Waiting to place our 2012 order. We have a house upstate NY a mile down a hilly dirt road that freezes in the winter. (My Hyundai Accent couldn't even make it up my dirt driveway without chains.) We assume the All4 will help but have been advised to get snow tires for winter. Sorry for my ignorance but what are 'run flats' that everyone is talking about? Is that what the car comes with? Is there an all season tire that would suffice or are snow tires the way to go? Recommendations please? Standard 17" wheels. Cost is a factor, too. Don't want to spend more than necessary. The rest of the time we park & drive in an urban area. Thanks.

 

Run flats have extremely thick sidewalls that allow the tire to be used even if a nail is in it. They provide a harsh ride but eliminate the need for a spare. The alternative is to replace all four tires with standard tires and carry a can of slime and an air pump. A kit is sold that will fit under the front passenger seat. This eliminates the need for a spare (although not recommended for standard tires) Hope this helps,

 

Run flats are an evil of buying a BMW vehicle. They have a stiffer sidewall and are designed to "run flat" for a limited period of time. BMW swears by them because they save weight and space by eliminating the spare tire. They also hold that they are every bit as good as a standard tire. The public is divided - with the majority vocally disliking them. Generally, they ride rougher, louder, and adversely affect handling. Things to consider - they are a performance tire, not recommended below 40 degrees and not for snow use. Also, they cannot be repaired. As they have a tendency to bubble, this can get expensive. BMW does not warrant the tires - warranties are abailable at extra cost. You can switch to standard tires, but you will also need to obtain a slime kit as there is no spare. From BMW, you can get all season in 17 inch, that may help (no cost option), but for 18 inchers, there is no option. Some people are buying snow tires and mounting them on a separate set of wheels for winter use. Blizak snow tires come highly recommended.

Good luck!

 

Dig deep herein and learn about RFs vs. real tires. Lots of folk keep a set of Blizzaks on steel wheels just for those slippery occasions. The search engine works real good, there are near 200k threads and over 3 million posts on this forum. I'll bet what you want to know about anything to do with MINIs is already here.

 

Just make sure when you place that order that you opt for the All Season tires that are a no cost option for the 17's. The standard tires are a fair weather tire that's not suitable for the snow belt.

 

Sorry Sealy, few corrections:

*Only the 18's are summer performance tires, there are allseason runflats available that are fine below 40 degrees (albeit even harder), and are an option if you go with the 17" rims.

*Runflats can be repaired, there is some debate about it, but most tire experts with nothing to gain will tell you its perfectly fine, the ones that tell you they can't or won't just want to sell you new tires. I've plugged many runflats and never had an issue, and have never heard of anyone else having one.

*Runflats actually are very difficult to bubble because of the thick sidewall. This is actually very problematic from my experience, because instead of absorbing the impact (of a pothole) and damaging like a traditional tire, it usually transfers the impact to the rest of the suspension causing damage to shocks, struts, rim etc., which is far more expensive than replacing a tire (personal experience a pothole that my wife hit on our R56 did almost $2k worth of damage, tire did not bubble, I still think this wouldn't have happened if it was not a runflat).

I don't think anyone needs a spare if they don't have runflats, specifically with TPMS. Most flats are fixable before you ever get stuck (fully flat) if your monitoring tire pressure and a tire slime/fix a flat kit will do if there is an emergency. On the very rare cases there is a bigger problem (blowout) you have roadside assistance (and you would have had this same problem if it was runflat). I plan on changing out my runflats in the fall.

 

I ran 17's w/ All Season during winter in NYC...they are fine.

 

Jeeze, it took you a while to find this thread.

* Standard fitment for 17" and 18" wheels on a MINI are run-flat performance tires. Better?

* Repair is not recommend by the manufacturer or BMW/MINI. You can find shops that will repair, if you want to take a chance.

* From my experience, they bubble. I've replaced three for this reason on BMWs. And, no, I do not drive like a maniac.

Y'all can put a big ol' IMHO at the end of my posts.

 

Sorry can't read them all everyday

*you get a pass on the first one, but he did say he was getting 17's, and anyone in the know would opt for the allseasons.

*Of course BMW/Mini say that, they want to sell you more tires at $300 each. I can say personally I've done plenty of research on the matter, and have repaired numerous runflats, and put substantial miles on them, and have never had a issue, and know of no one that has. If you wan't to replace them, by all means spend the extra money.

*Didn't say they don't bubble, just that its real tough, a tire will bubble easier based on the softness of the sidewall, so runflats by there very design are more resistant to bubbling than standard tires.

 

All4 will do just fine with all-seasons.

 

Thanks for asking about this, mini jet. I am new to the MINI world also and didn't know about run flat tires. I bought a CMS about a month ago and LOVE it...however, it does have rf tires and I will replace them as soon as it is feasible.

 

I wamt to offer an alternative view on runflats - I like them because they do just what they are supposed to do. If your tire goes flat you can keep driving to wherever it is safe/comfortable to hang out at and deal with the tire.

Being up in a snowy area, rather than trying to deal with a tire on the edge of a highway at night wouldn't it be a lot nicer to reach a covered parking area and plug it there?

The rated limits are something like 90 miles at 50 MPH, but the reality is they can go for a lot longer than that and at faster speeds...

Yes they are a harsher ride but even with sport suspension I find them comfortable enough. And you can find true winter tires in run-flats, although the current tire choices for CM wheels seem more limited. Perhaps by winter that will change.

People mentioned that you can possibly get a RF tire repaired. My own experience was that a dealer refused to repair a tire with a screw in it even though when I drove it in there was 15psi left - by the time the service guys got it the tire was down to 0psi, and that was it. Happily since the car was two days old at the time, they relented and gave me a new tire for free. I ended up buying road hazard insurance from Discount Tire for all four tires, so they have a lot more incentive to repair should that problem come up again.

 

The MINI Tire warranty works well too...

My wife destroyed two RFs in less than two weeks of each other...MINI Roadside Assistance came twice took the CM to the dealer and each time the RFs were replaced...No Cost each time.

I'm not an RF fan...only when my wife drives the car.

 

I've had the RFs plugged on my other MINI with no problems...it's just the sidewalls that you can't repair.

 

Clarification about runflat (RF) repair


RF’s can be repaired – plugged or patched – just like any other standard automobile tire. The concerns and issues are really no different. You can repair punctures in the tread area, but not the sidewall. So what’s the problem with shops not wanting to do it? well, the question is liability IMO


Have you ever had a flat on a standard tire but been forced to drive on it for a half mile or more? What happens to the sidewall? It is trashed – completely broken down. No matter how much tread is on the tire, because of the visible sidewall damage, no shop will touch it. I tried to get one repaired for a spare just until I could buy a new tire of the correct size but was told no way repeatedly.


Now a RF – the ones we get anyway – work by having a very strong sidewall that will support the vehicle for a short period of time with no air pressure in the tire. A flat runflat doesn’t even look flat – just a wee bit low usually. But running flat still causes wear on that sidewall; it looses strength fast just like that normal tire did. BUT it isn’t visible to the eye. So when you pull into Joe’s tire repair and he finds an RF he thinks “I wonder how long this thing has been flat; how many miles have been run? 1? 10? 50? 100?" Not knowing – and not trusting you to answer correctly or even knowingly and worried about liability for fixing an unrepairable tire he defaults to saying “no way.” Even if it has pressure - did you top off at the station around the corner?


I’ve plugged a RF and run it for 10,000+ miles with no problem; two plugs in that tire eventually. But I KNOW the tire never was run flat – I saw a nail in the middle of the tread but checked the psi and it was within 2 pounds of recommended. I pulled the nail and immediately inserted a plug (DYNAPLUG – highly recommended). I checked for leaks, checked the pressure and away I went. No problemo. On the flip side, spousal unit got a flat - big honkin nail that bent; not pluggable - and had to drive 40 miles home on that flat RF. No question in my mind, I went looking for a new tire the next day. But she did not have to change that tire at night on the side of the highway - or wait until AAA arrived to tell her she needed a tow cuz they couldn't plug it either.


as a side bar I know a guy who didn’t know his GEN1 MINI well and while on vacation his GEN1 TPMS light came on. He looked at the tires and nothing looked flat, so he reset the light and since it stayed out he assumed the light came on in error. Note he never checked the tire pressures... When he came home from his multi-week driving vacation he took the car to the dealer for service where they came out to tell him he had a totally flat runflat which needed to be replaced. He estimates he drove well in excess of 1000 miles at highway speeds on that flat RF. Sort of a flaw in the GEN1 system that worked off of changing wheel speed.

 

I second that thought.

I have also plugged run flats and my new Countryman is no exception. The front left had three plugs within one week of ownership. All drywall screws and all from a construction site. I got smarter and haven't had any since. I have a plug kit and compressor and fix the flat before driving on it.

If I raced, or drove over the limit, I would replace the tire.

Bill

 

Thanks, all for the advice on run flats. I will be sure to get all seasons. But we have a country house 2 miles down a dirt road in upstate NY. Serious snow and ice. I'm concerned that the all seasons won't be sufficient and don't ever again want to use chains. I'm getting 17" wheels. Any suggestion on winter driving under those conditions? PS - we do not have a garage so if I have an extra set of wheels, storage is a bit of an issue. I guess I can stack them and use them as end tables ; )

 

Probably a dedicated snow on another rim, I recommend any tire made by Nokian, they are simply the gold standard for winter tires. If you don't want to change wheels, I recommend there WR G2 tire its a snow specific all season (really an all weather) that runs as good as any performance snow in the winter, but sacrifices little the other months of the year.

 

My wife has WR 2's, I don't see any "G" in there, on her current ute-an 09 Mazda CX-7. They were spectacular up till about 25K miles-39K now and they are unbelieveably noisy. We have run nothing but Nokian winter tires on everything we have owned since 1990, love them. The WR's were the first All season we bought from them. Their winter performance was pure Nokian, wet and dry traction was very good also. As I mentioned, very impressive until the road noise entered the picture. I wouldn't reccomend them, unless the G2 is a newer tire that runs quieter.

Well, now that that is out of the way-my wife will probably be ordering a 2012 ALL4. We are having the same winter tire concerns as the OP, same upstate, NY location. It looks like I have pushed her into getting an additional wheelset for pure winter rubber.

Gotta keep searching for severe weather M&S rated runflats. While she hasn't had any flat tires in the 16 years we have been together-I attribute that to proper rotations, watch pressures, and wear, etc...I don't know that I could convince her to get conventional(not RF's) and try the slime/compresor route if needed.

Anyway hello all! I'll be searching this forum top to bottom for Countryman info. First Mini in the family..oh yea-she's ditching the CX-7 after 2 years because she can't stand the auto box anymore-first automatic tranny vehicle she has EVER owned. Back to that lovely 6 speed manual, yee haw!

 

I haden't had a flat in too many years to count (late 70's). In 2005 got a cabrio justa and no flats. Traded up to a 2007 MCS with runflats and got three in about three years. Traded up to my R60 All4 and in the first week got three flats in the front left.

I'm looking forward to getting rid of the runflats and get back to tires that stay inflated. I'll keep the All4.

Bill