[ard]

When I turned my lemon in and had to replace two, I asked the guy if he could 'not balance them'...

He politely refused, and I said 'fine, wth'.

[ZuerstBMW]

yes, its 4/32nds for lease return
Once my RFTs wear down to the 5/32nds to 4/32nds mark, I was going to replace them with the non runflats(since I have the spare) then put them back on once my lease is up.