No Spare Wheel/tire!

BMW i3 Forum

Help Support BMW i3 Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Maplewood

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Messages
13
I am feeling uneasy about having no spare wheel or tire. I am told not to worry that BMW Connect will happily pick up my disabled car, take it to the dealer (30 miles from my home), and replace or fix the tire. I am considering buying an extra front tire (which can be used in a pinch on front or rear to get home. Also I would buy a BMW scissor jack with the proper mount so as to not harm the carbon frame and carry it in the frunk. Anyone else considering these thoughts? Anyone have an idea how to secure this spare tire behind the seats and not allow it to be a potential projectile? I have also seen tire covers on Amazon that would keep the dirt off other cargo. I have not had a flat in years, BUT I have always had a jack and a spare.
 
The sealant and small compressor really can get you going again nearly all of the time. It isn't a permanent fix, but is often enough (from what people have said, I've not needed to use mine!) to get you to where you can have things resolved permanently.
 
not true i had a puncture last week and no way would the glue fix it in the sidewall i had to drive home at 4mph for 2 miles the tyre was shot but the rim ok new tyre fixexd it but these tyres are as weak as a kitten and the sidewall so thin no wonder they suffer from flats... as for the price i could but 2 decent tyres for the price of 1 of these..
 
Maplewood said:
I am feeling uneasy about having no spare wheel or tire.
I know it can be disconcerting not to have a spare (of some sort), but it seems to be the case for most modern cars. It's a weight-saving thing (or, more likely, cost-saving). I had an Ampera before this i3 and had occasion to use the pump/sealant that came with the car. It worked, but once used the kit has to be replaced as does the tyre, of course. The job for the Ampera was around £150 (but I stupidly insisted on a matching tyre, not just compatible, which upped the cost). I have no doubt that a new tyre for the i3 will be pretty expensive, too.
 
Maplewood said:
Anyone else considering these thoughts?
Absolutely am!

I am okay with driving around locally where there are two dealers within 12 miles or so, one near work and one near home. But being 100 miles from home in the middle of nowhere in the dark and rain waiting to be found by a pickup truck is not my idea of fun. I'd rather be able to change the tyre and get home so am considering sourcing a spare to carry when doing this type of trip.

I already had a scissor type jack specific to the BMW mounting point and a spare wheel nut wrench and socket. I have sourced a bicycle wheel bag (a double capable of holding two mountain bike wheels) as in the past this has served perfectly for containing a spare wheel and kit - I am hoping it will fit as I've done some rough measuring.

Next is the wheel / tyre but I'm waiting on this until car arrives so I can see what's what. I have only seen a couple of alloys on eBay but they seem to be likely crash damage and given that the only spares from this source would have been on the car at the time of whatever happened, I don't want a cheap possibly damaged one. BMW sell the standard alloy with a winter tyre for about £185 which when you consider the tyre price, seems like a good deal.
 
When I bought my winter tire/wheel package...the entire package including the tire/wheel/center cap/TPMS was less than the retail price of a spare, bare wheel. Crazy, but that's what it was. I was considering making up my own package, but could not beat the dealer's price on the package. At least on the winter tires, the tread is directional. While you could get by for a short distance with it on the wrong side of the car, you wouldn't want to leave it there for very long.
 
This does make me a bit nervous. I've been in several situations in the past where I got a flat and was able to change to the spare tire quickly, and not have to rush to repair the flat.

I'm unsure how the sealant works, but I'm going to look into keeping a repair kit in the frunk for the chance that it does arise. Keeping a spare wheel+tire on hand is an interesting idea too.
 
My dealer said the same as others. Why would you want a spare, you can just phone and get recovered. That's several hours away possibly and that's if they can find you, there are many places I go with zero mobile phone coverage.

In terms of the sealant systems, I've had a mixed bag of punctures over the many years / miles I've driven. Some nails and screws would no doubt seal. Others I've had the tread ripped out with no chance of it sealing.

The spare would only be treated as a space saver. Its job is to get me home / repaired / safe so whether winter or summer, cheap or expensive, it's an emergency solution only for longer journeys off the beaten track.
 
I was (still am) uneasy about this too and hope I don't have to deal with a flat and the messy sealant anytime. I like Jim's post about having a set of winter tires and then one of these can be used in the event of a flat. I'd rather have my wife bring me a wheel then wait for a tow truck to take me to the dealer where I have to wait to get a tire fixed. I haven't purchased snow tires for my i3 (yet) because of the lease period and expense.

Many car manufacturers are switching to the sealant and compressor approach, I just purchased a new Kia and it doesn't have a spare. I'm buying snow tires/wheels for that so problem solved, minus a jack.

Maplewood said:
I am considering buying an extra front tire (which can be used in a pinch on front or rear to get home. Also I would buy a BMW scissor jack with the proper mount so as to not harm the carbon frame and carry it in the frunk. Anyone else considering these thoughts?
I've read on a few posts that the bolt/pattern-spacing is different from the front to rear. Not sure if this is on specific models or not but I would verify this before buying 1 tire to use on the front or rear.
 
brorob said:
I've read on a few posts that the bolt pattern/spacing is different from the front to rear. Not sure if this is on specific models or not but I would verify this before buying 1 tire to use on the front or rear.

I think the difference is not the bolt/pattern, but the width of the wheel and tire. Most i3's have narrow fronts and wider rears. A BEV can have the same narrow tires front and back.
 
I33t said:
I think the difference is not the bolt/pattern, but the width of the wheel and tire. Most i3's have narrow fronts and wider rears. A BEV can have the same narrow tires front and back.
I think you're correct. I thought I saw a few posts that mentioned the bolt/pattern but they said offset, which makes more sense. Below is one post I saw.

http://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3500&hilit=Winter+caution&start=0
 
On some, they use a staggered set...the rears are wider than the front. A front tire will fit either end of the car, but a wider rear tire will NOT fit the front. Maybe if you used a different wheel with a different offset, you might be able to use a wider wheel/tire on the front, but definitely can't use the stock wider wheel on the front of an i3.
 
I think you would find that every REX has a staggered set because of the extra weight in the rear. Only the BEV can have the narrower rims all round.

Here in AU, every i3 comes staggered, BEV or REX.
 
jadnashuanh said:
A front tire will fit either end of the car, but a wider rear tire will NOT fit the front.
Several i3 owners have reported fitting the wider rear wheel and tire on the front by using a spacer to move the wheel out a bit so that it doesn't interfere with the suspension. I can't recall the width of the spacer that was used, but at the time, I suspected that the wheel/tire would protrude beyond the fender which I wouldn't want.
 
FWIW, the REx and the BEV both specify the same square (narrower) tire/wheels when you go to the winter tires, so they do work, regardless of the configuration.

Technically, if the top of the tire extends beyond the fender well, it should not pass inspection, as if it catches a stone or some other foreign object, it can throw that backwards at quite significant speeds and be dangerous. Haven't really measured to see how much leeway there is, but if it gets moved out much, the paint could get damaged on the fender.
 
Back
Top