I'm starting to get tired of all othe creaks and moans the stiff ride on my MCS is giving me. I'm thinking that changing to non-run flats may help. Does the MCS have an area to store a spare if I made this transition?

 

I swapped the run-flats for regular tires long ago.
For a long time I carried a spare tire/wheel (one of my snow tires) in the boot.
I got tired of dealing with that, so, I bought a can of that goo stuff that you spray into the tire (sorry, I'm not very technical, I'm sure someone will tell you what that stuff is called) and a AAA membership.

 

Rumor has it that a compact donut spare will fit nicely on the floor behind the front passenger seat. I have a full size spare, so have not verified this.

 

Mini has even accounted for this and has a kit that you can purchase with a flat tyre sealer and compressor. I think I saw it priced at $150 or so. They sell similar kits at Wal-Mart for like $50 or so. That is the route I plan to take when I need to replace the run-flats.

 

Here's what you want, right here from Tire Rack: Continential "Comfort Kit", $79 ...

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/...Tire+Inflation

It's basically the same thing that BMW includes with its M cars, which do NOT get runflats nor a spare. You can buy the BMW kit and pay 2x the price, but it's essentially the same thing.

 

For my money and peace of mind, I went with the "SLIME" brand kit. A bottle of SLIME and an air pump. Looks and sounds like all the rest but I trust the name and for less than $40 I think it is hard to really go wrong. Now, in the event of a catastrophic failure, like a blow out, it won't do much good but the RF wouldn't either. http://www.slime.com/category_4_Smart-Spairs.html See more here. Also safe with TPMS.
YMMV

 

I am taking the risk of not having a spare or run flats. Maybone day I am going to make it rally with a spare on a roof rack.

 

You can't use goo/slime with TPMS sensors.

 

According to the makes of Slime it will not hurt TPMS.

Back on topic...

I carry a donut spare standing behind the passenger seat. With the seat moved back all the way the spare is held in tightly. *** I have not crash tested this mounting***

I feel carrying a full sized tire as a spare loose in the boot is a pretty dangerous proposition.

 

I tried 2 different options on my 09 MCS. Each with it's own advantages and disadvantages.

The first




Biggest advantage - fit easily in the boot and required no wrenching.

Disadvantages
My legs got really tired.
High pitched whining from grand daughter -"NO, NO, NO!" AND "MINE, MINE, MINE!"

My next option was a little more practical, and easier on the ears. I bought a 15 inch 5-Star Spooler new from the dealer and a new no name 186/60 R15 tire from Discount. Cost about $250 total -couldn't find a used one for much less. Had it mounted and balanced and carried it in a tire bag I got from Tirerack a while back.



For around town driving, I left the spare in the garage, figuring the run flats would get me home or someplace where I could get them repaired or replaced.

I only carried it on long road trips around the Southwest. Believe it or not, there are still some remote areas of Arizona, Utah, & New Mexico where I couldn't get any kind of cell phone coverage. Kind of a tight fit, but I was able to stow it in the boot out of sight with the rear seats up and the boot shelf down by removing the styrofoam tool kit holder and standing the tire up in the hole. Secured it with a couple of bungie cords to the cargo net tie downs for extra security. I carried the jack and other tools in a vinyl bag next to the tire in the boot and loaded luggage for two in the back seat. The 15 inch wheel only fit on the rear axles of my 09 MCS due to interference with the front brakes. I found using the front jack point, I could raise both tires on one side off the ground at the same time. If the front was flat, I could swap the good rear tire to the front and put 15 inch spare on back.

Disadvantages - cost and you lose most of the space in the boot other than small, soft items. Than again, luggage for two fit easily in the rear seat and my wife is never a light traveler.

Advantages - Considering some of the remote areas I traveled in, peace of mind - no more limping along at 50 MPH for only 100 miles on your bad run flat hoping you find someplace to get it fixed or repaired.

Hope this helps,
Pete

 

Pete, great first post - loved the picture of the 'spare' MINI in the boot! On trips I do kind of the same except I have a full size 16 inch tire in the boot. I remove the parcel shelf and set the tire on a 3 inch case so that the inside of the wheel fits over the rear window wiper motor bump ('05 MCSa and '06 MCS). I then jam a towel between the seat and the wheel to keep it from rattling around.

 

I'm new to the MCS world. 2004 MCS. I've had a 2003 justa for a while. I noticed you took quite a long road trip with an S. How did you handle the no spare tire thing? I sure don't want to carry a spare tire.