I've bought a 2006 mini cooper s and was wondering, if I replace the run flats with normal tires, do I need to buy new wheels as well? Also any suggestions on a comfortable riding normal tire?
Thanks in advance.

 

Number of owners have gone to regular tires from run flats and have not had to change wheels. AFAIK run flats have no special wheel requirement. A TPMS system is I believe preferred (maybe required if the car comes from the factory with run flats) because if a run flat goes "flat" it may not manifest any real signs of being flat which can be "dangerous" as a run flat has a limited number of miles it can be driven "flat" and I think there is a speed limit too.

But check with your dealer service department just to be sure about the wheels.

For tires if Mini sanctions regular tires for your car I'd choose one of those tires. Being sanctioned by Mini means you should expect the tires will be quite well suited for the car.

Are you going to get a full sized spare? Or a space saver spare? Be sure you get a suitable jack and all the necessary tools to change a flat tire.

Or get a tire service kit complete with air compressor -- you plug into the car's power outlet -- with a canister of sealant that you can put into the tire to (hopefully) seal the leak at least well enough to drive to a tire store. (My Hellcat suffered a left rear tire puncture the other day and I used the kit that came with the car. I followed directions and the tire sealed up just fine. While it might have held longer it held up long enough for me to drive 4.1 miles to the nearest dealer and get 2 new rear tires fitted.)

Based on reports by those who have switched from run flats to regular tires -- a guy at work for instance -- the biggest improvement in comfort and ride will come from just replacing the run flats with regular tires. If you want to improve on this even more pick the sanctioned tires that have the tallest sidewall. More sidewall equals a "cushier" ride. But you want to be careful you don't go overboard. If you change the over all tire height or go too wide (or too narrow) you can affect the car's ride, handling, braking, also how accurate the speedo is

 

 

No new wheels needed, a run flat tire is just a different compound of rubber wit a stiffer sidewall. You can switch them out no problem, and I'm pretty sure that your car has indirect TPMS which means there is no sensor in the wheel and is instead monitored by calculating wheel rotation/speed.

 

I gave up on the run-flats and have run a number of different tires. I just went by the tire size, nothing else. I got an air compressor and tire plug kit but have never used it. I have however had to trash two rims when I destroyed two tires. Once when two hours from home when I hit the pothole from hell on the interstate. I don't think run-flats would have survived that. The other time, I was 5 minutes from work and a truck ahead of me threw a huge chuck of steel onto the road. There was no avoiding it, and I put a 2" diameter hole in my front tire. I just drove back to work, knowing I'd trash the rim (which I did). I've bought two rims now off eBay, and the stock ones are very cheap. For future flats, if I get them, I'm just going to keep driving, knowing the tire and rim are trashed. I have a spare rim with a tire in my garage, so it'll get used. I wish there was a way to fit a compact spare in the Mini rear. Having owned BMWs with run-flats, I can say they all suck, and I will never buy a car with them again.

 

I've an idea the OP has moved on. Post #1 was late July of last year. If he's still wondering, decision making is not one of his priorities.

 

For those that care, run flats are interchangeable with non run flats. However, you do lose the ability to drive if you have a flat so a spare tire is valuable.

Run-flats degrade quickly when flat and must be replaced with hundreds of yards being flat. And if the tires have over 5,000 miles, then you must replace both tires on an axle so you don't kill your differential.

Unlike a regular tire that may be plugged if caught in time and continued to be useful, a run flat is a goner. Now if you catch a run flat deflating and stop before it is flat, you can repair it. I've done that but the dealer wouldn't let my wife leave the dealership without signing a waiver. They were too afraid she had driven it flat.

FWIW,
Peter

 

If you have the pressure type TPMS
you’ll know in time before it has been
run on too flat to repair.
The wheel speed monitor type of TPMS
(1st gen) gives later warning with
runflats than non-runflats but should
still let you know in time if you’re
paying attention.
Of course if you have to drive on it
somewhere to get it repaired, you may
be out of luck by the time you get it
there.
All the more reason to have a compact
spare and/or a dynaplug kit in the car,
as well as a pump and pressure gauge
(I have all of these in both of our cars,
and they have come in very handy on
multiple occasions).

 

Keep in mind newer runflats have come a long way and are no longer the hockey pucks they used to be- they have evolved considerably. With that said, you can have your cake and eat it too. With the new run flats you can have the benefit of driving on a tire with no air and still have a compliant smooth ride. My 2019 Mini has run flats and feel great on the road, hence I will not be going back to non run flats anytime soon.