The dreaded BONG

[Pinewood]

2 miles from home, and front offside has lost pressure.
Got home and pumped it up - definitely a  puncture. Rang ProTyre in Slough and they offered to look at it. It has something resembling a razor blade stuck in the tyre. Can't be fixed they say.

So all 4 tyres are runflats with 4mm tread.

Rang BMW Maidenhead, and spoke to the tyre technician, he was a great guy and said the following
1. 4mm tread means I'm right on the limit of putting 2 new front tyres on with 8mm tread. He recommended I change all 4.
2. I asked if I would invalidate my warranty if I changed to non runflats, and he said no it wouldn't as long as I stuck with Pirelli,Bridgestone,continental (basically a premium tyre brand) , and not in his words some cheap tyres.

I have a tyre repair kit at home, and am going to try and repair the tyre now at home (after my cup of tea). My thinking is I may as well try to repair it and learn along the way. Even if I make a total hash of it, well the tyres are going to be replaced anyway.
The cost will be offset somewhat by my selling the 3 part worn runflats at 4mm tread.

Does anyone have any tyre recommendations (non runflat) , I always said I was going to try this route and the fact my warranty won't be void has forced my hand anyway.

Comments and recommendations welcome ....

[brandon888]

I thought just change just the one tyre won't affect the 4 wheel drive system on the beemer . I only heard 9f it affect the audi quottro system

[Pinewood]

The BMW tech said it can ruin the transfer box, and I have seen other forums where this is mentioned.
Well the good news is I fixed the puncture myself, at home with a £7 puncture repair kit.
1. Removed the metal blade ( was a small hole in reality)
2. Use the reamer to clean and expand the hole
3. Thread the liquorice like patch onto the needle like tool
4. Push firmly into the hole, and twist the tool back out leaving the liquorice in place
5. Left it alone for 5 mins
6. Cut off the access with a sharp Stanley blade
7. Inflate to 32psi and check repair with water (no bubbles)
8. Go for a very satisfying blast down some A roads to "test"

Having seen how easy it is to do, I will keep that kit in the car, alongside my compressor and also buy the gunk sealant. The plan is to move across to non runflats when these tyres reach 2mm

[brandon888]

That's a good news much beer forking out four new tyres .... can you mix and mat h tyres for example front tyres is different brand to the rear tyres . As I'm about  to change the 4 tyres very soon

[X5Sport]

Not advised.  BMW transmissions are proving very sensitive to wide tread depth variations (rolling diameter issue), agricultural tread patterns and dissimilar patterns front to rear.  The AWD system really is a very 'soft roader' version rather than 'off-road'.  Problems with broken diffs and transfer boxes where the above conditions apply are appearing more frequently on here.

Some may pooh pooh the idea that using non-approved tyres, or cheaper brands at least, is OK but evidence against that is increasing.  Changing tyres as a set seems to be the safest way if not fitting '*' marked rubber.

Some insurers are also getting twitchy about use of non-RFT tyres and calling it a 'mod' though personally I would find that unacceptable.  Technically it is using parts other than what the vehicle was type approved with, but really!!

[Horizon]

[quote="Pinewood"]
The BMW tech said it can ruin the transfer box, and I have seen other forums where this is mentioned.
Well the good news is I fixed the puncture myself, at home with a £7 puncture repair kit.
1. Removed the metal blade ( was a small hole in reality)
2. Use the reamer to clean and expand the hole
3. Thread the liquorice like patch onto the needle like tool
4. Push firmly into the hole, and twist the tool back out leaving the liquorice in place
5. Left it alone for 5 mins
6. Cut off the access with a sharp Stanley blade
7. Inflate to 32psi and check repair with water (no bubbles)
8. Go for a very satisfying blast down some A roads to "test"

Having seen how easy it is to do, I will keep that kit in the car, alongside my compressor and also buy the gunk sealant. The plan is to move across to non runflats when these tyres reach 2mm
[/quote]

I bought one of those kits recently of Amazon £6.95 enough to repair 20 punctures.
Had a nail in my rear tyre, removed nail reamed out and repaired without even depressurising the tyre or removing it from the car, re inflated, still ok 1 month on.
Did the same on my van last week, it's in for a service tomorrow so will get them to check out the tyre , firm pays for that so might get them to do a permanant repair on that one.
Well worth buying these kits even for Runflats, can save you ruining the tyre getting it to the tyre bay

[Pinewood]

[quote="brandon888"]
That's a good news much beer forking out four new tyres .... can you mix and mat h tyres for example front tyres is different brand to the rear tyres . As I'm about  to change the 4 tyres very soon
[/quote]

As X5Sport says above, I would replace all 4 together. There can be a MAXIMUM tread difference of 3mm between front & back tyres, to avoid transmission issues and that was backed up by the conversation I had with the tyre tech at BMW Maidenhead.
You could go for star rated non run flats as "Peter_R" did. They come in at £660. Runflats can be had for another £150 ,but I'm tired of them picking up every sharp object on our roads and causing punctures.
This is my 2nd puncture in 6 months of ownership, a frequency I have never experienced in 35 years of driving.
The BMW tech also stated it doesn't invalidate my warranty as long as I stick with star rated nft's 

[lezmtaylor]

What is this kit ? can you give a link ?

Lez

I bought one of those kits recently of Amazon £6.95 enough to repair 20 punctures.
[/quote]

[Horizon]

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... ID=EBAY-GB

My mistake, thought I'd bought it of Amazon, just found it on recently purchased off my EBay.

[brandon888]

Does all 4 tyres need to be the same brand and model ... to validate the warranty?

[X5Sport]

Should be.  BMW might claim dissimilar make/pattern front to rear as a justification for not paying - and they will look for any way to avoid coughing up.  It needs careful reading of their wording about what can be fitted with regard to parts/tyres etc.

[Pinewood]

[quote="brandon888"]
Does all 4 tyres need to be the same brand and model ... to validate the warranty?
[/quote]

Why would you want to use different makes if buying a set anyway?
Sometimes my friend,we have to spend the cash and do the right thing 

[brandon888]

Basically .. I'm looking for less road noise on the tyres. . When I was doing some research on it the same brand the front is much  more road noise compare to the back ones ... so I'm think of getting a different brand tyres for the back.  It' got  nothing to do with money as I don't do much mileage anyway .

[Pinewood]

Ok I understand why you're asking now 
But I would still keep to the same make of tyres, maybe just choose ones with the lowest noise rating.
I found on my old 530d that normal tyres were quieter than the rft's they replaced. I expect the same on the X3

[sharpharp]

Great post, just about to order one of those puncture kits, will the kit work on run-flats and non-runflats and is it easy to use?

Thanks