[MJE60]

Hi
Please contribute to this thread if you are able. - thanks.

Apparently most major U.K. tyre repair companies will not repair a RFT citing safety issues. It appears a similar “no RFT repair” situation in Australia but I was told it is usually not a problem in the US. I do not know the position in mainland Europe or Canada perhaps forum members can advise for their country. In the U.K Some major tyre repair chains say they will repair dependent on the tyre manufacturer recommendation but the majority position, stated online, is that it is unsafe to repair RFT.

Pirelli say their RFT should NEVER be repaired, Michelin say “once only” provided the tyre is inspected and looks not to have sustained damage and yet another major multi-national manufacturer says their tyres may be treated as a normal tyre except when there is rubber crumb inside the tyre from running flat too long.

IF you cannot get RFT tyres easily repaired, even when they have not been driven on in a deflated state, then this clearly has a major cost implication. It can be worse when tyres are Partly worn because there may also be “ pressure” to replace in pairs of even full sets.

If You have had a flat/puncture on your RFT, I would appreciate knowing what happened. How quickly did the pressure sensor tell you there was a problem, did you notice before the warning? How far did you then have to drive on the tyre before repair/replacement? Did the tyre brand play a role in response you got?
Finally did you get a repair or did they say ?NO.

It will interesting to see if there are national and/or regional variations in repair/replace responses from recovery/tyre repair companies.

Once we get the findings perhaps we can discuss whether the best thing you can do is replace RFT’s with ordinary tyres as soon as they wear out!, or not (you may love your RFT - my wife says she never could/would replace a tyre on the roadside and the repair kits are a nightmare to understand and use). I have also seen some owners stick with RFT in the belief they are safer in a high speed blowout situation.

Thanks.

[Dyl]

I drive an f36, (My wife has a F48) and between us we are the world unluckiest couple regarding punctures.

The sensors are pretty hot on letting you know you have an issue, and luckily I've always had sufficient pressure to get to my local tyre place, or petrol station without damaging the tyre.

As long as is not too close to the sidewall a local indy tyre place will repair. My rear driver side tyre has had two punctures repaired in the last month.

I've never had a repair cause me any problems.

[MJE60]

Originally Posted by Dyl

I drive an f36, (My wife has a F48) and between us we are the world unluckiest couple regarding punctures.
...
I've never had a repair cause me any problems.

Thanks, useful info
Would appreciate knowing whether you go to local Indy because you have had problems elsewhere and what brand of tyres you have got on the F36 & F48.

[Dyl]

Bridgestones on both.

I go to the indy because generally they really know their stuff. The big companies are only interested in selling you new tyres.

My local place will not fix it if they don't believe it will be safe and they have refused to repair tyres for me in the past. But they only charge £12 for a repair, and when you get a puncture in a week old tyre that is a big relief.

These are just two of the three things pulled out of the SAME tyre on my car in a 3 week period. The bolt, complete with washer, did not need a repair believe it or not. I felt it as I was driving, pulled over and was able to unscrew it from the tread. I was the day after there was a tiny panel pin right in the centre of my tyre that was repaired.

[ttimbo]

Most tyre shops in Australia now won't repair RFTs. They used to, but (and I can't find a regulation) they're now refusing.

Before Christmas, I got a screw in my pax front RFT; I was literally 500 metres from home, so drove home with the tyre still well inflated, replaced it with my space-saver, and took it for repair — three places (including one that handles my track tyres) all refused, despite agreeing there was no carcass damage. My track tyre guy even said "Look, if it was mine, as soon as the shutters go down after work, I'd plug it — but I can't do that for you".

I suspect it may be more an insurance liability issue for the tyre shop than any regulation. But it convinced me to switch to non-RFTs.

[MJE60]

Originally Posted by ttimbo

Most tyre shops in Australia now won't repair RFTs. They used to, but (and I can't find a regulation) they're now refusing.

Before Christmas...
.... I suspect it may be more an insurance liability issue for the tyre shop than any regulation. But it convinced me to switch to non-RFTs.

Thanks for this, looks to be same as U.K where nearly all the nation-wide repair companies say no and the few that will say it depends on brand (tyre manufacturer recommendation. Pirelli - No, Michelin-once only, another - yes but etc etc). Despite this, eBay U.K. has loads of Indy (tyre repair) sellers offering nearly new but repaired Pirelli p7 rft’s so like you I suspect money & insurance rather than the law are at play here.

[Skyline2.0]

Had to deal with this very issue just last week...I ended up forking out $263 to get a new Goodyear Eagle Sport RF tire.

The TPMS system was very quick to warn me of a low tire pressure issue even before I noticed any difference in ride quality or handling. Once the dashboard low tire light came on, I immediately pulled up the tire pressure screen and saw my rear right tire was at 22-24 psi. I pulled into the nearest parking lot and found 2x 1 1/2 screws in the tire! One screw was about 1 - 1 1/2 inches in from the sidewall; the other was right on the border of where the tread pattern ends and sidewall begins.

I'm not 100% positive when the puncture occurred, but I drove <1 mile from my last destination before the low tire pressure light came on. The puncture had to have happened during this short distance, as it was fine when I last parked it.

I re-inflated the tire back to 32-33 psi and drove <5 miles back home. Tire pressure remained high enough that I wasn't too worried about damaging the rim as I still had 28 psi in the tire when I got home. Then, swapped out the RF with my spare. I went to a local shop that I trust and they told me the RF could not be patched, which did not surprise me given the puncture spots.

I don't think the tire brand played a role in the patch vs new tire recommendation from my mechanic. He had to order a new tire anyway since he didn't have this particular brand available. I could've plugged it myself with my own kit, but a possible blowout due to a compromised tire wasn't worth the risk. I opted to leave the wheel with my mechanic to get a new tire mounted and balanced. The repair was done by the next day.

After the tread wears down to the minimum tread depth, I'm 100% going to conventional non-RFTs. With a spare, I see no benefit of having RFTs. They add more rotational mass to each wheel. Anecdotally, they're louder than conventional non-RFTs. I've heard RFTs handle more poorly and ride quality is rougher. Finally, if you get a sidewall puncture or bubble, continued driving on a RFT is likely unsafe.

Just my 2 cents.

[Max1Factor]

One instance with the X3 on Pirelli. Noticed a large screw visually the morning after a stopover which was confirmed by the sensors. Phoned around all the big places who refused to repair. A local small outfit said they'd take a look. Drove 5 miles at 40mph on the deflated tyre. It got quite warm but not damaged . They said no problem it's not too close to the sidewall. They plugged it and I ran it for another 20,000 miles.
However I'm not a fan. With the X1 I bought the space saver spare and will change to non-RFT when the time comes.

[CliveL]

On my last BMW I had a Goodyear RFT tyre repaired by a local independent tyre place. Goodyear's website stated that their tyres could be repaired, and they were happy to do it.

For my X1 I specifically went for non-RFTs though. I prefer the ride, and just keep a spare in the boot...

[GenXer]

When I wear out my Pirelli Cinturato P7 RFT, I will go for the Bridgestone Driveguard similar to the ones I currently have on my Mazda Miata. It's not as hard and seems to ride quieter. Additionally in the US, it came with free 3 years pro-rated road hazard warranty and 50K miles tread wear warranty.

[JimD]

I live in the U. S. and it varies. I had good luck when using RFT (I now run conventional tires) but my ex-wife got several flats. Our favorite tire place, and independent local chain, will plug them. But they only do plugs the way I think they should be done. They remove the tire from the rim, look for damage, and if the inside of the tire is not damaged beyond the puncture, and the puncture is in the tread portion, they will plug it with a mushroom shaped plug or with a plug/patch combination (whichever they have in stock).

I carry a simple plugging kit since I have no spare in my e88 but have never used it on my bimmer. I used it once on a Japanese SUV I used to have and the tire worked fine. But I would not trust a plug of this type, that is pushed in from the outside, at high speed or on a tire that I wanted to use for a long time.

A run flat tire is a tire with a stiffer than normal side wall. I would not trust any tire place that treated it differently. If they look at the inside of the tire, they can see if it is deteriorated and needs to be replaced.

[Lucky13]

Had two tires repaired, one on a Mini with a nail and one on a E84 X1 nail. Both were within the tread pattern and were slow leaks not discovered until the next morning after sitting in the garage overnight. The Mini only had 800 miles on it a drove it for over 20,000 miles with the repair and I believe it was a Pirelli tire (happened in 2010.

[wanofakind01]

Just thankful that my wife's x1 has the wheel and tire warranty as we've replaced two tires from nails alone, and a third from tearing the sidewall from an object that was in the middle of the interstate highway during a storm. Even without any pressure the runflats were able to make it the last four miles home. Would have hated dealing with that in the storm. Free tow from bmw, free tire, only paid for alignment.

IMO, this is definitely a worthwhile add-on to the vehicle purchase. I personally wouldnt ride runflats due to performance and weight, but we made sure the x1 had them.