I have a 2006 BMW with about 24000 miles on the factory supplied run flat tires. Over the past several weeks I have noticed an increasing amount of road noise and hogh frequency vibration in the car. When I took it in for service I was told it was my run flat tires - to fix the problem, I would have to replace them. I don’t recall anyone telling me that the average mileage for these things is only 25,000 miles, but that’s what BMW claimed. Replacement is $300=$400/tire, so I checked with a local tire shop and was quoted a price of about $550 for 50,000 mile regular tires to replace the run flats. The problem I have besides being pretty upset about the performance of the run flats, is that if I chage over to regular tires, i don’t have a spare. The donut spare won’t fit in the well. I have seen a resealer that is reasonably small, and runs off of the kighter socket to inject a sealant into a flat tire and also has a compressor to pump up the flat, but I don’t know if these things really work. Anyone out there with any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Tires on high performance cars don’t last as long because they have softer compound for better traction. You don’t want 50,000 mile tires on a BMW unless you always drive like a 90 year old. You can get excellent high performance tires for less than $200 per (but not run flats, a gimmick to me). Buy an reinflation kit or just call a tow truck in the unlikely event you have a flat. An inflation kit will get you to a repair place if it’s just a puncture.
I would buy standard tires and gamble on not getting a flat. When was the last time you had a flat? I haven’t had one in more than 20 years.
There are MANY brands and types of tires that will work well on your car, and most of them will probably last longer than the original run-flats.