yet another FAULTY CRACKED 296 wheel by BMW --HELP!

iwatchlive

Member
 doing the E of my BASE
:headbang: :headbang: Cracked BMW wheels :headbang: :headbang: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :x

Yes that's right I also have another cracked 296 wheel, this time I get another flat tyre (that's three in 6 weeks) and you've guessed it another cracked 296 wheel.

This one has 3 cracks in it on what is a new tyre and yes you are right its another rear wheel.

I have had enough of this substandard quality and the fact that these wheels are clearly not fit for purpose just aggravates the matter. I do not have time for the associated admin this causes, let alone the costs or the fact BMW even have the cheek to expect me to pay for this on a car that's under warranty with a wheel design that IS CLEARLY FAULTY- why else have they changed the designs of the 296? :x

Well the buck stops right here, right now! whilst standing again in the service department I was listening to the staff telling another BMW customer about their cracked wheels on their BMW (three out of four in this case!)

Therefore BMW UK are going to be offered one chance to refund me for the wheels that have cracked and the associated tyres that I have forked out on, all of which I still have possession of. This is non negotiable and if I do not get what I expect (which is after all reasonable and does not include a claim yet for compensation caused due to the fallout of this) then the complete wheels and tyres are going off to MIRA (http://www.mira.co.uk/)and we will also be submitting a vehicle safety defect report with VOSA http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/Vehicle Safety Defect Report.pdf

This car is driven well within the parameters, I avoid all forms of road damage and potholes and the pressures are checked every single tank of petrol at the least. By saying its not the wheel design and quality are BMW therefore saying its drivers have to in effect drive dangerously to avoid any little dent in the road? is this safe? NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE!!!

Downright disgusted, fed up and very unhappy with this poor and substandard level of quality - FFS this is a £50K+ car. There will be further action pursued if the associated costs we have had to endure are not met.

Its supposed to be an executive car is it - well I have had to reschedule 5 appointment's and 5 clients today due to ANOTHER cracked wheel, is this the executive features I was expecting by buying this BMW?

Some of my BMW Zed4 sDrive experience so far...
:headbang: I lost the use of the car after three days use due to faults (complete computer failure) and it took far too long in time and emotionally to get this first issue sorted and meant dealing with BMW UK & Germany :thumbsdown:
& I had to tell the dealer what was required! :thumbsdown:
:headbang: HPFP issue- car cut out on a mountain road in Switzerland - this was not a nice experience AT ALL :thumbsdown:
:headbang: Intermittent indicator issues, how many times have I been shouted at by other drivers because the indicators are not working? TOO MANY :thumbsdown:
:headbang: are your lights full of fluid too? :thumbsdown:
:headbang: Damp smell in boot :thumbsdown:
:headbang: hinge mount in boot broken :thumbsdown:
:headbang: Cracked wheels & the cost of two tyres :thumbsdown:
:headbang: Wheel aligment test cost due to above :thumbsdown:
:headbang: Oh look another Cracked wheel & the cost of another tyre :thumbsdown:

FYI my local dealer wants £395.95 per tyre and nearly the same for replacement wheels

296-crack-2.jpg


There clearly should be a recall on the 296 wheels. No question.

Please; if you have a Z4 with 296 wheels; for safety's sake have them checked and if you have had a wheel replaced that has cracked: PLEASE - Add your name & details to this list below:

1) iWatchLive
BMW Z4 sDrive 35i with 19" 296 wheels; two cracked wheels and 3 tyres replaced so far & I have driven less than 10K miles
2) NickM
please fill out details
3) Maniac
please fill out details
4) Rolf Dieter
please fill out details
 
Bloody hell, this is bad. :(

I'm getting totally paranoid about mine now. You are quite right in what you say - wheel and tyre should be replaced free of charge. In fact it might be worth asking to get both rear wheels replaced with the new modified design.

Keep us updated on this and good luck. :thumbsup:

... I just can't help but think the 35i is affected more so than other models, although sars did say she knew of a 23i owner that had been affected...? :?
 
I know Tim Abbott indirectly, after having bought 3 cars when he had his Audi dealership....I'll try him tomorrow and hope he remembers me
 
Touch wood I've not been affected and I've hit a few potholes hard. Hard not to in Glasgow FFS.
My problem is 3 alloys are scraped due to multi storey pish. They would bin my claim due to this probably. Need to get a group complaint as statistically not a lot of E89s sold and not all on 296s on 19s. Wonder the percentage of wheel failures to this spec of car sold?? :thumbsdown:
 
Not a case of redesigned, just potentially a remanufucature of them...not sure whether that's true or not.....have you got an issue with you wheels? Has the dealer seen it yet?

Out of 4 damaged wheels I had, I paid for one, dealer sales paid for one as good will, and 2 were found to be warranty claims....

Now have 326 M Sport wheels, and not had any problems since....
 
Kryton, you hardly drove yours so they woudln't crack!!! :wink: :poke:

Just get some 18". No problems here.

That is rubbish though about the 19" wheels!

Sounds like you have what is known as a "Friday afternoon car"!! I had a MINI like that once. Bought it new and after 7 months of nothing but problems with it I finally got the Email of a big wig at BMW. Long story short, they took the car back and built me a new one for free!!
 
When i picked my 2.3 from bmw leeds it had 2 pitted rear wheels.This was on a new car.The dealer had to drive to north wales to have new wheels fitted in the back of a 1 series.They originally asked me to get a quote to get them repaired!!
 
We are picking up our used, 19,000 mile Z4 35i this week that has the 296 wheels. They look absolutely mint, no curbing, marks or scratches, but I'm now concerned with the number of issues board members have had with this wheel type.

Does anyone have details of whether this was a particular bad batch of wheels that were affected and any batch details to identify them? The car was manufactured at the end of July 2009.

I'll play special attention to checking the wheels in more detail when we collect our car this week. The car is under original warranty until September, but our local roads in Surrey are not the best in the UK and we managed to dent two 18" wheels with much higher profile rubber on our previous CLS Mercedes.

I love the look of these wheels on the Z4, so don't really want to change them, but can't afford to replace damaged tyres if the wheels are likely to crack. A new set of 19" wheels and tyres would almost be 10% of the value of the car!

Steve.
 
Unfortunately these wheels do crack, esp at the rear. Only wheels produced in 2012 seem to have the updated design. When BMW replaced my two rears I was told they were the updated design. I've checked on this recently and they're not but there's little I can do about it now.

They're a pain to check, but you must pay particular attention to the inner edges as thats where they fail. I still love these wheels, you've just got to be vigilant around potholes. Bit crap really for a prestige car. Never again. Going for something cheap, nice and plain with lots of rubber on the next car purchase!
 
CRACKED 296 BMW REAR WHEEL

I have two cracked rear wheels on my 2010 Z4 23i with only 13k on the clock. BMW took it in for runout test. One wheel passed and one was marginally outside, yet still they refuse to do anything about it. I have badgered the dealer and BMW UK but still get the same reply - There is no known issue with the 296 wheels. Now we all know there is an issue, so I'm taking BMW to court. I need all of you disgruntled BMW 296 owners to forward me your details so I can present a wealth of evidence. Please reply to [email protected] and send the following info:

Name
Car Model/Year
Is this a 296 wheel problem? Please supply details.
What you have done about it.
What BMW have told you.
What happened in the end (replacement/fob off/ etc)
Contact No or Email address

I won't let this lie until I have done everything I can to get this sorted out once and for all. Please help - your support is vital!

Rob
 
Hi Rob

I am in the same situation right now (facing into replacing my third wheel in 25000 miles) and just came across your post. Where did you get to with your court action ?

Simon



hosetailman said:
CRACKED 296 BMW REAR WHEEL

I have two cracked rear wheels on my 2010 Z4 23i with only 13k on the clock. BMW took it in for runout test. One wheel passed and one was marginally outside, yet still they refuse to do anything about it. I have badgered the dealer and BMW UK but still get the same reply - There is no known issue with the 296 wheels. Now we all know there is an issue, so I'm taking BMW to court. I need all of you disgruntled BMW 296 owners to forward me your details so I can present a wealth of evidence. Please reply to [email protected] and send the following info:

Name
Car Model/Year
Is this a 296 wheel problem? Please supply details.
What you have done about it.
What BMW have told you.
What happened in the end (replacement/fob off/ etc)
Contact No or Email address

I won't let this lie until I have done everything I can to get this sorted out once and for all. Please help - your support is vital!

Rob
 
We changed to non RFTs and had the rear camber reduced, so far, touch wood, no issues in 4+ years with 296 alloys.
 
I wanted to revive this thread, as the 296 wheel is still living on 4 corners of a lot of Zeds out there.
I wondered if cracks are still plaguing this rim design, or whether, after time, later cars with wheels
made after 2012 really seems to have fixed the problem.

My Zed has 18" rims, which I are perfect for british roads. So, I have been tempted to hang on to these
when I sell my car, and fit to my next Zed. The 296 is a cool looking rim, though, and swapping rims is
not an insignificant amount of effort. So what is everyone's experience?
 

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