108 Alloy Corrosion, Air Loss and Wheel Warranty

[EdButler]

Hi Guys, strange 'feature' this one...

Ive had a 'puncture' on the car for a while now, loosing 10psi every 4-5 days so decided to have it fixed yesterday. Anyway my local friendly tyre specialists and i couldnt find ANYTHING. The valve was fine, the surface unmarked and no air bubbles with the tyre submerged in water at 55+ psi!!

Having a chat with the specialist, he thought that because of the corrosion (rather heavy on the inner side), it could be leaking air when the tyre is moving under driving forces... This does make sense? When ive been driving it less over xmas, it hasn't lost as much air (about half) so seems logical to me..?

Also im led to believe that BMW APPROVED used car warranty, which mine is under, doesnt cover wheels..? Do you think i could have a case with this??

 

[Wondermike]

Seems a bit unusual, I wouldn't have thought the wheels moved around that much when driving, but I suppose it sounds plausible based on what you have said.

Not sure about the warranty but seeing as the 108s are such a known problem anyway I'd ask the dealer to intervene and talk to BMW. I'd also get a set of different wheels if they do decide to replace them.

 

[csmith319]

I had a similar thing on my old Mini - as in, the tyre fitters could not find anything at all wrong with the wheel or tyre.

In the end I changed the tyre and didn't have a problelm after that!

 

[cj10jeeper]

I have problems on the big 4x4 tyres that have 2 similar tendencies to what you describe in having no obvious airloss when static, but deflate.

Firstly dirt gets in the bead and that causes slow leaks over time, usually while driving as the leak point hits rotates secondly sidewall cuts that only open when the cut is close the ground and stretched open. In fact you can sometimes even hear them hiss once per revolution. So this leads me to think it is possible for corrosion on a 108 to cause a leak while revolving of a puncture that acts the same way.

I suggest you break the bead, clean the corrosion off, re-inflate and if it still leaks stump up for a tyre

 

[Herminator]

Do you park the car on flat ground?
My parents VW Polo used to loose a lot of air from it's front left tyre because the car was always sat on our drive which has a big slope on it, meaning the car would lean towards that wheel when parked in it's usual position.

 

[DannyBoy]

I have problems on the big 4x4 tyres that have 2 similar tendencies to what you describe in having no obvious airloss when static, but deflate.

Firstly dirt gets in the bead and that causes slow leaks over time, usually while driving as the leak point hits rotates secondly sidewall cuts that only open when the cut is close the ground and stretched open. In fact you can sometimes even hear them hiss once per revolution. So this leads me to think it is possible for corrosion on a 108 to cause a leak while revolving of a puncture that acts the same way.

I suggest you break the bead, clean the corrosion off, re-inflate and if it still leaks stump up for a tyre

This is exactly what happened to my OS rear 108 6 months ago.

Local tyre fitter rebeaded it and it has been fine since.

 

[GAZA62]

Have heard of split rims leaking air before normally from the rim itself and as for the Warranty it SADLY :x will not cover your wheels

 

[srhutch]

Have heard of split rims leaking air before normally from the rim itself and as for the Warranty it SADLY :x will not cover your wheels

I thought the warranty was mean to be as good as the manufacturer one, and I'm sure others have said wheels are covered.

 

[GAZA62]

Have heard of split rims leaking air before normally from the rim itself and as for the Warranty it SADLY :x will not cover your wheels

I thought the warranty was mean to be as good as the manufacturer one, and I'm sure others have said wheels are covered.

Sadly not mate as mine had some corrosion on the inner rim which they got refurbed boys in spurs did the job clear coat over brake dust :x :x

Look at the leather clad folder you got with the car look at the first page after warranty tag and items not covered include wheels

 

[cj10jeeper]

Have heard of split rims leaking air before normally from the rim itself and as for the Warranty it SADLY :x will not cover your wheels

I think this would only apply to 3 part split rims where the actual rim is in 2 parts and sealed with bolts and a gasket. On the 108's just the centre star is a separate component, which is of course not part of the rim/tyre air chamber

 

[GAZA62]

Have heard of split rims leaking air before normally from the rim itself and as for the Warranty it SADLY :x will not cover your wheels

I think this would only apply to 3 part split rims where the actual rim is in 2 parts and sealed with bolts and a gasket. On the 108's just the centre star is a separate component, which is of course not part of the rim/tyre air chamber

Just read your post on the re-furb and see what you mean great job by the way

 

[Crusoe]

My 108s being sent off for a full refurb at a specialist, dealer paying for it not BMW though. £120 a wheel plus postage and packing down to London. If the corrosion gets bad the alloys can become porous, sounds like yours might have reached that stage.

 

[Breaker]

Also im led to believe that BMW APPROVED used car warranty, which mine is under, doesnt cover wheels..? Do you think i could have a case with this??

Well my Z4 is a late '07 Approved BMW (it was an ex-BMW car so was never sold to a member of the public) and when I found corrosion on the 2 rear 108's my dealer replaced them with 2 new ones. No problem. BMW OK'd it also. If I ever have a problem with the fronts I will expect the same if it's still under warranty.

 

[srhutch]

Also im led to believe that BMW APPROVED used car warranty, which mine is under, doesnt cover wheels..? Do you think i could have a case with this??

Well my Z4 is a late '07 Approved BMW (it was an ex-BMW car so was never sold to a member of the public) and when I found corrosion on the 2 rear 108's my dealer replaced them with 2 new ones. No problem. BMW OK'd it also. If I ever have a problem with the fronts I will expect the same if it's still under warranty.

It can only be that our cars being under three years still come under manufacturer warranty, where as a lot of forum members cars will be over three years old with approved car warranty which doesnt cover the wheels.

 

[EdButler]

Cheers for the input guys Will get the tyre re-fitted to exclude that one. Lets hope they havent become porus!

Happy new year all