RFT !?!?!?!?!

[ghani]

went for a ride the other day and after i get there, park the car, etc...

when i get in the car to drive back i feel something terribly wrong in the car...

i stop after a few meters and look at the rear left tire and below you can see the result in picture

pissed off doesn't nearly describe my feeling...

thank god the next day my dealer had received my 19" BMW Performance 313 rims and i had already my new Continental ContiSportContact 5P tires in stock.

i understand the stock RFTs are a POS and i live in a country with bad roads but still... 1800 KMs and the tires give up this way !!!

after inspection two other tires had damage and were not usable anymore.

i leave it for you to draw up your own conclusions on RFTs....

for pictures of my new rims and tires, please go to:
http://e89.zpost.com/forums/showpost...0&postcount=67

[richard in NC]

I can't see how that much damage can result in a single incident with a pot hole. Maybe if you drove hard up over a median or curb but I still doubt it. Plus how could it go from feeling normal to feeling bad enought to notice THAT while just sitting?

I have ripped the sidewall of an RFT with a pot hole (on an '06 650i) but the tire and rim were still fully usable with no ill effects for 20 miles at 80 MPH. Only when I got a low pressure warning was I aware of an issue.

[ghani]

i think the pothole that did this damage was just before where i was going and stopped.

i felt the problem after driving a few meters and i didn't want to take the chance of driving on a ripped sidewall so i changed the tires and rims right away...

Originally Posted by richard in NC

I can't see how that much damage can result in a single incident with a pot hole. Maybe if you drove hard up over a median or curb but I still doubt it. Plus how could it go from feeling normal to feeling bad enought to notice THAT while just sitting?

I have ripped the sidewall of an RFT with a pot hole (on an '06 650i) but the tire and rim were still fully usable with no ill effects for 20 miles at 80 MPH. Only when I got a low pressure warning was I aware of an issue.

[Constant.S]

Yep, RFT's can kill you because 90% of the times you dont know you have a flat tire and the computer doesnt pickup the pressure loss

[Kief]

Let's blame the 296s!!!

Better luck w/the 313s

[Memphis1]

Originally Posted by Constant.S

Yep, RFT's can kill you because 90% of the times you dont know you have a flat tire and the computer doesnt pickup the pressure loss

wrong... it picks up the pressure loss.... and i'm gonna call BS on the pothole story... start at 4:55

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by ghani

went for a ride the other day and after i get there, park the car, etc...[/url]

Hello ghani,

Must have been a dreadful experience to go thru. Your new wheels look strong and nice, they do look similar to my AMG wheels (MB 350 4MATIC with AMG Package) on our new family car.

What tires are you running now?

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by Kief

Let's blame the 296s!!!

Better luck w/the 313s

They do look like 296 wheels to me same as mine 19" I can tell by just looking at them from the inside

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by Memphis1

wrong... it picks up the pressure loss.... and i'm gonna call BS on the pothole story... start at 4:55

One day he will end up upside-down the way he chases around the track, I predict he might just do it around the CHICAGO curve

I once saw a video with the camera focused on the front tire. One could see the RFT wander from side to side on the rim as the car went around sharp turns at high speed, it was something to see. I only wish I bookmarked it, I looked for it to this point in time I never found it again.

[Kief]

Originally Posted by Rolf-Dieter

They do look like 296 wheels to me same as mine 19" I can tell by just looking at them from the inside

Yes, the pic of the inside of the rim is what made me think they are 296s...

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by ghani

went for a ride the other day and after i get there, park the car, etc...

when i get in the car to drive back i feel something terribly wrong in the car...

i stop after a few meters and look at the rear left tire and below you can see the result in picture

pissed off doesn't nearly describe my feeling...

ghani, I understand why you'd be pissed off and your new wheels look fantastic, but my friend I'm afraid you've been driving that car with a flat and bad wheel for a considerable distance!

Can't tell for sure what the original incident may have been but it looks almost like your wheel is disintegrating. One part of the wheel has black marks on the rim edge which clearly indicate the wheel riding on a "flat" sidewall section of your RFT. The other area that really disturbing is the frayed sidewall section section of tire.

I'd say you had a good 30 to 40 miles (or more) on that tire after it went "flat". Can't imagine how you didn't notice it as the handeling and the ride would have been terrible.

[statZ4]

Yeah I agree with Richard. Find it hard to believe that a pothole can do that much damage. I've had pothole damage in other cars, nothing like that.

Originally Posted by richard in NC

I can't see how that much damage can result in a single incident with a pot hole. Maybe if you drove hard up over a median or curb but I still doubt it. Plus how could it go from feeling normal to feeling bad enought to notice THAT while just sitting?

I have ripped the sidewall of an RFT with a pot hole (on an '06 650i) but the tire and rim were still fully usable with no ill effects for 20 miles at 80 MPH. Only when I got a low pressure warning was I aware of an issue.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by Kief

Yes, the pic of the inside of the rim is what made me think they are 296s...

I've added some notes on Page 9 of my web link below, I hope it my be of help to some people.

"Page 9 What can we do / Recommendations"

I be happy to amend/revise my notes "A to F" or add to them if someone has further ideas.

Thanks,

Rolf-Dieter

[ChuckB]

How did you order 313's without tires, or did you pull the RFT's off ?

[taYab]

That's the worst blew-up RFT I've ever seen...
Does your car have TPMS or just regular one?
Whole incident seems so crucial.. was your wheels damaged?

[tot]

Originally Posted by ChuckB

How did you order 313's without tires, or did you pull the RFT's off ?

You can buy them, at least in Europe, from www.alloywheelsdirect.net with or without tires. That's where I got mine.

[HerrK]

Got any pics of the rest of the rim. Looks like the 296's held up pretty well for whatever hit it took and how it was driven for an extended period with 0 to low air. I don't see any cracks. Whatever the reason I guess the description of a few meters - must be in the thousands of meters. Pay attention to those low tire pressure warnings.

[ghani]

just to resume for everyone:

my original rims were 296 and they did not suffer any damage, cracks or dents strangely enough....

i did drive for about 50 to 100 meters before i noticed something was wrong with the car and i stopped.

i think it was the accumulation of potholes and bumps that did this to the tire and particularly one large pothole just before i arrived .

and the strange part is that i did not get any tire loss pressure warning messages !?

yes i was able to order the 313s without any tires, and my new tires are Continental ContiSportContact 5P, night and day difference with stock RFTs

[Constant.S]

Originally Posted by Memphis1

wrong... it picks up the pressure loss....

It didnt pick up the pressure loss on my car and the tire got destroyed completely at 130km/h , I can only imagine what would happen if it was the front tire and not the rear. As explained by the BMW technician, if the crack is relatively thin, it wont start losing enough amount of pressure to trigger the computer until the rubber gets hot (or something like that anyways), which means in higher speeds. Also, BMW explained why sometimes they refuse to take the rims under warranty, because someone would crack the wheel "in purpose" in order to replace scratched wheels. Anyway, i might be wrong and my pressure loss system might be malfunctioning. Who knows.
My point is RFT's DO have heating issues thats why Bridgestone introduced 3rd gen RFT with cooling fins, but only available in Japan for now.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by [B

Constant.S[/B];8905204] Who knows.

My point is RFT's DO have heating issues thats why Bridgestone introduced 3rd gen RFT with cooling fins, but only available in Japan for now.

+1000 ...................... On the money