How do you prepare for a flat tire?

[wiseguy]

What do y'all do to prepare for the eventual flat tire on your Z4? I'm rethinking my deletion of the run flat tires after my experience tonight.

So tonight, after a great night of cruising along the waters edge at sunset in these fall-like temperatures, I had my first ever flat tire on the Z4. I'm running non-runflat tires. I carry no spare as the car is my DD and that trunk space gets used. The tire pressure light came on, and It's been known to do that when the temperature changes, I didn't notice any ride difference or a sound, so I kept driving, thinking it must be the temperature change. Turns out it was the tire. The green slime tire sealant I carry was no help, so I had to be towed to the closest tire store, where the car will have to sit for 36 hours until the tire store reopens on Monday. I was only blocks from my parent's house, but I didn't want to risk damaging the wheel. Thankfully, I wasn't on a long road trip, in the middle of nowhere. You can't drive on a flat for more than a couple of hundred yards without damaging your wheel. My wheel is fine; the tire is beyond repair.

So who here carries a spare and Jack? Since the back and front wheels are different sizes, which size do you carry? Who keeps a spare (or 2, one in each size) in their home garage? Are there other options? I hated the ride quality of the runflats, but those would have been welcome tonight. I'm now at the mercy of this tire store and whatever price they charge for the tire I need.

 

[mr wilks]

I have a spare wheel,jack & wrench as well as the standard repair kit .
No need to have exact replica offsets for both front & rear , pretty much any 17inch BMW alloy will work on E85 E86 , you can fit a 205 40 17 tyre which takes up less room than the usual 225 45
There is also the option to pre fill the tyres with repair liquid that automatically seals any punctures as soon as they happen , not cheap at around £20/tyre UK but a good alternative

 

[stuartinzg]

I keep a 12v michelin electric tyre pump in the car. Have to use every day as my wheel has 2 cracks (monday replacement comes). It goes down to about 20 psi from 40 over night. I expect if you had pumped it back to 40 psi it would have been enough to get you back to your parents place, unless the tyre is beyond repair anyway.

These mobile electric tyre pumps are the best thing ever! 2 minutes to complete inflation.

 

[Taz]

There is also the option to pre fill the tyres with repair liquid that automatically seals any punctures as soon as they happen , not cheap at around £20/tyre UK but a good alternative

er stupid question, would you know you have a flat?

 

[cj10jeeper]

Chances of a flat are near nil these days. I believe it's once in 100.000 miles for the average motorist, so not a big concern really.

That said I carry the notability kit which has decent compressor and much better goo.
I have a skinny spare at home that fits edge front or rear and on some long runs that's with me, but failing that a lift home or taxi if <25miles to take and fit it would be fine. The skinny is good enough to keep me running until I source a new tyre he next day.

There's a jack and brace in the car all set and if all fails recovery to home garage or destination.

Think I'm covered and as lick would have it, never needed any of the above...

 

[Steve84N]

- Holts Tyre Weld (make sure it's the one for large wheels)
- Air compressor
- STOP AS SOON AS THE PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT COMES ON...

Not a fan of goo in the tyres as a puncture can go unnoticed and is then more prone to a blowout at high speed.

 

[Marlon]

I raised a similar question a while back - might be useful:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=79051&hilit=puncture

 

[WJB]

Chances of a flat are near nil these days. I believe it's once in 100.000 miles for the average motorist, so not a big concern really...

I got a flat last week, Monday morning 730am on the way to work, don't know how it happened looking back I assume I hit something in the road or by the kerb cos it took a big chunk out of my tyre. Low speed so just pulled over and changed it with the spare.



Luckily the old 320 has a space saver, but seeing as the Z4 doesn't carry a spare I'd be in trouble as no "puncture repair kit" would've sorted it!

 

[cj10jeeper]

Chances of a flat are near nil these days. I believe it's once in 100.000 miles for the average motorist, so not a big concern really...

I got a flat last week, Monday morning 730am on the way to work, don't know how it happened looking back I assume I hit something in the road or by the kerb cos it took a big chunk out of my tyre. Low speed so just pulled over and changed it with the spare.



Luckily the old 320 has a space saver, but seeing as the Z4 doesn't carry a spare I'd be in trouble as no "puncture repair kit" would've sorted it!

I'm sure with several 000's members plenty of punctures happen, but my point is it's so rare as not something to get overly worried about.
I was trying to do some mental maths and reckon our household has suffered 1 out of 4 concurrent cars in a decade. Say 10k per car per annum to be low and that's 1 in 400k. Happened 1/2 mile from home.

 

[exdos]

If you have tyres smaller than 18inches, you can use a green slime preventive, but this adds to unsprung weight.

I carry a Stop & Go Tyre plugger kit http://www.stopngo.com/standard-model-tire-plugger/ in my Z4MC which will repair punctures caused by nails and screws etc. if they are across the width of the tyre tread. I've repaired a couple of punctures on my wife's Mini shod with run-flats with this kit and and the repair is relatively easy to do and is durable and will remain effective and safe.

I always keep a used front and rear tyre from my car at home, so that if I have a puncture when I'm close to home, I could always get one of them refitted so that I don't get held over a barrel to buy an over-priced or tyre of a different type to those on my car in an emergency.

 

[WJB]

I'm sure with several 000's members plenty of punctures happen, but my point is it's so rare as not something to get overly worried about.
I was trying to do some mental maths and reckon our household has suffered 1 out of 4 concurrent cars in a decade. Say 10k per car per annum to be low and that's 1 in 400k. Happened 1/2 mile from home.

Yeah I agree it's rare I've only had 3 in almost 2 decades so not exactly frequent, but it does happen, and I think it's silly the way car manufacturer's have moved away from spare wheels in recent years.

 

[cj10jeeper]

I'm sure with several 000's members plenty of punctures happen, but my point is it's so rare as not something to get overly worried about.
I was trying to do some mental maths and reckon our household has suffered 1 out of 4 concurrent cars in a decade. Say 10k per car per annum to be low and that's 1 in 400k. Happened 1/2 mile from home.

Yeah I agree it's rare I've only had 3 in almost 2 decades so not exactly frequent, but it does happen, and I think it's silly the way car manufacturer's have moved away from spare wheels in recent years.

I spoke to one of the worlds leading designers (Ian C) some time back and it's an inevitable result of both the quest for space, economy and costs. 'Packaging' is how it was described to me and in essence losing a wheel frees up a lot of space.

Imagine the compromise on the z4 boot which currently is a real plus point, with a space saver, jack and brace in there.
Less an issue on big saloons, etc. just cost and weight.

 

[Lynchy]

I carry a space saver I picked up for £30 locally on EBay, sits in the boot and doesn't weigh a lot or take up much space . I can lay a small suitcase on top.

 

[walker1c]

If you use a pump and some kind of repair kit, is it necessary to jack the car up before repairing the tyre? If so, what's the best kind of jack to carry?

 

[Steve84N]

No need to jack, just rotate (by moving the car) the puncture to the bottom before inserting goo.