Wife and I just placed our order "officially" last night. One thing the wife wanted was the anthracite spoke rims which mean 18" tires. We can only get the sport tires from the factory and not all seasons. Since we live in Ohio I want to put all seasons on it. I think all seasons probably would mean a little cushier ride, at least not as harsh as the run flats. Can anyone recommend some good all season tires for the Countryman? I was planning on buying them from tirerack and having my dealer put them on before we pick up our new countryman....assuming they would be cool with that.

 

See if the tires in my sig come in your size or close to it.

OE had Continental Conti-Pro-Contact SSR 195/55 R16 on ours and I read they were one of the best riding runflats out there. We ran them for 2,600 miles. After changing them for the non runflats in my sig - we marveled how they felt soooo much smoother before we even got out of Discount Tire's driveway. Night and day difference dudes. NIGHT AND DAY!

 

Yeah I have heard it is night and day when you go from runflats to all seasons. Doesn't look like yours come in the size I need but the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus is catching my eye. Not cheap but seem like they might be a good investment.

 

If you are getting away from the runflats I would recommend Continental ExtremeContact DWS. I just put these on my Acura RDX, they are well reviewed on tirerack

 

Yeah those are the other ones I'm looking at as well. It's between those and the Michelins at this point. Unless someone else recommends others.

I'm assuming the dealer won't have a problem putting these on for me prior to our pickup of the Countryman.

 

Once you have tries Michelin's there's no going back.

We had Discount Tire do ours, MINI was backed up 2 weeks for tire work.

Just remember to re-torque the wheels after 50 miles, new wheels can and will come loose.

 

If I have the dealer put the new tires on should I be concerned at all about damage to the anthracite turbo spoke rims? I've never changed a tire on a rim so not sure how protective the whole process is.

 

I have a True Blue All4 with 18" alloys/sport tires on the ship! What is the exact size all seasons I will need for the 18" rims? I assume from the discussion that all seasons don't come as run flats, correct?

 

I thought the size was 225/45 R18. Can anyone confirm? Not sure about all season run flats?

 

All US MINI Countryman are configured with run flats. If you order any 17" wheels, you can specify all-season or performance tires. If you order any 18" wheel, performance tires are standard and all-season is not even an option. Again, all are run flats.

 

All MINI wheels could be easily damaged, so I am sure they have modern equipment that does not contact the appearance surfaces.

One advantage to going to a tire store is they might take your tires in trade. even with 2,600 miles on our runflats, without even asking if they would, Discount offered cash for the run flat tires. Not a huge amount as I recall, but enough that I was happy to not hassle selling them myself.

Discount Tire also uses nitrogen exclusively, with a stall dedicated to pressure checks free. You pull in, tell them the PSI or they look on the door post sticker, they hook up the hose and the compressor fills it automatically and stops at the correct pressure. Large gage right there you can watch.



I was a Les Schwab customer for decades until we got the MINI last year. Very happy with the service at Discount Tire, after less than stellar service recently from Les on both my truck any the MINI. (Stripped wheel lug on the truck, improper torque on the MINI - wheels came loose!).

 

Yes, understood. My question was: do all seasons come in run flats? If not, with no spare, one is stuck with a flat if you have no runflats correct?
Can we assume the sport run flats will do poorly in snow and ice on the All4?

 

That's what I answered. ALL tires provided by MINI for US bound Countryman are run flats. All-seasons are run flats. Performance tires are run flats. And being equipped with run-flats, no spare tire is provided.

Yes - performance tires are not designed to be operated under a certain temperature (I think it is 40 degrees, read the whole thread for details).

18" wheels come with performance tires. 17" come with either all-season or performance. ALL are run flats.

EDIT: Maybe I missed that you were wondering if all-season tires came in run flats from ANY source. If that is your question, I do not know and my apologies if I came across as terse.

 

Gee - I hope the Countryman handles curves - with any tyres - as well as this post does. We're real close to a doughnut on this one.

There are very few RFs in 18" all season available aftermarket. Try Tire Rack or a Google search for 18" 225/45 RF All Season. Over at BMW, people who go to non-RFs opt for an inflator kit (may be a BMW accessory) to allay their fears of being stranded.

Correction - I just ran a few searches and came up empty. No one seems to be listing a RF All Season in that size. This may be a questions for the Mini Parts Counter.

 

No kidding . Who's on first anyway?

 

I didn't see any all season run flats on tire rack in 225/45 R18...just some summer ones.

 

No problem - I'm a newbie here and my questions may seem stupid - I'm just trying to make the right decisions. My Mini is arriving in the next 2 weeks and its winter here in CT! I sopke to Tire Rack who indicated there are basically crap all season run flats only at this point. Is an inflater kit with non run flat all seasons a real viable option? I just have never had a vehicle without a spare! Thanks for your consideration and knowledge.

 

I am in the same boat as you just waiting for a few weeks longer before mine arrives. I've never had a car without a spare either.

 

You two are just so silly. Of course you have a spare - four of them, matter of fact - built right into your tires.

As much as we hate run flats, they do work. Also I mentioned somewhere else that they are non-repairable. Any damage means replacement. I've had two bubble on my Bimmer at $400 each. As it's a lease, I haven't looked into replacing with non-RF, so I haven't looked into the inflator. If I find anything, I'll let y'all know.

P.S. - I updated my earlier post to show lack of search results. I think Terse was on first, but now appears to be out.

 

A quick look turned this up . . .

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/detail.jsp?ID=38

 

<You two are just so silly. Of course you have a spare - four of them, matter of fact - built right into your tires.>


Not if we go with a non run-flat all-season or winter tire. My Mini dealer is quoting me $529/corner for 17" double spokes with run flat Winter tires spec'd by Mini - they do not know brand yet. Is this a good deal?

 

Get dedicated aftermarket winter wheels and tires in 17's or 16's then - BridgeStone Blizzaks ROCK. Many here run them. And when you feel the difference on real tires - runflats be damned!

 

Mini dealer says winter tire/rim package is now available in states. 17" double spokes with Pirelli winter tires. They left me a VM and did not indicate which Pirelli. How are Pirelli winter tires in general? The parts guy said Mini/BMW research this stuff rigorously? Thoughts?
I am now regretting that I ordered the 18" sport package. Looking at an extra $2K for freakin' feet.

 

That sounds like an execellent deal - - - for Mini. They must have a boat payment due. Find out what won't mess with your warranty and go aftermarket.

Meanwhile, we all need to let Mini know that this is not a good thing. When they advertise All4, the assumption is that the car will be equipped to take advantage of the drive system. Not like they don't know about winter where these things come from.

 

I agree 110%!