Bent Wheels

M

Milo172

New member
I drive a 2004 2.5 Z4. Yesterday, I noticed that the rear tires were starting to cup after only 8K miles (Continentals)
Off I go to the tire store to get a rotation and rebalance for my 17" tubo blade style wheels and tires and am informed that the worst tire is cupping due to the rim being bent on the inside... they even show me the evidence and it is quite apparent. Later they come back to the waiting room to tell me the really BAD news... I have 3 bent rims! None of the wheels show damage from the outward facing side, they all look good, not even a scrape in the silver paint. Does anyone have a clue how this could happen? I don't buy the "hit a pothole" theory.
 
Are they cheap copies/replicas, or genuine BMW wheels?

If they're cheap copies then you've probably found part of the answer.

Do you have a lot of speed bumps near you?
 
Puchased the car last year with 29K on the odo. I assumed they were the original OEM wheels but I could be wrong.
The CARFAX was clean... as if that can be trusted 100%.
I will pull one of the wheels to see if it has the BMW rondel as well as a part number.
Very few speed bumps here in mid Michigan.
Milo
 
Michigan roads are not exactly famous for billiard table smooth surfaces. The auto magazines based in the area never fail to take notice of this fact when they do road tests of new cars. Maintenance budget short falls and hard winters take their toll. So, mix bad roads with low profile tires and alloy rims, stir in a previous owner who either didn't care or didn't know about the extra care needed to avoid the problem and you have square wheels. Get some new wheels, move to Arizona (great roads and no winter) wish for bad things to happen to the dumb#*$ that owned the car before you.
 
I had two bent rims on our 2003 3.0 with the 18 inch sport package wheels. I attribute the damage to bad roads and the hard sidewalls of the factory runflats (which are gone now). I had the wheels trued at a wheel shop for a reasonable fee.

I also found out after my last wheel alignment that my left rear suspension is bent and that wheel is now 1 degree out of spec. I'm looking at replacing suspension components ($ouch$) to fix the problem.

Watch out for those potholes!

Bill
 
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