BMW 135i to come to the US

[henk4]

Final word on it ... it's called "improvement". As said before we dont' carry tyre valves, inner tubes and tyre levers.

I do on my bicycle, and on my car I have a tubeless tyre...

[nota]

Punctures, shredded tyres and mangled rims are unfortunately a motoring reality throughout most of Oz, and for example I couldn't count the number of recent reviews I've read where the test-car was incapacitated due to [EDIT]no spare. Then you add up the significantly increased cost of runflats over conventionals, their decreased life, worse ride, reputed increased susceptability to punctures, and potential for major inconvenience through having to wait until a replacement is airfreighted out to wherever you happen to be stranded (and at vast expense, no doubt)

Can we fix it?

There are, however, divisions within the tyre industry over the ability to repair such tyres. Of the tyre manufacturers, Bridgestone, Pirelli, Michelin, and Continental all require that the tyres be replaced and not repaired in the event of a puncture. Indeed, they will not allow their respective retail dealers to repair the tyres.

This means, for instance, that even a small leak caused by a nail in the tread will require the tyre to be completely replaced. Costs vary depending on the tyre and specification but range from about $300 for a 16-inch Bridgestone runflat for a Mini Cooper S (quoted by a central Melbourne dealer) through to $424 for a Continental 16-inch tyre for a 320i. In the case of 17 and 18-inch tyres the $$$ mount up. Runflats in general carry about a 20-30 per cent price premium over the equivalent 'traditional' tyre.Runflats may offer improved safety but if you have to wait up to at least a day to do what you can presently do in about 15 minutes, it is arguably not what one would call convenient.

ccording to Jeff Moorhead, Dunlop/Goodyear's technical marketing manager, the company received a directive from its technical centre in Europe that it can allow repairs to its runflat tyres which run under the names of EMT (extended mobility tyre) or DSST (Dunlop Self Supporting Technology).

Can we buy it?
Irrespective of the brand, however, very few if any of the tyre dealers actually carry any stock of runflat tyres so regardless of where you are in Australia, if you need a replacement tyre, at this point in time chances are it will be at least 24 hours from fronting up to the dealer before your tyre arrives.

The major distribution centres are in Melbourne and Sydney and like many specialist tyres, runflats would need to be airfreighted to wherever you have had your puncture.

If you are in a major metropolitan area, this doesn't pose too much of a problem as you may still be able to drive on the punctured tyre but if you are out in the country and have already used up your maximum travelling distance just getting to the tyre service centre then be prepared to stay put until your tyre arrives.

For an extreme example, does anyone remember that Wheels review of the latest Rolls Royce? The tester wafted from Sydney up to the Hunter Valley for an idyllic day-trip among the vineyards .. then a puncture. Result? No feasible roadside assist, so a stressed out drive at 80km/h with his mirrors full of 100km/h trucks etc until he limped in to Gosford, numerous phone calls to RR, then having to wait overnight until a complete new wheel & tyre was finally located, delivered and fitted. It took 36 hours until he could get home and sleep in his own bed back in Sydney! Gosford is merely 60 miles or so from Sydney, btw. Despite the RR's seven-figure pricetag, the tester felt cause to comment that those runflats gave him a less-than-million-dollar experience

[PerfAdv]

Not too long ago the sidewall one of my tires ruptured when I drove over a rock slide (in the San Gabriels). I don't know if Gloop would have worked (w/ a sildewall puncture) but if it did it would have been the better than using the supplied space saver, as AWD cars don't take well to different diameter wheels. The Spacesaver is smaller than the regular wheels and this puts undue stress on the drivetrain, it's only to be used for about 50 miles. So much so, that Subaru suggests rotating regularly and then changing all fours together.

Oh, and if anyone knows:

The car only had around 4K miles at that time but it this had happened with only half or less of the tread left on the other tires would I have had to shave the new tire's tread to match the older tires? If so, that really reeks.

[Matra et Alpine]

No. the normal gloop can only manage punctures and very small gashes.
You need the stuff the WRC use if you want it to cope with more
Sounds liek I'm "ruined" by British roads - despite me constantly complaining abotu their condition - as I've only ever had punctures from screws/nails !
( Excluding those during competition )

[VtecMini]

This thread has has gone intriguingly off-topic, but anywho.

My biggest problem with gloop is that although it fixes most punctures for a limited time, it also writes the tyre off in the long-term, because you can't have a puncture repaired after the tyre's been glooped. That bothers me rather a lot.

[MRR]

I would never consider buying a new car which doesn't include basic equipment like a spare tyre, a temp gauge, or even a dipstick

At least all the BMW's I know have all of the above except for the spare. I agree and it is shame because the BMWs my family has owned before all had spares.

[LandQuail]

Not too long ago the sidewall one of my tires ruptured when I drove over a rock slide (in the San Gabriels). I don't know if Gloop would have worked (w/ a sildewall puncture) but if it did it would have been the better than using the supplied space saver, as AWD cars don't take well to different diameter wheels. The Spacesaver is smaller than the regular wheels and this puts undue stress on the drivetrain, it's only to be used for about 50 miles. So much so, that Subaru suggests rotating regularly and then changing all fours together.

Oh, and if anyone knows:

The car only had around 4K miles at that time but it this had happened with only half or less of the tread left on the other tires would I have had to shave the new tire's tread to match the older tires? If so, that really reeks.

Good points about AWD cars.

Well, here goes another one of my long-winded stories about my local Subaru dealership where I call everybody a cocksucker.

So, those cocksuckers told me that if I ever came in and my tires differed by 1/8 inch in diameter, my warranty would be voided.

Solution: I'm never going to go to the cocksuckers again unless my car's engine has blown up, at which point I'll leave the ****er sitting wheelless atop four bags of potatoes with a big dollop of shit under the door handle, for good measure.

I did drive the car on the donut "temporary spare" for better than 50 miles once. Shocking is a good way to describe the experience. I'm planning, if I ever win the lottery, to buy another big yellow BBS wheel and one of those $200 bespoke bridgestones, and just shove it all in the trunk. It's space that just gets filled with old T-shirts and other sundry bullshit anyway, so why worry about losing another three cubic feet to a proper spare tire?

Leaving out a proper spare is only removed by degree from leaving out a radio or A/C. It's so bad in the U.S. that VW made a big "we offer a full-sized spare" ad campaign a few years back. That was it. Their only advertisement for their cars was the promise of a decent spare. Go figure.



To respond to another comment, the only car ever successfully able to outrun ugly was the series I Lotus Europa.

[nota]

Down here the issue of warranty compliance is the least of your spacesaver worries

The space-saver wheel and tyre fitted increasingly in new models can jeopardise your legality, safety and insurance cover.

Temporary-use spare tyres or "space-savers" are putting motorists at risk. According to the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, the scrawny emergency-only tyres supplied with an increasing number of new models – mainly imports – are detrimental to stability and increase the braking distance by two car-lengths at 80kmh.

Confusingly, while Australian Design Rules allow space-savers to be supplied with vehicles, a car running on one will not pass a roadworthiness test. Use of such tyres is illegal in NSW, among other states.

In NSW, police say it is illegal for a car to run on a tyre of a different width, tread or diameter from the other three full-size wheels and tyres. Officers have discretionary powers to book the driver (a $74 fine), issue a yellow defect notice (which allows the car to get home) or a red defect notice (which means the driver must stop and park on the spot).

A temporary spare can exaggerate speedometer error – on a 1997 Honda Civic tested by the RACV the error was up to 10 percent.

Further, the grey area over their legality means that insurance companies could avoid paying a claim if the vehicle is outside state laws.

I did drive the car on the donut "temporary spare" for better than 50 miles once. Shocking is a good way to describe the experience.

Some data on grip-reduction via spacesavers (below). And for something I hadn't thought of, image having to resort to using one of those razorblades when towing, including a caravan!

http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/conne...se+spare+tyres

[Gtek-i]

what are the present specs? It might be altered a bit to comply with emission rules.

[Matra et Alpine]

"COMMON SENSE" is needed when using a space-saver wheel.

Anyone driving at speeds determined by the speed limits and worrying about that 10% error shouldn't be allowed to drive A space-saver is ONLY an emergency option - same as gloop. I woudl hope that insurance woudl refuse to pay out if someone failed to stop due to increased stopping distance or lost control by cornering too fast !!!!!

[2ndclasscitizen]

When we were dropping my dad's VY2 Calais off to get put on the truck to Perth yesterday, we had to check the spare. Now it's got a big red sticker on it saying "80kmh only" but it's not a little space saver, it looks exactly like the sort of wheel and tyre you would've gotten on a povo-pack Exec., just not the 17in alloy and 225/50 Turanza like the rest of wheels. I would've thought you'd be able to go normal speeds with that on

[PerfAdv]

No. the normal gloop can only manage punctures and very small gashes.
You need the stuff the WRC use if you want it to cope with more
Sounds liek I'm "ruined" by British roads - despite me constantly complaining abotu their condition - as I've only ever had punctures from screws/nails !
( Excluding those during competition )

Though not as smooth as European roads, the roads here are generally very well maintained, the rock slide was on a very deserted mountain road. I'd hate to get stuck up there without a spare, no cellular signal even...

Fixaflat or gloop has been on my list of things to get ever since.

My biggest problem with gloop is that although it fixes most punctures for a limited time, it also writes the tyre off in the long-term, because you can't have a puncture repaired after the tyre's been glooped. That bothers me rather a lot.

Is that really true, even the newer stuff. That does limit its appeal.

I did drive the car on the donut "temporary spare" for better than 50 miles once. Shocking is a good way to describe the experience. I'm planning, if I ever win the lottery, to buy another big yellow BBS wheel and one of those $200 bespoke bridgestones, and just shove it all in the trunk. It's space that just gets filled with old T-shirts and other sundry bullshit anyway, so why worry about losing another three cubic feet to a proper spare tire?

Yes, but then there's still the issue of tread wear affecting tire diameter. This seems the Achilles heel of AWD. Maybe it isn't that big an issue as modern tires don't hardly fail, still...