03-19-2011, 05:35 AM | #1 |
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Spare wheel
Hi,
I haven't got my X1 yet, it'll be on the boat downunder with a few other X1M Sports by the sound of it. Bit of a penny pinching idea for such a car, but I was thinking of setting up with a spare for longer trips (My nearest BMW dealer is 7 hours away). Do any Australians know if Holden Commodore wheels fit the X1 Ok? Or would it maybe be better to buy a new cheap alloy wheel to suit. I was thinking it'd be handy to have a spare rim and maybe fit it out with one of the runflats when they need replacing. I like the idea of a spare to enable you to use non-runflats on a regular basis too. Apart from that, carry tyre plugs I suppose as well as a 100L tub of water to find any holes to plug! I can't imagine a loaded up car with a punctured runflat would go too too far without wasting the tyre completly. BMW recommend certain km's possible on flat runflats. What happens to the tyre if you overdo it? Anyone had experience with the BMW tyre goop for punctures? Most similar products available here cause corrosion of rims. Regards Damian |
03-20-2011, 10:59 AM | #2 | |
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No space allocated in the boot for spare wheel, and I think I am right in saying if you travel any distance on run flat tyres they have to be replaced which I think will be more expensive. |
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03-20-2011, 01:10 PM | #3 |
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In Sweden a car magazine did at test with a RFT. They drove 150 km without any problem at all, they could have gone longer but aborted the test efter 150 km.
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03-20-2011, 01:22 PM | #4 | |
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Runflat are a good idea given your surroundings. They hold tough. My sister-in-law drove back and forth to work for a week, roughly 80 klics a day, before realizing that the weird shimy was due to BOTH rear tires being flat on her Mini!
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03-21-2011, 06:30 AM | #6 |
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In your predicament, it becomes a safety issue I would say.
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03-21-2011, 07:04 AM | #7 |
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I have now had two colleagues/friends who have had a flat with a RFT tyre fitted to a BMW. In both cases they drove around 100km on the flat easily but in both cases were told to replace the tyre.
Could be just a money making racket but surely running on a flat RFT will weaken the tyre wall fairly quickly. To be honest I don't know enough about it. I will see if I can find out more.
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03-21-2011, 07:17 AM | #8 | |
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Contrary to our urban, semi-urban or even country roads, there is no service station for miles, and street lightning is not existent in the middle of the bush. Trying to repair a flat on the side of the road might become a life or death situation (Passing traffic, thugs, vengeful kangeroos and other wild animals, meteorits, MadMax ... you name it!) Being able to continue driving a car with a flat tire in these conditions make sense.
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03-21-2011, 07:24 AM | #9 | |
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Two other points to mention. How many older cars actually have a servicable spare? And those wee space savers some cars have give you the same performance and range as a flat RFT anyway.
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03-21-2011, 08:20 AM | #10 |
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One more thing you should keep in mind when carrying around a spare wheel: As there is no dedicated space in the boot/trunk for it, you will basically just have to put it there in the trunk (which btw. is probably going to take the full available space. The wheel is reaally heavy, and as there is no proper separation between the load compartment and the cabin, in case of frontal accident the wheel may fly into the cabin producing massive damage to the passangers. The same applies in case of rear accident, where the wheel may be pushed into the cabin, potentially breaking the rear seat backrests and whoever is sitting there.
I personally think the gain is not worth the trouble. |
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03-21-2011, 08:28 AM | #11 | |
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03-21-2011, 09:44 AM | #12 | |
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03-21-2011, 10:04 AM | #13 |
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Yep. My sister-in-law would qualify too.
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03-21-2011, 10:14 AM | #14 | |
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Anyway, my personal opinion is that this aspect of car safety has been completely overlooked so far by manufactureres and testing organisations, and I also think crash tests should be performed with heavy objects in the boot. |
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03-21-2011, 10:31 AM | #15 | |
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PS: Many, many years ago I was involved in an accident as a front passenger. I would have been fine except I got hit in the back of the head by a speaker that broke free of the rear parcel shelf. No jokes now
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03-21-2011, 09:41 PM | #16 | |
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Seriously though, it's a great point that any spare really needs to be bolted down or in a separate compartment. The Australian X1's come with the cargo net/barrier as standard, but unless it's kevlar reinforced or something I can't see it'd help much. It's good to hear the confidence you all have in RFT. A lot of people just complain about not having a spare and how poor they ride/handle. Might have to set up a roof box to put the spare in if I'm really heading into the middle of nowhere. |
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03-22-2011, 03:42 AM | #17 | |
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03-22-2011, 07:47 AM | #18 |
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I live 600km from the nearest BMW dealer so in a similar situation. I have driven a runflat with no air as it turned out for 500km. At speeds I am scared to think about. I hit a massive hole in the road a few minutes later the warning flashed which is common on rough country roads, I reset it and when I got to Brisbane I noticed a bump in the tyre. Took it to get checked. Pulled it off and there was a 8 inch tear in the inner lining . So if the mini runflat tyres can do that. You will have no worries
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03-23-2011, 10:35 PM | #19 |
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At one point in oz you could get a spare wheel holder on the rear door for the x5. I've also seen a photo of a mini that had fabricated a spare wheel carrier that was in a similar spot.
Not sure yet if I'll get the x1 or x3 but I'm considering adapting something to carry a spare wheel in the same spot based on a bike carrier later this year. Will let you know if it works out. |
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03-24-2011, 02:10 PM | #20 |
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Yeah, thought about RFTs, I think they ought to be OK, also another good point - a 17 inch rim might be a touch too heavy to change myself. Well I'll see how it goes. Picking my car up on Tue or Wed at my convenience
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03-24-2011, 06:00 PM | #21 | |
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I much prefer the idea of a wheel carrier that is linked to the rear bumper, but don't know if that's even possible with an x1 and if it is it means you'd need to swing it away before you open the door each time. Even though BMW produced the carrier for the X5 it may not mean it's necessarily a good idea. |
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03-24-2011, 08:08 PM | #22 |
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I'm not sure what the deal was with the x5 carrier. Pretty sure the mini one attached to the bumper in the same way a bike carrier did. In any case the bike carrier forms the base of what I propose to do. It'll hinge out when you need to access the door and be fully removable for when just driving around the burbs. Getting it to look right is the challenge. I'm fairly confident this is the way to go for camping trips or heading out west.
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