[Zooks527]

Because when you have a truck drop a piece of metal in front of you at 6:00 in the evening that takes a chunk out of one of the sidewalls, you can:

1. spend 15 minutes changing the tire yourself instead of waiting about an hour for roadside assistance,
2. drive to the dealer and drop off the tire only instead of leaving your whole car,
3. drive yourself home instead of making your wife come get you,
4. know how you're getting to work tomorrow, and
5. have something to drive this weekend (albeit at reduced speeds) while you're waiting for the dealer to get the new tire.

Past that, can't think of any reasons why.


And just in case anyone is wondering, no, this isn't a hypothetical.

[raleedy]

Uber.

[chattanooga240]

No thanks to the spare. I like my trunk space, and I paid good money to have a car with BMW roadside assistance...

[Tpeterson]

6. Peace of mind knowing 1 to 5 are possible because of the spare in your trunk!

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by nvmaddog

No thanks to the spare. I like my trunk space, and I paid good money to have a car with BMW roadside assistance...

...and what exactly do they do when they show up to get you rolling again?

[B_Rice]

I would only buy one for long road trips.

[Zooks527]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

...and what exactly do they do when they show up to get you rolling again?

I asked. They flatbed you to the dealer and leave you and your car there. At 7:00 pm or so. After the service techs have all gone home and the loaners have been given out. But, you can get a cup of coffee in the sales area while you wait for a ride.

But I expect you knew that.


One thing I do need to add to my spare kit is some wet wipes or waterless soap. My hands were filthy with brake dust after the change.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by Zooks527

I asked. They flatbed you to the dealer and leave your car there.

But I expect you knew that.

Quite a poor solution! Imagine what they could do if there was a spare available! Back on the road again!

[xantdieselx]

Unless of course you get 2 flats instead of one. Had it happen before.

[Zooks527]

Originally Posted by xantdieselx

Unless of course you get 2 flats instead of one. Had it happen before.

Reminds me of the old saw that Jaguars used to have a big trunk so that you could carry a spare car.

[Kolyan2k]

I took spare out or never had one for about 10+ years now. Weight savings ))

[raleedy]

I'm on my fourth car with no spare. No flats so far. I'm not up for changing a wheel on the road anyway. Those days are long gone.

[Deutsche-Broke]

In my previous E82, freeway speeds (75+), run flats, big ass carriage bolt bounces out of pickup truck as I watch it bounce and spin.. Charge to left lane immediately to avoid the missile crashing through windshield...

Kept bouncing and slowing and then took a bounce sudden left and went right under my right front tire. The *thud* foretold the rest of my journey home.. TPMS immediately went mental as prescribed, dash lit up and the car was erratic to say the least when slowing down to pull over. Pretty catastrophic damage to right center of the tire and sidewall.. Generally amazed at how well it held together.

After coming to a stop and restarting breathing and pulmonary functions, I recalled that, having stored the "24 hour a day flat tire option thingy I dropped good money on, to the broad in the tiny skirt was in my phone..", I made the call and spent almost a half an hour on hold. Finally talked to someone who told me that my options were, "Flatbed to the dealer, or contact a local tire company to see if they could replace.”

Neither of those options were feasible as it was 7PM on a weekday, 85 miles to the closest dealer and no one having run-flats in stock. I just gave up with the warranty company, and the dealer folks were gone for the evening, so I called my insurance company and had them flatbed it home.

90 minutes after that, I was home with the car in the driveway courtesy of USAA. They also arranged for a rental and delivered it an hour later.

After hours and hours on the phone trying to get to someone competent who could, “make a decision and actually pay something out to assist me..”.. I generally gave up on humanity, went to Tire Rack, bought a new tire and took it to be mounted and balanced once it arrived. Everything said, it was almost a week.

Needless to say, the moral to this excessively long story is, a “run flat” is a amusing concept, but in real life, I will happily take a jack, carefully raise the car and change the tire with a small spare that I keep in the trunk.. I consider run flats as, “safety tires”, as they keep your odds from flying to your death after failing slightly lower. But that's about it.

$350+ is, “chump change” considering what I spent after all was said and done. Never recovered any "real" money. It’s not worth the hours and hours spent fighting..

Lesson learned..... The hard way.

[Zooks527]

So, to wrap it up, the dealer wants $335 to replace the tire, but I can get it done for $185 at my indy mechanic after the Pirelli warranty. And, as I have the T-spare and am therefore not trapped at the dealer, I have the ability to take that option.

More details on the tire warranty process here: http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1296113

[Viffermike]

I've owned three cars with run-flat tires; never had a major issue. :: knock on wood :: That said, it's a risk, to be sure; A spare is always preferable unless you're really hell bent on saving 40lbs or so in weight.

Thing is, the thinking of BMW and other makers of not including a spare almost always primarily comes down to the habits of its drivers. How many BMW owners -- and MINI owners -- actually know how to change a tire, much less would want to? I would argue not many ... and other cars that come with RFTs standard (many Lexus, many Audis, Chevy Corvette, some Cadillacs, etc.) are almost always owned by people with the same outlook: I can't be bothered, or my car is too expensive for me to have to do it myself.

As a counterpoint, check this AAA list of cars that come without a spare from 2013. Spares are frequently not standard on cars these days -- even Honda and Kia makes them optional. This is evidence that a growing number of U.S. drivers are comfortable with not using a spare and rely on roadside assistance -- which in the same way as, say, free shipping from large retailers thanks to Amazon, has become semi-universal in terms of what buyers expect.

Three things drive equipment inclusion on cars: government mandate, what the buying public expects and demands, and what the carmaker feels will help sell the car. Until spares are government mandated (fat chance of that), they will continue to disappear from standard-equipment lists because the majority of drivers feel comfortable without one. BMW's tack with RFT is just one way to deal with the trend -- to the point that it attempts to make RFTs a selling point in commercials.

[Zooks527]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

How many BMW owners -- and MINI owners -- actually know how to change a tire, much less would want to?

Hell, I didn't want to. That's why I called AAA. I only did it after I decided that I wanted to wait for an hour even less.

Originally Posted by Viffermike

....s because the majority of drivers feel comfortable without one.....

Not sure how one would prove it, but I'd bet long that the majority of that majority don't explicitly know that they do not, and expect there to be a spare if the situation ever arises. Time will tell.

[wtfbrah]

I always keep 4 spares just in case. Might upgrade to 5 in case I have to use all 4 and then get another flat.

Keep a spare motor in the back seat as well

[bimmerfile]

Originally Posted by Zooks527

................
Past that, can't think of any reasons why.
...............

Not without risk.
Hundreds of people of are killed and thousands are injured every year as a result of stopping on the road to change flat tires..

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by bimmerfile

Not without risk.
Hundreds of people of are killed and thousands are injured every year as a result of stopping on the road to change flat tires..

So, the lesson is to pull further off the road to a safe place...not to abandon the spare, which leaves you vulnerable to passers-by with malicious intentions for much longer periods.

[wtfbrah]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

So, the lesson is to pull further off the road to a safe place...not to abandon the spare, which leaves you vulnerable to passers-by with malicious intentions for much longer periods.

CCW license + Sig P226 = no problemo

[Zooks527]

Originally Posted by bimmerfile

Not without risk.
Hundreds of people of are killed and thousands are injured every year as a result of stopping on the road to change flat tires..

Originally Posted by Sportstick

So, the lesson is to pull further off the road to a safe place.

Or, in my case, to use the runflat (which was toast anyway) to drive 1/2 mile down the highway to an exit, than another mile to a Dunkin Donuts parking lot, where I had coffee, a bathroom, and a safe place to work at the side of the car.

[bimmerfile]

Originally Posted by Zooks527

Or, in my case, to use the runflat (which was toast anyway) to drive 1/2 mile down the highway to an exit, than another mile to a Dunkin Donuts parking lot, where I had coffee, a bathroom, and a safe place to work at the side of the car.

Or in my case where I had a flat RFT (nail in tread) approx 65KMs from my dealer - and drove there on the flat RFT and had it replaced under tire warranty (with free loaner vehicle during 24 hr replacement period).