z4 corrosion alloy 18" split ones

pullmz4

Member
hi folks

ive just brought a private sale z4 3.0 53 plate with 24.000 miles, and noticed that every alloy has heavy corrosion from inside the alloys, there is no corrosion on the outside its all on the inside behind the spokes, ive check some of the threads, and it seems its common with different owners getting different things, it is worth contacting bmw about this, im the second owner from new or should i just grin and bear it.

help would be very greatful.

cheers mark
 
BMW UK will only replace alloy wheels under new car warranty if the car is under 3 years old. However, you can try contacting dealers and see what they will say.
 
Sad to say BMW will not do anything i bought my Z from BMW and the used car warranty does not cover wheels.

Best bet is to get a refurb specialist to look at them.

The corrosion you have does it look like chewing gum as i had this on the inside of the rims had them sorted before i picked up the car but they used a cowboy so my wheels will need to be completey refurbed
 
When I had my 108's replaced the car was out of warranty, I kicked up a stink and got the regional service manager involved, he took one look at the wheels and I got all four replaced. 3 Years on the corrosion has come back on the inside rim of the wheels, the 108's are just very susceptible to this kind of corrosion.

The fact the BMW (BBS) can't produce and alloy wheel that doesn't corrode to hell isn't a great advert to be honest.
 
HEADRAT said:
When I had my 108's replaced the car was out of warranty, I kicked up a stink and got the regional service manager involved, he took one look at the wheels and I got all four replaced. 3 Years on the corrosion has come back on the inside rim of the wheels, the 108's are just very susceptible to this kind of corrosion.

The fact the BMW (BBS) can't produce and alloy wheel that doesn't corrode to hell isn't a great advert to be honest.

The fact that they have known about this for years and are still selling them ... on the run-off z4's ...speaks even less of them !
 
deagle, agreed. And the fact they are using a very similar wheel on the new Z4 too, unless they think they have sorted the problem :scratchhead:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=154443#p154443
 
Its odd - there are so many split rims out there, they've been around for decades - are they all like this?

The princple as far as I'm aware, is that a Split rim can be stronger and lighter than a one piece wheel - though not sure if these are designed in that way. Perhaps they should just fake the bolts (I think Audi do this) and prevent the whole corrosion thing?!
 
csmith319 said:
Its odd - there are so many split rims out there, they've been around for decades - are they all like this?

The princple as far as I'm aware, is that a Split rim can be stronger and lighter than a one piece wheel - though not sure if these are designed in that way. Perhaps they should just fake the bolts (I think Audi do this) and prevent the whole corrosion thing?!

Outer rim is jointed by bolts to the inner rim. How can it be stronger than 1 piece wheel?
 
ksher said:
csmith319 said:
Its odd - there are so many split rims out there, they've been around for decades - are they all like this?

The princple as far as I'm aware, is that a Split rim can be stronger and lighter than a one piece wheel - though not sure if these are designed in that way. Perhaps they should just fake the bolts (I think Audi do this) and prevent the whole corrosion thing?!

Outer rim is jointed by bolts to the inner rim. How can it be stronger than 1 piece wheel?
It's because the rims themselves can be turned from billet ally which is stronger for its weight than cast ally, so less material can be used for the weight. Bolting the centre to rim can be done so that there is little or no compromise.
 
When having these wheels re-furbished by a specialist is there any particular finish that is least likely to cause problems in the future?
 
Ian_Mac said:
When having these wheels re-furbished by a specialist is there any particular finish that is least likely to cause problems in the future?

A few members have gone for painted inners with polished lip, or had the whole lot painted.

If I have to get mine done (hopefully have a Z4MR before to circumvent problem) I will probably paint the inners silver and keep up the polished lip, which is what I believe CJ10JEEPER did.
 
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