So yesterday it was rainy on and off all day, so the MINI stayed inside when I was at school and work. I got home and it seemed to be drying up so I decided to go out and motor for a bit seeing as I hadn't driven her in a week (was in NYC). I am motoring along a local 2 lane A road and it was still a bit damp. Basically as I am coming around a corner just at normal speed I see 3 pretty large rocks in the right side of the lane. I don't want to swerve to hard to left as there is a Golf Course fairway down an embankment and if I dont make a move I could try and position the passenger wheels in between a rock but it could scrape the bottom as they were, as I said rather large. I decide to swerve to the left (nobody is coming) as safely as possibly and as I thought I got around it WHAM! Fairly large bump and the car jumps a bit, the wheel was turned when I hit it so It was mainly all Sidewall that took the damage on the wheel. I'd say within 5 seconds the Ding came and TPMS systems are rattling off at me. I pull over and get out to asses the damage. There is about a 1 inch long gauge into the sidewall that is fairly deep, and some rubber has been completley ripped off. Luckly they are still the stock runflats so I limp it home, and now am not sure exactly what to do. I am 20, I've had the car for just about a month now and have never had anything like this happen before. Should I take it to the dealer? Take it to Costco/Big O type place and have them put a new runflat on? I am just worried if I don't take it to the dealer that they won't really know what to do about all the TPMS stuff? Please help! Will get pictures up once I can actually upload them (stupid Camera!)
Thanks,
Jon.

Ok here's the pics

 

Because it was road hazard, the dealer typically would not change the tire for you for free unless you have bought special wheel and tire insurance. If the dealer does it for you, it will also cost you lots of $$$. You can take it to any tire store and they can sell you a single tire. Don't worry about TPMS as most stores can deal with it. Also, you should use the same tire brand and model/run flats to avoid all sorts of potential handling issues. If you have lots of miles on the tires and they are somewhat worn, it is adviseable to replace both tires on the same axle. In that case, put the new tires in the back and keep the last one as a spare.

I would suggest looking for a tire store using tirerack.com under installation. Call around to see what prices they have for the tires (and they are different) and whether they have it in stock.

 

Thanks for the advice Slinger, there are only 4500 miles on the tires so relatively new. And I didn't expect for them to do it for free, was just wondering because of the TPMS stuff if it was easier to take it to mini.

 

OK, I can already tell you what a lot of the responses will be: "This is the perfect opportunity for you to buy 4 new non-RF tires!" Which is true, but I personally don't have a problem with RFs (still using mine, as a matter of fact). However, they ARE rather pricey. But they do come with some peace of mind and convenience (which is why you were able to drive home).

As far as where to take it, that is up to what you can afford and what you decide you want. Any reputable tire place will be able to handle the TPMS stuff (and even a lot of the shady places can too). Even the MINI dealer!

So what to do? Based on your preferences really, but for what a new RF will cost, you might be able to get hooked up with some good non-RFs to replace all 4 (although if you did that I'd make sure to get the RFs from them to keep as backups).

 

Yea Will I did expect to see a lot of the switch to Non-RF's. I really would like to get myself into non-RF's but am not quite in the situation I'd like to be to do that. Right now atleast I'd rather just get 1 new RF and call it a day and have my MINI back. On a side note, do I need a new sensor for that wheel?

 

Odds are the sensor is fine, so I'd say no. But they'll check it and let you know (not that they will have one to replace it with anyway, even at the dealer), but I would imagine it is fine.

 

Just sayin, I had 4 nonRF's mounted for the cost of 2 RFs I would have needed when I got an egg size bulge in my sidewall. But the advice given is good, find a tirerack installer and get a good deal on 1 or 2.

 

With that hit, you should also check your alignment. Otherwise, your good tires may be eaten up shortly.

 

I had to replace one run flat as well due to a nail/screw...

I was able to work with Discount Tire and due to the low amount of miles on the tire I was able to get some kind of credit... Anyway the price went from $270 down just under $200...

 

i had almost the same bad luck in the first month i had my mini, but the dealer was able to repair mine... yours is definitely unrepairable. about 6 months later my low sensor came on again, i decided to replace all 4 tires since i didnt want to deal with repairing the tire again and having it go flat again. i was going to replace the one, but it was more expensive than 2 regular tires would have been, so i bought 4 new non rf's and sold my 3 good tires (to an accord owner surprisingly, who had 1 tire to go with my 3)

in your situation im not sure what i'd do, i'd price a new rf with labor and 4 new non rf's(not from a dealer, from a tire shop) and see which price you'd wanna go with... you could always post the 3 good tires for sale, if you want to deal with that(i think i got lucky selling mine).

goodluck!

 

I hit a huge rock on the interstate with my old MINI S. I pulled over immediately (I noticed 2 other vehicles had hit the same rock; one called it in) and I didn't notice any damage. I drove 300+ miles (on my non-RFS) before the light came on. As it turned out, I needed a new tire and a new wheel. But mine were non-RFs so it was cheaper.