MOT Passed and Run Flat Question

[Keet]

Took the E89 for a belated MOT today.

It should have been done at the beginning of January, but anyone who knows my other half will know that there is no way that the Z4 would be coming out of hibernation until there was no chance of any bad weather or chance of salt on the roads!

Today was one of those days and I'm pleased to say that it passed. Although the car is spotless and wants for nothing, I was worried the tester was going to say that there was a crack in on of the 19" 326 rims and Denise looked more nervous than when she's at the dentist!

Anyway, it passed with no more than an advisory that the rear tyres are getting low on tread, which we knew, and also they're both wearing a little on the inside edges.

I'm assuming that an alignment check will sort any issues with the rears wearing on the inside.

Now to the run flat question.

We want to ditch the run flats, but don't want to go to the expense of replacing all 4 tyres. The fronts still have a good 5mm on them so we have three options.

1. Replace the rears with run flats and by the time they are ready to be replaced again, so will the fronts.
2. Bite the bullet and replace all 4 tyres with non run flat.
3. Put non run flats on the rear and leave the fronts alone. I'm not sure of the legality or safety of this option.

Thoughts please.

 

[t-tony]

You need to have both tyres on each axle the same not front and rear. You might get an advisory comment though.

Tony.

 

[Keet]

You need to have both tyres on each axle the same not front and rear. You might get an advisory comment though.

Tony.

Thanks Tony, I sort of thought that about mixing on the same axle from the old cross-ply and radial days.

 

[stephano033]

congrats on MOT pass

I bit the bullet and changed all 4 on my F11 car is totally different drives so much better and better mpg

 

[Mazza]

There are some good deals on getting 4 tyres if you search. I found a good deal on Black circles when I changed mine and had them fitted locally

 

[Stevo7682]

From an mot perspective run flat / non run flat even on same axle not a fail.
From a proper safety perspective change all 4 or fit new run flat to rear .
Run flat tyres are around 50 - 70 % heavier than standard tyres and as such they do handle and ride different from standard tyres.
At the end of the day quality non run flat tyres will be a chunk cheaper than its run flat equivalent which is a percentage of the cost for the fronts .
Take a deep breath and bite the bullet fit the 4

 

[the Nefyn cat]

I'd say change all four for normal tyres, you might save a few quid in the short term but there's a good chance you'll have a car that wants to go flying through hedges backwards if you just change one end at a time. And that could get expensive after a while.

 

[ktnez99]

Have a look online at :

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/

I've always been told to change two on the same axle or go for all four. I know it's an expense but tyres keep our Beamers on the road.

 

[Stevo7682]

This is a stark reminder of the reason why safety should always be 1st .
This is the front page of this week's Ayrshire post

such a tragedy happened last week in the bad weather.

 

[ktnez99]

This is a stark reminder of the reason why safety should always be 1st .
This is the front page of this week's Ayrshire post View attachment 98005such a tragedy happened last week in the bad weather.

A Z4 driver - 35...tragic loss of life.

Safety always comes first.

As a footnote: on my return journey on Saturday, the weather conditions were dismal with gales and sheets of non-stop rain with visibility extremely poor for the majority of the drive and being a small car, the winds buffered it. Lots of cars were doing 80-90mph and then hey, one had spun ahead of my car and landed in a hedge.

 

[Stevo7682]

Think similar thing happened.
The bit of road in really bad weather is prone to large amounts of standing water at 3am the road would have been quiet and it was really wet that night .
An absolute tragedy at any time in any vehicle but brings it that bit closer to home when it was a Z4

 

[ktnez99]

Think similar thing happened.
The bit of road in really bad weather is prone to large amounts of standing water at 3am the road would have been quiet and it was really wet that night .
An absolute tragedy at any time in any vehicle but brings it that bit closer to home when it was a Z4

I know what you mean - I was driving on the A38 and drove through plains of water.

 

[Stevo7682]

I had a relatively big moment in the z3 not long after I had got it .
I had backed off the gas mid bend on a wet road and the rear got well out of shape.
Heart in the mouth moment as for a second or so i thought I'd lost it .

 

[t-tony]

The night I fetched my Z3 from Penistone the M1 was soaked, it wasn't a nice drive home.

Tony.

 

[ktnez99]

I had a relatively big moment in the z3 not long after I had got it .
I had backed off the gas mid bend on a wet road and the rear got well out of shape.
Heart-in-the-mouth moment as for a second or so i thought I'd lost it .

They do have a rear "kick", that's for certain.
I had one scary moment about 16 years ago travelling across from Kirkcudbright to Glasgow...no snow...then masses of the white stuff...and no cars on the snowed-up roads...driving up on to and along a flyover and the car started to slide. Without thinking, I turned into the skid, was remarkably calm, and ended up in the central reservation facing any oncoming traffic. The car had somehow jumped a foot and I got out of my car...one singular car drove towards me in the opposite direction and stopped. Two guys got out and said: "Don't you know Scotland doesn't grit its roads in snow?!?" Hell - NO! At the time there was a lot of carjacking and my car was relatively new...they said they'd get my car off the reservation for me - I stood there thinking: "That's it...they're stealing my car! feeling shaken and helpless to stop them - and told me that they'd watched, horror-stricken as they were certain the car was going to spin off the flyover and plummet to the ground. Dazed, I handed my keys over and waited...they somehow got my car off the central reservation and pointing in the right direction, gave me directions to the hotel I was booked in and instructions to drive using the low gears and slowly. I was driving slowly in low gears! I guess there was hidden ice under the snow. Needless to say, it was a very scary experience.

 

[ktnez99]

The night I fetched my Z3 from Penistone the M1 was soaked, it wasn't a nice drive home.

Tony.

I can imagine Tony.

The M1 - avoided going that way back on Saturday - still treacherous on the A38 though so dread to think what the M1 route would have been like.