Should we open a new thread on tyres and fuel? Still curious as to what tyres the new car will have though 
I think BMW switched to run flats in order to save on weight, as well as to push the standard. Naturally the more vehicles that adopt the technology, the more prices should go down and development on the product should improve.
And yes it is a MAJOR advantage being able to drive somewhere safe in the event of the tyre pressure light coming on. Problem is, that's the only advantage I've found so far. Other than saving weight and not taking space up in the boot.
However from what I've read so far, there is a major improvement in comfort and handling, afterall BMW's performance models do not come out with runflats, arguably because they aren't made in the sizes required, but surely that is also in part because manufacturers have not yet been able to make a true performance runflat tyre.
To me what it comes down to is price. I have a slow puncture on my back tyre and for some odd reason my tyre pressures seem to vary a lot. The feeling of absolute dread when the tyre pressure light comes on because the slow puncture went to 2 bar or in some cases the tyre pressure's climbed too high, is just too much to handle. Sitting there imagining the worst case scenario, that I've damaged the tyre somewhere with all our horrendous roadworks and then trying to conjure up ways that I'll scrape together enough money to buy a new tyre if it can't be repaired.
Most comparisons (albeit not in SA I would still like to visit a tyre shop to see how it is here) show that for the price of 2 runflats you could afford 4 new tyres on the whole car if you opted for normal ones. For normal tyres, with a higher chance of being repairable compared to a runflat, at a much reduced cost, with the ability of doing a self repair, nevermind that the costs of repairing a normal tyre is much less than a runflat, in the end you're saving yourself a lot of money I'd guess, and you get more km's out of a normal tyre than a runflat.
Finally, if you make use of the mobility kit, you don't need a spare tyre as you can repair and re-inflate the tyre yourself and then drive to the nearest service place for assistance except in exceptional circumstances, most likely a blowout, in which case you'd have to opt to be towed. In the end, if you can get by with just the mobility kit, it seems like a good deal to me.
As for fuel types, I honestly don't know if this is all in my mind @Olorin, but I fuel up with 95 Unleaded not 93 (in Gauteng) and I feel the car performs much better on the 95 fuel. From what I've read it shouldn't make a diff on our 4pot NA 320i's, but imaginary or not I feel a performance improvement and the cost increase isn't really noticeable.
I think BMW switched to run flats in order to save on weight, as well as to push the standard. Naturally the more vehicles that adopt the technology, the more prices should go down and development on the product should improve.
And yes it is a MAJOR advantage being able to drive somewhere safe in the event of the tyre pressure light coming on. Problem is, that's the only advantage I've found so far. Other than saving weight and not taking space up in the boot.
However from what I've read so far, there is a major improvement in comfort and handling, afterall BMW's performance models do not come out with runflats, arguably because they aren't made in the sizes required, but surely that is also in part because manufacturers have not yet been able to make a true performance runflat tyre.
To me what it comes down to is price. I have a slow puncture on my back tyre and for some odd reason my tyre pressures seem to vary a lot. The feeling of absolute dread when the tyre pressure light comes on because the slow puncture went to 2 bar or in some cases the tyre pressure's climbed too high, is just too much to handle. Sitting there imagining the worst case scenario, that I've damaged the tyre somewhere with all our horrendous roadworks and then trying to conjure up ways that I'll scrape together enough money to buy a new tyre if it can't be repaired.
Most comparisons (albeit not in SA I would still like to visit a tyre shop to see how it is here) show that for the price of 2 runflats you could afford 4 new tyres on the whole car if you opted for normal ones. For normal tyres, with a higher chance of being repairable compared to a runflat, at a much reduced cost, with the ability of doing a self repair, nevermind that the costs of repairing a normal tyre is much less than a runflat, in the end you're saving yourself a lot of money I'd guess, and you get more km's out of a normal tyre than a runflat.
Finally, if you make use of the mobility kit, you don't need a spare tyre as you can repair and re-inflate the tyre yourself and then drive to the nearest service place for assistance except in exceptional circumstances, most likely a blowout, in which case you'd have to opt to be towed. In the end, if you can get by with just the mobility kit, it seems like a good deal to me.
As for fuel types, I honestly don't know if this is all in my mind @Olorin, but I fuel up with 95 Unleaded not 93 (in Gauteng) and I feel the car performs much better on the 95 fuel. From what I've read it shouldn't make a diff on our 4pot NA 320i's, but imaginary or not I feel a performance improvement and the cost increase isn't really noticeable.
