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 7
I thought I might be imagining how bad these tires are over white lines in the wet, until I found these reviews. Being a former motorcyclist helps, because that's how unstable the back end becomes. I'll live with them for a few more miles to get some value out of them, but after that I'm changing them. I certainly would not buy them again. Also, even allowing for the firm M Sport suspension, the ride appears too harsh and noisy to me, unless the road surface is absolutely pristine (and we all know how rare that is in this country). I never had these issues with Pilot Sports in the past (on an M3) so I think I will go back to them.
Dreadful tires that frankly scare the life out of me. I have no idea when they are going to let go. They cuase terrible snatch on the steering wheel when the road surface is anything but absolutely perfect and living in Surrey this is never going to be the case! Mine still have 6 mm tread on them but are being replaced with Goodyear F1's next week. They are that bad I would be very surprised if you can find worse.
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Very dangerous tire. These tires should be taken off the market. I refer only to the low profile tires (30 or 35) on a BMW 19" wheels. Totally unforgiving tire which will crack your wheels and give awful handling and appalling ride quality. I've never had a car that is legally unsafe to drive on the road. On the plus side, they got me home when i lost pressure in the rear tire - however it wasn't a puncture but a cracked alloy. New wheel and new tire £850 ouch! then discovered the other wheel is also cracked.
Excellent tires very comfortable and handles well in all conditions these lasted approx 15k and would have gone on longer if it were not for BMW's poor allignment that wears tires unevenly as they were 6mm in the middle of the tread and 2.5mm on the outer edges of the front tires when replaced.
Awful, awful, awful! I have these tires from manufacturer on my BMW 318d MSport and can't wait to get rid of them. I can honestly say, they are terrible. My biggest bug bare with these tires is that you get a snake like feeling when driving over white lines or cats eyes. The tires take control of the car and you find the front moves first and then the back comes later. I guess this is down to them being Run Flats with hard walls, but in my eyes, this is leaving the driver in a compromising position. Very dangerous and would not recommend.
Extremely uncomfortable tires. Din realise how bad they were until I switched to Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2. Came as standard on my 320i. I thought the harsh ride was partially due to my M suspension but after I replaced tires I realised the suspension was not to blame but rather these rock hard tires. If I had known they would be so bad I would have switched them immediately rather than suffering the bumps for about a yr and a half. You get all the unwanted feedback and feel of every road imperfection without any upside from better grip through cornering. You cant even drive at decent speeds on some roads because every bump and pothole causes a bone jarring shudder.
In run flat form without doubt the worst tire I have ever experienced bar some obscure Chinese budget tire. Noisy, hard riding and follow all the lines in the road they have nothing to commend them. Sold them on Ebay after 2500 miles and brought proper tires.
On a dry, billiard table smooth road these are great - unfortunately our badly maintained roads are usually quite the opposite. In the wet they loose grip with little or no warning.
Awful ride quality, horrific tramlining and they get very noisey after a few thousand miles.
The final straw was recently when turning right,braking and changing down, the front tire caught the edge of a road indent and the steering wheel was ripped from my hand so I ended up on the other side of the road - fortunately nothing was coming the other way.
Any lease/company car driver who is forced to replace these abominations with the same tire has my sympathy.
Will be replaced in the next couple of days by a set of Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas.
60%
Member
BMW
225/45 R17
40,000 miles
A Combination of Roads
Average
This is now second set of Potenza tires on BMW 325D Auto. First set only lasted 20K miles and looks like second set will last about 25K miles (20K at present) Problem is outer edge wear which seems to be common on Run Flat. On second set tried more than normal recommended tire pressure in the tires to try and compensate for outer edge wear with slight improvement. Maybe the problem is due to the firmer wall characteristics of run flat. Both outer edge and inner edge of each tire evenly wear more than the middle suggesting under inflation. Main mileage is mixed but non aggressive (having now retired) and usually only lightly loaded. Pressures regularly checked and on second set adjusted for approx 75% maximum load to try and compensate for outer wear.
