Those without runflats, show me your spare tire.

[thehalcyon]

On the stock runflats since I got the car, but will have to get a new set this spring. Probably going to go with PSS like the majority of people do. I think my plan will be the slime kit and patch kit, for anything more serious I'll ask the GF to drive out one of my winter tires ... hehe

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by BimmerE82

Just realize that slime will destroy your TPMS sensors...should you need to use it.

No it won't. The new kit is TPMS safe and will not damage them.

[CAVU]

I have AAA and the BMW "Mobility Kit", which fits perfectly in the small cubby net in the right side of the trunk. Hope I never need to use it! My winters are runflats, but the summer PSSs are not.

[lowbudgethero]

I use the stock front wheel + tire as a spare for extended trips and the m mobility kit from my previous M car (in the cubby net as well) is always in there for my daily driving needs.

[yakuza70]

Originally Posted by Vigilante375

There is no place real good place to secure the tire in the trunk. But unless you're going to be doing some Dukes of Hazzard stuff or tearing up some corners, there really is no need for it to be secured.

Not sure I agree with this. Imagine that spare rim and tire becoming quite a deadly projectile, slamming into the passenger compartment if you were to ever get into a serious collision.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by yakuza70

Not sure I agree with this. Imagine that spare rim and tire becoming quite a deadly projectile, slamming into the passenger compartment if you were to ever get into a serious collision.

I would hope that he has it locked down into the hardpoints in the trunk.

[631twentyeighteye]

Spare tire is at my house and a phone call away. I've had 1 flat in the passed 50k miles of runflatness so i'm not too worried.

[ShocknAwe]

Yup, AAA. XL tires have helped with punctures. I've picked up a few nails and nothing has managed to get through the belts.

[BimmerE82]

Originally Posted by Iron Man

No it won't. The new kit is TPMS safe and will not damage them.

[nkmu]

BMW Mobility kit. Fits almost just right in the right side of the trunk behind the cargo net.

[AForceNinja]

like this

[JimD]

If I wanted to carry a liquid patch I would carry either the Continental kit or the BMW Mobility kit. Both use a latex compound so cleanup is soap and water and it can be removed so the tire can still be patched. I tried slime once and ruined the tire. It could have been patched but not once I slimed it. Slime also didn't work. So now I carry plugs and a plug kit. That will be a last resort because I don't like the patches you insert from the outside. It's better to insert the patch from the inside and have an integral patch.

[mr.fabulous]

^^ agree... but in 30yrs I have never had a plug fail (knock wood)

[Olgeezer1]

Also using factory alloy spare w/donut. It, small jack & 4way tire bar are just pushed up against the back seat and held in place by my car cover. Works fine for all but track & autoX and still room for groceries.

[Vigilante375]

Originally Posted by yakuza70

Not sure I agree with this. Imagine that spare rim and tire becoming quite a deadly projectile, slamming into the passenger compartment if you were to ever get into a serious collision.

That would have to be a very serious impact to have the tire fly into the actual passenger compartment of the vehicle......

[JimD]

I thought some more about the liquid alternative. I think that anything the liquid would "fix" would also be temporarily resolved by adding air. In other words, the liquid cannot plug a large hole. Anything beyond a nail puncture will not be resolved by adding a liquid sealer. If you pull the nail, it may not even work for that. The one time I tried liquid it didn't work. When I took the tire to somebody for plugging they said they could have except for the sealant.

There is a danger in justifying yourself - it can be habit forming and you can ignore things that don't fit your views. But I think a compressor and, possibly, a plugging kit make the most sense. The compressor will get you home on a small leak the sealant would have dealt with - even if you have to air up more than once. The plugging kit will deal with leaks that are a little larger and represent the only somewhat permanent fix you can do yourself. A large gash, especially in the sidewall, is a "call somebody". Not sure a run flat would fix that either.

Last point, spares only work if you are willing and able to put them on. For the three women in my household, they would work very hard to find another alternative. Two have vehicles with spares. The tools that came with the car, a scissors jack and a tiny lug wrench, would be challenging for anybody to use. I can handle the jack fine but it requires some hand/arm strength they may not be able to muster up. The wrench is so short that anybody would have trouble depending some on how tight the lug nuts are. So if you are carrying a spare, please also carry a decent jack and a tool with enough leverage you can credibly turn the lug nuts. You might also want to carry a Tyvek coverall or something. Getting dirty/ruining clothes are an issue with this. I refused to change a rental cars flat tire once partially because I was dressed in a suit and tie. I had a ride and no time but I also didn't want to ruin my clothes on the silly flat. The tools that come in cars are not really adequate IMHO. I carry a break over bar in my SUV, for instance, with a pipe for more leverage. Doesn't take up a lot of space. I've changed the tire with it so I know I can. One of the things I made my daughter and son do when they learned to drive was change a tire. I didn't necessarily want them to do it if they had a flat but if there wasn't another alternative I wanted them to know how.

[Overpar56]

Originally Posted by thehalcyon

On the stock runflats since I got the car, but will have to get a new set this spring. Probably going to go with PSS like the majority of people do. I think my plan will be the slime kit and patch kit, for anything more serious I'll ask the GF to drive out one of my winter tires ... hehe

Make sure she's not pissed off at you or she may bring you a tire with a fork stuck in it.

Here's the sequence of events if our CX-7 gets a flat:

Wife: "Honey, I think I have a flat tire."
Me: "you know it has a spare "
Wife's: "Spare what?"
Me: "Tire."
Wife: "Where?"
Me: "in the cargo department below the floor mat."
Wife: "What do I do?"
Me: "Call AAA."

[mr.fabulous]

It's a funny thing. Not funny, ha-ha; rather funny, pathetic. I have my fancy plug kit and a decent compressor, I'm ready to go. But, um, no jack. The car comes with no jack. *Duh*.

Thanks to this forum for poking me in the earhole, I now have a jack kit on the way (along with new jack points and three more BMS adapters). Along the way, I stumbled onto this while surfing for parts:

http://www.reverselogic.us/shop.html...tegory=4643108

That's pretty cool... but ultimately, the BMS adapters are half the price and so I did that instead.

[1smokehouse]

This would work just fine... I live on Guam, never more than 25 mi from home... Yay USAA!

[NVHoo]

Originally Posted by darkrom

My AAA card is my spare tire.

Just got back from a driving vacation in Northern and eastern Arizona. I was often 50 miles from the nearest tow truck. That's a long wait for a tow, assuming that you had cell phone coverage which is often a bad assumption. Just so you don't think it is only a problem in less traveled areas, there are similar issues along much of I-15 between Las Vegas and LA.

Over the past 10 years, I've had two tire issues and "pump & goo" or run-flats would have been worthless for both. I bent a rim in a huge pot-hole in Death Valley (try sitting for hours for a tow there) and I hit a piece of angle iron on a road in Nowhere Utah that sliced the tire open. I always carry a spare when away from home. In both instances it saved me at least a day trying to get a tire/rim replaced where you are 100 miles from a tire store.

[KA SHING]

AAA will be good

[optigrab]

I just ordered a steel wheel from tire rack (under steel wheels section) $67 I had them mount a front tire, I only use it for long trips.It is a cheaper option than the BMW spare.