[Marty in NY]

I happened upon this phenomenon while investigating another brand. Lets say you're 1,000 miles into a 2,000 mile trip with your X5, the cargo area is packed solid and the overflow is strewn across the rear seats.
Your TPMS pops up with a warning and low and behold you have a flat, not an ordinary flat but a sidewall busting flat. No worries because you bought the spare tire option, so lets get going with unloading the cargo area, get that spare out and on the car and back on the road with minimal delay.
Then you realize that your real tire, the flat one, is too large to fit into the spare wheel well . What? Shut your mouth! You can't squeeze it in there and still close the cargo floor because its hinged and now the wife says, ...in a sympathetic tone of course,...good going master planner , now what?

By now you're thinking you just wasted the money on the spare option that should have averted a call to BMW assist or AAA or...

Ok, so, can someone research this with their own car? What is the max size tire that will fit into the spare tire storage well and still be able to close the cargo floor cover?

[mgnmpl]

I don't have to measure that - there is no chance. I'm using the well on a daily basis having some small things there so I'm sure it's to shallow.

If you buy expensive car - you better buy an assistance in your insurance

[LexxM3]

Per mgnmpl, there is zero chance a full size tire/rim will fit the spare compartment. The spare is pure emergency, when nothing else is viable. It is not fast, clean, or any semblance of "convenient".

[TurtleBoy]

I had a similar situation with my TL a few years ago driving on the PA turnpike heading home from our daughter's wedding. The trunk was packed and the back seat fairly full when a tire lost pressure due to driving over what looked like a rivet. Ended up putting some stuff in the wheel well and packing the back seat even tighter and the wife held my daughter's wedding dress as we drove.

The tire shop at the first exit wouldn't plug it and wanted to sell us new tires but said we would have to wait there (it was a Saturday afternoon) until Tuesday until they come in. Needless to say we got back on the Turnpike and at the next exit there was a Walmart that plugged the tire and we were back on the road.

One of the reasons I choose the X5, the 5-series was originally at the top of my list but with the spare tire option the trunk is useless, was because I could get a spare. My wife said she does not want to take our cross-country trips without a spare even with run flats.

[Marty in NY]

I know, I know but just humor me, just looking to find out if even a 19" would fit the spare tire well. I assume no due to the diameter and the width (or height once loaded in the well) and not being able to close the cargo floor cover and I don't care if I can't close it all the way but it at least needs to be closed enough to get all the junk back in. However, I get burned 80% of the time when I assume, just looking to see if someone is willing to measure and do the math.

[Paladin1]

In that scenario - and I'll add qualifiers: in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, with no help coming - you are leaving your tire on the side of the road (to possibly retrieve later, but maybe not). But not yourself. Then a spare would be useful. Second scenario: all of the above, but a tow is coming, with no spare that fits. You can then follow instead of ride. Or maybe the service station is 5 miles down the road. Then a spare would be useful. You can add any number of variations, including the likely one of having room to stow the flat, in which case having a spare would be useful. What you gain from not having a spare is some under cover storage. Choices, choices....

[LexxM3]

I haven't tried putting a full size in there, but since the cavity is close to the cover hinge point, I don't expect you'd be able to close the spare compartment cover any more than 45 degrees at absolute best case, perhaps worse. Next wheel changeover cycle in about 3 months, if I remember, I'll try a few rims in there and take pics (I'll try an aftermarket 20x9.5, a stock 21x9.5, and a stock 21x10.5, all with tires).

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by Turtleboy

Ended up putting some stuff in the wheel well and packing the back seat even tighter and the wife held my daughter's wedding dress as we drove.

^^^This^^^

I'm with TB...everything can be repacked...but may not go back where it was originally. If the regular wheel/tire is too big to fit into the spare tire area...then you put smaller things that was originally ABOVE this location...and that will free up "square footage" above the cargo floor for the original wheel/tire that is now blown beyond use.

If your cognitive spatial recognition isn't as good as your spouse or other passengers...then get them to help readjust/repack things back inside the car. The emergency spare is probably about half the size of the original size tire...so you only need to rearrange smaller items in the spare location that will allow the full size wheel/tire to fit above the cargo floor.

It's like a sliding puzzle...just need to do a bit of reworking.

[dream54ing]

this is a great topic and need to be adressed... but I'm too lazy. At the moment, I can just hope and pray i dont get a side flat on a road trip because our back cargo is packed with baby stuff. we are leaving on a trip this friday

[RVAGuy]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

In that scenario - and I'll add qualifiers: in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, with no help coming - you are leaving your tire on the side of the road (to possibly retrieve later, but maybe not). But not yourself. Then a spare would be useful. Second scenario: all of the above, but a tow is coming, with no spare that fits. You can then follow instead of ride. Or maybe the service station is 5 miles down the road. Then a spare would be useful. You can add any number of variations, including the likely one of having room to stow the flat, in which case having a spare would be useful. What you gain from not having a spare is some under cover storage. Choices, choices....

Still seems to me I’d rather have the problem of not being able to close the hatch than a flat and no spare.

[sygazelle]

[QUOTE=... now what?

[/QUOTE]

It's a sad but funny story the way you tell it.

You probably could have gone all Angus MacGyver on it and tied your flat to the roof rack using the dip stick.

[Dagwag77]

Originally Posted by mgnmpl

I don't have to measure that - there is no chance. I'm using the well on a daily basis having some small things there so I'm sure it's to shallow.

Originally Posted by Marty in Bgm

I know, I know but just humor me, just looking to find out if even a 19" would fit the spare tire well.

mgnmpl was absolutely right, even just by eyeballing it... way too shallow.

If I was in a situation where I had a stuffed car and had to swap out the spare, I'd just try and put other items in the well to accommodate the busted tire... but maybe I'm a bit more tolerant after getting used to riding around with a full size spare in the trunk of my 750i with RFTs...

[scotchy]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

^^^This^^^

I'm with TB...everything can be repacked...but may not go back where it was originally. If the regular wheel/tire is too big to fit into the spare tire area...then you put smaller things that was originally ABOVE this location...and that will free up "square footage" above the cargo floor for the original wheel/tire that is now blown beyond use.

If your cognitive spatial recognition isn't as good as your spouse or other passengers...then get them to help readjust/repack things back inside the car. The emergency spare is probably about half the size of the original size tire...so you only need to rearrange smaller items in the spare location that will allow the full size wheel/tire to fit above the cargo floor.

It's like a sliding puzzle...just need to do a bit or reworking.

[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped.../15-Puzzle.jpg[/img]

"Cognitive spatial recognition."
Lol!

[chrisny]

As someone that packs the car to the maximum when we take road trips (largely because my wife repeatedly overpacks) I can attest to the "always room for more if you keep rearranging" angle... Somehow, even if 1/3 of the trunk is full on the way there with food we then consume on the trip, we always have more junk on the way back than on the way there.

[scotchy]

Originally Posted by chrisny

As someone that packs the car to the maximum when we take road trips (largely because my wife repeatedly overpacks) I can attest to the "always room for more if you keep rearranging" angle... Somehow, even if 1/3 of the trunk is full on the way there with food we then consume on the trip, we always have more junk on the way back than on the way there.

Haha I can relate. I overpack too but mine still all fits in one carry-on. My wife has a new policy of bringing an empty piece of luggage to accommodate her purchases of additional wardrobes now, lol. We'll be gaining a lot of additional cargo space coming from a smaller SUV so "should" have adequate space with the X5.

[chrisny]

Originally Posted by scotchy

Haha I can relate. I overpack too but mine still all fits in one carry-on. My wife has a new policy of bringing an empty piece of luggage to accommodate her purchases of additional wardrobes now, lol. We'll be gaining a lot of additional cargo space coming from a smaller SUV so "should" have adequate space with the X5.

Nope, always ways to fill whatever space you have! We went from an X5 to an XC90, which had significantly more cargo space. Yet, packing was never any easier lol. Maybe I shouldn't have let her know there was more room. 🤔

Now back in an X5, packing for our next trip should be fun!

[VTENGR]

Here's the solution. With your spare, pack some cargo straps and quilted blanket. In case of a flat, and no cargo room, strap the flat to the roof!

[British620]

I got a flat tire this morning!! I hit a pot hole and the tire didn't stand a chance, and aired out immediately. So happy I had the spare tire. I got the first Drag racing Honda Civic look going on. The tire ain't cheap!!! The 22"s took over the entire trunk!!

[Dagwag77]

Originally Posted by British620

I got a flat tire this morning!! I hit a pot hole and the tire didn't stand a chance, and aired out immediately. So happy I had the spare tire. I got the first Drag racing Honda Civic look going on. The tire ain't cheap!!! The 22"s took over the entire trunk!!

Oof, that sucks. Very lucky to have the spare!

How do you find the conti tires handle in the NY winter? Other than their attraction to potholes haha

[British620]

Originally Posted by Dagwag77

Oof, that sucks. Very lucky to have the spare!

How do you find the conti tires handle in the NY winter? Other than their attraction to potholes haha

We haven't really had much in the way of snow so far, but what we've had so far, it handled it really well.

[Marty in NY]

Thanks everyone! So it looks like the spare tire well is something like 26" wide by 5, 6 or 7" deep, couldn't quite tell when looking at Dagwag77's pix. However, even if its 7" deep, that's not going to cut the mustard.

I'm too short to attempt to put the flat tire on the roof, I can't even see the roof to clean it. I could ask my wife to do it but, well, a, it would be a pretty quiet rest of the trip, so that's out. Rearranging our junk would be the way to go. If the tire was shot, I suppose I could cut it off the rim, leave it behind and store the rim in the spare tire wheel well, repack and go. Tire beads are hard to cut though.

[VTENGR]

Originally Posted by Marty in Bgm

Thanks everyone! So it looks like the spare tire well is something like 26" wide by 5, 6 or 7" deep, couldn't quite tell when looking at Dagwag77's pix. However, even if its 7" deep, that's not going to cut the mustard.

I'm too short to attempt to put the flat tire on the roof, I can't even see the roof to clean it. I could ask my wife to do it but, well, a, it would be a pretty quiet rest of the trip, so that's out. Rearranging our junk would be the way to go. If the tire was shot, I suppose I could cut it off the rim, leave it behind and store the rim in the spare tire wheel well, repack and go. Tire beads are hard to cut though.

Not sure if you've ever try to cut a tire before, but it's not like you can take you 3" pocket knife and slice through it. you would be there all day unless you had a angle grinder or something along those lines... haha....