2009 BMW M3: Screwed

M3's run staggered tire widths. 8.5" front, 9.5" rear.

Some people use their cars and some cars use their people.

My Prius got screwed however they only needed to plug it ($10).

Ouch. That's a steep bill. They should pay you for hitting the exact spot!

420 bucks for one tire ?!!? Wow I try to stay under 500 per set when I do my imaginary Tirerack shopping...

Well, at least you know that the tire pressure monitor alarm works correctly!

You guys hit a lot of screws\nails\etc it makes me wonder how I have been driving for years without hitting a thing.

Hey, at least they had the tires. My A4 Avant got screwed last week and it took me four days to get a replacement shipped in for the craptacular Goodyear A/S's on it... (got the last tire at the NV tirerack warehouse)

Of course, it only cost $175 bucks...

you guys sure do get screwed at lot. At least the M3 is pretty. I've gone I don't know how many years with out hitting a screw or getting a flat. In fact I think I ran the last two sets of tires down on my truck and one set of tires on my car without a flat. (knocking on wood real hard right now)....

There she goes again! Give it a break! This car has to whine about something everyday.

I hope this one doesn't come with run flats. I don't know whoever came up with the idea but if I see him, I will choke him until he fesses up and asks for forgiveness.

So I've never used run-flats so I can't really say. I've heard a couple people say it reduces the ride quality... but aside from that, why are they so bad?! Sounds like a good concept if you ask me.

I sure do know what it's like looking for an odd-ball sized tire though. When I got screwed in the middle of the mountains half way between nowhere and nowhere, I had to get a slightly larger tire to hobble my way back to civilization, then all I could find there was a used Pirelli that sort of matched the rest. Pain in the butt!

RFTs suck because:
1. They are expensive
2. They damage easily
3. They ride like sheet
4. You can't be repaired if sidewalls get damaged.
5. Sometimes they are hard to find and have order them, leaving your car without a functioning tire.
6. Just because the manufacturers throw in RFTs, they don't give you a spare. Which means you have to buy a spare wheel and tire if you want to switch over to regular tires.
7. They are heavy.

From what I learned, some cars come with no spare tire but with a goo in a can fix thing. The people who made that decision should be brought out into a public square and should get the reproductive organs removed an ice cream scoop.

I'm pretty sure the M3 is one of those cars that uses the aforementioned goo. It certainly doesn't use runflats.

But $420 for a tire?! Aren't you glad you didn't get the 19s?

Tires for a M3 are obviously going to cost alot more than for a Toyota Corolla, that's to be expected. And you don't want to switch to a different tire just for one, so you're stuck with the OEM's. Incidentally TireRack only charges $315 for the rears on M3, the fronts are $30 cheaper.

As a prior M3, RS4 and Porsche owner $300 range is about right for PS2s. I know the for me locally Discount Tire will be close to the same price as Tirerack.com.

Other bummer is the tires tend to only last about the 10,000 mile mark, but those are a fun 10,000 miles. "You gotta pay to play," and I don't anywhere near the fun going from point A to B when I drive my Jetta TDI as some of these other cars. Currently waiting for delivery of my own E90 M3.

M3 uses the goo? I guess not carrying a spare would make sense to reduce the weight. But hell no! If I pay that much for a car, I expect to get a proper spare! I was so pissed off when I found out there was no spare in the trunk! No excuse for goo in a can!

And people rip on other dealership experience (Hyundai, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota) when they compare with BMW's. Well I am sure those dealers won't overprice a battery 190% above the market price like my BMW dealer did. For the price you pay for the BMW (and add Porsche to that list) dealership experience, I am darn sure you deserve the highest level of service with free espresso and donuts! Hell, you should even get a free massage and toe nail clipping! Can't believe people don't even consider the cost side of equation when they talk about luxury brand dealer service. And I would rather have a dealer without espresso for more reasonable price.

@hurls65- If I were you, I would have talked myself into replacing all 4. That's what I did with the craptastic Conti's that came on my A4. I blew one out in a huge pothole and ended up getting Bridgstone Potenza RE760's. What a huge difference, so much better.

@super_ongoy- Fronts and rears are two sizes. So, you get the goo.

The goo sucks.

I have a theory that stickier tires tend to grab stuff like screws and throw them into the back tire. That's where I ALWAYS get my flats and my cars have had ultimate or max perf tires on them for years. My last one was a bolt or something, because the hole was the diameter of my pinky. No patching that bad boy. I don't know how well the goo/inflator would have worked on a hole that big. Good thing I knew there was an NTB immediately off the exit that was only a 1/4 mile away. The bad news: $400 for the mounted 19" RE050A. They got the tired from a neighboring town for me though. Tirerack was $294, not including shipping and mounting, which is still high. Beggars can't be choosers though.

So this happened because they are RFs....? Otherwise...

The M3's tires are NOT runflats.
I recall getting jobbed by a Merchants Tire in Virginia to mount 18s I bought for my 325i. The tires came at a great price from Tire Rack, but they charged $152 for mounting and balancing because "it's a high-performance BMW." So I asked the counter guy "What's the difference between that Chevy's wheels and the wheels on my car?" He said "Nothing."
"So why the big difference in price?"
"Because, sir, it's a BMW. And it's a high-performance car."
I was going to say more, but I figured the guy would just keep falling back on that line.
I'd like to think I still came out ahead, but I'm not so sure now. And I definitely will NOT be going back to Merchants.

My local Tire Rack recommended installer does excellent work and charges $50-$80(price depends on wheel diameter) to mount and balance four tires- including new valve stems.

Screw Merchants. Didn't know M3 had different tires for front and rear but somehow goo does not seem like a justifiable option. Perhaps they can bring you a spare when you call for the roadside assistance? Goo does not cut it by any means.

Take the goo, call out the dude at Merchants and see how it works when you stick it in his a$$.

That sucks. I've read horror stories on the forums about getting the right size tires in a pinch, so I guess you were lucky it "just" took a day.

As others have noted, I was shocked when I realized how expensive the PS2s are. My dealer tried to sell me on replacing all four for $2,500!!! Instead, when I replaced my worn rears last month, I went with a pair of VREDESTEIN Ultrac Sessantas which I heard about at M3post. They've received great reviews from various magazines (matching or besting the PS2s) and cost HALF THE PRICE (2 tires for $400). Just FYI.