I would like to put on some new runflats that i purchased on ebay. Dealer wants $170.00 to swap the old for new. A local to tire chain wants approximately $100.00. I'm thinking its best to have the dealer do it, any suggestions?

 

I don't trust either. Where are you located?

I just had my new tires installed at a place where the owner was among the top SCCA Solo II finishers. Cost me ~$65 including tax iirc. C2racers.net for those of you in San Diego.

I always go to bimmerforums and check the Regional forums for information on good tire installers and alignment specialists near me. The BMW enthusiast scene has been out there for years paving the way to good quality enthusiast auto services. Unfortunately this forum doesn't have a strong/cohesive regional forum. Just a bunch of disparate clubs.

 

Much better to have the tire shop do it than the dealer.

 

I'm in north jersey. My dealer is Prestige MINI, and they have been excellent so far. I just thought the price was high, just for tire swap. they also said it would cost $180.00 for alignment if needed?

 

Might want to post a new thread with the subject:

Tire Shops in Northern New Jersey?

Those that know of places will hopefully chime in and offer some recommendations.

 

Why? I was thinking that the dealer would know the car the best? But price is better at tire shop?

 

Dealers might know the car better but tire shops pretty much do wheels and tires all day. That and your dealer wants a small fortune to mount and balance 4 tires. $170 is thievery for that work. Check out the Tire Rack site, they will have a list of recommended installers for your area. Many of the will have prices listed too. I think you will quickly see that the dealer is charging to much.

 

Dealer mechanics do know the cars best, but they are not tire guys. They just mount tires once in a while when necessary (or they send them out to the local tire shop and then add their profit)

The guys at a good tire shop work with tires all day long. If anyone has experience handling runflats, it would be a good tire shop.

In general, go to the dealer for things that are specific to the MINI and go to an independent shop for generic stuff like tires, batteries, etc.

 

k, thanks i'll check it out