# Ack! Punctured tire that can't be repaired. Advice needed.



## dev (Dec 23, 2003)

Driving to work one morning, I noticed a faint sound when accelerating, but it wasn't loud enough for me to think to pull the car over and figure out if I was just imagining things (which can happen of course ... getting paranoid over nothing). I got to work, parked and went inside for the day.

Turns out that a large nail punctured my tire. I came out to my car after work to find the right rear tire deflated with a big nail stuck deep into the middle of the tread. Called up AAA and they came out super-quick which was nice (in about 5 minutes!).

The tire wasn't repairable according to the tire shop... At first they said it would be no problem but 15 min later they said it turned out that the nail got driven on too much and damaged the inside of the tire so it couldn't be repaired.

*So now I need a new tire, or maybe more than one new tire - You tell me...*

My current tires have 22k miles on them I think - I bought the car (2003 330i w/ sport pkg) with 15k miles on it with Contis. I'm driving with the spare on the car now, which isn't the right size for the rear since they're wider than the fronts.

What should I do here?

- Buy 1 new tire to replace the bad one.
- Buy 2 new rear tires to replace both rear tires
- Buy 4 new tires so they all have the same tread-wear.
- Any other options???

What kind of tires should I get? If I get just 1 or 2 tires, then I need to get the same exact tires that are on the front? Is it OK to have tires up front that have 22k miles on them, and have the rears be brand new?

Also a bummer...

The AAA guy scratched up the rim on my bad wheel when he was putting it back in the trunk receptacle. He even told me "hey I'm just gonna leave this tire in your trunk, b/c its hard to get back into the spare holder without scratching the rims." So I said that's fine, only to find out later (when it wasn't dark outside) that he scratched up the rim in several places. The tire shop guy estimated that I could get them repaired... not sure how much that costs though.

I thought about complaining to AAA about the damage to my rim, but is it even worth it? Seems like they'll just tell me that they don't know that I didn't scratch them myself in the time since this all happened and when I eventually complain/ask for re-imbursement.

Thanks for the help.


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## Artslinger (Sep 2, 2002)

You can't change your own tire?


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

Artslinger said:


> You can't change your own tire?


Isn't that the job or Roadside Assistance or runflat tires?

I remember when I used to carry an extra fanbelt in my car and knew how to replace it.


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

Buy 2 new matching tires or all 4 new ones


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## dev (Dec 23, 2003)

Yes, I can change my own tire! 

Why bother though? I was in my work clothes, tired after a 12 hour work day, and it was dark... I was/am super busy with work lately, so my plan was to call Roadside assistance and then continue to work until they arrived. 

Sorry for originally posting in the wrong forum btw.


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## kyfdx (Aug 4, 2003)

dev said:


> Yes, I can change my own tire!
> 
> Why bother though? I was in my work clothes, tired after a 12 hour work day, and it was dark... I was/am super busy with work lately, so my plan was to call Roadside assistance and then continue to work until they arrived.
> 
> Sorry for originally posting in the wrong forum btw.


Buy two new matching tires for the rear.. If your fronts still look decent, all four should wear out at the same time.. Save the good rear tire in case you get another non-repairable flat.

I'm with you... why would you change your own tire, when you have AAA, and they show up in five minutes?


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## dev (Dec 23, 2003)

Thanks for the advice...

I'm not really sure how to tell how much tread I have left on my front tires. They don't look noticeably bad in any way. This is why I am hesitant to buy 4 new tires... though I read good things about some other tires besides the ContiSports but not sure if its worth it in this case. I probably would have upgraded if I had to replace all 4 at once.

As for why to change your own tire... I guess my situation sort of provides an answer. You could take more care not to scratch your rim when you put the bad tire back into the trunk compartment! 

Looks like I'll probably have the new tire put on the spare rim since that one is pristine, and have the spare tire put on the scratched rim. 

I'm on a plane right now btw... it's sweet having high-speed internet access on these long international flights (Lufthansa, Munich to LAX route). Coming back from business in Munich right now. First time in Germany, and it was sweet to see so many BMW's among the other nice german cars. Though I didn't see many BMW's that were "powerful." Seems like every 3 I saw was a 318 but the body kits made them look like our 330's with sport package still. I am assuming they were 318's by looking at the exhausts. 

I saw a new 7-series police car too! Even the taxis were Benzes, either new E-class or S-class. Anyway, Munich was sweet, hope to come back for a longer stay next time.


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## ObD (Dec 29, 2001)

Looks like an excellent time to dump those crappy Conti's for four good performance tires.  :thumbup:


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

1) Try to get AAA to cover the wheel repair.

2) Ever thought of MEASURING the tread left? Not hard, take a small steel ruler, pu it in the tread, and look across the tread to read the depth. Most tires start with 6/32 to 8/32 or so of tread, minimum tread depth is 2/32". Another quick check is the penny check. Stick a penny in the tread with Lincoln's head down, and see if any part of his head is covered. If so, youhave some legal tread, if the entire head is showing, you need new tires.

3) Who do you work for? I want to know to avoid investing in your company that allows employees to surf at some OUTRAGEOUS fee per minute for an inflight high speed Internet connection.


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## dev (Dec 23, 2003)

Hey man thanks for the advice, but why the attitude?



> 3) Who do you work for? I want to know to avoid investing in your company that allows employees to surf at some OUTRAGEOUS fee per minute for an inflight high speed Internet connection.


The in-flight high speed internet is a *FLAT FEE... $19.95 for unlimited access on an 11 hour flight is not a bad deal. * You think paying an extra $19.95 on top of the cost of a plane ticket is unreasonable? Check out Lufthansa's website for their FlyNet service. It's normally $29.95 for unlimited but they were handing out $10 off promotion codes as we were boarding.

Hmmm... employee loses more than a full day of working hours, or pays $20 and can get additional work done on the flight. No brainer man.


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## [email protected] (Jun 10, 2003)

dev said:


> Hey man thanks for the advice, but why the attitude?
> 
> The in-flight high speed internet is a *FLAT FEE... $19.95 for unlimited access on an 11 hour flight is not a bad deal. * You think paying an extra $19.95 on top of the cost of a plane ticket is unreasonable? Check out Lufthansa's website for their FlyNet service. It's normally $29.95 for unlimited but they were handing out $10 off promotion codes as we were boarding.
> 
> Hmmm... employee loses more than a full day of working hours, or pays $20 and can get additional work done on the flight. No brainer man.


Thats a pretty sweet deal! :thumbup:


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

dev said:


> Hey man thanks for the advice, but why the attitude?
> 
> The in-flight high speed internet is a *FLAT FEE... $19.95 for unlimited access on an 11 hour flight is not a bad deal. * You think paying an extra $19.95 on top of the cost of a plane ticket is unreasonable? Check out Lufthansa's website for their FlyNet service. It's normally $29.95 for unlimited but they were handing out $10 off promotion codes as we were boarding.
> 
> Hmmm... employee loses more than a full day of working hours, or pays $20 and can get additional work done on the flight. No brainer man.


Sorry forgot the .  ie, it was a JOKE.

That is a sweet deal on Lufthansa. I guess they finally cracked the code, that if you make it reasonably priced enough, people may actually use it more and you will make more money.


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