[five3three]

I was one of those who was all for that mentality of who cares if it's not runflat and I'll be fine with an air compressor and some tire slime and worst case scenario I'll call roadside assistance and get towed away. And I did just fine for the past 100k miles on my E90 with just those while running Michelin Pilot SuperSports. I did have one instance of a puncture a couple of years back that was sidewall and had to stop every 30 seconds to add more air to make it to the dealer, but other than that I have been fine.

Well, I'm over that. Once you have the perfect storm where everything goes wrong, you'll probably change your mind too.

I hit a pothole that put a huge rip in my tire and also bent my wheel. Tire slime was worthless. Air compressor didn't do a damn thing and roadside assistance sucked and made me wait each time 30 minutes just to speak to a live person. And then I waited 45 minutes for the tow truck to arrive the next morning. I was nowhere near my home when it happened late at night.

I walked a few miles in a bad storm to go get more tire slime thinking that maybe it would help. I took a bunch of cabs. I had to waste money on a used tire (and more cabs back and forth) and get that put on my bent wheel just so I could be semi mobile until I get a replacement wheel and new tire and do that again next week. And I missed half the day today dealing with it.

With a spare I could have been back on the road in 10 minutes and dealt with it on my own time. I wouldn't have had to get a junk used tire mounted on my junk bent rim just to hold me off. Between the wasted money, headache and wasted time, I spent way more than a simple space saver spare would have cost.

I'll be buying one of those before I have my M235i stateside and putting it in the trunk just in case. I'll be thrilled if I never use it and manage with the mobility kit. I'll be even more thrilled to be prepared for another scenario like today.