I took my 06 MCS in for a oil change, a messed up air vent, busted passenger window motor, and a really loud humming coming from my 16" runflats.

So they took it in and said theyd check everything out, and my window motor, and air vent werent gonna be at the dealer for two days, day three comes along (when its supposed to be finished) and my service advisor told me that they did the other stuff but they still gotta do the tire problem.
Why they couldnt do that while waiting for the other things?!?! I dont know.

Anyway my funflats have a little more then fourteen thousand miles on them, and he said that theyre going, but tells me theyre good till twenty thousand miles. If theyre good till twenty thousand and theyre getting screwy at fourteen thousand shouldnt i get a set under warranty?! Ive never done a standing burnout, and rarely peel out off the line, and ive taken her a total of three thousand road trip miles (New York - South Bend IN, twice) and my advisor tells me that theyre not really ment for distance traveling or some carp like that.

Then he tells me he wants to change em and that theyre $350 dollars a piece! I wouldnt let him! I'm completely annoyed, and im takin it up with MINI to get a new set under warranty cause my tires shouldnt be dead six thousand miles from the said mileage that theyll go.

To top it all off my service advisor is not taking my calls and just so happens to be "out at lunch" and nine thirty in the morning!

 

Ummm, they are tires and they aren't warrantied for a set period. You have tire wear, big deal just spend a little more for non run flats from Tire Rack.

As for the extra time, parts etc take time to get delivered some times, other jobs take longer etc, etc. It's the nature of things and not really the SA's fault. You should have had a loaner so what's the beef really?

 

When I had runflats they started going after only about 10K (they were a new set I had bought). MINI told me they were "out of round" whatever that means, and that it was probably caused by a bad alignment. Also, since MINI doesn't recommend tire rotations, if you don't do them your runflats, or any tires for that matter, won't last as long.

 

Normally, tires are covered by the manufacturer for up to the rated number of miles. If they fail short of that, they pro-rate the replacement cost. In other words, if you have tires rated for 60,000 and they fail at 45,000, they will credit 25% of the cost of a replacement tire.

In MINI's case, maybe it's because they are run-flats, maybe because it's BMW, there is no warranty on the tires. Because of the cost of a run-flat and wheel, I sucked up and bought the additional wheel and Tire Warranty. One pot hole and it pays for itself.

 

tires arent covered by our warranty, that's all there is to that...
can they check your tires while waiting for the other parts? yeah, but usually once they begin service on a vehicle they want to do it all at once. it helps with the tracking of their work time on the serviced vehicles.

 

the DSST's that i had were pretty noisy as they seem to flat spot easily
even at 37psi. that might be wat the meant by 'out of round.'

i would put them on its side for a few months storage, put them on the car,
drive it and there is no noise. then park it over night, drive it the next day
and the thumping reappears. but there doesnt seem to be anything
wrong with the tires... just the way they are.

 

that sucks, but as many said tires arent covered under warranty.

anyways the runflats suck, dont get new ones, use this as an excuse to get some good normal tires

-greg

 

If you want those run flats ,then I suggest you get them on E-Bay. I bought an extra set with rims for $450 MINI 16in . A lot of people get rid of their run flats including those original Mini rims and use reg. racing tires..

 

The simple answer is NO.

If you got 14K and MINI says they are STILL good for 20K ... you havent got a leg to stand on.

It means they are flat-spotted. Usually from sitting in the same place for along time. Obviously tires vary but could be a week or longer. Not MINIs problem.

And as someone said ... NO car maker warrants tires. Tire companies warrant tires on a pro-rated basis.

 

Out of round does not necessarily mean flat spotted.

It could mean that that the tires have worn more on one side than the other. Sometimes they are cured improperly and thus wear unevenly.

To see if they are out of round, jack up the car, look at the distance between the tire and the floor, and spin the tire. You should see the tread move up and down in relation to the floor.

If your tires are out of round, you may feel the car swaying, especially at slower speeds.

I had a set of Goodyear tires did that years ago. Goodyear replaced them and charged only part of the price of the new tires, based on how much tread was left.

Back to the original question, a lot of tires will tend to get louder as the tread wears. It's a function of the compound, block design, tread depth, etc... The tires on Corvettes are known for this. It isn't a defect, it's just a characteristic of the tire. If you don't like it, replace the tires.

 

Ditch the runflats. Spend some of the $$ you save on an AAA membership.

Your car will handle better, ride better, stop quicker. And in my experience Goodrich g-force Sports last longer as well.

 

All very good information. And my two cents is do not get runflats. Mine were prety much bald at 15K miles so they dont last very long. Also non-runflats will give you a more comfortable ride as the sidewalls arent so stiff. So I say ditch the runflats (as they are about $200/tire) and get a set of good non-runflats and AAA.

BEATNUT

 

Ok, I guess I'm unique. I like my runflats. I have 17" Pirelli Eufori@'s for summer and Pirelli SnowSports for winter. I don't drive too aggressively but I do like to feel I push it a little bit. It's been through two autox's with double runs - the tires have held up fine with 8k of miles (summers).
Regarding tire use, your service dept is not telling you the truth. The tires are fine for long trips. If not, MINI never would have put them on the car as std or optional equipment. As other posters have stated, MINI does not have responsibility for tire wear. My suggestion would be to call Tire Rack and talk to Alex or take another 1500 mile trip to South Bend and see them in person. They have an extensive bay area for tire/wheel/brakes/etc maintenance and are very nice to deal with.

 

just stop bothering the sa and buy some tire... and please loose the attitude

 

I think they are part of the go-kart feel of MINI handling, due to the stiffer than normal sidewalls....I like them too.

 

well the runflats are my only real security when im on the road for distance, cause at some points during the year i have to randomly leave for IN to go to my grandparents because theyre sick, and i dont want to add four or five hours to a trip if im waiting for AAA (i am a member)

i understand what you all mean about "out of round" but my car might sit for two or three days at the most, but shouldnt that be the kidna thing that they should be able to prevent.

and would stopping hard with five (long story) people in the car bend the frames in my runflats and cause that noise?
the noise that i took it in for started happening a couple hours after i had me and four people in my MCS

and what kenchan said about psi is SOOO true, i have to fill my front tires especially every other day, especially if im driving spiritedly, and i put them at 40psi and 36 hours later theyre at 30psi and ive told my MA again and again and hes rotated them, balanced them, and nothing does it, and that only worries me because when it happens and i brake even slightly hard the car wants to pull like im trying to do a 180 and its not very safe.

and on top aftermarket tires, i was planning on getting the fourteen spoke 17' or 18' (cant remember which it is) rims from my dealer, can anybody tell me from expierience if those are any better?

 

I actually have seen there headquarters as i drove past, i was on I90 i think, if not I80 I never take the same route, at one point its actually I80 90

And were you talking about Alex Ivanovic? my service advisor?

 

sorry about that to guys, i get bitchy when im frustrated, and my service advisor avoiding me does make me frustrated

 

Well if you are sticking with runflats, dont get them through the dealer. You are looking at about $1000 for a set of runflats (I paid less than that for my MOMO Rims and Yokohama Tires together). That was a big part of me ditching my runflats and carrying tire sealant and a compressor in the boot at all times, and on long trips a spare tire. As for the rims, the various OEM rims arent better than one another, the only differences are size, style and weight. The only noticable changes is when going to a different sized wheel. Going from 17" - 15" gives you the feel of more torque but a slower top speed and vice versa.

 

I don't know how some folks can use up all of the tread on a runflat so quickly. My wife's '05 is driven mostly around town except for once a week when I drive it and she has close to 14k on them and at least 50% tread left. My '06 has 11.3K that is 95% highway (76 miles a day) and there is tons of tread left. All of these tires are the 16 inch standard wheel.

 

I'm sure the SA would be "following the rules" so he/she probably isn't trying to rip you off. I would suggest discussing it with the Manager --- in a clam way -- take the emotion out of it and act like it's a business deal -- which it is -- if you expressed your frustration to the SA simuliar to how you did here-- that could be a reason he SA is not available)

 

I agree with this 100% also. If you have ever worked in customer service, getting an angry customer come to you and starts blaming you for the problems (90% of the time it wasnt your fault but someone elses, or nobody's but the customers but they dont like to think that anything is their fault) then they do not want to help you. But if you go in calm and composed, asking for assistance in your problem and is patient with them and give them a reasonable amount of time to correct the issue then they will be more than happy to do anything they can for you and go the extra mile for you if they can. Its one of those things if someone comes in blaming you for their problems you tune them out and dont listen to what they have to say. It may not be intentional but it is how most all humans react in a situation like that.

And for the concern about the life of the runflats, you have to remember some of us opted for the Sport tires while others opted for the All Seasons. The All Seasons will obviously last longer as usually sport tires are more so on the softer side for grip and the tread isnt as deep to start with. My runflats were the Sport tires on S-Lites and were basically bald by 18K miles when I removed them. Different tires have a different lifespan, for example the stock tires on the Mitsubishi EVO 8 are super sticky but only last for 8K miles before you are buying a new set.

 

Read some reviews on Tirerack.com - LOTS of tires get noise complaints after 14K miles. My Goodyears make a grinding sound at low speeds. Short of buying new tires, you're SOL.
A word of caution - these days saying "I'm going to kill xxxx" isn't such a good idea. Especially in writing. A local youth got blackballed from our dealer for threatening to "punch his SA in the face" on this forum. FWIW.

 

Well no manufacturer warranties tires other then manufacturing defects.. to my knowledge anyways. Tires do have treadwear ratings, as in this is what you should normally get from the tires.

I had some tread left on my runflats when I replaced them after 30,000KM, went to a non-runflat for cost reasons...

As for doing it all at once.. I can see that, as Dealers ususally pay their techs. flat time. SO where it impacts your schedule, it makes their paperwork a little bit easier. Maybe not the BEST situation for the customer...

I have had some concerns with the dealers here in Ontario.. they seem to have an odd paper flow in the business. They blame the Canadian Pricacy Law. But that is another story.

But based on my experiences with 2 different dealerships.. I would never go to them for anything other then a FREE WARRANTY repair... nuff said.

J

 

the only reason i was considering other OEM rims, is because i do want a bigger rim, but i want the ridgity of the OEM rims, i do live in new york city so of course you see why i would want them

i only told my service advisor that i was annoyed that it was happening not that he was doing something wrong or whatever. Also when i told him that i didnt want him to put on new tires i just said, dont do that now cause i dont have the money for it, i think i was gentle

yea i'm thinking of doing the tire rack thing, i have to decide,
and im not a very violent person and i was muttering it to myself when driving out of the dealership