[FlyingSpur]

I'd gone to refuel today (good news : 10.7 kmpl) but when I got back and parked, horror of horrors, I noticed this prominent bulge in the sidewall on the front left tyre.

Don't these ridiculously expensive tyres have any sort of durability? For whatchamaycallit's sake, it's only been 4545 km !!

I think there is every possibility of this being a manufacturing defect. In the rare occasion that the car might have to see a rough patch, we literally baby it around craters, potholes and rubble. How can a tyre, which has barely run even 5000 km develop a bulge in the sidewall like this ? I am seriously considering writing to Bridgestone / BMW.

[ajmat]

Yikes

The bulge normally happens due to the internal carcass failing (although I will defer to the tyre guru's on this). If there is no evidence of impact, I suggest you go back to BMW and see what they can do

[speedsatya]

If you hit a pothole at high speeds ,even a 10 km old tire can have sidewall damage.Low tire pressure could also be the culprit.

[sgiitk]

Take up the matter with BMW, but please change the tyre pronto!

[CrackedHead]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

If you hit a pothole at high speeds ,even a 10 km old tire can have sidewall damage.Low tire pressure could also be the culprit.

There is no evidence of the tyre taking a hit (from looking at the pictures).

I would think that run flat tyres are more resistant to such sidewall damage since they have a really stiff sidewall.

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by flyingspur

it's only been 4545 km !!

I am seriously considering writing to Bridgestone / BMW.

Considering ??? what have u been waiting for ? If u havnt written to them by now, without second thoughts just send them a thorough bomber of a mail ! What nonsense man, such an expensive car and as you said, having run only 4545kms, this surely shouldn't be happening, especially after the big hole created in the pocket by those run flats !

Dude, my i20 has been facing steering column , suspension problems persistently and after sending 4 mails to hyundai india and sreenath hyundai having serviced it on 4 separate occassions after our complaints, all they have managed to do is make the steering feel extremely tight and weird. As i post this to you right now, i am just finishing writing a final email to Hyundai for their shoddy work and inconvenience they caused and would be approaching the consumer forum ! my i20 is from october 2009 and in hardly anytime its causing irritating issues !
Still, this one is still JUST a Hyundai, yous is a Beemer ! make sure you give them a piece of your mind in your mail ....if you havnt already paid them a visit that is.....

[issigonis]

A stupid question from me for the tyre experts here:

If a tyre, any tyre, crashes into a pothole, how will it develop a bulge? I should expect a tear. Or does the bulge happen on runflats only when the sidewall stiffening material ( pardon me for my non-techno speak) shifts/collects due to the impact of crashing into a pothole?

In any case please contact BMW immediately and perhaps even demand a replacement- your Bimmer will be under warranty, tyres included.

Take care & drive safe.

Regards

[FlyingSpur]

@ All - Like I said, this car has always been BABIED, no less. I've always been super-conscious of potholes to the point of being termed as paranoid, and because of my instructions even our chauffeur and my Dad himself do the same, because of fear of the rim cracking if driven into a sharp pothole too hard (heard those stories on 17"ers, didn't want to take a chance). So there's no question of even hitting anything hard.

Contacting BMW asap.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by CrackedHead

There is no evidence of the tyre taking a hit (from looking at the pictures).

I would think that run flat tyres are more resistant to such sidewall damage since they have a really stiff sidewall.

Removing the tire and looking at the rim will be the best way to see if there was a "hit".
I did have a few damaged sidewalls on my potenza G3s ,but never faced any problems later on after i started maintained higher tire pressures.

Originally Posted by issigonis

A stupid question from me for the tyre experts here:

If a tyre, any tyre, crashes into a pothole, how will it develop a bulge? I should expect a tear. O



Regards

This happens when the sidewall layer is broken on the insides after the impact .The bulge that we see is the air trying to push put in this "broken" area.Its dangerous to drive with these tires.

[trrk]

Hi,

I had a bulge just like this in one of th Apollo Acelers in my Marina.

No damage seen outside, there was a 2cm cut on the inside like it was done with a knife and I was refused any warranty. It still does duty with me with a tube inside it due to other puncture damages.

All the best!

[Sahil]

Don't bother trying to fight this as a manufcaturing defect, such battles on tyres are futile as it is almost impossible to prove that you didn't hit a pothole.

Runflat tyres are atleast 3 to 5 times more prone to sidewall damage/bulges than regular tubeless. This is one of the prime reasons why I always recommend people to switch over to tuebless.

Don't bother repairing, you can read more about my experience here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...-mumbai-2.html

My advice, its still not to late, sell all the runflats and get tubeless or you will land up with many more such bulges.

[discoverwild]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Don't bother trying to fight this as a manufcaturing defect, such battles on tyres are futile as it is almost impossible to prove that you didn't hit a pothole.

Tubeless tyres are atleast 3 to 5 times more prone to sidewall damage/bulges than regular tubeless. This is one of the prime reasons why I always recommend people to switch over to tuebless.

Don't bother repairing, you can read more about my experience here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...-mumbai-2.html

My advice, its still not to late, sell all the runflats and get tubeless or you will land up with many more such bulges.

Can you please rephrase the sentence. I couldn't make head or tail of it.

[FlyingSpur]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Tubeless tyres are atleast 3 to 5 times more prone to sidewall damage/bulges than regular tubeless. This is one of the prime reasons why I always recommend people to switch over to tuebless.

You mean runflat tyres are more prone?

My advice, its still not to late, sell all the runflats and get tubeless or you will land up with many more such bulges.

With every passing day, I'm considering this as a more serious option. Think about it... ~15-20k for a new runflat, I might just lose that much while selling these and getting regular tubeless tyres. And then atleast drive in peace instead of worrying myself sick over every pothole.

Will keep you guys updated. The letter is going anyway, it's worth a shot because I genuinely didn't put that car into any such situation wherein the tyre might have taken a sharp hit.

[Gilead]

flyingspur, I don't have any suggestions that may help you here but I have a related question. A bulge on the outside wall can be seen easily, but what if there is a bulge on the inside wall? We'll just keep driving around and never notice it right.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Gilead

flyingspur, I don't have any suggestions that may help you here but I have a related question. A bulge on the outside wall can be seen easily, but what if there is a bulge on the inside wall? We'll just keep driving around and never notice it right.

Well, air pressure inside the tube is higher so the bulge can only be one way