[PAi440]

I posted earlier today about getting a flat after hitting a pothole. My local tire shop has the correct tire in stock, but I don't have a car jack that will fit under my i4. I've looked everywhere in the trunk for a jack and the only thing I see is the small air compressor and fix a flat kit. Any suggestions on a jack that will fit in the 3 inches of space I have with the front tire being flat?

 

[linerjoe]

I posted earlier today about getting a flat after hitting a pothole. My local tire shop has the correct tire in stock, but I don't have a car jack that will fit under my i4. I've looked everywhere in the trunk for a jack and the only thing I see is the small air compressor and fix a flat kit. Any suggestions on a jack that will fit in the 3 inches of space I have with the front tire being flat?

None of the i4's come with a jack or spare tire.

Can you drive onto a 2x4, or something like that, to give a bit more clearance?

 

[PAi440]

None of the i4's come with a jack or spare tire.

Can you drive onto a 2x4, or something like that, to give a bit more clearance?

Absolutely, and Great idea. I get the included fix-a-flat idea, but I have a large gash in my tire. It's not going to work. Plus the fix-a-flat junk always seems to mess up the tire pressure sensors. Hard to believe a $60k car doesn't come with a $50 jack. I hate to sound like a bitter old man, but this really chaps my ass. 👴

 

[J_P]

Hard to believe a $60k car doesn't come with a $50 jack.

I see little point of including a jack in a car that has no spare tyre. Most punctures I've had are slow and you just keep the tyre inflated enough to get to your tyre shop. More catastrophic failures will require recovery either to a garage or home. If you take it home, just borrow or buy a jack in your own time, you don't need to carry one around in the car all the time.

 

[Jonathan S.]

I posted earlier today about getting a flat after hitting a pothole. My local tire shop has the correct tire in stock, but I don't have a car jack that will fit under my i4. I've looked everywhere in the trunk for a jack and the only thing I see is the small air compressor and fix a flat kit. Any suggestions on a jack that will fit in the 3 inches of space I have with the front tire being flat?

Your local tire shop has the correct tire in stock ... but doesn't have a lift?!?
Seriously, I'm totally confused here as to the problem?
(Even if you had your own jack, and bought a replace tire, then what...?)
As for the lack of a jack, like another poster commented, no point in providing a jack with a car that doesn't have a spare tire well. The ICE 3 & 4 series are the same way.

 

[J_P]

Your local tire shop has the correct tire in stock ... but doesn't have a lift?!?
Seriously, I'm totally confused here as to the problem?

I was a bit puzzled about this at first. I think his car is at home and he wants to take the wheel to the garage to get the replacement tyre fitted.

 

[Jonathan S.]

I was a bit puzzled about this at first. I assume his car is at home and he wants to take the wheel to the garage to get the replacement tyre fitted.

Ah, right, that makes sense now, thanks!

 

[kindofblue]

Cars have not come with spare tires nor jacks for years now.

 

[Jonathan S.]

Cars have not come with spare tires nor jacks for years now.

Varies a lot by car company and model:

• BMW 3 & 4 series, nope.
• BMW SUVs, generally optional.
• My 2022 A6 Allroad, inflatable temp spare. (Allows the spare tire well to be a trivial amount smaller in diameter.)
• My wife's 2019 Impreza, typical temp spare.
• My previous 2019 VW Arteon, full-size matching alloy wheel & tire with TPMS sensor. (I integrated it into my tire rotation almost hoping to get a catastrophic flat!)

 

[JST1963]

Cars have not come with spare tires nor jacks for years now.

2004 Opel Vectra GTS: Full-size spare tire + jack included
2008 BMW 3 series: came with run-flats, no spare, no jack
2012 VW Passat CC: nothing included. Place where the spare tire should have been was a nice big addition to the already immense trunk
2016 Audi A4: nothing included
2018 Audi A5: nothing included
2020 BMW 3 series: nothing included

 

[FaRKle!]

I posted earlier today about getting a flat after hitting a pothole. My local tire shop has the correct tire in stock, but I don't have a car jack that will fit under my i4. I've looked everywhere in the trunk for a jack and the only thing I see is the small air compressor and fix a flat kit. Any suggestions on a jack that will fit in the 3 inches of space I have with the front tire being flat?

In addition to @linerjoe's suggestion of driving on a 2x4 to give some more clearance you can also jack up the car from the rear side jack point, which should have more clearance in your case, till the front side is off the ground allowing you to pull the wheel off. I'd recommend putting a jackstand underneath the front side jack point once you have enough clearance.

I jack up the whole side of my BMWs from either just the front or rear side jack point all the time at the track when swapping wheels.

 

[rollermonkey]

Harbor Freight has a few good jacks that are made on the same line as Snap-On jacks, but don’t cost 3-grand. I picked one up during a pre-Xmas sale for an absolute steal of a bargain. Look for the ProjectFarm YouTube channel to see tests showing that the Daytona line is identical in quality and capacity at a ridiculously low price. Website is showing $240 right now, I think I paid $180+tax. Well, the snap-on is probably ridiculously expensive, but you get my point.
anyways I got a 4-ton jack which should be plenty to lift either end of the car. Oh, and it’s got a really low profile, too.

 

[gsbaker]

I posted earlier today about getting a flat after hitting a pothole. My local tire shop has the correct tire in stock, but I don't have a car jack that will fit under my i4. I've looked everywhere in the trunk for a jack and the only thing I see is the small air compressor and fix a flat kit. Any suggestions on a jack that will fit in the 3 inches of space I have with the front tire being flat?

Check the owners manual for jacking points!

they are not at the front but under the doors.

you should have 5" of clearance so a scissors jack could work.

 

[Liquid]

Hard to believe a $60k car doesn't come with a $50 jack.

You are 100 percent right, this is bs.

My 2007 3 series didn't come with a jack. After changing the tires I had a front tire mounted on a rim got a jack and threw them in the trunk. I bought my 2015 Infiniti Q50 and I had to add in a the spare tire kit.

For the i4 I picked up the modernspare kit.

 

[cjbeckmann]

I've been considering getting a kit from here:

For All 2022-2023 BMW i4 - Spare Tire And Complete Accessory Kit Options

Say Bye Run-Flats! Spec-engineered spare tire kits for your 2022-2023 BMW i4. Light alloy, long-range space-saver tire. Search Model/Year

modernspare.com

Anybody have one? Worth getting?

 

[ssh]

BMW 3 & 4 series, nope.

When I bought my 2020 330i, it had tire options of run flat or not. Run flats didn't have a spare, but non-run flats did.

 

[Jonathan S.]

When I bought my 2020 330i, it had tire options of run flat or not. Run flats didn't have a spare, but non-run flats did.

Hmm, now I’m all confused.
When I was looking at the PHEV version for my wife, no spare option.
I was curious if that was just for the PHEV, but all my searching online seemed to conclude that the 3 series hasn’t had a spare tire well for years.

 

[dudenjen]

My full size RAM pickup has a spare. I've always owned both a truck and a car since 1995. I can only think of one time where I made use of a spare tire with any of those vehicles.

Discount Tire rotates the tires on my two and my wife's vehicle. I try to look at my tires at least once a month, and so far I have been able to catch a leak or loss of air before it becomes a problem.

Most recently I had the misfortune of hitting a pot hole and luckily the tire on ny i4 didn't completely deflate until I drove the 8.5 miles to Discount Tire for a replacement tire.

Lastly, I do have a low profile floor jack in the garage should I need to take the wheel off the car.

 

[ssh]

Hmm, now I’m all confused.
When I was looking at the PHEV version for my wife, no spare option.
I was curious if that was just for the PHEV, but all my searching online seemed to conclude that the 3 series hasn’t had a spare tire well for years.

Huh... I don't know what to tell ya. I'm no expert, but one reason I chose run-flats at the time was to save the space in the back.

 

[Jonathan S.]

Huh... I don't know what to tell ya. I'm no expert, but one reason I chose run-flats at the time was to save the space in the back.

Ah, now I see, only the PHEV variant removes the spare tire option. On the regular ICE 3 series, the temp spare is an inexpensively priced option even with the default rf tires. Which makes sense given the battery size of the PHEV, and of course on the i4.
The puzzling part is all the online chatter about how the 3 series doesn’t have a spare. Perhaps so few people spec it that way? I know that often the sound system upgrade eliminated the spare option since the subwoofer takes up the tire well.