Our first full day with our new 2015 F56 Justa. In another thread I posted about the spare and that I thought the lug wrench did not fit the bolt you need to get the spare tire down. So tonight I gave it another try and it does indeed work. So I thought I'd just go ahead and lower the spare and figure out how to do it rather than on the side of the road somewhere. Plus there are a large number of questions on the spare so I thought I'd take pics of it going back up.

The bottom line is on the Justa there is a spare no matter what wheels you have. We have the 17" wheels and for some reason they are not Run-Flats. So I wanted to know how to use the spare. It is a do-nut spare and might not handle well on the car with 17" on the other three corners but it just has to get the car to a tire place.

So here are some pics and instructions on how to get the spare down.

1) Lift up the bottom most panel in the boot and you will see the jack, lug wrench, tow hook tool kit in a little styrofoam holder. It is held in place by a Velcro strap. Un do the strap and wiggle the kit out. It is snug.

2) Under the kit is a plate that is securing the spare tire and a nut that snugs it all up. The plate serves double duty as a tool.

3) Use the Lug wrench to loosen the nut. You can't swing all the way around, but work the nut off completely. The spare tire won't drop yet, just undo the bolt.

 

4) Once you remove the nut the plate comes off. If you notice there is an open end wrench stamped in the edge of this plate. This is needed to rotate the plastic (yes plastic) part that is keeping the spare tire from dropping. It needs to be rotated counter clockwise into the unlock position (step 6).

5) Now that the plate is off, take the shaft end of the Lug Wrench and screw it down on the shaft of the bolt. It is how you will lower the spare down. As soon as you release it using the plate you removed.

6) This picture is not the best but... While holding the lug wrench that is screwed onto the shaft of the bolt... use the open end wrench to rotate the plastic part to the left. There is a corresponding 'nut' molded into the plastic. But this is not the most robust design. The plastic part must be rotated 10-20 degrees counter-clockwise so that the D shaped plastic part aligns with the D shaped hole in the sheet metal. Once you are able to rotate this plastic part the tire will drop so hold onto that Lug wrench, you are holding up the spare.

 

7) Now that the D shape of the plastic part lines up with the D in the floor of the trunk the spare tire will drop. All the weight of the spare will be on the lug wrench. Use the lug wrench to drop it down to the ground. It is not that heavy.

8) You'll have to unscrew the lug wrench and slide the spare out. I didn't do this, didn't want to scratch the plastic on the garage floor. I should have use my little shop dolly but didn't think about it at the time.

Reverse the process to re-install the spare. It is a little tough to hold the spare up with one hand and rotate the plastic part with the other to lock it in. Once it is locked in you can put the metal part back on and tighten the nut down. It is the nut and plate that take the weight of the tire. You can over tighten this, don't over do it. I might check this nut once a year to make sure it is not backing out. And hopefully there will not be water getting into this area in the bottom of the boot.

Anyway, this is the spare. You do have access to the fill valve while the spare is stowed. My guess is that there will be a lot of flat spare tires on this car. This do nut spare needs to be at 60 PSI. Who will actually pump this up? Maybe I need to get the service department to put nitrogen in it lol.

The tool kit is pretty minimal. The jack is about the smallest one I've seen and the lug wrench will have a hard time getting 101 ft-lb lug nuts off. But in a bind you could probably make it work. I wife certainly can't.

My MA told me that even these do-nut spares are going to be eliminated in the near future. This will require run-flats as standard on every size.

Hope this helps...

 

OUTSTANDING tutorial....Thanks!

 

Yes, outstanding!

Makes sense that Mini plans to completely eliminate the spare. Cheaper for them to go with run-flats. Also eliminates a bit of weight. Lastly, there is the safety aspect of changing a flat in the middle of the night on a dark road in the middle of nowhere. My wife wouldn't have a clue how to change a flat. And even waiting for a roadside assistance vehicle to show up could be more time than you'd want.

 

BUT, most/some/everybody I know, people don't put run flats back on their cars due to the harsh ride and cost factor.. Granted most have a flat tire kit in the car.. The run flats are a good thing for those that don't mind spending the extra money on them though as a safety precaution..

 

Gi already replaced my runflats with non ruflats at 800 miles.

 

informative thread, thanks

 

Outstanding post. Well done sir.

 

That's a helpful post - I feel I could do this job without instructions now.

I'm waiting for the F57 Convertible and it's going to be an extra challenge to lift the spare when leaning over over the open boot/trunk lid!

 

Great write up! I did this the other day as well. I found that you can also release the spare using the underside **** rather than the built in wrench on the bracket. You just have to have one hand pulling up on the lug nut wrench you screwed into the spare while reaching under to turn and release.

 

Nice write up. Similar to the R50 spare set up.

 

Nice write up. I must be odd as I prefer the new runflats. Stiffer side wall improves cornering and if you go through tire rack etc they are just as affordable reg tires. I just picked up some 225/45/17 Yokohama Ultra hpf 260tread for 150ea.

 

bump.

Great info!
I have a 2016 Justa, 17" run-flats and no spare. When the time comes, I will replace my RF's with non-RF's and my idea was to purchase a space saving spare wheel and keep it in the trunk.
After reading this thread, does anyone know if the required parts could be fitted onto the 2016 model year? I checked underneath and there is a large space where it looks like the wheel retainer should go, probably just left out from the factory.
I have a 'blank' rubber piece covering the hole where the clamp and nut should be.

 

Look closer... I also have a 2016 Justa with run-flats. But, there is a spare! You should be able to see the valve stem and cap through an access port under the vehicle. Even the MA didn't know that Justas came with spares. He had to go out to the lot to verify for himself.

(I too plan to replace the run-flats with regular tires when the time comes. But, I think you'll be surprised to learn that you already have a spare.)

Hope this helps,
Alan

 

Thanks for the heads up! I wish it was true but under my car (right rear wheel area) there is an open space. When I remove the tray with the jack,wrench,etc, there is no nut or plate. Only a rubber cover, which when I remove it, I can see the ground :D.

I'm looking to purchase all the hardware plus wheel and install everything in that open space

 

I think this would be a great option to be able to buy. I too will eventually dump my run flats as they are way too noisy on the highway and would like to be able to have a spare.

 

Yeah the guy the RFs and a spare has 16" wheels, you have 17". Maybe putting one under the car is different? On the R56 Gen2 cars I think you had to have 15" wheels to get a spare.

 

On the R56 Cooper with the normally aspirated engine you got a spare no matter what size your factory standard or option tires were.

To break lose a stubborn lug nut place your foot on the wrench and apply your weight gradually, or so says my wife.

 

Interesting...are you in the US? Every F56/F55 Cooper I've seen has the spare, regardless of whether it had run flats or not.

Check your VIN at http://bimmer.work/ ....does it have option 300 = Emergency Wheel?

I don't doubt that you don't have a spare, but I'm curious to see why it never came with one.

 

I live in Canada, no option 300 in the VIN decoder, looks like they shaft us up here for the spare wheel.

 

Ah bummer!

 

No spare here with my F54 clubman here in the states. Not even a spot for it to mount up underneath as there is not a rubber plug in the floor and the exhaust is straight all the way back to the center mounted muffler. I don't even have a jack or tire iron. Very Odd.

 

If you do option the spare tire on the Clubman, it gets put underneath the flat load floor in the boot and secured via a screw. Of course, since run flats are standard on all Clubman models, the spare tire is not necessary.

 

for any of you that have dropped the spare down, could you tell me where piece#3 goes when assembled? I purchased all the parts and everything fits snug, I'm left with this "tilted panel" and not sure where it goes on the retainer...Thanks for all the help!