Spare Tire

trueX5er · #1 03-18-2007, 10:55 AM

I was wondering if I could permanently revmove the spare tire from my X5. Edmund's test 4.8i had this:

That looks like a great place to store items like gym bag/ first aid/ emergency car kit/ blankets/umbrella but I have a spare. The caption says "Run-flat tires mean no spare and thus more storage space." I thought I had RFs, as they are OE standard on my car. But yet I have a spare. So if I take it out, is it going to make the rear go up too high? I don't have the self leveling rear suspension.
(I have a non 3rd row non sport E70 with Bridgestone Dueler 400 H/L )

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swisscheese · #2 03-18-2007, 11:36 AM

Remove it! Here in Europe the E70 is sold without a spare, because you dont need it with the runflats. And most of us orderd the sportpackage with the 19' or 20'. here in case of an flatfoot. the spare never fits!

canamx5 · #3 03-18-2007, 11:46 AM

I was thinking of doing this also. I will get to work on it this week and will post pics when I'm done.

BG624 · #4 03-18-2007, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swisscheese

Remove it! Here in Europe the E70 is sold without a spare, because you dont need it with the runflats. And most of us orderd the sportpackage with the 19' or 20'. here in case of an flatfoot. the spare never fits!

Are you saying the BMW supplied spare will not fit if you have 19's or 20's? A supplied spare that won't fit, that can't be correct. I ordered the 19's and have every intention when I have to replace them to get regular tires. Run flats are expensive, many tire shops do not have the specialized equipment to change them and very few will stock them so if you get one punctured you'll be waiting a while and pay allot to get it replaced. What's the mileage limit once a tire's punctured, 50 miles or so? You can easily exceed the limit waiting for a tire to get delivered and finding a place to change it. Then what do you do not drive while your waiting, not me. Not to mention the fact the ride's allot better on regular tires. Give me a spare. Just my $.02

JCL · #5 03-18-2007, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BG624

Are you saying the BMW supplied spare will not fit if you have 19's or 20's? A supplied spare that won't fit, that can't be correct.

The spare fits fine, and is useable. What doesn't fit is putting the flat regular tire back in the space the spare came out of, it is too large.

X5FX · #6 03-18-2007, 12:23 PM

The run flats will run for 100 miles, we have several dealers in town that keep inventory. If you live in a decent sized city you wont have problems either.

swisscheese · #7 03-18-2007, 12:32 PM

actually i drive an E53 with sportage package. that includes 19' tires. the originally delivered spare was an 18'. so if you replace a flatfoot 19' with an spare 18', you gonna have problems with your xdrive, because the circumference of an 19' is not exactly the same of an 18'. for a short drive to the next tireshop it is ok, but not for a long journey!

motordavid · #8 03-18-2007, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swisscheese

actually i drive an E53 with sportage package. that includes 19' tires. the originally delivered spare was an 18'. so if you replace a flatfoot 19' with an spare 18', you gonna have problems with your xdrive, because the circumference of an 19' is not exactly the same of an 18'. for a short drive to the next tireshop it is ok, but not for a long journey!

Swisscheese,
I think you'll find the oem spare, regardless of its size vs. any oem size
you have on an X, to be very close to same rolling diameter.

BG624 · #9 03-18-2007, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by X5FX

The run flats will run for 100 miles, we have several dealers in town that keep inventory. If you live in a decent sized city you wont have problems either.

What do you do if your not near your home. To me the negatives outweigh the positives, but that's just me. I checked around my home and only 1 place had 18's, none stocked 19's or 20's (I'm getting 19's), not to mention the fact that only the 1 that stocked the 18's had the specialized equipment ($8000) to change them. Many tire stores don't want to spend the money until run-flats become more mainstream. They are an interesting concept but to me it might be a little early to embrace them. Again just my $.02