Lease turn-in; TIRES????

[jhall1957]

I have a 2009 135i that I got with a 24 mth lease and did a euro pick up on. I'm half way thru the lease and looking to turn it in in 12 months.

The question is, will the car need to have the same run-flat tires on it and what amount of tread will need to be on them.

Bottomline is that I don't want to be buying new run-flats for this thing just to turn around and hand it in!

If I need to, I'd get non run flats to run for the next year and then have them swapped again at the end of the lease.

Thanks for your help!

[FJUNO78]

you need to leave runflats... if you are below the depth, expect to get nailed... It's probably cheaper to pay them the penalty than to buy new tires...

If you are leasing/buying another car, they will most likely look the other way...

Not sure if this applies, but if you are below mileage, you get a credit against excess wear and tear.

Check the forums for the tires, I bet you can find a gently used set in the $600 range.

Bottom line, if you used 70% of the depth, the tires are no longer safe, and have shot their load... Why wouldn't you have to return it with the same tires? I believe there are only 2 brands of runflats, and the OEM ones are cheaper than the perellis.

[KingOfJericho]

It's usually cheaper to pay the penalty but BMW might be different. My Altima SE-R came with expensive Bridgestone summer tires and 2 were shot upon lease maturity and they charged me $180 total. I was elated.

[CrazyIvan]

Originally Posted by FJUNO78

I believe there are only 2 brands of runflats, and the OEM ones are cheaper than the perellis.

Not very relevant to current discussion but you can get Michelin Pilot in runflat form also; Pilot ZP. I'm considering these as a replacement for original tires.

[FJUNO78]

with my last e92, I believe the penalty was 250/tire... Which was cheaper than buying them yourself...

if you need new tires, just get them, your safety is worth it

[jhall1957]

Originally Posted by FJUNO78

with my last e92, I believe the penalty was 250/tire... Which was cheaper than buying them yourself...

if you need new tires, just get them, your safety is worth it

You miss the point of the question. The original tires will likely be fine as I only drive this car about 10,000 miles a year. What I don't want to have happen is to have to buy any tires for this car with 2 months before the lease turn in, si I'm figuring backwards some.

Safety is NEVER a consider or a place to cut corners.

[Tom K.]

Why don't you measure the tread and then project the tire life down to the minimum 3/32"? (They started with about 10/32" when new.)

My experience has been that at 20,000, the rears will probably be nearly worn out but the fronts should be OK - but like they say, your mileage may vary.

Tom

[tgxmike]

My run-falts were at 5/32 after 17K, I pulled them off and put non-run flats on for ~$100/tire. I own my car, but wanted to keep the run-flats for when I sell the car

IMO take the run flats off early, change to non-run flats, and put the runflats back on at the end of the lease. If the non run-flats are still good at the end of the lease either keep them for your next car, or sell them.

non run-flat tire make the 1er a completely different kind of beast. They are so much better. I recommend the Hankook V12, which I have now, but have also heard good things about the continental DWS if you need all season.

GL

[Angry3]

The official BMW rule is the tire have to have 4mm of tread at all points, measured from the wear bar. The car must have RFTs on it at turn in. If either of the above don't happen you're going to get a bill for $250 a tire from BMWFS.

At 20K miles your rears are almost certainly going to be below the turn-in threshold, and your fronts might be. I would plan on either getting the RFTs off the car and saving them for turn-in or paying the $1K if it's asked of you. Keep in mind the run-flats are a pain in the ass to get on and off and most tire shops have a surcharge to mount them (some also surcharge for TPMS). Make sure you consider the $100-$200 to mount the new tires and then again to remount the RFTs if you go away from them.

Good luck, having to pay for tires on a 2 year lease is definitely tough to swallow, but you can imagine eating the cost of new tires isn't something BMW isn't going to do willingly. Hope it works out for you.