makes sense
its just an unfortunare dilema and i have to decide what i want to do

 

I took off the runrocks soon after delivery... lot's of fun with the Goodyear Eagles F1 (GS-D3).

 

I replaced 2 runflats at 8900 miles, and not under warranty. I did buy them at Tirerack and saved a bundle!

 

Ok thats good, seems like so far you have been civil with the SA.

And yes nowadays nothing that sounds threatening in any way is taken lighthearted to be careful with what you say.

Ok I understand your question about the wheels then. I think 17"s on the MINI is the best size, although that is only my oppinion. I love my MOMOs and have hit some prety rough parts of the road and potholes (I live in New England so I know how bad roads can be) and no bending at all. OEM would proabably be your strongest wheels though (an assumption on my part, not based on any facts). You can always research wheels a bit and see what are some nice strong wheels and if Tire Rack carries them you can get the tires mounted and balance on them straight from them. Buying anything from the local dealer is going to get you dealer pricing. Anytime I need OEM parts I go through Morristown MINI (NAM Sponsor) and they will beat anyone elses prices. Might be worth it to look into them for wheels and maybe even tires to see what the price for things like that shipped to you would be.

 

do you have a pic of ur rims?

 

Yes I do but the ones I have at the moment are of the car dirty and dirty rims on a rainy day. Ill have some better pics soon but they are Black MOMO Corse RPM's 17"... keep in mind my car is dropped about an inch all around...

 

Sorry to further diminish your uniqueness but I am a runflat lover too. To me when you ditch the RFs you loose alot of the GoKart-like feel

 

The non-runflats improved my handling and eased the ride a little... but maybe the fact I am dropped an inch on coilovers (that make the ride rougher) and handles a lot better than stock I didnt feel that the go-kart feeling has diminished at all. I thought it actually helped it out in that aspect of it.

 

Those are really nice, do they come in silver finish?

 

Yes, they are here... You can find these for about $150/each in 17"s if you look around. I had to wait 4 months for them as they were backordered but well worth the wait.

 

He crew certified Mini/Bmw tech. I got rid of my run flats @ 600 miles. Believe it or driving on the LA's 405 freeway is kinda rough.
It made me nausous< did I spell that right,oh who cares. Anyway the point is. loose those damn things. My Ride improved 100%. I installed
perilli's I can't Rem off hand there not the P-zero's but equivlent.
Man I am happy.

Being in the Service Biz for 18 + yrs. Give the SA a break they can only do what BMA NA/AG tell us to do.

And Please always give them perfect score on there survey. If not there pay gets deducted. What if you did something @ work that didn't go your way. But your pay is not taken away,its ok right. Well what if your pay was taken away say a few hundred dollars monthly. Were all in this together. They can only make your next visit easier and more pleasant. Or if your one of those A$%#$hole customer who are not satisfied in life well poor you. And no SA or dealer can ever repair your situation.

 

So lets get this right. MINI dealer screws up ... and they have done that so often its pointless to bring it up. Customer not happy. So give them a good score anyway?

How about ... NOT and maybe NEXT time they DON'T screw up? Maybe next time for the next customer they ALL work together as a team to solve the customers problems?

you get what you earn

 

I was surprised to learn that all MCS's coming out of the factory are on run flats. Anyone have success getting their dealer to sub regular tires? And educate me--can you run "regular" tires on the same rims as the runflats take?

 

Yeah I love my SA, he is awesome and helps me out whenever needed and if I have any questions he goes through everything with me thoroughly and makes sure I am taken care of. For example my lower HK speakers in my doors went out and were not working at all and I brought it in 3 times as the speakers would turn on and off as they wanted to cutting in and out at random times until they shut off all of the time. The third time they saw the speakers were not turning on and the tech told me its my iPod adapter (IceLink Plus) and I told him thats impossible and the SA then told the tech that the last 2 times I was there I mentioned the problem but they were working and my IceLink was installed both times so that cant be the problem, the tech gave in and replaced the speakers under warranty since the SA was on my side in this situation and and everything works perfectly now. Just one of the few stories I have about my SA and MINI Dealership out here.

My only problem is I cant give them a positive review cuz when MINI calls me I think they mistake my ringback tone (music instead of ringing) as a voicemail or answering machine and hang up, if I dont catch it in the first ring then they have hung up. I need to sit and wait for the next call or something so I can tell them I was more than pleased with my last service visit.

 

All MCS's have runflats cuz they do not have a spare tire. If you get a flat and no air in the tire the runflat is designed to be able to drive on its very hard sidewall to a service center to get replaced, as you really cant patch them I dont think. The hard sidewall effects ride and handling a bit also in a negative manner. The rim has nothing to do whether the tire is a runflat or not, so yes you can run regular tires on the stock rims but beware if you get a flat you are stuck. So I have a bottle of tire sealant and a compressor in the boot, also I have AAA just in case that doesnt work.

 

OOOOH and they have the grey finish, thatd go really nice with my MCS cause its Royal Grey

I do when im asked, but if he ever really does anger me im still not gonna give him a good score

 

On MINI's you can replace run flats with non- runflats on the same rim but that is not true on all cars. Honda cars with runflats have special rims with wider lands that do not take standard tires without special mounting equipment.
Part of the difference is the type of pressure sensing system used on the cars. Mini uses a passive system that counts and compares tire revolutions between the left and right side where a Corvette uses a active system which includes a pressure sensor in the wheel. The Mini system seems the most ingenious to me.

By the way, the Mini system has to be calibrated when tire pressures are adjusted as per the owners manual and that is important.

 

If you don't have a spare, what exactly does AAA do? Do they flatbed the car to safe location just like a mechanical breakdown?

regards,
Red

 

You must be kidding. It's the customers job to give the dealership and it's employees a rating they feel is fair based on the service they received....and nothing else. If MINI/BMW has designed a system that unfairly penalizes it's employees based on honest customer feedback, that's a problem that belongs to MINI, not to the customer.

 

YO highschoolz,

Sorry to hear about your bummer dude. Well, all I can say, is that I have had NUMEROUS complaints with my free MINI service. Man, all you can do is take it as that, a FREE service. At my 10k service, they took longer than expected, and damaged part of the trim below the driver's side door. And, they wouldn't repair to my satisaction either. So it is really a cavaet umptur situation when you use the dealer service. A very wise MINI owner once told me "they nothing but monkeys, man!" And this gentlemen really know he is talkin' bout, willis.

As far as your tire situation, do yourself a favor, get some BFGoodrich KDW2s or some Yokohama Spec2s. I have the KDW, a bunch of buddies ahve the Spec2s. The runflats are CRAP. They are heavy, they makes bumps stand out, they are tough to repair if you get a nervous tire shop, did I mentionthey make bumps stand out? Tire rack can give youa smoking deal on the yokos right now, and then have a local installer put them on for $60-80. The cost on the yokos is like $362 for the set SHIPPED. Almost the same cost your SA wants to charge you for 1 runflat. Then throw another $50 at a nylon bag, a cheap/will-work-when-needed compressor, and a tire patch kit. That will save you from having to call up AAA when you hit a nail.

BFGoodrich KDW 2

Yokohama Parada Spec2

 

1) Runflats can sometimes be repaired. On my C5 Corvette, my wife ran over a set of car keys (yep, you read that right). Well one of the keys was sticking out of the tire. It put a cut in the tire probably about 1/4" long. I took the car to the tire dealer and they repaired (patched) the tire. It's been perfect ever since.

2) On the "give your SA" a good grade, I think I would be direct and honest with the SA about what my expectations are. Let him feel the pressure to satisfy me, but in the end, I'd probably not withhold any $ from him by giving him a lousy grade. That would probably get me screwed on subsequent trips to the MINI dealer. Remember folks, the world today isn't any longer "the customer is always right world". It's more like "it's a 2-way street" world out there. Most of the time if you work with people in a respectful way, they'll work with you.

 

1. Never but never bother to take a tire issue to the dealer. Tire issues need to be taken to a tire dealer for the brand you have. Buying replacement tires from the dealer . I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.

2. The rf's MINI uses, coupled with the wheels they use makes the rf's repairable. I patched/plugged Pir' Euf's several times. BUT - if they do go 'flat' as in no PSI and you drive 50 miles on it - the deal is off, no tire can be safely used after that much stress is put on the sidewall.

3. TireRack has good prices on rf's, and then look at their list of recommended installers for your area. My local guy orders the tires for me, has 'em shipped to his place and doesn't pass the shipping charge to me. {btw - 17" here....}. His 'premium' for working on rf's was $5 a wheel. (he's also the local preferred guy by the BMW racers for their tire and susp' work...)

4. I did dump rf's after the Pir's wore out. I got about 36k off 'em.....I never 'smoke off the line' .... I guess that shows. Even with TireRack prices I could still get 2 sets of decent high speed tires for the price of one set of rf's. I carry a DynaPlug tool and a battery operated compressor (btw - if U carry one of these, have you ever tested it? For fun, let the air out of a tire, then refill it using your emergency kit. I found it entertaining...) No problem yet in over 20k miles (knock on wood). At this point, if I totally trash a tire the tow will just bring me back to the rf' cost.

5. #1 is worth repeating .... taking a tire issue back to the dealer is a waste of time. Alignment - you MIGHT get satisfaction - but I wouldn't bother with that either unless it was a problem @ delivery. Once you've driven out of sight of the dealer there's no telling what you hit. It becomes a case of he said - she said. EVEN IF the particular dealer is an authorized dealer for the tires - a quick price comparison usually provides the answer. A good tire rep - and a good alignment shop - two things I do NOT expect to find at a dealership.

my two cent's and I probably should get change back.

 

In general, good advice. However, if you buy the tire insurance, then DO go back to the dealer. They will pay for the new tire or wheel and its their problem.