326M 19" Crack

[Dryce]

Car went for its first MOT. Crack in rear wheel.

Turned out there were 4 cracks in all once I got to inspect it - all on the inside rim.

BMW and dealer not interested in warranty. TBH I'm not impressed with the attitude - which leaves it to the customer to push and tries to hold at arms length.

To put this in perspective - previous SLK had two alloys that started to corrode in the third year. MB replaced them under warranty - no quibble to fix a cosmetic defect.

OTOH with the Z4 the defect is functional in that the car would fail its MOT without a fix - and while arguably this is a wear and tear thing, having examined the wheel I'm not convinced. Two of the cracks have adjacent corrosion so they're not new - and there is to my eye no significant damage near them (one has a scuff near by). The two newer looking cracks have no adjacent corrosion or marks - it was suggested to me that these may be caused by the wheel distorting or flexing due to the first two cracks.

My advice to anybody buying a used Z4 with 326Ms would be to have the wheels taken off and inspected before committing to a purchase.

 

[Maniac]

Welcome to the cracked wheels club. My advice is to persevere with BMW UK, I did. As long as the wheels are NOT out of round, ie have not been whacked out of alignment by potholes, you have a good case to ask BMW for a goodwill gesture to replace them. I had two replaced (rears) in warranty and one (front) out of warranty. I've switched to 313's now but it seems no 19" are immune and I'll be switching to non run flat tyres to protect them as IMHO its the hard walled run flats causing this damage.

For the benefit of others, how old is the car(wheels) and what mileage? Also on what road surfaces do you drive (good quality. rough etc)

 

[Dryce]

you have a good case to ask BMW for a goodwill gesture to replace them.

Wheel already replaced - or car would have failed its MOT so we were a bit over a barrel on that - the option of welding was considered but we were advised that it wasn't a good option.

For the benefit of others, how old is the car(wheels) and what mileage? Also on what road surfaces do you drive (good quality. rough etc)

22000

Car does mainly motorway miles and A roads. Local urban roads not good. Rest mainly fine. When I drive I'm extremely careful about avoiding the worst road surfaces (ex-biker).

Almost exactly 3 years old (but the two older cracks must go back months if not a year)

No idea how the car was treated in its first year as it was purchased as an AUC at almost exactly 1 year old - but rear tyre wear wasn't excessive.

Interestingly I've noted one or two other comments regarding cracks where people discover them shortly after they get their RFTs changed. Our RFTs were changed about 10 days before the car went for its MOT. And I'm wondering if the two newer looking cracks might not be the result of the tyre fitting if the wheel and rim was stressed then and weakened by the existing cracks.

 

[Stark]

I've had 3 326 wheels crack and all have been replaced under warranty. One of which was changed under extended warranty which does not normally cover alloys but they made an exception

 

[matthurley]

I switched to 18s and non run flats. Never looked back. The "crackless" driving experience and smoother ride outweighs the asthetics of the 19s for me

 

[The hairy angler]

I stick with 16" wheels for exactly this reason!! Given the 3rd world state of some of our roads I think that 16"wheels with 50 aspect tyres (not runflats)" give' more and are not as likely to crack. It makes for a much less harsh ride. My tyre fitter has seen many 18" and 19" wheels with cracks and he puts it down to the state of the roads. I feel that the Z4 springs along with large diameter wheels with low aspect tyres are a bad combination on our roads at present.
John Duggan aka The hairy angler

 

[TitanTim]

I stick with 16" wheels for exactly this reason!! Given the 3rd world state of some of our roads I think that 16"wheels with 50 aspect tyres (not runflats)" give' more and are not as likely to crack. It makes for a much less harsh ride. My tyre fitter has seen many 18" and 19" wheels with cracks and he puts it down to the state of the roads. I feel that the Z4 springs along with large diameter wheels with low aspect tyres are a bad combination on our roads at present.
John Duggan aka The hairy angler

16" on an E89?

Tim.

 

[Dexter_Morgan]

I had a cracked 326 replaced FOC under warranty. It was found when it went in for the security update so they must have been looking for it. There was no suggestion I should pay at any point.

 

[The hairy angler]

I stick with 16" wheels for exactly this reason!! Given the 3rd world state of some of our roads I think that 16"wheels with 50 aspect tyres (not runflats)" give' more and are not as likely to crack. It makes for a much less harsh ride. My tyre fitter has seen many 18" and 19" wheels with cracks and he puts it down to the state of the roads. I feel that the Z4 springs along with large diameter wheels with low aspect tyres are a bad combination on our roads at present.
John Duggan aka The hairy angler

16" on an E89?

Tim.[/quote)
EEEEEEEEEEK !!!! Of course I run an E85 !

 

[Transmat]

you have a good case to ask BMW for a goodwill gesture to replace them.

Wheel already replaced - or car would have failed its MOT so we were a bit over a barrel on that - the option of welding was considered but we were advised that it wasn't a good option.

For the benefit of others, how old is the car(wheels) and what mileage? Also on what road surfaces do you drive (good quality. rough etc)

22000

Car does mainly motorway miles and A roads. Local urban roads not good. Rest mainly fine. When I drive I'm extremely careful about avoiding the worst road surfaces (ex-biker).

Almost exactly 3 years old (but the two older cracks must go back months if not a year)

No idea how the car was treated in its first year as it was purchased as an AUC at almost exactly 1 year old - but rear tyre wear wasn't excessive.

Interestingly I've noted one or two other comments regarding cracks where people discover them shortly after they get their RFTs changed. Our RFTs were changed about 10 days before the car went for its MOT. And I'm wondering if the two newer looking cracks might not be the result of the tyre fitting if the wheel and rim was stressed then and weakened by the existing cracks.

Even though you have paid for a new wheel, you can still pursue for a refund for the cost of the wheel - provided you either have a) the 'run out' report which the bmw dealer should have conducted (they can print this off for you), or b) you still have the wheel.

Write a letter to bmw, you'll end up writing 2 or 3. They have replaced 2 wheels for me free of charge, including one out if the warranty period with a non runflat tyre. You need to focus on how dangerous the wheel caused the car to be (an MOT fail), and remind them of how many other wheels they have replaced for free under warranty.