New 545i

[jar33]

Hi to all,


I just joined this site out of exasperation.

I recently purchased the new 545 in August (sport package with run flat tires) and have had an ongoing issue of the flat tire warning signal going off on the dash -- 6x in 3 months. On 2 of these occasions, my dealership told me I had a nail in a tire -- I've had 1 nail in 18 yrs of driving and now 2 in a couple of months. These tires aren't cheap to replace -- $500+ a pop.

On the other times I've taken the car in, I've been told the run flats and the warning system are very sensitive for any of a number of reasons including differential tire pressures of more than 3 psi, cold temperature, or driving the car hard. Now the warning lights have gone off with newly installed snow tires. Has anyone else had a similar problem of this nature?

Thanks.

 

[kscarrol]

I have seen a number of folks on different boards complain about the runflats, whether it is the ride quality, the fact that they seem to get quite noisy as they age and the flat tire monitor issue. I would consider getting rid of the runflats if I were you. I got my 545 back in Feb 04 (non-sports package, therefore regular tires) and I've never had the FTM go off. Nails you can't do much about, I assume they showed you the nail as opposed to you just taking their word for it.

 

[DJD1]

Me too!

Took delivery of 2004 545i w/Sport in January. 16,000 miles later had to replace all four tires. Took car to dealership with noise in front end and and was told the tire edges had worn down. Service person told me that it is not unusual to have tire problems at 10,000 miles. Is this true??

 

[Chesty Bonds]

Service person told me that it is not unusual to have tire problems at 10,000 miles. Is this true??

I would seriously doubt this - unless, of course, you drive the wheels off your car whenever you use it.

As an example, we have a Land Rover Discovery which weighs about 2 tonnes. It's done 70,000 kms and is STILL on the original tyres. I would say that the service rep is full of s***.

 

[undien717]

Don't have any problems w/ my 545i ZSP, but it only has 3k miles on it, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Loving the SMG-

 

[tool fan]

I have the run flat dunlops....no problem here......yet. I am not even sure that my TP gauge is even working........says its is on though. 10k miles and problems on 500+ dollar tires????WTF tell your dealer that mostly, semi educated people buy Bimmers and to sell his Bullshit at a Hyundai dealership What an ass. I have 20k AUTOBAHN (130mph+) miles on my Dunlop Run flats and they still have plenty of life left.

 

[MrElussive]

jar33, Welcome to the forum.

It's not your driving, it's not BMW, it's the tires and the tire pressure monitoring system itself. Everybody who buys any kind of car seems to be having issues with their tire pressure monitoring systems. My father's car (an MB) has had tire pressure monitoring trouble since day one, but the tires are just regular all-seasons, not even run-flats. Lots of guys on G35Driver with 04+ Coupes (when they included the Tire Pressure Monitoring System) were having lots of problems with it and we get 18" summer tires non-run-flats, etc. I can keep going but I'm sure you get my point. Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems are very new and very finicky, but it does sound like your system is working properly.

An average set of tires should last 30K-36K miles. Performance and snow tires last significantly shorter (as low as 10K miles) although it is not very common. Tire wear depends on the tires, your driving style, and the roads that you drive on. You don't necessarily have to drive "hard" to put more wear on your tires than normal.

The nails are believable...nails hitting your tires happen at the oddest times and it is simply bad luck. But to pay $500+ to replace each tire sounds like your dealership is completely ripping you off.

DJD1, 16,000 miles does seem kind of soon to replace your tires but I wouldn't call it "unacceptable".

Always remember to perform the "Penny test" once every couple of thousand miles to make sure your tires have enough tread left.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/general/replacewhen.jsp

 

[Montana]

Here's a tip...go to a tire shop that will fill your tires with nitrogen instead of ambient air. This will virtually eliminate variations in pressure due to temperature since nitrogen does not change in volume appreciably with temp change. This should cost you very little or nothing at all. This will in theory reduce uneven wear since you wil have a constant pressure at all times. Also since there is no oxygen in your tires innards, they will not oxidize or deteriorate from the inside over time.