In favor of BMW but reaching back more than 4 years now ... I also had a 5series touring then with run flats. The winter tires however were not. The ride quality was not much difference be it summer or winter, harsh both times ... so blame BMW but not just the run flat tyres (or tires?)

 

The ride quality was not much difference be it summer or winter, harsh both times ...

Still begs the question, why put up with it ?

 

Because, owning BMW affords prestige. I used to think that, although I've never owned one. Fortunately I saw the light before I realised it wasn't true. To be fair, they are good cars and I believe the latest 5 Series has a much improved ride, despite the run flats

 

As a former owner of several BMWs, I retain affection and a degree of loyalty for the marque - I like BMW as much as I like Jaguar if I'm honest. I recall being told that run flats got a bad name when they were introduced to existing models in the BMW range, on which the suspension and ride had never been designed for this type of tyre. Later models were designed from the outset to run on run flats and , surprise, the ride was much improved. Don't know if it's true but it kind of makes sense...

 

The concept of run-flats I think is good but agree that a lot of the BMW ride complaints seem to get attributed to them. Whilst I see why they can affect the ride and I know from experience that switching between RF and 'normal' tyres does have some effect I would agree with TheGerman in that the blame doesn't lie just with the RF tyres and BMW suspension setup has to take some responsibility.

I have experience of only 2 BMW's, as well as the XF we have a 650i soft top. This has big 20" Alpina wheels with normal tyres and I think has a good ride. No experience of this car on RF's but Alpina don't recommend RF's for their wheels. This was our first BMW having been a very anti BMW person most of my car ownership years. On the strength of this experience and getting fed up waiting for the XF estate we swapped our X-type estate for a BMW X6. This had 19" wheels with run flats. The ride was awful (not spotted during test drives as our local roads are so rubbish - but that's another story). Gave my wife and I neck ache. Many discussions with the dealer and their test driving came to the conclusion - 'that's just the way the ride is' They suggested we could move down to 18" wheels and switching to non RF tyres would also help. We tried the latter and while it improved things a bit and stopped some of the tram-lining at speed on the motorway it was still unacceptable. If you've ever seen Jeremy Clarkson's review of the X6 his comments on the ride are spot on. We swapped the X6 for an XF Saloon. Less practical, but we get by and the ride is much much better

Went a bit off topic there as it still upsets me that the X6 is actually a really good vehicle that is messed up by a crap ride quality that I'm sure could be resolved, but that often is just put down to RF tyres. RF technology I think is a good thing and I'm sure car engineers can design their suspension to give us the benefits of RF tyres without the ride problems if they tried. I know I'd rather have a tyre that got me to the nearest garage intact than having to change a wheel on the hard shoulder on the motorway - but I'm not prepared to sacrifice ride quality for something that's only happened to me twice in 30 years of driving.

Has anyone got or had RF tyres on an XF? As a side question if you did out RF's on an XF as they are not recommended by Jaguar would that cause insurance issues?

 

I had runflats on my 530D and all was fine. I had the SE version and I suspect it was the Sport and firmer suspension which gave rise to concerns. By chance I got to the point of needing to change all four tyres at the same time and I switched to normal tyres to save £s. I couldn't tell the difference once they were fitted...