I have to admit, I was stupid when talking to my salesmen when I bought my car. He convinced me that I didn't need a spare since I had run-flats. I know that there is always road side assistance, but when going on a 14 hour road trip, I don't really want to be waiting for a tow if I have an issue. The long and short is I am buying a spare and the associated parts to mount in the well. I have the storage package on the car and am wondering if anyone got the spare and the storage package and can take a photo for me to show me how it mounts. Looking on RealOEM.com, it shows a bracket (#2) that I am unsure how it mounts and it's real use http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=71_0900. Perhaps by seeing a photo of the spare it will shed some light on this bracket. Also, if you can tell if the tool holder (Ablage Notrad) is need to mount the tire cover? Thanks!

 

We put spares in the clubmans all the time. Personally I wouldn't waste the money on the hold down and tool kit parts as they are expensive and not needed as the spare will sit in there fine and not move at all.
We have the spares ready to go.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/mini-s...l-f55-f56.html

 

What size is the wheel and tire combination for the F54?

 

It's 17inch

 

Just a data point here:

I've been spare-less since 2013 on 3 cars and (knock on wood), haven't ever been stranded. I carry a pump and plug kit in each car. It's very rare (can happen) to get a sudden flat where you lose all pressure. Typically, if you pick up a nail, you'll get a slow leak and your sensor will trigger. I've plugged tires on the road (I carry basic hand tools including vice grips), and I've plugged at least 6 tires at home. Every time I change my oil on my car, I inspect all the tires, and I find nails nearly every year. Amazingly, nearly none of them causes a leak. Regardless, I pull them and plug them. (No lectures please. :-) )

Thinking back, (I've been driving since 1975), I've NEVER had a flat on the road that I couldn't fix with a plug and a small compressor. Perhaps I'm an anomaly, and everyone has a different tolerance to risk, but I don't see the need for a spare.

Coincidentally, yesterday on the PA Turnpike, I saw a guy in a 5-series BMW with a completely shredded front tire. It occurred inside the tunnel. Poor guy. That was a miserable location and it was a miserable day (deep snow and high winds). I can't imagine that he had run-flats the way the tire was shredded, and a plug certainly would have been useless to him, but I still think that's very, very rare.

EDIT: This made me think of the times that I have been stranded...
Discounting the years I drove Triumphs (far too many roadside repairs to count), there has been three times: A failed fuel pump in my 1986 GTV6 (otherwise a rock solid car), a failed water pump in my 2008 BMW 335, and once my wife ran over something in her Alfa 164 and got TWO flats so a spare wouldn't have helped her anyway. And I don't carry spare fuel pumps or water pumps either...

Oh, one more: The day I turned over 200k on my Subaru Outback it threw a rod through the engine block. How did I forget that?

 

JohnnyQuest I too have had countless nails/screws and usually fix or remove them before they are a problem, but I've always had a spare in my car as backup. I've only had one time where I've actually had to put on the spare. I got a bolt in a tire that a whole box of plugs wouldn't have sealed up! I'm an old tire dog (worked for Goodyear for many years) and don't believe in the plugging method. Reminds me of the time a customer came in with a blown out tire. Tires don't blow out for no reason. Customer and I walked into the shop and where I dismounted the tire. With the customer watching my every move, I looked inside and pulled out a paring knife! They couldn't argue with that one! My practice is patch or replace. Of course patching doesn't work on the run-flats, so in preparation of replacing them, I am looking for a spare. Also, the boss is the risk averse one as far as having no spare on a long trip. When she speaks, I listen.....LOL.

 

That's for the rim, what about the tire size and total diameter?

Thanks.

 

I hear you! I never found a knife, but I found a big screw driver stuck through the wheel well liner of my Subaru. It was a Craftsman in good shape, and I still have it.

I thought of two more left-on-road incidents: the timing belt of a beater Toyota broke (my own fault for letting it got too long) and my wife's nearly new 1987 CRX had the brake material separate from the shoe, lodge in the drum, and lock up the rear wheel. But no flats (probably just jinxed myself).

Many years ago, my Subaru had a slow leak. I was nearly home and it was late, and I didn't feel like throwing the spare on so I stopped periodically to inflate it. During one stop, a woman was there with a flat. I changed it for her, but her spare had a big bubble in the sidewall. We happened to live in neighboring towns so I offered to follow her home to make sure she was ok, and she was very appreciative. Those were the days before cell phones, and when people were more trusting....

 

Being the superstituous fool that I am, I figure having a spare is a guarantee to never have to use it. Last car I had, I drove it for 17 years and only ever had the spare out to check the inflation. It was never mounted on the car....ever!

 

I've had a few left-on road incidents, but the most interesting one I had actually happened to my son in our 3rd car at that time....I even blogged the incident here https://goldberg60.blogspot.com/2013...urrection.html. Made for some fun grease under the finger nail time....

 

I agree for no need for the mounting kit on the F54. I have it, and it is not really needed. Didn't need it on my '08 Clubman S either. By far, I have not used the spares much on my cars. So that means I Have used a spare only 4 times in 44 years of driving. And every time, I was glad I had one, and on 2 of those occasions, I was forced to use the spare for days, where no plug would have worked, and a replacement tire, towing, etc, would have been WAY more expensive than taking care of it on my own terms once I was home. So what I saved on ONE incident has paid for me having a spare the rest of my life, essentially. Also, I have, so far, never put run flats on a car once they were worn out. They have always been far inferior in wear and ride. Maybe by 2022, when these are ready to be replaced, that will be different. SWMBO only drives 4k miles a year, and they usually dry rot or have poor traction before they wear.

 

Checking out the different web sites that list a spare tire for the F54, I found they all list a 15" rim and tire combination that is only 22" in diameter. Quite a bit shorter than the approximately 25" tire/wheel combo on the car. I queried Chad at Detroit Tuned and he recognized the error of this advertised combo and has put together the correct sized combo as specified by Mini. A 17" wheel with 125/70-17 tire. It's comparably priced if you tried to order all the pieces separately. While I'm not advocating buying from him, he did go out of his way to put this together for me. I will be ordering my spare from him....here's a link http://www.detroittuned.com/mini-coo...re-tire-5-lug/ for those interested.