[wilbur_the_goose]

Hi. New to the F34 club, and I love the car.

I’ve been a BMW owner since 2005, and I’ve taken to swapping the run flats for traditional tires. Ride instantly improved.

But the F34 seems to handle run flats OK. But I still wonder if I’d enjoy traditional tires better.

Has anyone here done the swap and what was your take on the change?

[Billfitz]

You'll get a softer ride. Most think that the F34 ride is soft enough as it is, if not too soft. But you can always stiffen it up with a few more pounds of air.

[Vortex8]

I did the swap and to be honest I haven't felt the difference. I went for Pirelli P Zero XL (reason for XL is that they can get heavier load, it's a bit of a trick in EU since XL tires have stiffer sides). The only thing I had to get is tire sealer and compressor not fun anymore to get a flat on normal tires without a spare.

[KRS_SN]

i swapped from pirelli pzero rft to Michelin pilot sport 4 non rft. tramlinining stopped. road noise reduced. comfort perhaps 20% better. Wet handling 100% better. Absolutely so it.

[wilbur_the_goose]

KRS_SN I ran Conti DWS 06 on my old F30 and my Honda Civic - really like that tire. Your post on the PS4 really got me thinking - thank you...

[Billfitz]

If I make the switch it will be to the Michelin Cross Climate+, as 99% of my driving isn't on snow.

[KCee]

My car had non-run flats when I first test drove it, but they were well worn and replaced with the stock run-flats when I went back. I can't say I felt a difference. Once they're worn I'll probably replace them with non-run flats.

I've never liked run-flats as we had them on my wife's old Toyota Sienna AWD and they would wear out after 20K miles. Once the warranty expired we switched to regular all-seasons which were much less expensive and longer lasting. I dislike not having a spare, but we have AAA and have used it a few times.

[Sportstick]

I'm not willing to go without a spare or run-flats, but the ratings on Tire Rack for the recommended 18" sizes are not great to replace the noisy Cinturato P7s that came on the car. I expanded the sizes to look and see what might be doable. The Michelin Primacy MXM4ZP seems very well received. Tire Rack doesn't recommend 245/50-18, the closest this tire comes to fitting. But, over at 1010tires.com, their calculator gives a green light for this swap...speedo would read 60.37 for actual 62.14 or 2.85% too slow. Anyone tried this size? Wondering about fit for the slightly increased width and circumference.

[Billfitz]

245-50 are going to be noisier with worse fuel economy than 225-50, due to higher road friction. Besides, the MXM4ZP are crazy expensive. I'd consider go flats, and keep a can of fix a flat in the car. For trips out of town you'd save enough with go flats to pay for a temp spare. Even with run flats I carry fix a flat, a jack and tire repair kit and pump, and on trips out of town I still carry a temp spare.

[Sportstick]

Thank you for that. If of the same tire, they might well be noisier, but the Michelin is far more highly rated for noise and ride. If I wanted to go ahead, do you know if that size will fit? I couldn’t find any posts about 245/50 on a 3GT. Thanks.

[Billfitz]

It's going to be two centimeters wider, on on the inside, one on the outside. That could be a problem on the front. My manual shows 225 as the widest recommended tire on the front, with up to 255 OK only on the rear in a staggered setup.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

It's going to be two centimeters wider, on on the inside, one on the outside. That could be a problem on the front. My manual shows 225 as the widest recommended tire on the front, with up to 255 OK only on the rear in a staggered setup.

Thank you very much. Frustrating how limited the tire replacement choices are if wanting to stay with run-flat!

[Billfitz]

That's one reason why I'm probably switching to go-flats when the time comes. What I'd really prefer is self-sealing, but there are very few sizes available for those at this point.