Advice cracked 19 Alloy

tiglon said:
spielnicht said:
Just purchased a Z4 35is and it's coming with 295 style wheels. Personally think they age the car a bit so much prefer the look of the 326. Having said that, I'm reading nothing but horror stories when I google "326 wheels". Are they really that bad? Is every owner doomed to have cracks at some point or another? Trying to convince myself from selling the 295s - so appreciate the input.

I see the 437 is recommended, but would need to do more research on how far they stick out from the fender. Personally prefer the wheels/tires to stay on the inside of the fenders.
Click to expand...

Some say 326 are made of chocolate, others have been fine with them.

The 437 or other M2/M3/M4 wheels don't stick out at all, they fill the gap quite nicely - plenty of photos of them on Z4s out there if you do a google or forum search.
Click to expand...

They’re definitely not made from chocolate, that would be more durable.
They’re made from reconstituted eggshells :thumbsup:
Rob
 
warmasice said:
Just for balance, never had an issue with cracking. There's no doubt non-rft tyres help. Any alloy can crack if you hit a pot-hole hard enough... If the wheel has been previously repaired, it's a matter of time regardless of what tyres you have.

..but yes, non-rfts will help. Get the 326 wheels.. they're lurvlyyy
Click to expand...
Just for more balance, 326s with Bridgestone Potenza run-flats here. No cracks at all.
The only problem I have is that thanks to the horror stories (mainly from here), every time the car goes near a pothole, I take all the wheels off to check when I get home. It is becoming VERY time consuming.
My wheels have been off more times than a whore's knickers. :roll:
 
iowgooner said:
Ok thanks, I’ve reset it on the stalk arm reset button , but it reappears again,all new tyres, so pressures are good
Click to expand...
BMW use two types of monitoring. There is TPMS (tyre pressure monitoring system) which uses sensors in the wheels/ valves and FTMS (flat tyre monitoring system) which uses the ABS.
There is a recent thread about it somewhere, but (IIRC) if you don't have i-drive (reset from the stalk on the dash display) it is FTMS.
FTMS is a manual reset and will just go by whatever is there when it is reset unless it changes and the TPMS re-calibrates after a few minutes of driving, so is an 'intelligent' reset.
HTH and 'up the Gunners' :thumbsup:
 
Yep ! Had low tyre warning today.
Hit reset on the stalk, drove about 200 Yards and lights went out. 8)
 
Well ‘ronk’ we are about to find out if you can avoid cracks by using non run flats. I have decided to go the weld and refurbish route with a new set of non run flats to give me the best chance of avoiding buying new wheels. I do like the 326s. If the wheels crack again I think it’s means a different wheel. Either way I I’m £1k min in the hole. £85 a wheel for refurb, £85 for 4 valves, £165 each for rears and £135 each for fronts. Not ideal but Mrs fox isn’t keen on running around in a cracked (actually when I pulled when off it was two small cracks.. bmw missed a small one) alloy. I will let you know how it goes.

Went with gloss black will be interesting to see how they look.
 
Fox2000 said:
Well ‘ronk’ we are about to find out if you can avoid cracks by using non run flats. I have decided to go the weld and refurbish route with a new set of non run flats to give me the best chance of avoiding buying new wheels. I do like the 326s. If the wheels crack again I think it’s means a different wheel. Either way I I’m £1k min in the hole. £85 a wheel for refurb, £85 for 4 valves, £165 each for rears and £135 each for fronts. Not ideal but Mrs fox isn’t keen on running around in a cracked (actually when I pulled when off it was two small cracks.. bmw missed a small one) alloy. I will let you know how it goes.

Went with gloss black will be interesting to see how they look.
Click to expand...

You’ve mirrored my experience with 326 wheels, mine cracked again after fitting normal tyres…
Rob
 
Having spoken to a couple of refurb specialists locally, I have been told that BMW had a problem with wheel strength between 2009-14 which meant some got recalled and others warranty replacements. I can’t obviously validate this, but aligns with the pain felt by some on here. I guess a wheel that’s not as hard as it might be, with a low profile and a RFT, it’s a perfect storm. All said tho we are going to try stick with 326Ms for a while longer 🤞 just need a front mount radar that snoops pot holes! :rofl:
 
jenniferlouise said:
Having spoken to a couple of refurb specialists locally, I have been told that BMW had a problem with wheel strength between 2009-14 which meant some got recalled and others warranty replacements. I can’t obviously validate this, but aligns with the pain felt by some on here. I guess a wheel that’s not as hard as it might be, with a low profile and a RFT, it’s a perfect storm. All said tho we are going to try stick with 326Ms for a while longer 🤞 just need a front mount radar that snoops pot holes! :rofl:
Click to expand...

I have 313M before. Somehow they cracked one after one within 4 months. First one was front right with a big crack and couldn't how pressure for a few hours so I got it welded, I was thinking I might hit a big big pot hole. The second month front left with one crack and rear left with three cracks and I got them fixed although the refurb specialist highly recommend me NOT to get them fix as they seem knackered. The 4th month :headbang: rear left one new crack and rear right one crack..... I gave up on them completely. I strongly believe there must be something wrong with the wheel strength as you have mentioned.
 
Every time I get ready to pull the trigger on the 326 wheels I get anxious after reading new posts on this thread. I'm planning on getting them new from the dealer (very nice discount). I'm assuming those are manufactured relatively recently. Does that mean cracking is less likely to be an issue, or is the design just flawed no matter what? I'd be pairing them with a set of non run flats. Even with the discount this isn't the cheapest purchase, so want to make sure I'm not going to regret it.
 
Several reports of late dated 326Ms cracking so I don't buy the (they updated them) argument..

Normally when BMW updates a part it gets a new part number or at least a revision version!
 
spielnicht said:
Every time I get ready to pull the trigger on the 326 wheels I get anxious after reading new posts on this thread. I'm planning on getting them new from the dealer (very nice discount). I'm assuming those are manufactured relatively recently. Does that mean cracking is less likely to be an issue, or is the design just flawed no matter what? I'd be pairing them with a set of non run flats. Even with the discount this isn't the cheapest purchase, so want to make sure I'm not going to regret it.
Click to expand...

They’d have to be hugely discounted for me to buy them. I have an 18 month old one (brand new from BMW) which has a hairline crack in it with non run flat and only 100’s of miles on it. Definitely no more than 1000.

There are aftermarket wheels of a very similar design Clarker63 found a set that visually were almost identical but better quality I think
 
[ref]spielnicht[/ref],

Here you go, bottom of this thread :thumbsup:

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=123716&p=1766277&hilit=Wheel#p1766277
 
spielnicht said:
Every time I get ready to pull the trigger on the 326 wheels I get anxious after reading new posts on this thread. I'm planning on getting them new from the dealer (very nice discount). I'm assuming those are manufactured relatively recently. Does that mean cracking is less likely to be an issue, or is the design just flawed no matter what? I'd be pairing them with a set of non run flats. Even with the discount this isn't the cheapest purchase, so want to make sure I'm not going to regret it.
Click to expand...

I've never owned 326M's but, based on opinions on here, I would be asking what warranty they come with against cracking if I was considering buying new from BMW.

You say very nice discount, but original selling price is what, £3k? and bearing in mind you can get stronger and lighter BMW wheels in as-new condition on eBay for under a grand, I imagine they are still not the cheap option.

The assumption that they were manufactured recently is a dangerous one - as far as I know they were only ever used on the Z4, so the chances are the wheels being sold have been sat in a warehouse for at least 6 years.
 
Would love to know the price though… 🤔 and from which dealer? Stock price is £650 I believe. I’m searching for one rear (not at that price tho!) before going for a four-wheel refurb in May. Yes, I could change them, and I may do in the future, but I’m sold on the factory fresh look (even if I’ll go a shade darker)
 
Thanks all for the input. I've checked out a couple of aftermarket wheels but keep only getting drawn to the style of the 326 and 313, both of which have a terrible rep. My local dealer here in Virginia (US) can get them for me for $2,200. Mind you I'm moving up from 18s, so add another $1,100 for new tires. It's either I take a chance on the 326 or learn to love the 295s that came with the car (it's gonna be hard).
 
Virginia 🇺🇸 from Cambridgeshire UK 🇬🇧 is possibly too far to travel for a wheel :wink: good luck with your plans :driving:
 
Caved in and bought them from the dealer. I hope I don't end up regretting this after the first pothole I encounter, but God they look gorgeous on the car.

For anyone in the US/Canada, I got a mint condition set of 295 wheels with brand new Michelin Pilot Sport AS4 for sale :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom