Emergency Spare Wheel

[z3ddie]

Giving some general love I notice water in the battery bay - decided to take the spare wheel off and was genuinely gobsmacked how corroded it was - I wouldnt trust it to do a yard it was so rotten - mayby timely advice to check them when the weather is good - if I could post pictures I would show you guys -

[Robert T]

Did it look anything like these?

viewtopic.php?t=37853

Pics need to be hosted on an external site, such as flickr or imgur.

Cheers R.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[z3ddie]

Believe it or not a lot worse - now going down the route of removing the cage and carrying a compressor and Tyreweld - although in 20 years of owning it never had a flat - famous last words

[LaRy]

In UK you have a good company seeling mini spares, https://www.thewheelshop.co.uk/
You cannot find the Z3 in the list, but as you have the tire dimension, it will be no problem for them to find a fitting rim, I suppose.

[z3ddie]

So decided to get rid of it - question for you guys if anyone has - with the wheel out and plastic tray would you leave the cage on? having a good nosey underneath it does seem to do a good job of deflecting road detrius away from the underbody - any thoughts on this - already done a search and nothing really conclusive as most people remove the cage - cheers

[Mike Fishwick]

When the day of judement arrives you will be grateful for the skinny spare! A tin of goo is not a long-lasting answer in comparison. I once had a rear tyre comprehensively wrecked just outside Boulogne on a Saturday morning. Trying to quickly get hold of a 245-40 X 17 tyre in France is not easy, and as everything closes between Saturday and Monday lunchtimes the situation was even worse.

I spent about 15 minutes fitting the spare, and drove the 525 miles home with no problems, other than a tiny amount of yawing between power on and power off. It was a lot quicker,easier, and cheaper than using the mobile phone and credit card system which is beloved by so many people.

Abandon the skinny spare and its cradle at your peril - just because the M Roadster lacks this essential support system does not make it something to copy!

[z3ddie]

Appreciate what your saying but I now cover less than 3k a year all local driving - it I was going continental again I would certainly keep it on board - on a more serious note when my mate looked at it this morning he said he could never understand why they dont just put them in a plastic bag in the first place - simple solutions eh

[Gazza]

I don’t have a spare on the ///M, but I do have the number for the AA

[LaRy]

I'm also one of those, greatful to the mini spare wheel, when visiting Italy. It was a rented car, and I could return it to the renter. The origin wheel was totally destroyed.
Later, when buying a new Honda Civic, I decided to buy a mini spare wheel from https://www.thewheelshop.co.uk/ , could not find any supplyer in Sweden and it was a fast delivery. I don't want to use the foam and have that **** inside the tire for all future. And in my Italian case, the tyre was so dammaged, the all the foam in the world would have helped.
A real driver can solve the problem at site! No AA or similar.

[Gazza]

It’s all good having a mini-spare if you have somewhere to put the full size wheel in the car

[Mike Fishwick]

I really cannot understand the reasoning for removing the spare - it does no harm, and can do a lot of good when it is needed. Even if your driving is local, you can still get a puncture.

OK - the 'dead' wheel has to be carried in its plastic bag on the passenger's knees, but that is at least better than walking, or waiting maybe hours for someone to turn up, during which all manner of mishaps can occur to you and your car. Of course, being of the generation who took pride in self-reliance, I have a different view from the mobile phone brigade!

The problem is that the only manufacturer of the skinny tyre was Continental, and they have no intention of making a small batch for people with old cars.