Do I have one? Manual seemed to indicate it was in the boot under the board, but only found a battery. Didn't see anything under the car either. Is this the reason for the run flats then?

05' MCS 17" run flats

 

No spare. No place to put it. Did the dealer/previous owner not go over this with you? But good on you for planting your face in the manual. Probably a good idea to check tire pressure. Runflats don't allow a visual inspection. Go for 33 psi all-around. If your car is new, chances are the tire pressures are off as many dealers in the US seem to miss the finer details, or don't care. I'll miss German dealerships when I leave here. Quality is awesome!

 

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good spare tire? I plan on taking longer trips this spring and would like the piece of mind of having a spare in the boot. Any recommendations on tire brand/size, vendors, and "spare bags"?

 

I purchase a compact "donut" spare from a Cooper to carry in the back of my Convertible S. I got it from a wrecking yard that I found on http://www.car-part.com/. MINIs are listed under BMW Mini cooper. There is currently a donut spare listed at a yard in Florida. Mine came with both the wheel and tire together, though they are listed under wheels. Search for wheels, then choose the 15x3-1/2 (compact spare.)

Rick-Anderson put together a new package for a compact wheel and tire as discussed in this thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...=compact+spare

 

I'm in the process of ordering a 15 inch steel rim from the local BWM Dealer . After i get the tire mounted i will order a bag for the tire from the bag lady to store it in when it is in the car .Q

 

Opposite Q: I have a spare under my MC and am thinking of ditching it for the weight savings. Thoughts?

 

when i got rid of my run-flats i thought it would be a good idea to buy a stock 17 inch wheel/tire just in case. the thought was, if i leave the city limits or plan on going more than 50 miles away i'll take it with me. i never had a flat and if i had one in town i could call a friend or family member to bring it to me.

in the mean time i've gone to a big brake kit and wheels with more clearence for the brakes. i have a stock s-lite sitting in my room with less than 500 miles on it. i'd be happy to sell it for the same reason i bought it. just a thought.

 

Will that slime stuff be good to use in a pinch, say if I'm somewhere further than 50 miles away from home?

 

It's my understanding that for run flats (and genrally any tire), a tire repair kit is what you should buy, not slime. Slime barely works on bicycle tires, so don't expect much from the car version.

My suggestion is to buy a tire repair kit from your local auto parts store. The kit contains a hand drill (used to drill out the hole in your tire), a rubber stub (you push this into the hole, then clip it with the included snips), and an air compressor (to reinflate the tire).

If you get a puncture in the sidewall, you are out of luck, as studs don't help you out.

I plan on buying one of these kits for everyday motoring. I will only bring a spare with me on longer trips.

 

I ditched the runflats after they wore out in the first 35k. I do not have a spare, but what I do have is a can of fix a flat (that I try not to use), a plug kit, and a small compressor. In my 94k miles of motoring I've had two flats, one in my driveway, and one on the road. The flat tire monitor caught both of them. The last one on the way home from work (140 mile round trip commute) I just pulled off the road, took the tire off, plugged it, aired it up, and was back on the road in less than 15 minutes. I tend to try to avoid the fix a flat because it can cause problem in with patching a tire if you get a second flat.

Now if I had a blow out, I guess i would be in trouble........time for AAA or MINI roadside assistance .

Nik

 

I too am looking at getting a donut spare for my MCS, primarily for use on longer trips. While there are a lot of options for patching a flat tire (I currently carry a tire plug kit), they will do no good when you hit a pothole that bends a rim. That happened to a friend of mine in a rental car up in VT last winter. Turned out that the spare was also flat. He had to wait 3 hours in the middle of the night for roadside assistance (not to mention that it was 15 degrees and snowing out). I definitely don't want to end up in a similar situation.

My only concern though with putting a spare in my MCS is how to properly secure the wheel. The thought of being hit in the head when the spare becomes a projectile in the event of an accident does not make me happy.

For those of you who carry spares in your MCS, how are you guys/gals securing them?

 

We actually have a spare under the boot , didn't even know it was there , I thought we didn't have one and that was why we had runflats, my husband was looking over the car (trying to decide on a hitch), got to looking under the boot, and low and behold, there is a spare , our mini is a '05

 

I carry my spare in a bag tucked right behind my driver's seat. It sits in there nice and snug and doesn't move around at all no matter how spirited the driving gets.

I've heard of people fastening the compact spares in the boot or strapping them down with the rear seats folded down. Behind the seat works best for me since I rarely have any back seat passengers.

 

Coopers have spares. Cooper S do not.

 

Cooper S has supercharger. Cooper do not. happy now?

 

Thanks Jerseygirl. That's how I was planning on going with mine, since it would likely be a nice tight fit with the location I usually keep my seat in. I'm still going to look at some other options though, just to be safe.

 

i was a little shocked to see the price of a new runflat when i first got my car. that helped me justify getting someones pull offs. i paid 200 bucks for a very close to new wheel and tire. that's less than the price for a new runflat that by the way most tire stores don't carry. the other justification is that i had a blemish free wheel to switch out with one of my originals. i was lucky to find a girl that was willing to split up her set of four.

 

This is what happens with a blowout in the middle of the Nevada Desert. You wait for 3 hours for AAA to show up. (not on the MINI), No spare? you get towed? Who is going to have your tire size ... don't hold your breath for local stores. Maybe overnight from Tirerack?

 

no mcs

 

Like you i was surprised i did not have a spare,as the dealer reps never mentioned it.Helix in Philly supplied me with a donut in a black nylon carry bag.I keep it behind the passenger seat on the floor.Eric has the bags custom made.

 

cus tom bags cool

 

Those bags are made by the Bag Lady, Jerseygirl right here on NAM. You can order directly from her whatever you need from http://www.njbaglady.com/

The Bag Lady ROCKS

 

Since the bag has handles,my plan is to secure the handles to the metal piece that currently holds the tool bag in place.Q

 

I got my donut tire from Tire Rack, the wheel from Classic Mini, and a beautiful blue smiley face bag from the Bag Lady!! I keep the tire behind the passenger seat and it's wedged in nicely between front and back seats. No danger of flying around in a mishap (I don't think).

 

Thanks for all the kind words everyone.

Just to cover my butt here though... I do not guarantee that the handles on any bag will hold the tire in place in the event of an accident. They are meant to carry the bag around, not to anchor the tire down to prevent movement in an accident.