DO YOU BELIEVE CRACKED ALLOYS TO BE A WARRANTY ISSUE, click

[iwatchlive]

Calm down IWL. LOL ...................By all means have a good moan but all things in moderation?

When selecting the 35i with 19" wheels and run flat tyres I was not made aware of any issues and did not have the previous knowledge like you folks have about the brittle nature of this wheel & tyre combo until I was informed of the crack - so I do find this unacceptable. However thanks to all your feedback I am now less of a newb about the issue

If your wheels cracked after just a few thousand miles of smooth tarmac then no question you have a case.....but its totally unreasonable if the damage has occurred after many 000s of miles of spirited driving on A/B/C roads. Thats all.

My issue is just that really buddy - had the car 8 months and driven it approx 7,000 miles, nearly all perfectly smooth tarmac and no real bangs or bumps because I am a bit of a laser guided pothole hunter; now if you add in the fit for purpose equation; the near 40K spent on the Zed and the near £1500 bill already, I was simply thinking this is a bit of a shock and one would expect (as far as customer service from BMW is concerned) that they would have been happy to pay for the wheel. Add to this the other cases of cracked wheels and TBH it becomes a bit worrying that I may have to fork out again if any others crack, which is totally unacceptable and would result in litigation. I have checked tyre pressures every fuel change, sometimes more than this as I am O-C on the Zed.

I have also noticed that on the cracked wheel, right opposite the crack on the corresponding outer edge of the wheel there is approx a foot of weights fitted to the wheel to balance it (which is how the car was supplied) and to me I would say that possibly the wheel had been bent out of shape prior to my purchase (these weights being evidence) and this is why the crack has appeared on the inner edge of this area. I will post a few shots of this, would appreciate your feedback on this issue

And of course your poll was silly.........that one you have to take on the chin LOL.

ACCEPTED

We look forward to ripping the piss out of you again at some juncture during your long and enjoyable membership

[iwatchlive]

Here you can see the 296 wheel


Here are crack shots


Here is the balance weights looks like 55 Grammes


and here you can see the correspondence between the location of the balance weights (as supplied with vehicle) and the location of the crack


what are your views?

[Z4 Beemer]

Well, its a fair point - the weights are opposite where the crack is, but not sure if this is just coincidence. I know that mine have a few weights dotted about them. Don't think I have as many as that in one place though, but will check.

Can I just ask, did the dealer bring this to your attention when it was in at them for other work? I just wonder if dealers check the wheels for cracks as a matter of procedure?

Also, could this be classed as a minor crack? I have to admit, if I discovered mine were like that, I would probably take the view that unless they were replaced for free, I would just drive with them normally (most of my driving is urban anyway), and then just sell the car on when its 3 years old. I can't see me wanting to replace them with the same design and size... since the same thing could just keep on happening...

[Nickm]

I had three cracks on one wheel......

[shambolic]

As I said before all mine were half a bar down (hadn't checked them ) but car has done 13k miles and no real wheel tyre problem in fact was told outside were wore slightly more than inner
Range of 3-4-3.5 across all four tyres.
I have 3 scrapes though due to bloody multiple storey car park kerbs turning left and poor vision due to long bonnet so I went straight on
Possible good shout for BM to refuse any claim from me.
The car from new has been in garage twice (15 months-ish) old for rear lights full of water and for the quality enhancement for the water in boot due to vents. Apart from tha total trouble free enjoyable (cheap ) motoring

[lacroupade]

IWL I see your point entirely now....should have posted these pics at the outset LOL

IMHO thats a lot of weights on what is supposed to be a quality wheel from BBS (I assume) and I'd be surprised if they came out of the factory needing that amount of balance. I wonder if a previous owner has kerbed the wheel and had damage polished out or welded....that would account for the extra weight required?

[Z4 Beemer]

I checked the weights on my rears this morning...

passenger side: 10g on the inner part and 5g on the outer face edge
drivers side: 10g on the inner part and 50g on the outer face edge. The 50g is made up of 2 x 25g

[lacroupade]

Actually I was forgetting the potentially piss-poor conformity of tyres.....likely the rim was well balanced from factory I'm guessing.

[Mr Whippy]

Try balance and wheel and then wheel with a tyre mounted.

Wheels and tyres are all over the place, even new ones.

50g is normal from what I've seen. 75g is getting a bit much though...

Dave

[zebedee]

Just noticed a bloody crack on one of my rear 296's so will be contacting the dealer tomorrow and asking for it to be changed as a matter of safety and under warranty.

BMW made the thing and I have three years warranty and, as far as I am concerned, a significant piece rendering the vehicle safe & roadworthy has failed.

[Nickm]

They will do a rolling test and check the mm of the crack, if it's above 2mm, it's out of warranty.....sounds like cack I know, but both of mine were not covered, mine were 2.09mm!!

[zebedee]

They will do a rolling test and check the mm of the crack, if it's above 2mm, it's out of warranty.....sounds like cack I know, but both of mine were not covered, mine were 2.09mm!!

Spoke to my local dealer yesterday (always very helpful) and as I am away at present have the car booked in next month for investigation of the crack and 'dancing window syndrome'.

The service manager I was talking to mentioned the 2mm allowable measurement but it doesn't seem much of a tolerance on a 19'' wheel with a circumference of 1515.36 mm !!

Interestingly, as didn't see it mentioned, is the cracking limited to just rears where drive is or to all four wheels ??

[Nickm]

Yes just the rears...silly that when the front wheel is likely to go over the same pothole!! Some people on E89 Forum have had theirs replaced under warranty, elsewhere in the world...