Running flat an RFT

**kinyo** · October 7th, 2009 01:46 AM

After five years and 41,000 km, my 1 series finally suffered a flat tire, as indicated by a large red icon, and worse, its night time so no vulcanizing shop. As it has no spare tire, but equipped with Run-Flat-Tire, i had no choice but to run flat 20 km to home, thinking well, this is the time to see how RFT works.

Manufacturer says the tire is capable of running 80kph for 100 km, after which the tire would have to be replaced. Knowing an RFT could cost P15k in banawe (P30k at BMW casa!), I'm not inclined to abuse the flat tire, determined to have it vulcanized tomorrow, I drove an average 50 kph (peaked at 70kph) for the short 20km. Reached home without incident and checked the tire again. It does not look so flat after all!

Matigas pala talaga ang sidewall nito. Sana nga pwede pa mavulcanize bukas.

**aejhayl17** · October 7th, 2009 02:00 AM

Originally Posted by kinyo

After five years and 41,000 km, my 1 series finally suffered a flat tire, as indicated by a large red icon, and worse, its night time so no vulcanizing shop. As it has no spare tire, but equipped with Run-Flat-Tire, i had no choice but to run flat 20 km to home, thinking well, this is the time to see how RFT works.

Manufacturer says the tire is capable of running 80kph for 100 km, after which the tire would have to be replaced. Knowing an RFT could cost P15k in banawe (P30k at BMW casa!), I'm not inclined to abuse the flat tire, determined to have it vulcanized tomorrow, I drove an average 50 kph (peaked at 70kph) for the short 20km. Reached home without incident and checked the tire again. It does not look so flat after all!

Matigas pala talaga ang sidewall nito. Sana nga pwede pa mavulcanize bukas.

ayos yan sir ah... btw, what size of rims are those, and size of tires? are those oem tires from BMW?

**kinyo** · October 7th, 2009 02:15 AM

The tire is Bridgestone Turanza ER300 RFT 195/55R16, so 16-in rims. Yes, the magwheel is BMW OEM.

**aejhayl17** · October 7th, 2009 02:18 AM

Originally Posted by kinyo

The tire is Bridgestone Turanza ER300 RFT 195/55R16, so 16-in rims. Yes, the magwheel is BMW OEM.

i was asking sir if oem ang tires. comes with the vehicle nung brandnew pa ito?

**ssaloon** · October 7th, 2009 02:26 AM

Yup, AFAIK, walang spare tires ang mga 1-series Bimmers, lahat equipped with RFTs.

*kinyo, wala bang donut tire option for your car?

**aejhayl17** · October 7th, 2009 02:31 AM

Originally Posted by ssaloon

Yup, AFAIK, walang spare tires ang mga 1-series Bimmers, lahat equipped with RFTs.

*kinyo, wala bang donut tire option for your car?

nice one for bimmers. ang mamahaling na gumong ay para sa mamahaling sasakyan.

now i'm beginning to realize why these top of the list high end car manufaturers are really expensive. kala ko dati 80% tatak lang, 20% quality. its the other way around pala.

sorry ot

**kinyo** · October 7th, 2009 02:47 AM

The original wheels were plain ugly metal rims with plastic caps. I bought the magwheels from the dealer, taking note of the proper size for the tire, and it turns out that particular bmw wheel is the only exact match. Others are either wider or narrower by half-inch.

There is no donut option. There is no space for it unles you want to lug around a spare tire in the trunk itself and lose that much space. I'm not even sure if a tire will fit in the trunk. Hindi ko pa nasubukan eh.

Bukas, hindi ko na i-runflat. I will remove the wheel and take it to the shop.

**niky** · October 7th, 2009 10:08 AM

Of course... you could always switch to non-run-flats... which would cost a hell of a lot less and make the ride infinitely better. Then search for a surplus BMW donut from an older car (I think a 3-series will fit) and buy a tire-repair kit.

**kinyo** · October 7th, 2009 04:02 PM

I'll stick with RFT. All I want is to consume the tire's useful life, i.e. till it goes real bald.

Considering the car's low usage, there may still be 20,000 km left in it, about two more years. But now that one of them have punture, I might just decide to replace a pair next year and another pair months later so as not to hurt my wallet that much.

Here's the culprit:

**17M** · October 7th, 2009 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by kinyo

I'll stick with RFT. All I want is to consume the tire's useful life, i.e. till it goes real bald.

Considering the car's low usage, there may still be 20,000 km left in it, about two more years. But now that one of them have punture, I might just decide to replace a pair next year and another pair months later so as not to hurt my wallet that much.

Here's the culprit:

Kinyo, How did you notice the flat tire? Did the tire icon on the dash light up? I have an e90 on Continental RFTs & the tire icon didn't warn me. I just have this habit of checking my tires w/ a tire gauge on weekends & noticed one tire was 5 psi off. A metal screw did it & I had it fixed at Bridgestone.

Niky, I'm thinking of buying a can of tire repair kit. The the type that inflates & seals your flat tire. What brand is good & where can I buy one?

Thanks.