I have 19" BMW M sport alloys with Bridgestone run-flats on my coupe. Recently my rear nearside tyre deflated and I could not re-inflate the tyre because I had multiple cracks in my wheel. The car is 4 years old and I bought it s/hand privately.
I was aware that these wheels were featured on BBC Watchdog progamme, so I contacted the BMW dealer where the vehicle was originally purchased from. They 'tested' the wheel and said the cracks were due to impact damage and therefore they could not replace the wheel.
My dilemma is to buy a new wheel from BMW will cost £500 plus the cost of a new Bridgestone tyre £340. However, the same problem could occur sometime in the future and I will be back to square one. Alternatively, I could buy a new set of BMW 'type' wheels with non run-flat tyres for about the same price. I have checked ebay for a similar rear wheel to mine, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, my car is parked on the drive with only three wheels. Anyone care to suggest what is the best course of action - appreciate your comments?
Rappers
|
Buy a nice set of 18" alloys that do not have a cracking problem - as it happens I have a very nice set off my X1 - £200.00 collected.
Seriously (unless you want them) talking to BMW's tyre fitter at my local dealer -he said that BMW quietly come to an "accommodation" with owners that have cracked wheels, all dependent on service history and mileage.
|
>>They 'tested' the wheel and said the cracks were due to impact damage and therefore they could not replace the wheel.
What are they suggesting? That you've been under back of your car with a sledge hammer, and inflicted the damage yourself? How ridiculous!
I would be very interested to hear what form this "testing" actually took.
The exact damage mechanism isn't important really - BMW sold you the car knowing it would be used on standard roads - unless you've been green laning in your E92, or testing it on MIRA's Belgian pave, it hasn't been fit for its purpose.
|
>> The exact damage mechanism isn't important really
Well it is actually, they could claim its been up a kerb, or down a very deep pothole. Both of which is not standard road.
|
Generally Z, that's fair enough, but, it's clear these rims aren't up to the job.
If it truly were impact damage, I would expect to see some gross deformation of the rim, some local damage, and not just cracks.
It's a fairly standard automotive manufacturer's first line of defence - find something (anything!) which could make the customer feel as though it's actually his fault, or at least partially his fault.
|
The 'test' apparently involved measuring the the wheel for deviation. The result was 2.63mm which I am told is 3mm outside the BMW tolerance. So, in effect they are saying the wheel has been kerbed or damaged by a pot hole. Never mind the fact that there was 6 cracks in the rim! The test was discredited by an engineer on the Watchdog programme - www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/10/bmw_alloy_wheels.html
Anyway, it does not really help me reolve my dilemma. I could purchase 18" wheels as suggested, but would have thought that 19" without run-flats should resolve the problem. It is I'm told the run-flats which are the real problem because they do not cushion our bumpy road surfaces.
|
Well you pay your money and take your choice.
I would lay a small bet that you will need to replace another wheel at some time of you stick with runflats.
|
If I was to purchase a set of non BMW alloys is there anything I should be wary of apart from ensuring they will fit?
Should I go for the 18" instead of the 19" with non run-flats of course?
|
The car will be devalued by non-BMW wheels, but that's much less of a problem if you intend to keep it a few years.
I would go for less wheel and more tyre - so 18".
You might lose a little in handling, but most owners reckon the extra compliance in the ride is well worth it.
I think the wheels you have are simply not up to the job, rather than one faulty wheel, which is another reason to go non-BMW.
|
Iffy makes a good point, a set of 18" which take your fancy and far more practical but keep the 19" for when you want to sell.
Over the period of your ownership you're bound to find a good single 19" to make the full set up again on ebay.
|
Thanks guys, very useful advice.
Not too worried about devaluing the car as I hope to keep it for some years.
Actually, I was thinking of selling my 3 good wheels, possibly individually, as they have almost new Bridgestone tyres and should fetch a decent price. There must be a market judging from the amount of BMW owners who have problems with cracking wheels! Could then buy a space saver wheel as a spare.
|
The latest run-flats on sensible BMW wheels ride OK in my experience.
I've seen a number of road tests strongly recommending (for instance) the M3 E46 on 18" rather than 19" wheels.
Can you buy decent quality 18" BMW copies ?
|
>> If I was to purchase a set of non BMW alloys is there anything I should be wary of apart from ensuring they will fit?
>>
Check that your insurance is not affected or invalidated when fitting non BMW wheels.
This may mean talking to them.
|
2.63mm? Are you sure?
I would expect a wheel with a geometric error of that size would cause a very serious vibration as the car is driven along. You would have felt this.
Generally, I would expect errors to be less than 0.5mm.
|
|
It is a standard road in the East Midlands, at the moment!
|
...Could then buy a space saver wheel as a spare...
My CC3 comes with a Continental-branded compressor and a can of goo which you screw on to the compressor if needed.
I used it in compressor-only mode once, and it pumped up the tyre quite quickly.
It's sure to be available online somewhere, or from a Ford dealer.
tinyurl.com/4yj2aab
Edit: £25 on ebay:
tinyurl.com/3sk7h77
Apologies for the long links - I'm on slow connection which makes tinyurl-ing difficult.
Sorted the links for you
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 22 Jul 11 at 01:06
|
Thanks Iffy for the tip, presumably you are recommending this in place of a spacesaver?
Following the advice from the good people of this forum I have visited a wheel/tyre specialist local to me. I have been given prices for new BMW lookalike wheels with tyres and now only have to decide which ones. Not being a petrolhead I hope you can assist by suggesting which are the best option:
19" staggered wheels (275 rear) M3 wheels with budget tyres £895 + £25 (fitting?)
19" as above with Nixons £1120, with Avons £1250 fitted
18" not staggered M Sport wheels with budget tyres £550
18" as above with Avons £850, with Bridgestone £900
Thanks.
|
...Thanks Iffy for the tip, presumably you are recommending this in place of a spacesaver?...
Viable option because it would save you extra expenditure and chasing around for a spacesaver.
If you bought one of those later, you'd still have a useful compressor.
Don't know much about wheels, what does staggered mean?
For strength, you want the centre of the wheel as near to the midpoint width of the wheel as possible, as opposed to the equivalent of a baked bean tin with the lid off.
The smaller wheel is likely to be stronger, all other factors being equal.
|
|
Personally, I'd be biting PUs (sorry, RPs) hand off at £200...
|
>> Personally, I'd be biting PUs (sorry, RPs) hand off at £200...
>>
I was thinking that myself! Wouldn't mind scooping them up if noone else wants them and pu definitely doesn't need them.
|
The 18inch wheels with bridgestones.
Fit and forget for 15k miles!
Iffy - staggered wheels mean different sizes on back compared to front.
Dont even think about it - too much hassle and expense.
|
Mmm...not sure where RP resides? Do they have tyres on I wonder?
Really need to get this sorted, it's a pain not having a car on the road.
|
Rims only, my tyres were due for replacement last month, I had an offer from my local dealer where new tyres fitted to new rims were cheaper to buy than a set of rubber for the old rims. I live on Anglesey. One rim has some surface scratching which BMW will fix for 50 quid. - for 250 quid plus collection you'll get yourself some very nice looking standard BMW rims - They came as part of a standard upgrade pack on my car when it was new.
The rims are run-flat versions.
Last edited by: R.P. on Thu 21 Jul 11 at 17:20
|
|
Thanks for responding RP. Had it run flats I'm afraid to say...Anglesey is too far.
|
|
Some say its not far enough....
|
£25 on ebay? Daylight robbery..
tinyurl.com/3fvfaa5
- under £22..
Or auction
tinyurl.com/3dcms74
|
R.P.
I need a new set of 18" wheels for my '04 330Ci, currently 225/40 ZR18. They are looking non too good, despite my efforts (and no efforts by 2 previous owners!) and I intend fitting a set of winter tyres to them asap. I will keep the old Kumho's on my new set of alloys until next Spring.
Can you let me have details please of your set for sale
Many thanks,
|
Yesterday I purchased a new set of M3 style wheels and 225 non run-flat tyres - cost £550 including fitting and badges. The silver and black wheels look stunning on my black M Sport coupe.
Now to sell my three existing BMW wheels on ebay and with some luck I should get back my outlay and some.
I believe I have made a good decision and all thanks to the advice from members of this forum - happy days.
|
Runflats and electronic handbrakes are the invention of the devil.
I know, that should I live long enough to buy some new cars (currently owning a now 2yr old MK6 Golf), I may find that these monstrous modern inventions become ubiquitous.
They don't add anything useful to the motoring experience and I'd hate to embark on a long continental holiday with only four tyres knowing, that should a puncture occur I have only got so many miles that I can travel before buying another tyre from somewhere.
|
>> Runflats and electronic handbrakes are the invention of the devil.
>>
No... today's cars in general are the invention of the devil.
Whilst they 'may' be more reliable than in the past, they are not so repairable.
|
>> >> Runflats and electronic handbrakes are the invention of the devil.
>> >>
>>
>> No... today's cars in general are the invention of the devil.
>> Whilst they 'may' be more reliable than in the past, they are not so repairable.
>>
That is true as well. Would I undertake a 2000+ mile holiday in today's car as I used to in simple Austin Healey Sprites? I don't know.
Today they'd be more comfortable with all their standard modern accoutrements but a breakdown of these over-computerised cars would leave you stranded, I think
|
|
Remember to tell your insurance company......mine was happy and didn't charge any extra.
|
|
My rear nearside BMW wheel had multiple cracks in the inside rim. Of course, this was not the fault of the wheel...but me kerbing it or driving over a pot hole - yeah, right!
|
Having been in the same situation as many posters here, I was also looking at a very expensive bill for replacement alloys, made worse by the fact that I would be spending all this money and still have the underlying problem of the alloy/rft combination.
Fortunately my local tyre shop recommended Shadow Wheels and Tyres in Reading (www.shadow-wheels.co.uk) as having a good selection of lower cost alloy wheels and a repair service for small cracks in alloy wheels. I decided to visit Shadow for an independent check before walking into the local main dealer to be told the inevitable.
Shadow checked all four wheels for cracks without charging. Very knowledgeable and friendly people. Fortunately it was only the one wheel with the flat tyre that had cracked. At a very reasonable £40 it was an easy decision to get my wheel repaired and I can now enjoy my BMW again knowing that I can keep my nice alloys and if it happens again the cost will not bankrupt me!
PS – I have absolutely no connection with Shadow. Just posting this to possibly help others near Reading.
|
>> Fortunately it was only the one wheel with the flat tyre that had cracked. At a
>> very reasonable £40 it was an easy decision to get my wheel repaired and I
>> can now enjoy my BMW again knowing that I can keep my nice alloys and
>> if it happens again the cost will not bankrupt me!
>>
Why had the wheel cracked ?
Had it been kerbed/damaged by yourself/like that when you bought the car or, is it a problem with the wheel ?
Do the wheels all come from the same batch ?
|
Researching this problem on forums it seems that most people put this down to the low profile run flat tyres not giving the same protection to the wheels as normal tyres, coupled with the alloy wheels not being strong enough. I guess all wheels will potentially be damaged by bad potholes, I think the issue with the BMW alloy wheels/run flat tyres is that the wheels get damaged far more than they should compared to other makes/wheels.
My concern was the horrendous cost of replacing the alloy wheels given that wheel cracking is more likely as a result.
|
>> My concern was the horrendous cost of replacing the alloy wheels given that wheel cracking
>> is more likely as a result.
>>
You don't say how old the car is or what you use it for.
Up the thread you say your garage checked the wheels and said they were OK. Was this a spin on an axle and a visual check or X-Ray ? Don't want to appear all doom and gloom but if I had an OEM wheel crack for no apparent reason it would make me question why.
What are the make of wheels ?
Usually the 'prestige' manufacturers use Borbet, BBS and other reputable makes. I would contact the maker of the wheels direct to see what they recommend.
Last edited by: gmac on Tue 13 Dec 11 at 22:07
|
I'd want to know if this was one off and all other wheels fine before driving in far.
Wheels on some performance cars have even been designed to fail before expensive damage could happen. But I am thinking Audi RS4's of the past.
|
The car is 4 years old and I have original BMW 2R4 light alloy star spoke wheels. The crack was on the inner lip and just long enough to leak air. I can see this damage being caused by a bad pot-hole, although the run flat tyres do not give the wheel enough protection from these.
The garage gave the other wheels a visual check. Repair and refurbishment of alloy wheels seemed very routine for them. They had already had 3 other wheels in that day with similar cracks, not all from BMW's.
|
BMW 3-Series E92 Coupe - Alloys with run flats - R.P.
