The Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Run Flat draws its strongest owner criticism for a harsh ride, mentioned in well over half of reviews. Dry grip is the clearest positive, although it is not universally praised. Around a quarter of reviews criticises wet grip, and similar proportions mention noise or tramlining, with some describing the tire skipping over rough corners. Tread life is mixed, with more complaints than praise, while mid-life and end-of-life reports range from rapid wear to long service. Steering kickback and limited feedback are further recurring concerns, making comfort and confidence on uneven roads the main weaknesses.
What owners mention most counted across 136 reviews
Tap one to read only the reviews that mention it.
Owner ratings averaged from 147 ratings
Owner score49%
Dry Grip71%
Wear55%
Road Feedback55%
Wet Grip54%
Handling48%
Comfort32%
Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Run Flat Reviews - Page 4
Inherited them on the car with approx 70% tread still on the tire.
I found them very noisy on the front at motorway speeds. Wet weather was 'ok'. Car at times 'tramlined' when doing slight steering adjustments at medium speeds (I understand that this is a run flat trait).
I lived, ultimately in denial, that they were ok for about 5000Km's until finding a set of 4 Conti Sport 2's on sale. The Conti's make the car feel how it should. Nice and quiet, and nice handling too.
Not going back to Potenza run flats. Have had Potenza non-runflats on another car (Volvo V50) & they were ok...
BMW 120d M Sport Rear tires 245/235/18 Fronts 215/40/18 Ride quality is horrendous as if the car had solid tires. I had to replace one of the fronts due to a piece of steel being picked up off the road and destroying it. This replacement when less than 12 months old and 6000 miles was noted as an advisory by my MoT station "Front N/S tire perished" upon examination I found that the root of every tread groove had cracks for the full circumference. (They were not new old stock as the tire date stamp showed them to be freshly manufactured when fitted) The rears are now due for replacement (and showing a few cracks but nothing much) I will not be replacing with these inferior but very expensive tires. I intend to replace all four tires with Hankook non runflats or Goodyear's As a matter of interest I also run an MGF fitted with KUMO tires that are now 8 years and 17000 miles old. They have loads of tread and not the slightest crack to be found.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
These came fitted from factory and from the start I couldn't wait for them to wear out so I could replace them! I've never experienced a tire that gave such an awful ride, yes I know they're run flats so are a lot stiffer but these rattle you and the car to the core on each journey. I found they had high grip levels in the dry and coped well with varied levels of power put down, they did take a while to heat up though. Wasn't so confident in the wet if I'm honest, often felt the rear slide even under normal driving styles. Grip lasted until about 3mm, fine in the dry but in the wet expect to have the back end stepping out without trying, most of the miles were on the motorway which contributed to the decent wear rate. I'm a HGV driver so don't thrash it around. Another negative is the price of these, simply outrageous really. I've had normal tires on for the past 2k and I recommend this move to anyone debating it, the car feels so much better and has a vastly improved ride quality.
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No major opinions either way on the Bridgestones. The biggest issue was with them being low-profile runflats, meaning they were not particularly comfortable (especially with the pretty firm suspension on the Z4!) and caused a crack in one of the front alloys.
The rears are completely shot after 10,000 miles, but are dealing with over 300bhp, a fair bit of camber, and some ocassionally "boisterous" B-road driving, so haven't done too badly really. The fronts have still got a good few thousand miles left on them.
The dry grip was pretty good, but not especially progressive. They gripped well up to a point, then just seemed to let go, but did come back into line reasonably easily in fairness.
I wouldn't buy them again purely because I think there are better tires out there for the money. I'm replacing the back 2 with a pair of Hankook k107's so we'll see how they compare...
BMW S1 Sport - appreciate torque will be high on a Sport rear wheel drive but only 12800 miles on a new set of rear Bridgestone tires was poor. Had a nail in one and pressure kept being too low - measured to find tread was about low so decided to replace the pair. Replaced with Goodyear and have found ride quality, road noise and wear to date have been far superior - would not recommended Bridgestone.
Fitted to my M Sport 320 diesel from New.lucky only on 17inch rims as the ride has been harsh and noisy just over 17000 miles had a front changed due to a bolt into the tread area changed by BMW runflat insurance so same was fitted but will not be refitted to the rear too expensive poor ride.noisy.and there are better tires out there.
Bought my BMW 318d second hand with a slightly worn pair on the rear and almost new on the front. Terrible. Twitchy, prone to tramlining, uncomfortable and expensive.
Just about to replace all four for non-RF, probably go for Goodyears (have a set of winter Goodyears which are about to come off for the summer).
horrendous tram lining, hit a rough surface or a line of cats eyes exiting motorway. jesus steering allover fighting. feels very unsure and causes a lack in confidence. bought the 320d msport with them on virtually new. dont know weather to change for non runflats or keep as they are new. i think if i did more than a few weekend miles i would defo bin them. i might doughnut them and change for falkens or pirelli non runflats.
wish they would start putting a proper spare back in cars. this car doesn't even have space for a runflat.
As a long time driver of BMW cars I am used to a spirited drive with lots of feel and precision. This is the first set of run flat Tires I have driven for any period of time. Hopefully they will be the last.
Grip in the dry is poor and under fast cornering there is no give in the tire at all, it is difficult to get a feel for the grip because the feedback through the steering wheel is constantly hard and harsh. This sucks confidence and leads to driving, for me, being dull.
In the wet the Tires are like driving a Lego car - the grip is pathetic and the lack of feedback and feel makes the problem I have in the dry even worse.
At the first hint of a bump, with any steering or cornering at all, the car steps out. Not much, but enough to kill confidence.
The ride is bumpy, harsh and noisy - I don't expect perfection, my car is on 19 inch wheels, but the harsh ride equates to constant white noise through the seat and steering wheel making it very difficult to have any precision, or anything approaching a delicate touch. The road noise is ridiculous.
When BMW are known for making drivers cars it is telling that bulk standard cars come fitted with these junk Tires while cars from the M Sport division have non-run flat Tires. I think fitting run flats allows a saving on a spare wheel and tire at the expense of the ride in a car that is meant to be known for the quality of the drive.
BMW - wake up to what your customers want and stop fitting thee tractor Tires to performance cars.
