compact spare... it does work and is cool!
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 938
Likes: 53
From: Montreal, Canada
2005 C240 2011 R350
compact spare... it does work and is cool!
I had the unfortunate pleasure of having to use the compact spare recently.
It is easy to use and inflate with the 12v pump.
It will also deflate back to original size when you remove the valve with the supplied cap/valve removal tool. So if it is good shape you can put it back and reuse it.
I had to drive almost 300km home at under 90kph. The tread wear was almost none and I am confident that I will be able to use it again. I read through the owners manual and I could find no mention of distance limits on the spare.
Just a note, at first it vibrated quite a lot and I could not drive more than 80kph. The ESP system kicked in and gave me the yellow triangle on the dash. At the time it did not occur to me that it was the ESP system. I assumed that the car knew that the spare was on and would not let me drive faster than the recommended 80kph. I am not sure why ESP turned on. The ESP limiter was annoying so I set the cruise control to between 75 and 78.
However after maybe 50km, it got smoother and the ESP no longer cut in and I was able to drive faster. I was careful and I drove 90kph the rest of the 300km home without incident. Had I realized it was the ESP system I could have hit the button to turn it off. I will know better next time. Prefer there be no next time!
The pictures are after use.
It is easy to use and inflate with the 12v pump.
It will also deflate back to original size when you remove the valve with the supplied cap/valve removal tool. So if it is good shape you can put it back and reuse it.
I had to drive almost 300km home at under 90kph. The tread wear was almost none and I am confident that I will be able to use it again. I read through the owners manual and I could find no mention of distance limits on the spare.
Just a note, at first it vibrated quite a lot and I could not drive more than 80kph. The ESP system kicked in and gave me the yellow triangle on the dash. At the time it did not occur to me that it was the ESP system. I assumed that the car knew that the spare was on and would not let me drive faster than the recommended 80kph. I am not sure why ESP turned on. The ESP limiter was annoying so I set the cruise control to between 75 and 78.
However after maybe 50km, it got smoother and the ESP no longer cut in and I was able to drive faster. I was careful and I drove 90kph the rest of the 300km home without incident. Had I realized it was the ESP system I could have hit the button to turn it off. I will know better next time. Prefer there be no next time!
The pictures are after use.
Last edited by efzauner; Oct 12, 2015 at 08:49 PM.
Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 123
Likes: 11
From: Brooklyn, NY
2006 R500
I've had to use mine a few times unfortunately, nyc potholes love to eat rims and I've fallen victim 3 or 4 times already, one time the tire on this spare winded up unseating from the rim upon deflation and the next time I tried to use it was a ***** to get it to seat again but I was able to pry the tire to seal to the rim with the tire iron and it inflated to fine and then deflated fine again. I'm sure it can still be used again, it's pretty resilient. can't say as much for the jack though, last time I use it the plastic head that fits into the receivers on the chassis broke so I now need either another jack or at least a new plastic pivoting head for the jack
