Just got rid of those crappie run flats, went too a Goodyear 205/55/16 , sooo much better!

I'm still debating about this issue with my S since the tires are all fairly new. With all the lower speed driving around the city, it doesn't bother me. But, once I finally get to higher speeds, wow, the noise level is SO noticeable....
I think if my commute or daily driving was more highway/freeway biased, I'd change them out much sooner.....

Tire noise can be indicative of tread cupping, a result of bad alignment. There's no fixing it once it has occurred. When you do make the jump to non run-flats (which you should do!), also get an alignment and check your suspension bushings.

It's not as common a problem with the 2nd gen cars, but you might want to replace worn control arm bushings with polyurethane bushings.

TRUE, but both of our MINI's have RFTs , and are noisier than any of our non-rft tires at higher speeds. The Michelin Snow Tires on my wife's CMS were instantly quieter driving on Lake Shore Drive the first time we took it out after I installed the winter rims and tire combo for the season.
At any rate, I need to put both cars on the alignment rack here at work to see what their baseline is compared to factory specs. Hopefully my little Clubman fits our drive-on rack safely......

2 weeks ago switched from the OEM 17" runflats on my '12 JCW Clubman to Michelin PA3--i can't believe it's the same car! I did buy a mini spare and the spacer to get me by in the case of a flat.

Removal of the runflat does help the ride feel so much smoother. Also having the alignment checked and done at the same time.

For people up north having a dedicated Summer tire / wheel set and winter steerlies / tire set makes the ride much better and safer for each season.

I agree with what Helix has said. To that I will add if you don't rotate your tires they will get noisy. If you buy non-runflats & don't rotate you'll have noisy tires again. Make sure your MINI is in alignment & rotate those tires.

Please relax everyone.... Chill....
The Run Flat Conti's are new, less than 3k on them. They, and the Pirelli RFT's on my wifes CM S are noisy[ which are also fairly new] Not an unknown or surprise out of a Run Flat tire as compared to a Non-Run Flat in my experience with tires over the years.
I rotate my tires, perform my own alignments, on any vehicle I own.
I DO thank everyone for the advice and concern...

I still have the original runflats. I just couldn't bring myself to take perfectly good tires off to replace them with non-runflats, so I resolved to wear them out first. They are getting down on the tread now and I will get new runflat tires this summer.

This is the first car I have owned that has runflat tires, I haven't noticed any difference in sound or ride compared to my non-runflat cars.