Driving home tonight I got the tire warning light indicating I had low tire pressure: which resulted in a flat tire. I need some help with what my options are:

Required to buy 1 tire, 2 tires, 4 tires???? Couple of facts:

1) I have only 4,500 miles on the MINI S and they are OEM Goodyear all season run flats
2) It is the rear passenger side tire
3) Piece of metal in the tread (not sidewall) appears to be the culprite
4) Had to drive 30 miles or so on the flat to get home off the highway
5) I was hoping to replace the tiresm when they wore out, with non-run flat high performance summer tires (and a set of winters for snow - I live in Boston). This event is VERY premature

Anyway, so what are my options...

1) I heard you can't plug a run flat tire so I am looking at replacement not repairing.
2) Given the MINI S high performance tire status I believe I cant have different tires on corners but does that mean I need to replace all 4 or just the rears? Or just the 1 tire that is bad... given I only have 4500 miles on the car what are the replacement options???
3) Do I need to replace 4 tires?? If so I am going to be really upset (financially and otherwise) but it could be an excuse to buy some decent nonrunflat performance tires... what are some good all around tires (e.g. good in the rain, decent autocross stock, etc)???

This is a REALY bummer I was hoping to not have to do this sooo soon, but honestly I feel pretty lucky... I was heading home on the Mass. Turnpike at 74 and got the tire warnings and didnt have to pull over and sit on the burm replacing a tire with no real room... the car took care of me and I am more than happy about that... Glad I didnt buy a Civic Si or a new GTI but man I dont want to buy all new tires if I dont have to... PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN!!

Regards

K

Note - I need to resovle this isseu quickly because by Monday I need to commute to work in the car... but if all new tires are the requirement I will wait until I decide what to buy.

 

See here http://www.mini2.com/forum/faq.php?f...q_faq_puncture

you can repair that tire if its near the center

Otherwise, if i were me, I would just buy another goodyear to replace it since 4500 miles aint nothing

 

Since your tires are almost new I would simply replace the one tire. I've done this twice before following pothole damage.

Depending on the urgency you could order from somewhere like www.tirerack.com and have it drop-shipped to one of their authorized installers local to you. That way you will get a professional installation and are less likely to sustain rim damage/scratches etc.

 

I can't answer your questions re: what you have to do, but I can say I replaced my run-flats with the Yokohama ES-100's and am very glad I did so. My run-flats had about 700 miles on them, but I wanted to see what kind of ride I would get. I feel like I have a better ride, a bit smoother and quieter but can still "feel" the road.
I went to a BMW driving school this past weekend and they were fine. My instructor said if I was going to get really serious I can get a set of "track" wheels and tires, but if I was just going to do the occassional track or autocross day then the Yokos were a good choice.
I think I paid about $100 per tire.
Annette

 

Take it to good tire store and see if they can patch it from the inside. Runflats aren't that exotic. If it can't be repaired, buy one, no need to buy multiples.

 

You may want to opt for non-runflats when these wear out, but I wouldn't be inclined to get rid of a perfectly good set of (expensive) "new" tires now.

If I were in your position I'd buy one replacement A/S tire and then use these as winter wheels for next season (should be able to cope with a Boston winter admirably). You can then buy a set of dedicated summer rims/tires for more serious motoring.

 

swap to non run-flat = 4new tires
You could easly swap out the one for anther run flat and be safe though, I did this at 20k no issues w/ the differance in wear, I just ended up chirpping the new one a few times.

 

Best case is the tire can be repaired, just like a non-runflat. If it isn't damaged on the sidewall this could likely be done. Worse case would be you replace one tire. Absolutely no reason to replace four tires. Keep the runflats rotated and wear them out. I don't think they are as bad as some people seem to think . I have even seen post where people who changed to non-runflats were unhappy that they had lost some of the "go-kart" feeling of their MINI. The stiff sidewalls of runflats prevent flex and add to the go-kart handling feel.

 

see above

Its crazy to throw away a perfectly good set of tires that costs about $800

Unless, of course, your rolling in dough in which case, I got a bridge to sell ya

 

I've gone this route of using my run-flats for the winter and I have a set of Azenis I use for the summer/auto-x (mostly auto-x and I may drive around on them a bit during the week if I was too lazy to change wheels after auto-x). A few months ago, my tire indicator came on and it turns out I had a screw in the tread. Took it to a tire place and they were able to patch it for me and it has held up great so far. So, just take it in and ask them if it can be fixed. If not, just buy the one.

As for run-flats vs. non-runflats, I think it has alot to do with the wheels you're running on. I have the 16" v-spokes and I have no problem with the ride but I have ridden in some other MINI's with the 17" S-lites and the ride was bone jarring. Once my current run-flats are done, I'll probably get another set now that I've experienced the convenience and safety factor of them.

 

Keyne:

Your story is very similar to what I went through. After about 6 months and 5,000 miles I got a flat. I needed my car that day and had it replaced at a cost of nearly $300.

Three months later I got another flat. Now I wanted to kick myself. If I replaced this one I will have spent almost $600 on just two tires.

For less than $600 you can get a real nice set of non-runflats with a road hazard warranty. Most people will tell you that a good set of non-runflats are much better.

Also based on my experience I would give the following tips:

1. Not just anyone can service your runflats. If they need to be removed from the rim and replaced by another runflat, apparently a special machine is required and few shops have that machine.

2. Get your runflat off the ground. If it sits even parked with a flat, the weight will ruin the tire after not very long. So while you are deciding what to do, put it up on a jack or jack stand. Even if you think it is not repairable. You will need to drive to a shop. My second flat was not repairable. By the time I made my decision, my runflat was so trashed I couldn't drive on it even to get it to the shop.

3. Most shops will tell you that a runflat can't be fixed. In both of my flats this was true since the holes were at or near the side. But a good shop will be able to fix the flat if it is away from the side. So shop around until you get someone who is willing to fix it.

So bottom line in my opinion, fix it if you can, otherwise, lose the runflats.

 

I would call to find out if they are experienced with runflats before going there (and or check on the Tirerack site if they have that info about the shops) to be sure they are good to try the patch in the first place, plus I have heard of places who are not prepared/experienced withs RFs messing up the wheel mounting them (as Electric Shock stated in #1 up there they need the right equip too)

Fwiw I had a non runflat have 3 nails in it and it only showed with a slow leak, nothing catastrophic - tire was repairable too. Now that I think of it I've had similar things in other cars too, so having regular tires does not automatically mean you are worse off then the RFs, depends on the type of puncture.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone. To give you an upate. I called around and brought it to a tire place with a good rep in Boston and they were able to fix the tire. Also, I had him quote me on what it would cost for a new one... yikes he said $350+labor to install, etc. so looking at over $400 for just 1 tire... ouch. Tire rack shows the tire for $247 and I bet I could find a place to mount it (and these guys would mount it for me as well).

1 - Bottom line at this point is that I will probably buy a replacement for the 1 tire that is bad. The tires only have 4600 miles on them so I would have to live with the repair for quite some time. Most likely I will buy the new tire from tire rack this week and find a place to mount it.

2 - This incident makes me a little affraid for nonrunflat tires... I was going about 75-80 on the Mass.Turn Pike (in heavy traffic that in most cases was driving my speed or faster) when I got the warning light. I pulled over and checked the tires and there was 0 air in the bad tire. I was able to drive home and then to the shop to get it worked on. It makes me wonder/shutter at the prospects of this event happening without the runflats. Stuck on the side of the Mass Pike does not sound good to me and that is assuming i could get from the left lane all the way to the burm without incidient . I will have to really think about the next set of tires...

Anyway, thanks again for all the help! This board has been extremely helpful pre and now Post purchase!

 

Next time think about getting the tire warranty. When I found out that they couldn't be repaired, I ponied up for that immediately. I've already had to replace one of mine. I picked up a nail and had a slow ~ 3 day leak before the tire warning light came on. I took it in to the dealership, paid $268 for the tire replacement and about 5 weeks later got a check in the mail for $268.

 

Unless you just want to dump $300 for a new tire there should be no problem running the repaired tire. It should last as long and be as good as the other three if it was repaired properly, and it sounds as if it was.

 

There is another way to think about it and what we noticed when we had runflats: sometimes it is because the RFs do not visually show low air that you get yourself in the situation to begin with. We had the next to no pressure happen to us only because there is no visual indication the tire is low before it is very low vs when we have normal tires and when they leak its clear that the tire is low/has issues. So with a regular tire I've noticed a low situation and potential puncture way before it gets critical, whereas with the RFs there is no warning at all until you find yourself travelling around and the indicator goes off and then you can be dangerously low on air for the situation and not able to deal with it at that time.