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[HurtsMyWorld]

So I have my 2nd low and or flat tire of the year, first one had a nail in it and had to be replaced at the dealership and it was a pricey $500. So now I sit and wonder, instead of paying that pricey price, is there anywhere else that does it cheaper? Cheaper to order a tire off line and get someone else to mount and balance it?

And by the looks of it should I just go ahead and spend the cash for the tire warrenty? I asked them a while ago that if I get new rims and put the tires on, that if it would still cover the tire, and they never gave me a answer. So please help another bmw not spend $500 on a tire again....

[sneaks]

You need to ask around in your local forum for a reputable tire shop that will do this for you. Probably spend less than half as much on tires.
And with a nail, even though they won't patch it, i had a nail in mine last year. I used a tire plug kit for $5 and it is still holding up.

[chromisdesigns]

sell those crappy runflats to someone for a lease return, and buy some REAL tires.

[sosas07335i]

ive had my car for 4 months and ive replaced 6 tires,thank god for tire insurance

[bmwfan75]

Your local Discount Tires or Tire rack with tire insurance for $15 to $19 each tire, whether you are staying with run flat or standard tires. NEVER go to dealer for tire replacement. Not to mention lifetime balance and puncture repair (if repairable) at Discount Tires for free.

[GaryS]

I did not buy the stupid tire insurance from the BMW dealer because I intended to replace the POS runflats. Within a few weeks I picked up a screw that ruined one of the runflats, so I replaced them all with non-RFT - ah what a relief. A year later, I picked up a huge nail in one of the new tires, which my local shop repaired in five minutes for $6.

[cb1111]

The amount of misinformation is staggering.

RFT can be repaired just like "normal tires" assuming you know that they have not been driven while severely underinflated. Let's assume you drive home and park your car. The next morning you TPMS comes on - "aha" you say, "I lost pressure because of the dropping temps" and check your tire - it is at 25psi instead of 32. You fill it up to 32 and drive all day without any alerts. The next morning you have the same light and the same 25psi.

You take it to a tire shop, they find a nail in the tread and repair the tire - not a problem because the tire was never severely underinflated.

You're driving down down the road and get the TPMS warning. You ignore it (or worse - reset it) and keep driving. The TPMS stays on (or comes on again and you again ignore it. Finally you check the pressure and it is at 15psi. That tire is dead, dead, dead.

Had this been a regular tire you would have seen bits of it falling off, your rims would have been damaged but the RFT appears intact - because the sidewall is holding up but there is the probability of massive internal damage.

Most dealers won't fix RFT because they don't know if the tire was driven flat. Most tire shops will IF you know the history.

[Couch]

Why did you HAVE TO go to the dealership for the first one?

I think I went through 3 tires in the last year. These damn things seem to suck up road debris like a vaccuum.

[toasty]

when I got the tire warranty through the dealer, he said "the warranty covers whatever wheels or tires you have on the car, unless you have custom BBS wheels". Not sure what their stance is with aftermarket parts in general, didn't matter since i planned to stick with oem.

He also said to keep the tire warranty paperwork in the car so that if I ever made a claim I'd have to show the dealer the warranty. I believe it's a third party warranty so maybe you can find the same thing cheaper by directly contacting the warranty company? I can go dig it up and check out the fine print if it helps.

Anyways, I'd def do as bmwfan suggests and just get the insurance thru a purveyor that is non-dealership related, the short side being the dealer insurance also covers damaged rims.