Motorplan and Normal tires - Its official!

[BMW M]

Hi Guys & Gals,

Just got off the phone with BMW, and they confirmed the following:

1. Normal tires will NOT suspend your MP.
2. Normal tires will not lead to comments on your MP.
3. Runflats must be replaced by BMW Certified tires (With the star on the sidewall for vehicles under warranty/motorplan)
4. Only negative - Should you have a suspension related MP Claim, an investigation will be made into the impact which 'normal tires' have had on the part, if any.

With regards to point 4, I was told that no claim has ever been denied with regards to vehicles fitted with normal tires that was BMW approved.

I spoke to Jeanie Pretorius from BMW MP division, she will send me a confirmation letter of the above.

As far as the mobility kit with the spare wheel, non in stock at BMW.

My reason for the call to them was that there is no 18" Mitchelin Pilot Sport II runflats available in South Africa, and I need to replace two rear tires. Normal Mitchelins are plentyful at a third of the cost.

Hope this helps you guys when it come to making tire choices. I will post a copy of the letter from BMW if anyone wants a copy as refference.

:thumbs:

 

[msm]

I will post a copy of the letter from BMW if anyone wants a copy as refference.

Yes, please.

 

[Charlie Brown]

Nice to know - thanks for info, can you elaborate on point 3 pls -

# Runflats must be replaced by BMW Certified tires (With the star on the sidewall for vehicles under warranty/motorplan.

What star are you referring to here ?

 

[Funky Toyz]

There's an actual star on the sidewall of the tyre. My Hankook Ventus V12's don't have any stars :fencelook:

 

[BMW M]

BMW, Merc and Audi have 'certified/recomended' tires which was tested on their vehicles for performance etc. These tyres are marked onthe sidewalls with a star.

There was a list somewhere on the forum of approved tires if i recall correctly.

Makes include Mitchelin, Continental, Bridgestone, Goodyear and a few others. This approval is not extended to ALL these brands tires, so look carefully, just because its a bridgestone doesn't mean its a BMW approved tire.

:thumbs:

 

[Rooi_Willie]

Nice post!!

Would love a copy of the letter!

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

 

[frikkieh]

If it's not written, it's not said.

 

[Chismakop]

Please also post the confirmation letter from BMW:rollsmile:

 

[herr bmw]

nice going bmw m:thumbs:

would also like a copy of that letter

 

[outlaw335]

Guys just to add something,I've been using 'uncertified' tyres on all my cars for years and had them serviced at 4 different dealerships during that time. Not once was I approached about it being a problem and I honestly don't think that it will be,just my 2c

 

[Jakkals_F30]

Have an accident with non RFT and they will try and not pay because rft is standard fitment on the car... go figure how they add 2 and 2..

 

[Philip Foglar]

Yep, I spoke to someone at BMW and well, there is no logic to this, but in a nutshell, you can fit normal tyres provided that they are BMW Approved brands with the star on the sidewalls. So Hankook Ventus V12 as good and popular as it is, not BMW Approved. Interestingly, the new 1 Series has Hankook RFT's as OEM fitment - read about this last month...

Also, how can softer non-RFT tyres cause more suspension damage than hard RFT tyres? And then if you can fit non-RFT BMW Approved tyres why can you not fit Hankook RFT tyres which certainly is not as soft as the normal tyres anyway? It's a load of nonsense IMO.

 

[BMW M]

Have an accident with non RFT and they will try and not pay because rft is standard fitment on the car... go figure how they add 2 and 2..

Jakkals,

If you are refering to insurance, I thought about that to, but spoke to my broker yesterday who has been in the industry for over 30 years, she has never had a case of non payment due to non-runflats fitted to a vehicle on which they where OEM.

She then also gave me the number of the assesor for Santam and Mutual & Federal in the greater Mpumalanga area who has also been in the insurance business for 30 odd years and he said the same. Simple questions to ask, what diffrence would a runflat have made to preventing the accident and is the remaining tread on the tire still legal?

He said its not neccessary to have a BMW certified tires on a BMW, as long as they are legal tread wise. I would recommend checking with your insurance company thou as we all know that these guys can be sharks atthe best of times.

 

[msm]

I think the whole insurance thing was a scare tactic used by some of the tyre places to force you to buy runflats.

 

[BMW M]

I think the whole insurance thing was a scare tactic used by some of the tyre places to force you to buy runflats.

I agree MSM, thats wgy I alsways say, inform yourself with the facts so you have grounds to stand on. Had this idiot at TWT tell me you cant fit a normal tyre on a runflat rim.

Then told him how come group N racing BMW's have the exact same rims as mine and run on normal racing slicks? He turned bleu and purple and did not know what to say making excusses to get away from me and getting someone else to help me.

I just got in my car and left.

 

[roboman]

Hi Guys & Gals,

Just got off the phone with BMW, and they confirmed the following:

1. Normal tires will NOT suspend your MP.
2. Normal tires will not lead to comments on your MP.
3. Runflats must be replaced by BMW Certified tires (With the star on the sidewall for vehicles under warranty/motorplan)
4. Only negative - Should you have a suspension related MP Claim, an investigation will be made into the impact which 'normal tires' have had on the part, if any.

With regards to point 4, I was told that no claim has ever been denied with regards to vehicles fitted with normal tires that was BMW approved.

I spoke to Jeanie Pretorius from BMW MP division, she will send me a confirmation letter of the above.

As far as the mobility kit with the spare wheel, non in stock at BMW.

My reason for the call to them was that there is no 18" Mitchelin Pilot Sport II runflats available in South Africa, and I need to replace two rear tires. Normal Mitchelins are plentyful at a third of the cost.

Hope this helps you guys whedn it come to making tire choices. I will post a copy of the letter from BMW if anyone wants a copy as refference.

:thumbs:

Please, please send me a copy of the letter.
Thanks in advance

---

I think the whole insurance thing was a scare tactic used by some of the tyre places to force you to buy runflats.

I agree MSM, thats wgy I alsways say, inform yourself with the facts so you have grounds to stand on. Had this idiot at TWT tell me you cant fit a normal tyre on a runflat rim.

Then told him how come group N racing BMW's have the exact same rims as mine and run on normal racing slicks? He turned bleu and purple and did not know what to say making excusses to get away from me and getting someone else to help me.

I just got in my car and left.

We must go to the same twt. I had exactly the same with them in December.I idiot who is costing them a heap of business. Mine was menlyn in Pretoria.
I went to autowiel. No issues.

 

[Naruto]

Thanks for the advise and info!
I'd love to have a letter too

 

[Funky Toyz]

WRT to insurance - before I change to non-RFT I made sure I got a letter from them stating that this was not an issue. Infact TWT wouldn't fit non-RFT's without having this confirmation letter.

 

[e46monk3y]

Great investigating!

+1 on the letter too! :=):

 

[Philip Foglar]

Thanks for the advise and info!
I'd love to have a letter too

+1!!

Just for fun, I should ring up my insurance broker and ask them "what sort of discount" they are giving me for having RFT's fitted?! It's pure utter nonsense - fitting substandard non SABS approved tyres that are prone to failure, fair enough. But normal tyres that are within spec for the particular car is the relevant issue. Like I said to the chap at BMW, how can the RFT's that I have currently fitted be better and safer than other tyres, BMW Approved or not when at present it feels like my car is continuously tramlining and willing and able to take you off the road at even normal and legal speeds - I'd rather have normal tyres that allow the car to drive in a stable and therefore more controlled manner! RFT technology is still developing, and like most things, progress happens when there is suitable competition - the Hankook RFT's that I tried on the front were fantastic and as close to "feeling" and behaving like a non-RFT. I was extremely irritated when I mentioned these tyres to the guy at BMW and he started pulling a face as if to say that the Hankooks were bad - immediately impressed on him that they were indeed a lot better in feel, comfort and stability than the horrible Conti RFT's that I have fitted! At the end of the day it came down to, 'zeeez ah ze orderz und vee orbay zem!'... :fencelook:

So ultimately he was saying that because the Hankooks are not BMW Approved they are not good enough and will affect motorplan - I asked him if the petrol and diesel available in SA is BMW Approved?! And then literally later that day I came across an article indicating that the new 1 Series is going to include Hankook RFT's as one of their OEM tyres - made me laugh at the conversation earlier that day! :roflol: