[Johnboy]

I've just got in from a blast down some muddy country roads... Ran over a nail, enormous *BANG* sound, followed by flapping noises that made me think i'd shredded the tyre...

No run flat warning light... Pulled over to find a hissing tyre with a whacking great nail in it. It's big enough for National Tyres to not have a plug big enough and want me to buy a new tyre (Nail in centre of tread - entered at 45 degrees)....
The guy told me they don't stock and can't get Pirelli P3000s in Mini size!
Hi-Q are doing the honours for me tomorrow (ordering it in).
Will let you all know what the damage to the wallet is tomorrow.
BMW couldn't be arsed to call me back.

Drove for 5 minutes on the flattening tyre - still enough air in it now for it to not be deformed.
Interesting that my ears are better than the RFI!
Guess it only works if you really are running on a flat tyre.

I have the space-saver spare, thankfully, so apart from a smelly horse-turd encrusted wheel in the boot, I did at least make it home

Question: Anyone figure how to get the jack into the slot?
The BMW mechanic told me the whole of the plate should go into the plastic block under the car - I only managed to get half the plate into the plastic block, the other half on the outside... was that right?
Also, there looks to be a fragile bit of plastic directly behind the jacking point that you wouldn't want to clunk by accident - any ideas?

Great toolkit in the boot - only thing that is missing is a bin-liner for your removed wheel.

 

[Dom]

was the tyre pressure indicator set when you got it? It may not have known what was good or bad, so ultimately went, i dunno, down the pub or summat. Also, which side was it, did it correct the pulling to the left

Dom

 

[Keith]

How did it feel driving on a flat runflat? Why did you put the spare on? S owners will not have the option of putting on a spare so some first-hand impressions of what it is like would help. I hope not to get a flat on my S (when I eventually get it) as my round-trip commute is 90 miles and I suspect tire dealers will not have MINI size tires in stock (as you found). The limit for driving on a flat run-flat will not get me to work and back.

Keith

 

[JasonR]

I got a flat on Sunday but alas have no spare. Fortunately I can say that the Mini Mobility kit is simplicity itself and took about 5 minutes. The problem I had was that the RF warning came on but I assumed it was just low pressure and coul'nt hear the tyre flapping because I had the radio on. The runflat tyres are very quiet when flat.

 

[Johnboy]

I got a flat on Sunday but alas have no spare. Fortunately I can say that the Mini Mobility kit is simplicity itself and took about 5 minutes. The problem I had was that the RF warning came on but I assumed it was just low pressure and coul'nt hear the tyre flapping because I had the radio on. The runflat tyres are very quiet when flat.

Guys - Sorry for confusion - I have 15 inch alloys, but I still expected the RFI to detect a difference in wheel rotational velocity. Guess I didn't let it go flat enough... The indicator was on when I picked the car up initially - until I reset it.

The new Pirelli P3000 from Hi-Q was delivered to them by 1000HRS the next day (called them about 1630HRS)...
Cost including valve/balancing/disposal of old tyre/"puncture insurance" .... GBP 64.95.... A bargain!... My Michelins on my old Audi were quite a bit more

I ran the car on the space-saver bicycle-tyre...

Car ran like normal on the flattening tyre - Very difficult to notice if you don't hear it... It was flapping because, when they finally looked inside - there was a nail the size of a large screwdriver in it, banging against the centre of the wheel!... apprx. 25cm long and 0.7cm wide!.. Because it entered at abt. 60 degrees to the tread, it was unpatchable.

Space-saver behaved well on the rear too - no noticable sliding around on those wet greasy roads, or reduction in braking distance or ABS kicking-in (I was taking it relatively easy though (max. 50mph on wheel))... Might be different if you blow a front tyre!

I wouldn't like to have had to fill the tyre with foam, and run to the garage on a tyre with a whacking great nail in it... (The tread was actually deformed and partly ripped down the rain channel)... Does the whole casing fill with hard foam, or does it just plug the hole... Are you supposed to remove the nail first?

My space saver spare came with:
Jack, tool to drop and lift it back into place (space saver sits in a plastic tray ... watch out as it still gets wet), gloves, wheel chock, hub trim removal tool, hand-towel!... Cool kit

Useful tip:
CARRY A LARGE BIN LINER IN YOUR KIT!... saves the car getting covered in dirt from your blown tyre!...
I figured the best place to put it was behind the front seat... Fits in snugly... If you put it in the boot, it has to go upright, and smashes around in there unless you drop the seats and lie it down.
Guess that's one advantage to using the mobility system instead.... No messy spare tyre!.. Of course, if you run anything larger than a 15, you'll have to use that or runflats.

J.

 

[Amberthecat]

Top tip

Your bin liner idea is a top tip (anyone here read Viz??). I'm sure once BMW read this they'll add it to the options list as an "Anti-puncture contamination kit" (I'm sure we could run a competition for a better name .

On a slightly related note. Can anyone confirm what the tyre presures should be for the 16inch runflats (as part of the chilli pack). If the pressures set by the dealer on collection are a good indication they should be as follows..
left front = 2.2 bar
right front = 2.4 bar
left rear = 2.3 bar
right rear = 2.0 bar

Mine does not pull to left, maybe this is BMW's latest solution to the problem

 

[Dave Wright]

My Cooper also came with un-even tyre pressures on delivery. The left hand tyres were at a higher pressure than the right. I too wondered if this was to disguise the pull/drift.

 

[GazzaK]

My one came with only 1.2Bar in the fronts!!! silly me never noticed until 12,000 miles done and one pair of expensive 16" Goodyear runflats written off...

 

[KenL]

My one came with only 1.2Bar in the fronts!!! silly me never noticed until 12,000 miles done and one pair of expensive 16" Goodyear runflats written off...

I think they will have bled air slowly to reach that level over time which is normal Gazza.

Was the handling of your car not crap with such low tyre pressure?

 

[GazzaK]

yay, the handling was poop, but it handled the same from day one.... (better than my old escort though) that is why I think the pressure was low from day one of ownership, as the handling did not get worse, but when I realised they were low, and put air in them the handling was almost up to a cooper's handling levels...

I drove a cooper and an 'S' and thought they were so much better due to the sport suspension and ss+ they had... but now (with replacement tyres on the fronts) my handling (esp. round round-a-goes) is fab!!!

I am very sure that I would have noticed if the handling got worse over time...