Alloys, dealers view

[john-e89]

I read something this morning from a European forum member, which I can't now find, saying he had 'upgraded' 296 alloys from Bmw after he had a cracked one, I rang Sytner asking if they now do stronger alloys but they had'nt heard of it, anyway I got an 'official' line from them about cracking; they say the cracking issue is exaggerated, well they would would'nt they, and that the alloys are fit for purpose, however they are aware there have been some issues, I mentioned watchdog, and that if the wheels crack due to normal use they will be re-placed under the 3yr warranty on a new car, but they won't re-place them if there has been any damage other than normal use. So there it is, we'll just have to avoid all the huge pot holes that have appeared over winter or take it up with the council, and also change to non run flats ASAP.

[Bing]

Surely encountering potholes counts as normal use in this country nowadays...

[R.E92]

My previous car had 3 cracked wheels in its lifetime. On the third trip back to the dealer for a warranty replacement I was talking with the service manager and asked if they have a lot of people repeatedly coming back for new wheels and he said he wasn't even aware it was a problem (even after I mentioned the Watchdog episode which aired only weeks before).

They said exactly the same about my HPFP in the Z4. Apparently unheard of to replace a fuel pump, but funnily enough they had one in stock ready.

I think they must be trained to deny any knowledge of a flaw in their product.

[john-e89]

Surely encountering potholes counts as normal use in this country nowadays...

It's like third world roads here in the Peak District at the mo, some shockers. Dealer as much said " up to you to avoid them pal"

[john-e89]

My previous car had 3 cracked wheels in its lifetime. On the third trip back to the dealer for a warranty replacement I was talking with the service manager and asked if they have a lot of people repeatedly coming back for new wheels and he said he wasn't even aware it was a problem (even after I mentioned the Watchdog episode which aired only weeks before).

They said exactly the same about my HPFP in the Z4. Apparently unheard of to replace a fuel pump, but funnily enough they had one in stock ready.

I think they must be trained to deny any knowledge of a flaw in their product.

Yes agree with that, however thinking about it I wonder what the cut off point would be for them to say we're re-placing too many under warranty, let's try and strengthen them, they'll have a percentage of acceptable breakages etc so it just crosses the mind if that has'nt been reached which would back up their 'exaggeration' claim, or has the e89 been too small a production run to make it worth them bothering?

[KERMIT1970]

I was talking to a mate of mine who works at Bmw,warranty manager. Bmw don't have a problem any where else in Europe with wheels cracking ! Only Great Britain that they have lots of claims,says it all really. The roads here are shocking

[john-e89]

I was talking to a mate of mine who works at Bmw,warranty manager. Bmw don't have a problem any where else in Europe with wheels cracking ! Only Great Britain that they have lots of claims,says it all really. The roads here are shocking

That answers another question then as I've always wondered if it's pot hols / rough roads etc that are cracking them or fatigue from mileage running hard run flats so thanks for posting that Kermit. Lovely car btw, I agonised over red or black when ordering mine, black just nicked it but your car does look fantastic especially with the black carbon bits.

[techathy]

I was talking to a mate of mine who works at Bmw,warranty manager. Bmw don't have a problem any where else in Europe with wheels cracking ! Only Great Britain that they have lots of claims,says it all really. The roads here are shocking

From another thread:

Finally got some real data. Using Pirelli 245/40R18 tyres in RFT & non-RFT when going over a 30mm proud drop kerb the RFT tyre saw a 35-40% increase in average rim load & almost 300% increase in the maximum spot load force applied to the rim. That's kind of shocking! Low profile RFT tyres seems like a short cut to rim damage to me!

What's shocking to me is that an object is well within the deflection capabilities of the tyre without any direct damage to the rim imparts a 3x increase in the amount of stress put on a small area of the rim.

With the amount of absolutely s**t joints between the normal road surface and the repair area in the UK & shallow pot holes compared to continental roads I've driven on I can well believe this is a UK specific problem.

[john-e89]

Patch them badly, leave them so the patch tarmac drags out again, re-patch and repeat over and over, drives you crazy

[KERMIT1970]

I was talking to a mate of mine who works at Bmw,warranty manager. Bmw don't have a problem any where else in Europe with wheels cracking ! Only Great Britain that they have lots of claims,says it all really. The roads here are shocking

That answers another question then as I've always wondered if it's pot hols / rough roads etc that are cracking them or fatigue from mileage running hard run flats so thanks for posting that Kermit. Lovely car btw, I agonised over red or black when ordering mine, black just nicked it but your car does look fantastic especially with the black carbon bits.

Cheers John black gloss bits

[Chipper3]

I have the 296 on my car and fortunately (touches wood) I have not had any cracks so far. With the roads being as bad as they area around here I'm not taking any more risks with Run-Flats tough ad intend to get them changed right away.

Ultimately I think it's a great shame as they are lovely looking wheels.

[jimbo1958]

Have my MOT and Inspection next week...fingers crossed for my 326's.

[john-e89]

Oops sorry Kermit, can't find photo's of it so just remember seeing it at the time, you could always re-post them up, 1 can never take offence at seeing that red beauty.........

You'll keep the 296's when you change rubber though right chipper3? Let us know the ride difference please.

Guessing you're out of warranty Jimbo, best of luck though they can't all crack, positive thinking.....

[Fast3000]

The roads in the UK are shocking. Border line 3rd world country not even developing country. And I honestly blame the local authority aka council and the corrupt way in which maintenance is handed out to only certain contractors. And unfortunately the contract maintaince companies that manage our roads are Good, Bad and Ugly. They are worst bunch of folk I have ever seen work (or not work in most cases!) there you go I said it Anyone want to challenge that bring it on!

So OP the reason your lovely 296s are damaged is because there is a wider problem of lack of ethical working by the folk who maintain our roads....

(ok rant over - its friday not sure where this fire has come from )

[john-e89]

The roads in the UK are shocking. Border line 3rd world country not even developing country. And I honestly blame the local authority aka council and the corrupt way in which maintenance is handed out to only certain contractors. And unfortunately the contract maintaince companies that manage our roads are Good, Bad and Ugly. They are worst bunch of folk I have ever seen work (or not work in most cases!) there you go I said it Anyone want to challenge that bring it on!

So OP the reason your lovely 296s are damaged is because there is a wider problem of lack of ethical working by the folk who maintain our roads....

(ok rant over - its friday not sure where this fire has come from )

No you're right fast3000, I might get shot for this but there is still a 'f##k it' just fill the hole, who cares if it comes back out just means we can re- do it again quickly and toss it off the rest of the day' attitude. I used to work closely to this kind of sector and it truly drives you insane, the lazy could'nt give a s**t attitude grinds you down no matter how much you try to change it. It's old school die hard thinking, 'we get paid if we work hard, not hard, do it right or not', might not be everyone but it's definitely there.