End of lease: Tire Situation?

[Minimized]

Hey Guys,
I was just wondering if anyone had dealt with this issue. I am about to turn in my wife's Z4, the lease is up. The tires are shot and I am going to have to buy a set before I turn it in. Yes they are runflats and are very expensive. Buy the way they have to be BMW certified tires, ie they have the star on the sidewall. From what I understand BMW is the only company that requires this, because they contract the tire manufacturers to put the stars on their approved tires.
I always intended to just trade the car, but with the economy, this car is ten grand in the whole. Not a huge deal I guess, BMW is taking the loss. Dealer says this has been a huge problem for them in the last year. I have leased many cars, this is the first one I haven't been able to trade and come out at least a little ahead, (mostly leased Honda's and Toyota's). With all that said I now have 21000 on my 2007 Copper S and the Dunlop runflats are bald. I still have a little over a year on the lease and I need to get tires now. I have found quite a few replacement tires, even runflats, that are better priced but do not have the star. I checked with the Mini dealer and they confirmed that the tires have to have the star if you turn in the car. My hope is to trade it, but if it loses the value like the Z did, this may not be a option. I may have to turn it in, so I wouldn't want to have to replace the tires again at that point. This is frustrating because who want's to pay over a thousand dollars for a set of tire that only last 20000 miles. I just wondered if anyone else had faced this situation, and I was hoping for suggestions.
Thanks,

[TWISTER]

I would check with members here or Dan and see if there is a set off a car around. I dumped all my runflats within 3 months and sold them for $950 for 4 tires

[MidnightDave]

I've got a set of Bridgestones on stock wheels in my garage, let me go look to see if they have a star on them when I get home tonight. If so I'll ping you to see if we can work something out. (I'm running a set of 17s with new tires and selling the car sometime this year to get a Z-car).

[Minimized]

Thanks Guys, I appreciate it. Hey Twister, I think you told me that you went to regular tires and got one of small compressors and fix a flat or maybe slime. Is that correct and if so what tires did you buy?

[TWISTER]

Slime kit from Harbor Freight and a tire plug kit
I have the Yokohama S Drives like many other members here

[Minimized]

Hey Mark,

Thanks for the info.

[WINICooper]

Check online to see if someone has some take offs. Also check used tire retailers who might have some just barely over spec to get you covered. In this automotive market, you should NEVER buy a car off lease. That was was supposed to be worth a lot more 3-4 years ago.

[X5JR]

I did not know that a BMW lease car has to be returned with a "star" BMW tire. I am glad to know this, I removed the run flats, but have them stored and was thinking about selling them -- now, I know better.

[jcauseyfd]

Mark (or anyone else with S.drive experience),

Do those S.drives work ok in our NC winters?

[TWISTER]

I used mine all winter. I've still never driven in ice/snow with my MINI

[N2MINI]

Does it matter how good the tires are when you turn it back in as long as they have the star?? If not you could always buy a "cheap" set of non-run flats to get you by for a year or so and then put your "star" tires back on for trade in..

[Minimized]

Yes, there is a gauge that they use for tread depth,,, and like an idiot I should have removed them a while back, and just put on some regular street tires. Then like you said, put these back on before turn in time. I knew that runflats were expensive, but I had found some that seemed like really good tires, and the price was much better, so I just thought I would get those when I needed tires. Then I found out about the star thing, so those tires don't qualify. Live and Learn

[X5JR]

Check out NAM, helortz has set for sale. Can email at helortz@comcast.net or call at 503-702-3488 -- Vancouver, WA. Might not cost too much to ship UPS Ground or LTL Common Carrier. He is asking $600, been listed since May 7.