Just_me

Doesnt matter if you drive Run-flats or no run-flats, you can get a puncture with all kind of cars.
I was once driving an old Golf on the freeway, driving 120km/h and got a puncture on one of my tires. But it was no drama at all, maybe I was lucky but nothing happen, I just parked the car and fixed the puncture while big trucks was passing me and that was the only drama for me that day.

martinbo

Predominantly BMWs I think, 1er, 3er, Z4, 5er, 6er and so on.

I personally am dead against run-flats (the chances of a puncture are far, far higher than an outright blowout) and modern electronic systems are well up to the task of keeping a car stable in the event of an occurence of the latter.

The problem comes in on distance driving: run-flats can only travel 80 km at 80 km/h and in South Africa or Australia thats just not far enough because the distances between small towns can be far greater than that. So after 80 clicks of driving and your run-flats are shot, then what? You're stuck, that's what. Run-flats just don't cut it in Africa or other wide-open spaces.

Give me the additional get-you-there security of a pukka spare wheel anyday.

yomomwhat

well it depends on the manufacturer of the run flats......this is just one manufactuer who is being complained about...i have seen other run flats on some site which are capable of running flat for far longer than 80km....
like just me said he was passed by lots of lorries on the motorway.....the amount of people that get killed on the hard shoulder of the road....

warot

Well if you get a blow out, you are screwed. I'm not saying it won't happen, but when was the last time you got a blow out. I was talking about a puncture (nails and screws) which slowly decreases the air pressure.
Even if you have tires that can run further than 80km, it still doesn't solve the problem. So let's say a tire can run 200km, then what? In a country like SA when you go cross country, the distance can be much greater than that. PLUS these tires aren't readily available at Joe's tire shop. Sometimes it takes days to order them, and this is the States. Safest solution is to have a spare in the boot and sacrifice trunk space...

Mr. Mercedes

Im not sure if the benefits of these tires outweigh the drawbacks. But here in OZ BMW uses this as quite a significant feature when marketing the cars. Every salesperson we spoke to explicitly mentioned these tires as a feature of the cars on more than one occaision.

warot

They do everywhere... it is a good technology but the problem is that people aren't ready for it. Until these tires become readily available (which i'm sure a lot of BMW salesman don't mention), this technology is just not good...yet.

Mr. Mercedes

I guess you have to start somwhere though, and Kudos to BMW for leading the way.

These will be standard fit on 100's of models in just a few years.

Yannis

There is a reason BMW is one of the first to start the run flat trend. BMW's had been critisized in the past for having less space in the rear seat and in the trunk than Mercedes and Audi. Without a spare tire they could increase the space at least with 40-50 lt more.

warot

True... but the whole run flat techonology did not start with the E90 though. I think it might have started with the 7er, if not then the 5er. And those were options that the owner could choose. Therefore, I'm not even sure if that was the reason why BMW went with it. It could very well be possible that the tire manufacturers had something to do with it and that BMW wanted to be the first ones that start using it commonly.

Giannis

I was thinking of putting RF tires on my car! I have 16' rims. So you guys say no to me, right?