Actually, there is a class action on this right now. I listened to the oral argument last week out of the USCA third circuit.
The issue, among other things, is that BMW recommends that you do not repair run flats. BMW argues that for many, many years (longer than run flats have been around) BMW has always recommended against repairing tires period.
Surprisingly, neither side brought up the fact that run flats have a limited life and you can't repair them because you won't be able to determine how long a person drove on the run flat while in its flat state. Thus, your only real option is to discard the tire and not repair it.
BMW skipped over this issue at its argument! Instead, it claimed that you should not repair any tire on a high performance car run flat or not. Plus, BMW makes this recommendation for any tire used with its cars or not. Most importantly, BMW claimed that it only "recommends" against repairing run flats and talked about some shops under limited circumstances can indeed repair run flats!
So, in seeking class certification, the plaintiffs are swimming upstream. Why, because BMW is saying that there is no evidence that the run flats were defective. Since there is no defect then there is no liability on BMW's part which is required to form a class.
Finally, I was surprised to hear the BMW attorney respond to a question from the panel that BMW has no way to know how many cars were sold with run flats vs. non run flats. I thought that to be a misrepresentation. Why? In this day of litigation like we have here, one would think BMW, a master car builder, would serialize everything it's vendors supply to minimize the size and scope of any federal recalls. I can't believe that BMW has no idea what kind of tires have been supplied to a customer. I guess it's possible, but you would think BMW of all would serialize each tire in case of a recall.
So, in playing devils advocate, what makes you feel the tire is defective? The fact that you got four flats? BMW would probably say you are driving on bad roads. So, if you are driving on bad roads how is that a defect that BMW must fix? Or, are you saying the $400 per tire costs are killing your wallet. Again, what makes that a defect?
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Ritter
I have found my run flat tires to be defective. My 750 xi is 17 months old and i have had 4 run flat tires blow out on me. At $400 each this is an unbelievable expense and inconvenience. I drive in NYC where the roads are sometimes uneven, but four unprecendented. In the last 30 years I've owned Mercedes, Lexus, Cadillac, Nissan and Audi. Never, never did I have a blowout.
My co-worker who has a 5 series BMW had 2 run flat blowouts in the last year.
Looks like a class action suit to me. What do you think?
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