[Toolboss]

After a good hand wash of my 228xi, I was putting on the tire dressing and discovered a screw near the side wall of the tire. It's maybe a 1/2" inside from the side wall but pretty close and slightly angled towards it. So far no leaks from the tire

Should I:
* just remove the screw, most likely i'll be fine?
* replace the tire as it is too close to the side wall. Might have to replace the other tires due to X drive. I've read the threads. or
* go to the dealer and see if they can patch it.

Thanks for your feedback.

[XutvJet]

Is it loosing air with the screw in place?

[emtrey]

Probably screwed if the screw has punctured thru tread.. They will patch if nail/screw is in meaty part of tread ( middle ). Once you get toward the tire's outer edges, they don't usually like to patch tires.

If you are lucky and its just stuck in meat of tire , they will likely just pull it out. Looks to me , its all the way in the tire. Sorry--been there, done that.

[overcoil]

Test with soapy water to see if bubbles from air leaking.

[CP911]

I'd replace it based on the photos alone.

[mleskovar]

Back it out with a screwdriver and see if it leaks. If it does take it to a tire shop and they'll know whether it can be patched or not.

[MetalMK]

Are they run-flats? If they are, here is your chance to get rid of all of them

[Maynard]

Take it to a pro tire shop, not the dealer, and have them check it. Probably need to take the tire off the rim, unless they can tell it is a no-go from location alone (that's the way to patch it too, from inside). That close to the edge, I'd suspect it will need replacement (especially if you drive hard on it).

[shil]

Pull out the screw and spray the tire with water.
If you don't see any bubbles you're fine.
If you do you'll have to decide.
I'm a big fan of tire strings but that's pretty close to the edge.

[makrop]

Discount Tire (if you have one near you) and most other tire places, will repair things like that for free.

[NVHoo]

If it is leaking, no reputable tire store will patch that location irrespective of whether it is run-flat or not. Too close to sidewall.

If it were me, I'd find a tire store that has replacement tires in stock and then watch them pull the screw and test for leaks.


Another reason why I have a compact spare. Stores frequently do not have my size/brand in stock so I could check for the leak myself and still be able to drive while I shop for the best deal and wait until the replacement's arrived. Unless the tires are almost new, you will have to replace the pair. Don't believe them when they say you have to replace all 4.

[makrop]

I mean... worth a shot in trying? Worst that can happen is it keeps leaking and you have to replace the tire anyways right?

[shil]

Exactly.
You have a tire with a slow leak.
You put a string in it. It works. You rock!
If it does not work you have a tire with a slow leak.

[mleskovar]

Originally Posted by shil

...I'm a big fan of tire strings but that's pretty close to the edge.

Me too. Keep a kit and a small compressor in the trunk just for cases when you're on the road and away from the city (like the desert) and the TPMS goes off. I once fixed a tire with the string that was about the same place as this one when the tire shop wouldn't/couldn't patch it from the inside and I still had some miles remaining on all the tires before replacement. It held with no problem for another 5K miles. But.... I only use it when the inside patch is not an option.

[p912guy]

Originally Posted by mleskovar

Me too. Keep a kit and a small compressor in the trunk just for cases when you're on the road and away from the city (like the desert) and the TPMS goes off. I once fixed a tire with the string that was about the same place as this one when the tire shop wouldn't/couldn't patch it from the inside and I still had some miles remaining on all the tires before replacement. It held with no problem for another 5K miles. But.... I only use it when the inside patch is not an option.

Agree, even though it is a bit controversial among some folks, I can say I have saved many tires over the years with this type of tire plugging technique and have never had a failure. If it were mine, that's the route I'd try before dropping big money on two new tires.

[pz619]

That's pretty close to the sidewall. I'd replace but I tend to err on the safe side.

[3rdcoast228i]

You are screwed

To close to the side wall for repair for any shop to repair. Plug it If you just need to get by for a few days and aren't going to drive fast.

[Rayscott]

Originally Posted by shil

Exactly.
You have a tire with a slow leak.
You put a string in it. It works. You rock!
If it does not work you have a tire with a slow leak.

Where do you put the string and what type of string. Never heard of this, just curious in case I ever get a screw or nail in tire.

[mleskovar]

Originally Posted by Rayscott

Where do you put the string and what type of string. Never heard of this, just curious in case I ever get a screw or nail in tire.

From post #9 This is what the kit looks like.



https://www.amazon.ca/Victor-22-5-00...l_1yqacwofb0_e


Locate hole, run the rasp through it if it's too small a hole for the "string", wet string (or strings if it's a big hole) with rubber glue after attaching it to handle, push string all the way into tire until it disappears, pull handle to get some string back outside tire, cut off excess, done. You don't have to even take wheel off of the car but you must move car until hole is accessible. It's saved my butt on several occasions.

[MikeG12]

I had a similar problem last year, and the tire place said they were not allowed to plug anything within 1" of the sidewall for safety reasons. Since I had RFT's worn more than 50%, I just bit the bullet and replaced them with non-RFT's.

[Toolboss]

Thanks for the feedback. I went to the dealer today and they need to order the replacement tire. It should arrive Friday. They will then back out the screw to see if it is leaking. If no leak, the SA said I'm good to go. If it leaks then new tire.

I thought about making the change to Non-Run Flats but then I think the softer sidewalls would make my 18" wheels more susceptible to dents. And I'd also have to get a spare tire set up. So while going down to 17" wheels and non-run flats might be the ideal belt-and-suspenders approach but that would be about $1700 (tire rack tire package / space saver spare). Not to mention the loss of trunk space. So I'll just replace with another RFT.

There is no win/win solution here, only tradeoff's and what you can live with. Ugh.

[XutvJet]

Run-flats are far more susceptible to blowouts and wheel damage because of the excessive rigidness of the sidewall. I wouldn't hesitate replacing the runflats with regular tires. Chicago roads aren't great, but they aren't overly terrible.

I bought an emergency jack and tire plug kit in addition to the inflator/slime kit that came with my car (I run MPSS tires in the warm months and winter performance tires in the winter). I've NEVER had a tire blowout or rapid flat in 29 years of driving in the Midwest (lived here most of my life) and also traveling across this country in well over 100 rental cars and almost all the major cities. I've inserted tire "strings" into many tires that got minor screw and nail punctures where was no leaking or very minor leaking. The strings solved the issue. Short of a blowout, I can jack, remove, and fix a tire in 15-20 minutes.

If I ran over a screw like you did, I probably would have just cut the head of the screw off and made it flush with tread and monitor tire pressures. The screw isn't going anywhere (not like it will back out) and it isn't going to cause a blowout as it's not in a dangerous area of the tire. I highly doubt it actually punctured the tire.