November 1, 1999
By: Robert Leidy

Not soon after recovering from the expense of new M roadster tires I discover a nail embedded in the tread. I immediatly remembered previous debates of patching vs plugging damaged tires. Both solutions appeared to work but in either case you technically lost the Z rating on the tires. If you've got a lead foot this loss of rating can be concerning to say the least.

When I brought my problem and concern to the attention of a tire repair shop, I was happy to find a solution. Pictured to the right is a Z Rated Patch-Plug. I have no idea who makes it or any other details, but the tire shop made it sound like a fairly common item they use whenever repairing a Z rated tire.

The tire tech broke down the tire and removed the nail. The patch-plug and area around the hole inside the tire were cleaned and then coated with what I assume to be a thick glue substance. The pointy end of this patch-plug is threaded through the hole the nail left, until the patch (round part at the bottom of the picture) makes contact with the inside of the tire. You end up with what appears to be a nail sticking out of your tire. The tire tech snipped off the protruding section, put the tire back together and then rebalanced it. I was told to take it easy on the tire for a day and then consider the tire "good as new".

Note: I did not ask permission to publish the name of the tire repair shop. Previous experience in publishing information on ///MZ3.Net has taught me to error on the side of caution, so the actual name is withheld but your local BMW dealership should be able to repair the tire or find someone who can.

Update: It's been three months and the tire has preformed well. While I don't want to incriminate myself, lets just say that I have full confidence in the Z Rating of the patch/plug :)