Hi everyone! I'm a first time Mini owner although I had my eye on them the last time a bought a car (almost 15 years ago). I just bought a 2019 Mini Cooper S, 2 door hardtop. The hardest part was finding a manual transmission with it. I heavily considered building one from the factory, but in the end found one that was very close to what I wanted. I would have gotten a "classic trim" (S or JCWs) but ended up with a signature trim on the S. After 3 days, I'm really enjoying it, although having reverse on the upper left takes a bit of getting used to (I'm used to lower right).

Today, I just had stripes added to her (BTW I think I'll go with Poppy as a name). Since I had to add them after purchase, I decided to get something somewhat classic looking, but not a factory color.

Before:


After:

(I also added a match stripes on the boot.)

And there's been various opinions that I read about the run flat tires. I may try to sell them (they're still under 100 miles) and replace them with two sets (performance and winter). What are good places to sell effectively new tires? I heard Craigslist and Facebook marketplace. I sold very small items of Craigslist before but I'm wondering if it's worth it to sell the run flats. Another option would be I would switch to the two sets after this set of run flats.

If I switch from run flats, I'd move my old jack kit, flat filler, and air pump from my old RX-8. Now the question is the spare. I see that the MCS has a PCD of 5x112. My 2005 RX-8 has 5x114.3. (According to wheel-size.com) Does that mean the spare (donut) won't even fit on the Mini? The RX-8 had larger wheels too, but since this isn't a full sized spare, that wouldn't be as big of a concern would it? So would I be able to use the same spare tire? And if not, does anyone have good recommendations for spares or what I'd need to look for?

And the final question (for now), is the bonnet (I'm trying to use British terms) really weak/thin? I already have two tiny dents in it from a coworker pushing down to close the bonnet after we checked out the engine. The dealership nicely agreed to fix it since it was less than 24 hrs after I picked up the car, but they told me never to push down on the bonnet because it's very easy to dent it like that. I'm somewhat worried that it'll be very hard to keep dent-free now.

Anyway, I'm enjoying Poppy and I'm excited to finally join the club!

 

Possibly sell to someone coming off lease who needs to turn in car with good tires. Otherwise IMO not a big market for them. See if you can test drive a similar car with Non RF's before ditching them.

 

Welcome to the forum. Great choice in stripes. I love the gray / blue combination.

I drove a new Cooper S the other day and was extremely impressed. I think I will end up with a lower priced AWD car for my daily driver, however, the new MINI has me considering options.

My question would be: Are the concerns about the run flats still valid for the most recent years? I wonder if they eventually solved the issues that made run flats a bad idea for those of us with older MINIs.

 

Perfect color combo and use her well. i am in the market for cooper s but used. keep me updated how your machine behaves. congrats.

 

The stripes really POP on your Mini! A great choice!
Run flats suck and not only make for a harsh ride, they are very hard on the suspension, and wheel bearings.
Welcome to the NAM family!
Congrats on your new Mini!

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

I can't talk about the performance or lack of them with the run flats, but I think my main concerns are that run flats are expensive, there aren't many options, and they aren't repairable if you get a puncture. I heard that they more likely to damage your wheels more too. And I'm old fashioned or macho (or both) to the point where I feel that changing a tire shouldn't be an issue.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

 

Have to politely disagree. Making a blanket statement that run flats suck is not a fair assessment. The tires have come a long way. On my 2019 the run flats do not suck at all. They handle just as well as non-run flats for normal day to day driving. The ride is not harsh whatsoever and the suspension and wheel bearings have all been tuned to work with the run flats. I suggest that the OP keeps his run flats as they were designed for his car and have all the positive characteristics of a non run flat tire.

For local driving (within 50) miles, no need for a spare tire, however if you are going to take some long trips then buy a full size rim and tire and throw it in the back (fold down the rear seats). I also recommend that you buy the Mini Cooper jack and wrench as well.

 

This gets back to the concern that I raised in my earlier response. I believe the MINI experts on the forum are 100% correct as it relates to the earlier MINIs. Run flat tires were so stiff that it beat the heck out of our Gen 1 MINIs and we are better off getting rid of them.

I would anticipate that the engineers at BMW would have realized this at some point and adjusted the suspension and other components to offset the harshness of the tires. If this hypothesis is correct, replacing the run flat tires with the softer non-run flats could make the vehicle too soft.

Just my hypothesis which needs to be tested and analyzed by the people who drive and regularly service 3rd generation MINIs.

 

Deleted - Don't know how it got posted twice...

 

Even if run flats have gotten better in recent years, I think relative price, lack of selection, and inability to fix are factors that make them less appealing to me. I'll leave the performance as unknown since I don't have first hand experience with run flats v non-run flats on the same vehicle. So even if I don't ditch them right away, I would not replace them with other run flats.

I think miniCPA makes reasonable points about focusing this discussion to gen 3 mini's owners. I will start asking around those boards since the roads I will be driving on are somewhat harsh and I don't want to experiment and bend a wheel or something.

But I will be seeing how much room a jack kit, donut, and tire plug kit would take up. I already have the jack and plug kit from my old car.

 

Another question to address: If you do carry a spare, if you ever have a flat, will you be able to put the spare on the front or back as needed?

When I looked into a spare for my R52, I was told that the spare would need to go onto the back (even if your flat is in the front) and the back tire would need to be rotated to the front. This was the point where I gave up and packed the can of fix-a-flat and a pump. With my commute, I would be concerned about changing two tires in the neighborhoods I might breakdown in.

Again, this applies to the first generation and would need to be confirmed to see if it applies to the third generation.

 

I believe, it's mainly because it's a front wheel drive car. If you use a donut (non-full sized) spare, it doesn't fit like normal tires. So you don't want it in the front where you get both steering and power from. If you carry a full sized spare, you can get around that (but obviously it takes up more room and is heavier).

I don't know, maybe I'm just old fashioned but it just feels so weird to not have a spare if you need it. I really only had to change to a spare once with my previous car (~15 years), but I also had to change a tire on a rental vehicle last year, so I just feel its really good to have.

 

The nature of run flat tires: The sidewalls are very stiff, to keep the tire up, when running flat! Saying that these run like non run flats is not reality! The selection keeps you to a limited assortment of tires.
No offense, but it is the reality.

 

All my life I have driven cars with non run flats, and now I am driving a car with run flats and it feel exactly like all the other cars that I have driven before. That IS the reality.

 

The price and selection is no longer an issue. I just searched tire rack and there were many different choices of run flats starting at $106 bucks a piece. Keep in mind, not everything is fixable on a non run flat tire> sidewall bubbles, slashed sidewalls and broken internal belts are not fixable. Enjoy your run flats, they are very good tires with a huge safety benefit.

Also, you can fix a run flat tire just like a non run flat. Remove the nail and plug it.

Basically you now have every reason to keep your run flats and no reason to ditch them.

 

Welcome and Congrats. I'm not a stripe guy, but have to say I like the blue much better than just regulare black stripes.

 

Not a stripe guy? (kidding) Thanks and I figured since I added it after receiving the car, I'd add something that's a little different.

@michaelo, thanks for the input and I'll look into it more. And to be honest, I don't think the tires feel bad right now so I'm giving them an honest evaluation. But I will say that I'm not pushing my Mini yet (I'll try to break in my engine a little before then).

 

So far I have put 2,500 miles on my run flats. I drive on the New Jersey Turnpike twice a day and they handle just as well as any other tire. Definitely give them an honest evaluation.

 

You can say the run flats are the same, but when the wheel bearings fail and the springs give out, the price of the tires will not be the factor. Stiff sidewalls are stiff sidewalls and that can not change with run flats. I choose the other option and I sell these cars and have had to fix many suspensions and replaced many hubs.
That is the reality. But you are right, that they have a chance of being safer, as a blow out can be very dangerous too! I have only ever had a wheel go down slower. We all need to decide and weigh the best option. If I had a family and owned one of the bigger Minis, The run flats may be the way to go, but I drive the gen 1 Mini, and it is not going to fit a family, so repair costs determine my reasons among many others, handling, road feel, road holding (being able to get summer compound tires) and increased hub bearing and suspension longevity.
So there is a difference to everyone personal needs!

 

Welcome to NAM and congrats on the Thunder Grey beauty, such a nice color. Consider blacking out some of the chrome trim on the car (especially the headlight surrounds)