I lived with Dunlop R/Fs for 24k and should have got rid of them long before that. I did have a R/F go bad and was replaced by the dealer. I did have tire insurance but I still had to come up with $380.00 on the spot and than send the paper work off to the Ins. Co. Six weeks later I got a check.
The R/Fs were noisey and hard riding so I've replaced them with non-R/Fs
and carry a Conti Comfort Kit to repair them in case of a flat. I got a Conti Kit from Tire Rack as the sealant thats used doesn't mess up the inside of the tire your trying to inflate. You can get four good name brand tires for what you'll have to pay for two R/Fs. I have BFGoodrich g FORCE and love em.

 

Lets look at a couple of things you quoted:

They are really expensive

They cost more than regular tires but "really expensive". That is hyperbole.

they wear out faster than regular tires

That all depends upon what you replace them with. Replace them with high performance tires and you will get LESS mileage. High performance = soft, sticky tires ... less mileage.

They are frequently not in stock at the dealership.

Who buys tires at a dealership??? Do you order fish at a steak place? Why would you buy tires from a dealership? .... seriously, why The $500 price mentioned before, probably from a dealership. Order them from tirerack.

You have to check your tire pressure every two weeks according to BMW.

It normal practice to ALWAYS check your tire pressure everytime you get gas. No biggie and good practice. That said, I NEVER checked the tire pressure and had RFs. Silly me.

And when you do get a flat you have to get back on a highway and drive at 50 mph when everyone else is driving at 80. Talk about frightening.

Ahh, so what? How fast can you drive on a donut ... 50 mph. Duh. How fast on a goop filled tire? That is a silly comment, IMO.

You hardly ever see cars disabled by a flat tire.

That is total BS. Flats come and go. You go years without one and get 3 in a month. The law of averages ALWAYS catches up with you. I've read where lots of people get two flats in a week.

Everyone has a cell phone today and most people have either AAA

MUCH of the US has NO cell service. We got a flat in the desert of NV ... no cell service. Had to walk three miles to a one horse town. Use a pay phone to call AAA (yes AAA is good!). I would NEVER depend upon cell service if your traveling. Heck, there isn't even cell service on the dragon

Give me that old-fashioned spare.

Agree there PLUS the RFs.

See https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=66176
RFs save my life

People who want to autox or do track days, RFs not good

For the rest of the world ... well my MINI was my wife's daily driver. I did NOT want her to stop and change a tire or use goop or wait for AAA ... just not safe so much these days in some parts of towns. Much safer for her to "just drive home"

Everyone is different, it all depends upon what is important to you. But if I were taking a long trip, I would take a real spare.

After reading the full article, I found this

I became flustered, I'll admit, asking why BMW couldn't afford a GPS system that could find the first exit in Delaware. Then USA did the unimaginable. She put me on hold so that I didn't know I'd been hung up on. Another ten minutes wasted and my cell phone is running down (I have one bar left).

I think that somes it up, she got flustered. Her arguement about AAA doesn't hold water ... it would have been the same experience on that NJ road. Why doesn't she have GPS? How about because she didn't order it Her cell phone ran down ... why didn't she have a power cord for her car battery???

I think the best for around town would have been RFs AND goop. Long trip, real spare.

 

Thing is, if they really needed to, they could have replaced the tire with a regular one and been on their way. It sounds like they want to go that route anyway...

As for us, I think there's a small difference between putting a spare in a 3 series and a spare in the Mini...although, I hear of other Mini owners running with regular tires and fix-a-flat.

My guess, it's a roll of the dice. If you find yourself needing a tow anyway, what does it matter what type of tires you have...might as well save the hassle and costs.

As for experiences, my wife has a habit of getting a flat once a year...usually after the tire is new. So far, all have been slow leaks...not one a blowout.

 

My runflats are gone. Replaced with Khumos.

 

FWIW, MINI OEM tire sizes are fairly unique - while a smaller town may not have a runflat in 195/55-16, they may not have a REGULAR tire in that size, either.
I'll replace my runflats with 'regular' tires, mostly because of cost and ride. And then, as I do now, I'll have a tire plug kit and a compressor in the boot.


As for the writer, what a drama queen. She rails about the runflats, but most of the story has nothing to do with them. W/o the runflats they'd have been sitting on the freeway waiting for the turnpike tow folks.
She knew she had runflats - she could carry a spare anyway, some of us do. If she had a plug kit, she could have made a temporary repair, made it to seder and left the drama for some offense committed by the in-laws.