In my January 2006 BMW Roundel magazine, there was a comment on run flats that I had never heard of before. It says "It turns out that once run-flats are taken off a wheel, they cannot be put back on, as the process compromises the stiffness of the sidewalls - which, of course, hold the weight of the car in the event of a flat tire. So if you take off those run-flats and replace them, you're better off throwing them away than saving them or selling them on eBay."

Is this true?

Thanks, Bill

2006 MCS on order

 

2 weeks after I picked up my '05 MCS in Aug '04, I had the run flats re-mounted on a set of Kazera KZ-V wheels I got from Tire Rack. The local tire shop owner said that they were a "bugger" to work with because of the stiffer side wall but otherwise no problems. I ran them up until Dec. '05 (a little over a year and 11kmi.) and replaced them with Goodyear F-1's. So what good would a run flat be if it couldn't be repaired...only to get you to a tire shop to buy a new one....and at 3 times the cost of a normal tire.......WHY?.....somebody is going to make a pile of $$$$ if that were the case.

 

Not so. I've driven on 5 runflats that have been remounted, and 2 of them were still driveable later with no air in them.

 

with the caveat that not all run flats are created equal - there exists more that one technology - my Pir'llis held up fine after being removed, patched and re-mounted.

Now - if you actually run on a zero pressure run flat for very long, then I'd agree - side wall is trashed, just like a std tire. But if the tire just got a lil' soft and needed a plug...in my experience, no problem.

Bigger issue is if the tire remove process tears up the side wall or bead. They can be a ***** especially with the wrong gear or an inexperienced tech. When I was replacing my RF's I let the shop use their removal as a training tool. The trainee trashed the bead on all 4 getting them off the wheel while the boss was watching and trying to teach how to get 'em off safe. Same guy (boss) had taken one of mine off and remounted on 2 sep' occasions w/out problem....he knows how to do it ...

So my 2 cents

removing tire from rim does not trash it but running 50m on a flat runflat would.