[RonXRi94]

Originally Posted by GTO

Reason = manufacturers want to remind you to switch back to the regular wheel at the first opportunity.

Indeed. That would be the first thing I'd do, if I had to run around on that kind of spare. Though this Jag's been wearing that orange shoe for around 3 weeks now

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Axe77

On a related Q. I have a space saver in my boot for my 3 GT. How much air should I fill in it from time to time in routine checks. I fill 30-32 in my run flats that are on the car.

Btw one aspect to be kept in mind is that in most routine punctures, you can keep filling air and driving till the next puncture wala. For that reason an electric air inflator is an important easy to stock tool in the car.

I believe the pressure recommended for the space saver is around 60 psi. That is what is very specifically stickered on the space saver I got for my X3. Since the wheel is much narrower it needs higher pressure to carry the weight I suppose.

[bhargavd]

Chris Harris having some crazy fun on space savers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPh90yNX-mY

[vsathyap]

What about the safety aspects of RFTs? Please pardon my ignorance - is a RFT susceptible to tyre bursts? I ask this because most of us don't bother to fill air to the (spare) tires regularly (at least I don't, unless I'm off to a road trip) and when we do end up using it, its quite under-inflated and under inflated tyres heat up quicker and fail faster. A long shot, but very much possible.

Alternatively, how hard would it be to carry a good tire repair kit and inflator? Spending 30K on a new spare is crazy, compared to a one time investment of ~2500 Rs. Again, pardon my ignorance - I don't know if RFTs can be fixed using our regular tubeless puncture kits.

Another whacky alternative is to just replace all RFTs from the car with regular tubeless ones. Keep the RFTs as a backup (specially when you take the vehicle for service - to avoid any warranty hassles). The cost would be somewhere around the 30K figure and we also get to keep good tubeless tires of our choice for a far better ride (I hope am not too far from the actual cost of the new set)!

[FlyinDoc]

Anyone have a full list of the cars with space savers, full size spares and no spares/run-flats?

[Mortis]

Ha maybe BMW noticed this thread. In todays paper there is an advert on the last page for the all new X1 and one of the new features is 'Spare Tyre' !

[RSUDARSANAN]

I was diffident about RFTs, when I acquired a bimmer but over time I am now quite comfortable with them.
My responses are based on 6+ years and 100k+ kms of ownership.

Originally Posted by GTO

... sell cars without a spare wheel in India should ride with me from Bombay to Goa. If we were to have a puncture at Kosumb (300 kms in the middle), what use is their runflat tyre with a range of merely 80 - 100 kms?

The range is much more than that, depending on passenger-load carried. Within that range, you would come across a tyre puncture walla or a regular tyre shop who can fix the puncture.

How far is it going to take me?

Depending on the severity of the puncture and your own assessment, you can choose to either continue with the existing tyre as fixed or buy a new one at the nearest BMW dealer.

What if a tyre gets ruptured by a sharp stone?

...or a 1" cut as experienced by Turbanator (btw, I would never have driven with that kind of cut).

What is the probability of this happening ?
In my case once in six years.

Lastly, if you do use a runflat for 80 - 100 kms (after it goes flat), you have to replace the tyre! Cost = 20 to 30k.

Not necessarily if you still have safe tread depth.
The key here is to fix the puncture at the earliest and take a call later as aforesaid

Originally Posted by ajmat

I support runflats - it enables you to reach a place of safety. Not having a wheel well for the spare - stupid. The amount of space lost is ridiculous. Ajit

Couldn't agree with you more.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

When you really have to drive on... The BMW run flats make so much sense.

IMO it does

Originally Posted by Axe77

I think the best way to manage with a puncture is to get a air inflator and keep inflating the punctured tire till you reach a tire wala. This is probably better than even switching to the space saver

.
Been there, done that

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

My experience with run-flats have been excellent so far. Yes, the ride is not as good as normal tubeless but then I didn't get the Bimmer for the ride comfort.

About getting stuck on a highway with no spare: it doesn't really bothers me because a normal puncture repair shop can fix a run-flat and you can actually drive it for some kms without worrying about the tyre giving up.

Of-course, if there is a big damage to the tyre due to a pot hole or something similar then it's true that without a spare one might get stuck in the middle of nowhere. But then run-flats have much stronger side-walls which would help to keep the damage to the minimum.

Touche

Originally Posted by GTO

Sorry buddy, but that's not true. I've made many road-trips in the USA and there were times that AAA assistance was still an hour or more away. Now, if I have a flat, do I want to spend 10 minutes changing the tyre, or wait an hour for AAA?

That's an individual call - to compromise on boot space and carry a donut.

In the India context the alternative to AAA is the RSA which BMW has limited to cars upto the age of 5 years

Yes and wait time is atleast 2-3 hours for the flatbed depending on location.
I've used this facility twice in 6 years of ownership.
It suits my temperament and may not apply to others.

Now doing what it takes to get BMW to extend RSA to all its vehicles irrespective age.

Wish me luck ;-)

[NSK123]

May be carrying a puncture kit & tire inflator would be beneficial, but still if tire gets damaged it will be challenging.

Not sure why can't they keep the placeholder and not provide the spare, then gauge the customer response and act accordingly. To me having spare tire is peace of mind.

[RSUDARSANAN]

Originally Posted by RSUDARSANAN

The range is much more than that, depending on passenger-load carried.

Here's the BMW advisory

Originally Posted by NSK123

To me having spare tire is peace of mind.

Yes, to each his own

It is for that peace of mind, am trying to get BMW RSA for cars beyond 5 years of age where car is rendered immobile be it a flat due to tyre cut/blowout or otherwise

[AbhiJ]

I had a query.... I have a 320D

If one of the runflats deflate fully .. will I get to know in city running ? i.e. speeds of say 50 kmph?

Will it show up on the idrive / or will I feel the wheel deflating like on a normal tubeless tyre?

[Joyb]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

I had a query.... I have a 320D

If one of the runflats deflate fully .. will I get to know in city running ? i.e. speeds of say 50 kmph?

Will it show up on the idrive / or will I feel the wheel deflating like on a normal tubeless tyre?

320d has a tyre pressure monitoring system. The moment the air pressure starts going down, you will start getting a alert on the I drive. Just dont forget to reset the TPMS once you get air filled in the tyres.

[quickdraw]

Thanks GTO for starting this thread, and pointing out every single thing about the space saver is wrong.

For people who are not BMW owners, did you know that cars don't come with any tools at all. Zilch, ZERO! Nothing!

Also do they expect us to dirty our boot since the space cover doesn't fit on a regular tire?

Fun fact! Its cheaper for you to get a alloy wheel and tire plus all the other required things than buying their space saver kit. I'm also sure this spoils their 50:50 weight distribution.

Originally Posted by Joyb

320d has a tyre pressure monitoring system. The moment the air pressure starts going down, you will start getting a alert on the I drive. Just dont forget to reset the TPMS once you get air filled in the tyres.

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

I had a query.... I have a 320D

If one of the runflats deflate fully .. will I get to know in city running ? i.e. speeds of say 50 kmph?

Will it show up on the idrive / or will I feel the wheel deflating like on a normal tubeless tyre?

Actually they measure tire pressure via inertia. Only some cars have actual pressure monitors and temperature monitors.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

I had a query.... I have a 320D

If one of the runflats deflate fully .. will I get to know in city running ? i.e. speeds of say 50 kmph?

Will it show up on the idrive / or will I feel the wheel deflating like on a normal tubeless tyre?

Forget fully deflate, even if there is a loss of 3-4 psi in one of the tyres, iDrive will give you warning message - irrespective of your average speed.

[DuHasstMich]

For peace of mind, the best thing is just to switch to tubeless and keep a spare even if means sacrificing precious boot space.
For people who travel frequently and to remote places, this is crucial.

I'm not even sure if any of us will be comfortable in leaving such expensive cars in the middle of no-where to go find BMW showrooms, there are many areas which are just not safe after dark!

[RSUDARSANAN]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

For people who are not BMW owners, did you know that cars don't come with any tools at all. Zilch, ZERO! Nothing!

Also do they expect us to dirty our boot since the space cover doesn't fit on a regular tire?

Think about it. They actually don't want you to dirty your hands at all, leave alone the boot .

Now that it's been brought up, I must confess, in 100k+ kms of ownership:
- I've never dirtied my hands, honest-to-goodness.
- The flatbed came to my rescue on three different occasions .

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

Forget fully deflate, even if there is a loss of 3-4 psi in one of the tyres, iDrive will give you warning message - irrespective of your average speed.

Yes; at that stage if you check all four tyre pressures and one tyre pressure is way out of sync with its pair, then that tyre is most likely to have a puncture/valve leak.