CHECK YOUR WHEELS URGENTLY IF YOU OWN A BMW

[Nidge1]

Having recently heard about the problems and watched the topic on Watchdog with BMW wheels, we had ours checked and 1 wheel was cracked.Our car is a 2005 X5 sport with 19" wheels with low profile tyres (not run-flat)

My partner took the wheel to our local BMW main dealer and he could not be even bothered to get out of his chair to have a look at the wheel.Just reeled off the supplied spiel from BMW that we must have damaged it going into a pothole or driven at high speed over a speed hump!!. Then said a new wheel would be in the region of £350.00 and the only problem is that there are no new wheels in the UK,waiting time around 6 days for a new one.I wonder why??.

My good lady then let him know in no uncertain terms what she thought of the dealership and BMW. Guess who is not having any more of our hard earned cash??

Regards

Nidge

 

[Nidge1]

Forgot to say that the majority of the cracks are on the inside of the wheel so have got to take the wheel off to make a proper visual inspection

Nidge

 

[xtrailman]

Audi were having wheels distorting on the RS4 some years ago, so failing wheels is nothing new. The wheels were made (if i recall correctly)of a lighter alloy, but were obviously not fit for purpose.

 

[marlot]

I do wonder whether the speed bumps which span the middle 3/4 of the lane are partly to blame - it seems to me that the inside edges of wheels and tyres take a tremendous pounding from these.

 

[ScouseIan]

Oh No

I've also got a cracked alloy on my VW. They want

 

[Nidge1]

Hi,

Further to my earlier posting.Check that your wheel is in fact cracked. Our problem arose when we had the tyres changed and the fitter refused to change the tyre on 1 wheel as it looked cracked.

As I said in my posting the main dealer could not be bothered to get off his backside to inspect the wheel and was just wanting to order a new wheel. On closer inspection the wheel was NOT cracked, but quite badly corroded.Full marks for the tyre fitter for been wary for not fitting the tyre due to all the hype about BMW cracked alloys.

Hope this helps

Nidge

 

[otherclive]

My friend had a similar response from a BMW dealer over his 4 year old X5. when he responded by saying that he would sue via Small Claims Court the dealer's approach changed for the better. I know that UK roads are appalling and made worse by speed restricting furniture but some of the BMW wheels are not fit for purpose.

By the way the best way to avoid tyre and suspension problems on the truncated pyramid speed humps is place one wheel fully over the flat crown and keep the other on the road surface between the two humps......avoiding on coming cars of course.

 

[Steve L]

The top gear program highlighted the fact that BMW and even Audi wheels have an inherant suseptability to cracking due to the flimsy design of the wheels. They are machined so thin to allow a fashionable look that structural strength becomes an issue.

I had a problem in the late 80's with a Renault 25 Monoco that suffered buckled alloys when cornered hard. It transpired that the original alloys were just not strong enough to cope with the weight of the car. Once the newer style wheels were fitted the problem disappeared.

As for the manufacturer avoiding responsability, give them the "not fit for purpose" blurb as written on the trading standards web site. They will soon back off.

Steve l.

 

[Lutz]

Due to the immense cost implications of possibly having to replace all wheels that are 'not fit for the purpose' it is only natural that the manufacturer, or in this case the importer, will try to wriggle out of his responsibility, but I can only encourage those owners who are affected to be resolute and force the issue through.

If UK road conditions are such that require alloy wheels to be reinforced, then the importer should have made this clear with BMW and specified such wheels for the UK market.

 

[Chris_374413356]

On a similar note, some of our roads have been "improved", the council have decided to put 3 sets of 4 or 5 speed bumps on the approach to bends. I can understand that these may concentrate your mind if you are half asleep but why have they put them across the entire width of the road?

So you have to bounce over them when you already have come out of the bends and are now on a straight road.

The point I am making is as you approach the bends you go over 15 speed bumps and when you are through the bends you go over another 15 bumps and the same on the return journey, so a trip to the shops.... 60 bumps.

No wonder we have problems with wheels as well as my fillings falling out and this road is a 60mph 'A' road.

Maybe I'm missing something here!

 

[david_374241885]

Its absolutly incredible that a car maker can sell cars fitted with wheels that fall to peices after going over a speed hump ,To top it all they are off road vehicles.There is also lots of reports about the faulty gearboxes fitted to these vehicles .Who in their right mind would buy a BMW ?

 

[ScouseIan]

Well, I've had my wheel repaired and even inspected 'somewhere else' and all appears to be fine. Doesn't come off at 100 mph (not towing).

Tyre pressure is staying where it should be.

I'm happy.

Ian