UPDATE on my 19 Inch BMW Wheel Cracks

[Rolf-Dieter]

Some of you have seen my post(s) and pictures. Some have asked to be kept up-to-date on the outcome. Here then FYI is the UPDATE on my 19 Inch BMW Wheel Cracks

A) Model & Year of my car: 2009 sDRIVE Z4 35i
B) When it happened: August 10, 2010
C) Why it might have happened: I have a hunch, more about this later.
D) My mileage at the time: Approx. 18,000 KM ~ 11,180 Miles
E) My Wheel Type & Tire Sizes: Front 225/35/R19 Rear 255/30R19
F) Was it covered by warranty? Driver Side NO, Passenger Side YES
G) Was it covered by insurance? No

Remarks:

It happened in Idaho on a US road trip. I was given 2 choices by a BMW dealer in the US 1) to order a new wheel and claim warranty in Canada. Or call Roadside Assistance and have them toe me to the nearest Canadian BMW dealer (I was told that warranty policies are different in the US and Canada! Something I think BMW drivers should be aware of on both side of the border). I opted for option 1 above. During the change out the next day of the cracked wheel we found the other rear wheel also had 2 cracks (hairline cracks at that time). I decided to drive home the rest of the way (another 3,000 KM ~ 1,864 Miles). I made it home okay.

Update as of this day;

BMW will NOT warrant the driver side wheel, the verdict is the wheel has a bend. BMW will replace the passenger side rear wheel having two hairline cracks under warranty. I strongly believe that if I had standard tires I would have not been stuck with the cost of $666- plus hotel and expenses to replace a badly cracked wheel on the driver side. I will write to BMW and let my feelings be known. I think my next car might be a Audi or Mercedes for sure. Can you tell that I am pissed off, yes I am.

References:

While waiting for the overnight delivery of the replacement wheel I Googled “Cracked 19 Inch BMW Wheels” It made for some interesting reading. Why not check it out on Google for yourself?

My Tips & Cautions to others would be …

If you have 19” wheels with RFT be very aware of potholes and other ripples in the road. I also recommend as long as you have RFT on your car to be extra careful taking the sharp curves on the on and off ramps to and from express ways. I know that my RFT will be history as soon as my tread wear is at the minimum. RFT and 19 inch wheels are just not made for one another.

(Photos of my cracked Driver Side Rear Wheel can be seen when viewing my Garage below Page 2 Photos)

If you like to read more about UK Watchdog, interesting reading ------> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/200 ... alter.html

Some more Comments 305 in all about Cracked BMW Wheels ----> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/200 ... l#comments

[Z4 Beemer]

I wasn't aware that the 296 style alloys were affected by this issue. Is it always the inside of the rim that the crack appears, or do they sometimes appear on the outside? Quite shocked by the tyre wear on the insides.

Please do keep us updated on this.

[ksher]

All BMW 19" wheels will crack, whatever the models are. But it was the first time I heard about front cracked wheel.

[Z4 Beemer]

I'm going out to check mine now!

[Rolf-Dieter]

All BMW 19" wheels will crack, whatever the models are. But it was the first time I heard about front cracked wheel.

Only my rear wheels cracked, NOT the front.

[ksher]

All BMW 19" wheels will crack, whatever the models are. But it was the first time I heard about front cracked wheel.

Only my rear wheels cracked, NOT the front.

Sorry, I went through the post too quickly. But how could alloy wheel bend? I thought it only happens to steel wheels.

[srhutch]

Alloy wheels bend as easily as anything, my boss has 20" on his Jag XFR and had to replace all 4 alloys at 2k due to all bending just after christmas last year, all probably due to pot holes no matter how hard he tried to avoid. Jag didn't want to know.

[Wondermike]

Do you think the combination of runflat, 19" and 30 profile on the rears is just too much

The trouble is that 19s look so good, but 18s are much more suited to performance, the road conditions, etc.

[Rolf-Dieter]

Do you think the combination of runflat, 19" and 30 profile on the rears is just too much

The trouble is that 19s look so good, but 18s are much more suited to performance, the road conditions, etc.

Yes exactly that is my feeling. When you think about it. You steer into corners with your steering wheel and the front rims therefore see a lot less stress then the rear wheels. Once I get my wheel back from the dealer I will take additional photos that will show (black markings on the inner rim outside diameter) these marking made by the tire sidewall are stress marks in my opinion. As I said think about it the front wheels are guided into the curve and the rears are just following along. In my opinion the RFT are the culprit here .... someone screwed up (they just don't want to admit it) and believe me it is not the BMW driver. Most of us are very careful drivers.

What I ask is the difference between the cracked wheel and the one having 2 hairline cracks? The driver side was just more advanced and did crack open letting air escape triggering the low air pressure alarm. Also for the entire 18,000 KM I was the only one in the car for 15,000 KM on my road trip earlier this month I had a passenger for 3,000 KM. Starting to make sense yes any way high stress is my story and I am sticking with it.

Thanks for your post.

[encee]

This really is a great pity about the alloy wheels on BMW`s being "suspect". I used to own an E92 3-series coupe, and subsequently spent a bit of time on E90 Post, and many of the drivers on there had issues with one particular 19` wheel, (think it was the 136, IIRC).

BMW really do need to sort this out, because even if they lose only ONE customer, like Rolf, who is pledging to buy from another manufacturer next time, this makes it a big issue in itself, and one which they DO need to get to grips with !

[Rolf-Dieter]

encee,

I could not agree with you more when you say "BMW really need to sort this out"

I know there are a lot of disappointed BMW owners like myself that surly for there next car will look elsewhere for JOY ... It certainly is no joy to drive a nice and well engineered car with unsafe wheels and tires. If it was only my car or even a few other cars then I would never ever say a word. However, once I searched the Internet with all that free time on my hands (waiting for the replacement wheel to arrive in a small US town). I did learn that I am not the only one there are hundreds (if not more - think of all the people that just pay the bill and go away).

For me this is a safety issue, it has nothing to do with money. In my case I am told we will replace one wheel that has the 2 hairline cracks, however, the other wheel with the CRACK (the one that opened up to what I can see is at least 1/32" open) we cannot replace it is BEND. Surly a wheel that has an open crack and is exposed to a bit more load, like 2 people in the car the roof down in the trunk and 2 small suitcases will see more load and as a result will go out of round. The wheel that is declared bend or out off round once started with a hairline crack also IMO. Where is the JOY in all that?

I am only happy that we are restricted in North America to 75 Miles / Hour (120 KM / Hr) highway speed. What if if I would be on the Autobahn driving twice that speed (as so many do in Germany) would I be here writing this now?

I wonder what happen to all the people with cracked wheels in England? Did they all give up and go away? Well, I will not go away, I will write to the powers to be at BMW and let them know exactly how I feel. The situation is just to obvious, cracks appear mostly on the inside outer rim of 19 inch wheels with RFT (the weakest point of the wheel).

[braingirl]

Is there an update on which specific alloy wheels were affected by this....or was it all of them?
Have BMW sorted it out now?

I assume that all alloy wheels do crack anyway....and i suspect it may have been particularly affected by the recent odd winters with erratic hot/cold weather.

Have their been reports of this happening with the 313 or 326Ms? (double spokes)

I have only read them happening with the 296s (V-spokes) as far as I can tell on the internet