Non RFT Contingency

[Deroberson]

For those of you with non run flat tires. What are contingency plans other than fix-a-flat, portable air pump, roadside hazard plan?

Any other, "less than obvious" ideas?

[Chili Palmer]

I bought a jack kit, a spare tire and tire cover and stuck them in the trunk. When I was running Morr Wheels on my F10 I used the spare quite a bit due to the rims cracking. I got rid of those after the back section of one of the rear wheels exploded after my wife hit something that fell off a truck in front of her on the freeway at 75 mph. After that I went to 343 M5 wheels and put them on my 650 GC when I got rid of the 550i.

[shagler]

Originally Posted by Deroberson

For those of you with non run flat tires. What are contingency plans other than fix-a-flat, portable air pump, roadside hazard plan?

Any other, "less than obvious" ideas?

I realize that you are looking for "less obvious ideas", but for what it is worth, your description above is exactly my plan to handle any flats or catastrophic tire failures.

I am certainly interested in other ideas (other than a spare) that may be posted via this thread.

Steven

[ezmaass]

The reality is, there's just no substitute for a proper spare. BMW, and many others, have just been screwing consumers over with this now. Weight savings? Hardly - look at the massive weight of these cars. It's all been about saving money - no extra rim and tire.

But make no mistake, the RFTs aren't going to save you either. The problem is that BMW (and others) have oversold RFTs as a "solution" to a flat tire. No, they're not. They were intended to allow you to safely continue for a limited time - a convenience and safety option. You no longer had to stop on the side of that busy highway in the pouring rain. Great.

However, the tire still needs to be replaced. And now the real problem begins. You're suddenly in need of a tire shop and the RFT you require. Easier said than done sometimes.

My own personal story - with my previous 550xi - was not fun. I was a few hours from home putting on an anniversary party for my parents on a Sunday afternoon. The RFT blew a few miles away from the destination. It was now late on a Sunday, NO shops were open, and it was beyond the driving range of the RFT to return all the way home. So, I missed a good portion of the party (which I was hosting) to find the one open shop, who also had the RFT, to replace it. Calling BMW's roadside assistance? Yeah, they were useless. They told me to come in to a local BMW dealer the next morning. I had a toddler with me, work the next day, and that was just clearly not a "solution."

So, put another way, RFTs are the equivalent of light bulbs that don't completely burn out when they burn out. They continue to provide light for another 60 minutes. BUT, then you need to call a professional electrician to come bring you the right type of replacement bulb and "install" it for you. Still worth that extra 60 minutes of light?

In reality, the solution should be RFTs with a SPARE RFT in the the trunk. This would give you the intended benefit of the RFT (not stopping immediately when the flat occurs) but with the intended benefit of the spare - the autonomy, availability, and self-sufficiency of replacing your own tire.

If BMW didn't want to provide the spare for cost reasons, fine - but at least they should have given consumers the option to purchase it, which I would gladly do. But instead, they obnoxiously removed even the space to store it in the trunk.

Now for non-run flats. Will fix a flat save you? Maybe. If the puncture is relatively minor AND it's on the tread of the tire, you can often fix it with such a kit. I carry a kit like this that includes the "goo", a compressor, and also some plugs. These "fixable" types of flats are usually the product of running over a nail or the like. However, if the flat is caused by a sidewall issue (usually what happens when you hit a pothole), you're out of luck. Sidewall issues are usually not "fixable" - you'll need a replacement. And that's honestly the bigger of the risks with low profile tires.

So, the conclusion here? There just is NO substitute for a spare. I've taken my chances running the RFTs with a fix-a-flat type kit in the trunk. If I'm close to home, and my schedule wouldn't be completely disrupted by it, this could still be fine. But I know I'm taking my chances if, like with my 550xi, something happens further away from home, and shops and/or tires aren't readily available - this could turn into a major inconvenience.

I do hope that BMW wises up and gives us SPARES back. I was pleasantly surprised, recently shopping for a new SUV for my wife, that Audi appears to still be putting non-run flats AND spares on many of their cars (at least the new Q8 that we looked at).

[Walt White Coupe]

Probably 95% of anyone's travel is less than 25 miles from home. So a run flat can handle that 95% no matter what the damage is.

95% of flats are caused by slow leaks from nails, screws, etc. that stay in the tire. A simple $25 compressor can keep the tire pumped up for thousands of miles even if no gas station air pump is available (which it almost always is).

The odds of you getting stranded if you have run flats and an air compressor are almost nill. Stop being a worry wart.

[FBMWWINS]

My experience with getting a flat tyre is exactly as WaltWhite described it - a nail 2 times and a screw another 2 times with slow leaks. On all 4 occasions I noticed the problem just by looking at my wheels and tires as I do often (car freak that I am...). The tire in question had lost pressure I could clearly see that but not to the point I could not drive with it. Thus each time I was able to make it to the next tire shop to either fix it or replace the tire/s all together if the problematic one was already worn (replaced the other one too on same axle).

For me the simple plan reads:

1= Always carry a phone with you and be sure it's charged
2= Have a decent road assistant / tow service included in your car's insurance

In this way no matter where I drive I actually have 0 fears should I remain stuck on the road somewhere. It never happened to me but I feel that is enough of a plan should it actually occur.

[ezmaass]

Originally Posted by Walt White Coupe

Probably 95% of anyone's travel is less than 25 miles from home. So a run flat can handle that 95% no matter what the damage is.

95% of flats are caused by slow leaks from nails, screws, etc. that stay in the tire. A simple $25 compressor can keep the tire pumped up for thousands of miles even if no gas station air pump is available (which it almost always is).

The odds of you getting stranded if you have run flats and an air compressor are almost nill. Stop being a worry wart.

Walt, my story is a real one - not hypothetical. I spent thousands of dollars on hosting a party that I pretty much didn't get to attend because I was spending the entire Sunday afternoon and early evening trying to find a repair shop that was open and stocked the RFT I needed - that took about two dozen calls. If I hadn't found one, the car was NOT going to make the trip home, and I would have been forced to then find a hotel, buy toiletries, change of clothing (or at least underwear!) for the whole family, cancel meetings the next day for work, etc. All for a stupid flat tire.

That ISN'T progress. Progress is making something better than the day before. Having a spare tire is more effective - which, surprise, this is why people have always carried them. You're not at the mercy of a repair shop or finding a tire in stock. And, oh by the way, many of these RFTs are not routinely in stock at your local tire shop.

I also don't know where you're getting your stats from, but I'd bet dollars to donuts they're nowhere near accurate. Out of the THREE flat tires I've had in the past few years, ALL of them were the result of a sidewall blowout on BMW's standard Goodyear LS2 RFTs. Think that's unusual? Do a little searching on this forum, and you'll note that it's pretty darn common. So your stat about 95% of flats caused by "slow leaks" sounds awfully unconvincing in personal experience - at least for anyone with low profile tires. In fact, the last time I had a slow leak caused by a nail was more than 10 years ago. Yet, I've had 3 sidewall blowouts in the last 3 or 4 years.

Yes, if you're traveling "around town" within 25 miles, your RFT will get you back home just fine. But I'd argue that very few people are worried about the inconvenience of their daily commute to work being interrupted or that trip to the grocery store. Rather, it's that family vacation where you're 3 hours into a road trip and a flat occurs. Or that trip to see a client a few hours away. Or, in my case, heading to an important event. These are the times where the inconvenience of a blow-out and no spare can be a mess.

So, how many people are really being impacted by no spares? Below is an excerpt from AAA (rather than just making up your own statistics). More than 450k AAA calls in a year for people whose vehicle wasn't equipped with a spare. And that's just people with AAA. As the number of cars coming with spares DECREASES and the number of calls going to roadside assistance for flat tires INCREASES, clearly there's a problem... to the point where even the roadside assistance companies are urging you to just get a darn spare tire and stop calling them!

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In an effort to reduce weight and improve fuel economy, automakers continue to eliminate spare tires from new vehicles. According to new research from AAA, nearly one‐third (28 percent) of 2017 model year vehicles do not come with a spare tire as standard equipment, creating an unnecessary hassle and expense for drivers. Last year alone, AAA came to the rescue to more than 450,000 members faced with a flat tire whose cars did not have a spare tire. To avoid a roadside surprise, AAA urges drivers to check their trunk for a spare tire before trouble strikes.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by Deroberson

For those of you with non run flat tires. What are contingency plans other than fix-a-flat, portable air pump, roadside hazard plan?

Any other, "less than obvious" ideas?

Like some mentioned above...in regards to going with NON run-flats...I rolled the dice to do-away with the run flat tires and went with the BMW Mobility kit (air compressor + BMW sealant) and AAA. I was going to go with the compact spare kit...but after looking at my previous experiences since 1974...I've had more "nail/screw" issues that that caused slow-medium leaks vs sidewall damage. So if I go with my percentages...I'm taking the chance that the goo & air compressor will be my saving grace...and if not, then I have my phone & AAA service which will be a bigger inconvenience.

It will be a gamble either way without a spare tire regardless if you go with run flats or non-run flats. You're going to be in the hands of fate depending on if you get a total blowout (which will require a spare tire)...or if you get a leak that will allow you to get to a place to have the leak repaired or tire replaced.

If you feel you'd rather have a spare...then they are available...either full size or compact...but you'll also need the tools to lift the vehicle and remove the wheel bolts/lugs etc.

I have this BMW Mobility Kit which has the built-in (but replaceable) sealant canister:

And some get the compact spare kit with accompanying tools:

And I sure some have thrown a full size tire in the trunk for a spare.