Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Run Flat

There seems to be some hugely divergent views on this tyre. They were fitted by BMW to my 645 when new and I've found them to be very good. The rears needed replacing after a pretty respectable 18,000 miles but the fronts lasted for an extraordinarily good 28,800 miles and probably could have been good for a bit more but for a bulge that mysteriously appeared in one of them. Comfort excellent; road noise negligable and this despite the car being a rag-top; and grip perfectly fit for purpose as I never feel that I'm about to loose control - but then I don't drive like a maniac, merely very briskly! Gets 9/10 from me - would have been 10/10 but for price. Despite this I'd buy again - and have already done so. Incidentally, for a goood price on any tyre and free fitting at home or work I'd highly recommend www.event-tyres.co.uk. They offer a BRILLIANT service.

One word... GASH! I've had numerous cars and lots of tyres from low/budget, mid range and high performance. On the BMW these are utter nonsense for a tyre that can cost nigh on £300 each.

The skip, crash and bounce all over the place, traction control light comes on when going over minor indentations in the road, the have as much grip as as an arthritic chimp, even worse in the wet.

Unfortunately, these come as standard on new BMs so I didn't actually pay for them directly. They'll be consigned to the heap soon for a proper set of tyres, ie Eagle F1s or P-Zeros.

If you value you safety and your wallet, then AVOID these like an episode of the X-Factor!!!

i dont know if it is the tyres or the car or a bit of both .. but i have not any problems with the other tyres i had on some one sugessted these might last a bit longer, so i thought i would give them a try..BIGGEST mistake i ever made. The road noise is so bad i am going to spend another small fortune and change them before they need doing as, i cant stand the noise.. it is driving me mad...my advise spend a bit more and get something better..

Intro:

OK let's not mess about here. I have owned a wide variety of sporting cars over the years including original tuned up Mini Cooper's of various vintage, MKII,III,IV Golf Gti's, E36 BMW Coupe's (various engine sizes) etc etc... and The RE-050's that I had fitted to my Z4 (in the run flat version at least) are some of the worst tyres I have ever used on a car. Fitted for the duration on a Z4 2.5i I have very little that is positive to say about them. In the dry grip was good and progressive on the limit but in all other respects I simply cannot recommend the RE-050 for every day use.

Ownership Experience:

In the wet they were lethal and broke away for too easily especially when towards the end of the life of the tyre. Wear rate was high and uneven with the outer edges going before the inner area (tracking is fine). Ride quality and tram lining on ANYTHING other than a perfect road surface was appalling. Road noise was awful and construction quality questionable (I had two lumps of rubber disappear from the sidewall for no apparent reason) the list goes on. In my view the Run flat RE-050 simply does not cut it against the opposition.

Conclusion:

When BMW went with the run flat tyre idea several years ago, the 050 was the OE spec tyre. These days though other brands are now available in a run flat formation that are superior in almost every way. I suspect many BMW owners (myself included) have due to habit replaced their OE Bridgestone's with the same. Do yourself a favour even if your 050's are half worn and change your 050's to another brand (I have swapped to Conti's recently and cannot believe the improvement). Would I recommend these tyres? Not a hope.

Worst tyres I have ever used for wear. First set down to the fabric after 13,000 miles, second set require replacing after 32,000 miles. Cannot be repaired so you have to buy a new tyre after each punture. Thought there was a problem with the suspension so had BMW check it out at £130.00 and they found nothing wrong. You need deep pockets if using these tyres.

Stock tyre on the Z4 E85.

Good traction and grip in the dry. Bad in the wet, very slippery, do not inspire confidence. Terrible comfort, ride is extremely harsh. Very prone to tramlining due to stiff sidewalls.

Changing them for non-runflats summer tyres (like I have before on other cars).

Found wear to be astonishing, 75000km or ~45000 miles from new.
Onto my 2nd set now :)

Run flats fitted on the front - very uneven wear with very high wear on outside edge, terrible tramlining and uncomfortable. OK its an MSport but its on 17 rims so the profiles are not silly. Tyres actually went on for a few thousant males more as the middle tread had plenty left. Changed to Continental sport contact 2 RF and found more comfortable nad less tramlining. Still look like they are wearing on the outside edge. The rear tyres (255x40 x170 are still going ok after 32k miles with 3mm tread but wet weather (and snow) grip is almost zero so will have to go.

Just replaced all four tyres after 4000 miles of wear. 225/R19 RE050A 88Y on the front and 255/30R19 RE050A 91Y on the rear. All tyres worn through to the braiding on the inside edge, rest of tread approximately 7mm. Scary as you cannot see the wear without getting under the car. The tracking was all awry with the king pin angle being over 13 degrees+ on the front tyres. 26 readings were taken on the front of which 6 were classified as dangerous This is either a tyre design problem or the the BMW suspension is unable to absorb the extra stresses caused by the stiffness of the side wall in a RF tyre hence the changes in the tracking. The UK roads are in a terrible state with pot holes, sunken drain covers or badly repaired subsidence. This must contribute to the problem and therefore either Bridgestone or BMW or both are not producing a product suitable for UK road conditions. Today I was informed that a colleagues car, a BMW 1 series has suffered the same problem and all four tyres are having to be replaced. This suggests that this is a common problem with BMW and Bridgestone on which despite the dangerous implications both manufacturers are keeping quiet. I will follow this through with BMW and report further