After 2500 miles of ownership, I had a flat-tire incident on Saturday night (my birthday, even). Oh, well...

I had the car towed to the dealership (MINI of Sterling) and they are replacing the tire today.

A friend of mine told me that these tires can be plugged or patched or whatever and not to get a new tire replacement. I trust his opinion, but when the mechanic from MINI called me I asked him if the tire could be repaired and he said that the manufacturer recommends that the tire be replaced. So, I relented and had him replace the tire.

Did I do the right thing? I've had experiences where plugs have failed and I felt more comfortable with replacing the tire. Should I retrieve the original tire and have it patched elsewhere? My friend told me that there is a new kind of plug for these tires that work a lot better.

Please advise!

Thanks!

 

I had the same issue but I can't remember the distance from the side wall it has to be to be repairable. Try a search on this site. I am sure you will find a bunch of info.

 

The criteria for flat repair is the same for runflats or regular tires. The tire manufacturers speed rating on the tire should, however, be considered void for any tire that's been repaired. Retrieve the tire.

Best - Bodinski

 

As to repairing sidewalls, I once had a Michelin XCH4 31 x 10.5 R 15 vulcanized at a Bandag retread center after taking a coke bottle along the sidewall. There was always a slight bulge from the extra rubber, and balancing the tire was a bit tricky, but I got 35,000 miles of use after the repair. Oh, and it only cost me $23. It can be done, 'cause I've done it. Then again this was for a 4x4 that saw almost no high performance action.

 

As far as plugging the runflat goes, if the hole is in the tread and you haven't driven a significant number of miles while it was flat, you should have no problem.

I think the whole thing on plugging/patchng is a safety and liability concern. If a runflat tire has been driven for a distance at speed there may be a weaking of the sidewall that could lead to a blowout, even if the hole is center tread.

The argument that's brought up when you try to plug a sidewall is that the wall flexes a lot more than the tread and the rubber is thinner. This creates more stress on the damaged area that may cause the plug/patch to fail. MGCMAN had good luck doing it, and I'll admit to having varying success at it......but don't take this a recommendation.