n8n
Well-known member
Hi all,
I've posted this on NAXJA because I figured if anyone knew air compressors it would be those guys, but I figured it'd be worth posting it here as well. I have a friend who drives an older BMW and as such she changes tires seasonally. She also lives in an apartment building with a parking garage, so no shop air to fill her tires. She's tasked me with the job of putting together all the tools that she needs to change the tires herself. Her car has the factory jack, lug wrench, and wheel chock in the trunk (I sat down when she got the car and ordered all the missing pieces from getbmwparts.com) so that is not ideal but OK for 2x a year use.
What I'm thinking of getting her:
1) 17mm deep socket (acquired)
2) short 1/2" drive extention (probably have one in my junk box)
3) 18" or 24" breaker bar (working on this, looking on eBay and Garage Journal for a nice Snap-On, Williams, etc. for a reasonable price)
4) torque wrench (covered, was going to sell one of mine anyway)
5) Wheel hanger bolt (because BMWs use those irritating lug bolts rather than studs, you screw a long smooth rod into one of the lug holes to make it easier to change the wheel)
6) small container of copper anti-seize for the hub protrusion (anyone who's ever owned or worked on a BMW with alloy wheels will know why)
Now here's where I need advice. My initial thought was to get her one of those Harbor Freight 5 gallon portable air tanks, so when she went to swap tires she could air up the tank at a gas station before starting so she'd have air to inflate the tires she was swapping on so as not to have to drive to a gas station on underinflated tires. However after reflection I thought that perhaps a 12V air compressor might be a better option; no driving required, and combined with a tire plug kit could be part of an emergency road trip kit. But I don't know what's a good one... any ideas?
A little searching gives repeated hits to Viair; model 88p looks like a good budget option, whereas the 450P appears to be the luxury option with a 100% duty cycle. But I have no experience with either of these models, anyone care to chime in? I doubt that she's going to go with OBA on a E46 Bimmer
Also, is Black Jack still the good choice for tire plug kits?
This is also somewhat pertinent to my own interests as I drive an E92 which has no spare tire well; I've currently got the factory accessory space saver and tool kit strapped in the trunk, but it takes up a lot of space. Since I (touch wood) haven't had a flat in something like 10 years and I don't like space savers anyway, I'm also thinking of ditching the spare (but keeping the jack and other tools, maybe I can fit those under the trunk floor) and carrying a plug kit and compressor instead to save space and weight. Obviously there's the BMW optional Mobility Kit for the M3, but I bet there's stuff out there that's better quality and without the propellorhead markup.
I've posted this on NAXJA because I figured if anyone knew air compressors it would be those guys, but I figured it'd be worth posting it here as well. I have a friend who drives an older BMW and as such she changes tires seasonally. She also lives in an apartment building with a parking garage, so no shop air to fill her tires. She's tasked me with the job of putting together all the tools that she needs to change the tires herself. Her car has the factory jack, lug wrench, and wheel chock in the trunk (I sat down when she got the car and ordered all the missing pieces from getbmwparts.com) so that is not ideal but OK for 2x a year use.
What I'm thinking of getting her:
1) 17mm deep socket (acquired)
2) short 1/2" drive extention (probably have one in my junk box)
3) 18" or 24" breaker bar (working on this, looking on eBay and Garage Journal for a nice Snap-On, Williams, etc. for a reasonable price)
4) torque wrench (covered, was going to sell one of mine anyway)
5) Wheel hanger bolt (because BMWs use those irritating lug bolts rather than studs, you screw a long smooth rod into one of the lug holes to make it easier to change the wheel)
6) small container of copper anti-seize for the hub protrusion (anyone who's ever owned or worked on a BMW with alloy wheels will know why)
Now here's where I need advice. My initial thought was to get her one of those Harbor Freight 5 gallon portable air tanks, so when she went to swap tires she could air up the tank at a gas station before starting so she'd have air to inflate the tires she was swapping on so as not to have to drive to a gas station on underinflated tires. However after reflection I thought that perhaps a 12V air compressor might be a better option; no driving required, and combined with a tire plug kit could be part of an emergency road trip kit. But I don't know what's a good one... any ideas?
A little searching gives repeated hits to Viair; model 88p looks like a good budget option, whereas the 450P appears to be the luxury option with a 100% duty cycle. But I have no experience with either of these models, anyone care to chime in? I doubt that she's going to go with OBA on a E46 Bimmer
Also, is Black Jack still the good choice for tire plug kits?
This is also somewhat pertinent to my own interests as I drive an E92 which has no spare tire well; I've currently got the factory accessory space saver and tool kit strapped in the trunk, but it takes up a lot of space. Since I (touch wood) haven't had a flat in something like 10 years and I don't like space savers anyway, I'm also thinking of ditching the spare (but keeping the jack and other tools, maybe I can fit those under the trunk floor) and carrying a plug kit and compressor instead to save space and weight. Obviously there's the BMW optional Mobility Kit for the M3, but I bet there's stuff out there that's better quality and without the propellorhead markup.
