cracked alloys . .lets unite !

[gaz711]

This may be of interest to the many of you that have had the dreaded cracked alloy problem.
We all know that the main issue is the combination of the 296/bridgstone potentza on 19inch wheels which are clearly not fit for purpose !
After digging my heels in at local dealer level i had both my rears replaced under warranty but i am still uncomfortable with what might happan again so will be shortly replacing rims and tyres for more conventional ones.
BMW ARE STILL NOT ADMITTING THEY HAVE A PROBLEM DESPITE MANY HUNDREDS OF CASES POSTED ALL OVER THE INTERNET !
Reading threads on this site i see many of you have been out of pocket.
I recently e.mailed bmw politely suggesting they sort this out and expressed i will be sending a report to VOSA,SMTT,local trading standards and maybe a re visit to our freinds at watchdog !
This stirred up a reply still not directly admitting anything from thier senior customer servive manager a MY-HA HOANG (not sure which gender ?) this person can be reached on e.mail at [email protected].
If we all unite and target this individual at the above threatining to expose this ongoing problem who knows we may get something done . . its worth a try
Hope this helps someone

 

[Maniac]

It's going to have to be a very good solid argument and I'm afraid to say a few emails won't cut it.

Also BMW will not do anything about 'worry' it might happen again, nor are they likely to admit liability.

IMHO an individual must approach BMW to get their wheels sorted when they fail on a case by case.

You'd only likely stand a chance if we built a very robust evidence led case legally.

That's just IMHO..

 

[ronk]

I've said at other places on the forum that a failed wheel should be properly tested for material defects, mechanical strength of material, hardness, any porosity, inclusions etc.

Unless this is done its a case of their best guess of the cause of failure against ours!

 

[whitez4]

I had a cracked wheel identified when i was about to get some rear tyres fitted.

I took it to BMW Sytner, very straightforward, they tested it and i got a new wheel. There is a visible difference in the wheel design, and therefore i am comfortable that they have actually addressed the issue:

Old wheel (still on rear left of my car) - please note the inside barrel of the wheel, the barrel slopes down and is thinner after about 5-6cm from the outer edge, as can be seen from the shaddow area caused by my flash:

New wheel (replacement), now on rear right of my car - you can see the internal barrel design is revised and the barrel does not slope down and thin out in the same way until approx 3cm from the inner edge of the wheel. Therefore a large section of the barrel is thicker and stronger:

If i am perfectly honest i'm quite relaxed about it - i am not suggesting its an acceptable situation, but my experience has been straight forward - a faulty item was replaced free of charge with a revised and better design. I feel happy that this design should stop the cracks to be honest as the cracks are evidently caused by a thinner and weak barrel without sufficient reinforcement.

If you've had your alloy replaced, get out there and double check its the new stronger design!

 

[Anonymous]

I dont have these wheels, so dont have this problem. But I have had plenty of problems with my car, so I feel the pain!

Whitez4 wrote : I feel happy that this design should stop the cracks to be honest as the cracks are evidently caused by a thinner and weak barrel without sufficient reinforcement.

From reading the various posts, this seems to be the issue...they have modified the wheel design, and lets hope it cures it. But in modyfing the design, are they admitting an issue with the original design? I expect they would give a different reason (continual product development etc etc)...

But also from reading the various posts, and with my own situation, BMW's response to individual customers has no consistancy.

Some people seem to have gotten replacements for free, others have had 1 replaced free and 1 at cost etc.

There was a thread recently that had the same pictures as above, but from the inside of the wheel, and showed the difference in design quite clearly.

Could the mods perhaps create a sticky or something for this, so all the relevant info is in one thread?