Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Run Flat

Came with my brand new Z4. In dry conditions the steering is superb (however, I do not know how much of it is the car and how much the tyres). No matter whether highway above 200 km/h or winding uphill roads playing hard on 2rd to 4rd. Roundabouts are lots of fun (when dry). Potholes an cateyes fill like right against your buttocks, but I like a good road reading. Otherwise I'd buy a French car with a bubbly suspension. Rains a lot in my place, but it only freezes a few weeks a year. On rain just slow down (some 80% normal speed will do) and stay safe. No complains there either, but I never look for the limit when wet. Rears lasted 20.000 km (less than 20k miles) down to the depth indicators (I love my physical integrity, never overstretch my tyres' life), front ones still looking good. Ordered a new par of Potenzas for my rear. Thanks BMW for a super handling and superb fun car!

OK, most of you have had these one 1 or 3 series. I've got them on a 650. They grip superbly. The car corners on rails. In the wet they don't inspire huge confidence, but aren't terrible. I've done 40,000 km and they have about 5,000 more in them, so I'm pretty happy with that. Yes, they are harsh on bumps, but road noise isn't bad. I've heard that new generation run flats are better - maybe they are but where are they and what are they? I can't find any other brands who do my 275 and 245 sizes.

ABSOLUTE RUBBISH !!!!!!
Fitted from new on a BMW 123d M Sport Coupe, the car has only done 13000 miles and the rear tyres need changing due to wear !!!!! WHAT A RIP OFF !!!
Come on BMW get your act together ,salesman fail to tell you that you'll need a new set of tyres every year !!!!! Most of the time its driven like Miss Daisy !!! Will never fit them again.

Have these Bridgestone Run Flats (255/40/17 on rear and 225/45/17 on front) as original equipment on my BMW 320D M Sport Touring and other than in dry conditions they are most disconcerting. Also feel almost every small bump in the road. Thankfully rears have worn out at about 15,000 miles so will be replacing them with Continental Sport Contact 2 Run Flats - which cannot be worse and hopefully much better.

On the rear of my 325d M Sport I have 255/35/18/90W and on the front I have 225/40/18/88W Bridgestone RE050's RF. Thanks to these abominations of tyres I almost spend more time scanning the roads I drive for potholes/sunken manhole covers etc than other road users and hazards. In the snow last winter they were worse than useless and I got stuck outside my house where it was completely flat. I have to be extremely careful on roundabouts in all but the driest of weather which, let's face it we are not overly blessed with here in NI. The outside 2cm of the front offside tyre is worn smooth yet the tracking is 100% perfect apparently. So many reviews I have read here echo my sentiments perfectly. It will be Michelins when these are done(only a tenner dearer per side) and pneumatic winter tyres from Nov - Mar. IMHO, RFT = A complete con, due to grip, price and availability.

I have had these tyres on my rear axle (BMW 123D M SPORT)and 215 / 40 / 18 / Y on the fronts. The front tyre wear was acceptible (25k miles) but the rear have been beyond pathetic. I have had the car 2 years and replaced the rears 4 times at a combined price of almost £500 a go!

Last changed them in Oct 2010 and less than 5k miles later they are already on the legal limit. Yes I driver a powerful rear wheel drive car but no tyre should last only 5k miles!!!

Absolutely hate these tyres. Handling is ok but nothing special. Comfort is poor due to runflats.

There are no viable alternatives for these tyres for my car - got to the point where I am getting rid of the car as it is too expensive to buy tyres for.

Anyway all I can say is watch out if you are looking at BMWs - they are brilliant cars with terrible tyres!!!

HATE THEM!

They are Run Flats!!! What do you expect.

Typical trait of these tyres are their inherant side wall stiffness which leads to a VERY firm ride which gives the car a very nervous feeling over potholes, speed strips and slightly raised man hole covers.

My car has the 'M' Sport suspension on it and I have been told that this combination of RFT and stiff suspension is a recipe for disaster!

Rubbish. Had two new rears fitted 6 month / 10,000 miles ago and now they are down to the canvas. £200 each to replace now.

Fronts caused major tramlining on all types of road and especially on M Way when switching lanes. Changed fronts for Pirelli and the're much better.

Stear clear of the Bridgstones. Might replace runflats to normal and carry a space saver but will have to inform insurance company.

The bridgestone runflats fitted to the back of my car (255/40/17) have lasted just over 20000 miles, which isn't too bad considering most of my driving is on twisty A roads and my right foot can be quite heavy.

I found the bridgestones to be generally pretty good in all weathers, they do however lack ultimate grip on wet roads compaired to Uniroyal Rainsport 2 and Goodyear Excellence. They performed better than expected in the snow we had in Central Scotland before Christmas.

Unfortunatly there isn't a great deal of choice in the 255/40/17 size so replacements are very expensive.

Bought the car in October and the dealer kindly replaced all tryes with Bridgestone Potenza's which I thought was kind of them. Just been in for an MOT and the front tryes have been worn away to nothing on the inside edge. 6+ mm across the rest of the tyre. Have a on board tyre pressure monitor which has not indicated any loss in pressure. BMW's excuse is they have been run on motorways under pressure. Remember to check your pressures regularly and then buy pirelli or goodyear or something else. Backs down to 3mm across the whole tyre.