[AlanQS]

The overwhelming majority of problem wheels are 19" with run flats. The tyres seem to be the crucial point as the wheels are reinforced on the outside face but not on the inside face. The tyres of course are rigid on both sides so cracks usually appear in the inside face and, where staggered wheels are fitted, mostly rear wheels.

Significantly, these cracks don't appear to be as common on M cars and Alpinas - the difference being that neither uses run flats.

[330cdsport]

Another good reason to get rid of those RFT's

[Nickleback]

Only just caught up with this thread, another cracked alloy to add to the list !
My N/S rear on my 335D (19" 225m's with RFT's) was found to be cracked when the car went in for warranty work recently.
I had it checked by BMW who confirmed it was out of tolerance & must have been impact damage ! which was total crap as I'd have known if I did that.
I disputed, they refused totally & the supplying dealer sold me a replacement @ trade price.
Now running PS2's all round instead of RFT's no problem

[RUN 41T]

Hi, new here, Hi To all.

Just gone to have two new rear tyres (3rd set) fitted to my 19" Alloys, Car is 3 yrs old in September, no cracks previously, both cracked now, Sytner Oldbury; sorry no can do, BMW cust serv; sorry talk to your dealer, Sytner Oldbury; sorry sleeping policeman or you must have kerbed one or run over some grit! (sorry being a bit synical there) Complete load of Tosh! On my second 3 Series now and have loved both of them. Have read loads of posts today and thoroughly fed up. Such a shame as the car has driven me 47000 miles so far and can`t fault it, I used to run Audi`s before without any problems. maybe its time for and A5!!!

[RockDoc1971]

Hello to everyone! Another newbie that has joined up to vent frustration over recently discovered cracked rims.

Tyre flat warning activated leading me to check pressure. Tyre pressure was low but not flat so I re-inflated and re-set monitor. This lasted two days before warning again. Car is due for service anyway so mentioned a possible flat and asked them to look at it during service. I then found that any claim on my tyre insurance needs to be done through Kwik-Fit. So a tyre was ordered for NSR. When they took the wheel off surprise, surprise it was cracked in five spots on the inner rim. Once home I removed the OSR wheel to find four similar cracks on the inner rim. Both the fronts are fine. The car is off for it's service on Monday so will see what they have to say for themselves. As far as i'm concerned i'm not shelling out more money to BMW for similar replacement wheels that might crack again so will be probably be replacing all four wheels for aftermarket ones with non RFT. When I trade the car in again at BMW they will get the cracked wheels and RFT back on the car. I'll put the cracked ones on the front and maybe they will go un-noticed!!

As far as i'm concerned these wheels are not fit for purpose and are dangereous and BMW should recall them all and replace FOC.

2007 BMW 335i M-Sport Convertible with 225M wheels after only 14015 miles.

[pjs]

Originally Posted by RockDoc1971

Hello to everyone! Another newbie that has joined up to vent frustration over recently discovered cracked rims.

Tyre flat warning activated leading me to check pressure. Tyre pressure was low but not flat so I re-inflated and re-set monitor. This lasted two days before warning again. Car is due for service anyway so mentioned a possible flat and asked them to look at it during service. I then found that any claim on my tyre insurance needs to be done through Kwik-Fit. So a tyre was ordered for NSR. When they took the wheel off surprise, surprise it was cracked in five spots on the inner rim. Once home I removed the OSR wheel to find four similar cracks on the inner rim. Both the fronts are fine. The car is off for it's service on Monday so will see what they have to say for themselves. As far as i'm concerned i'm not shelling out more money to BMW for similar replacement wheels that might crack again so will be probably be replacing all four wheels for aftermarket ones with non RFT. When I trade the car in again at BMW they will get the cracked wheels and RFT back on the car. I'll put the cracked ones on the front and maybe they will go un-noticed!!

As far as i'm concerned these wheels are not fit for purpose and are dangereous and BMW should recall them all and replace FOC.

2007 BMW 335i M-Sport Convertible with 225M wheels after only 14015 miles.

Good luck, 14k miles it's barely run in. Go after the dealer. It is a scandel they are just about keeping a lid on. Ask them how you managed to crack the rears and not the fronts. Oh, and welcome

[Evil Diesel]

+1 for the list of shame. Not cracked yet but had the wheels balanced at the service today and they carried out a run out test anyway and reported 1 front wheel out of true. Advised new alloy for £465+VAT.

Great.

[mgarvey]

Got my rear tyres replaced last week due to abnormal wear (posted on another thread).

Whilst the tyres were being done I was chatting to the manager of the garage and he reckons over 50% of tyres coming in as flat on modern BMW's are due to cracked rims. Apparently, the 5-series is even worse than the 3, mainly as they've had older cars come in with runflats on for longer periods.

Quite why the motoring press, or Watchdog for that matter, don't pick up on this travesty is beyond me.

My rears show no signs of cracking by the way (at least not yet) - the garage specifically checked as it is so common.

[crackerjack]

I feel unless things arent pursued properly BMW will stick their heels in and ignore their customers concerns:
Unfortunately obtaining a report from MIRA is a lengthy and expensive process (it cost £1800 and took 6 months) .The engineer who prepared my report has since left ....however I have his contact details if needed .I can also forward the report to interested persons if needed .
I then researched a decent Litigation Solicitor and was advised to use Blacks Solicitors (Mr Patel) in Leeds 01132279316.
From then on I left the case with him .

I was prepared to sink 5 thousand into the 'fight' and it took just over one year .

Interestingly the MIRA report says there was absolutely nothing wrong with the front alloy ........

[Carrera RSR]

How can it be this widespread and yet the press haven't caught on. Thankfully I have not been on the receiving end of this yet. If I had I would be fighting like mad to burst this out into the mainstream.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=BMW+cracked+alloys

All major forums including Auto Express and HonestJohn

[unhappydriver]

Hi there!

Car is registered July 07 and 35K miles on the clock

Am totally new to this site but feel I need all the advice I can get!! I
left my car into Bavarian garages last October as I had a puncture on the rear wheel (20K miles on clock) - got a call from servicing to say I needed 4 new tyres......nearly lost the plot and asked how as the 2 rear ones were only replaced 2 months previously due to punctures. Was told that as they were Firestone tyres they were renowned for wearing at the edges and this is what had happened to the rear 2......the front ones were just wear and tear. When I went into the garage they told me it was a mistake to blame Firestone tyres and this was not correct but that I had 2 cracked alloys on the rear that had been caused due to the state of our roads- this had allowed the air to leak from the tyres and as I had driven them underinflated they had worn on the inside edges and were now a danger. I told them I would not be paying for the wheels or tyres as there was obviously a fault with them. Bavarian replaced the alloys and tyres and when I kicked up a fuss they accepted the costs and did not pursue me for payment. The front 2 they gave me at cost price and I agreed to pay.

Next problem......got a warning that I had a punture on Saturday night......rang BMW emergency services to ask what I should as I did not want to cause damage to the rims and was told to drive on as I had 150 miles available on the run flats but not to drive over 50mph but top up with air before I drive again if possible. Topped up with air (rear passanger wheel) on Sunday morning and within 15 miles of driving the car was all over the road and smell of burning- tried to top up with air again but no air would go in so rang BMW again. Amazingly he told me to drive on but I refused so they sent the tow truck out. Car went to dealer (Prentices) and got the dreaded call......not covered under tyre insurance as tyre had a blowout.......and had a cracked rim.....oh and to make things worse I needed the other tyre replaced as it was worn at the inside edge. Told me alignment was knocked out, had driven on underinflated tryes and pot holes had caused cracked rim. BMW customer services now have the photos and are deciding what to do.....we all know theya re not going to cover any of it. Explained could not have had a blow out as i was able to put air in and could alloy not have cracked from driving on a run flat that had failed to do its job? Prentices and BMW say this is not the case.

Please help......I cant afford to pay £42K for a car 2 years ago and thousands of pounds for tyres/alloys every few months. How do I get them to accept liablilty....surely my case shows that there is a fault in the manufacturing of the alloys.....have driven cars for years and never had a cracked alloy in my life- now I have 3 in less than 10 months!!!

[Binary]

Another two rears style 230 19", purchased car second hand it has done 30k and will be 3 years old in November. The n/s has eight cracks and the o/s has one unfortunately there is evidence of kerbing on both wheels so I know I won't get anywhere. Both fronts are ok.
Looking for a set of 18" rims and will not be putting runflats on.

Typical of BMW to avoid a recall even when there is a genuine safety issue here. God forbid anyone has a serious accident if one of these rims actually gives out.

Also spoke to Bridgestone today about the 3g runflats and we wont see them in the UK until Q1 2010.

[Perfectus]

hmm... i'm having issues with a slow leak on one of my rear 18" style 189s. it started about a month ago i got low tire pressure. i filled it and then 2 weeks later it came on again, filled again and for the past week its been every other day the low pressure comes on. the pressure drops to around 25psi before i fill it. sounds like a leak according to this thread...

[toxicnerve]

What does Darren Edwards have to say about this? Being from the Sytner group maybe he can enlighten us on BMWs' and their dealer's stance on this...

I'm itching to buy an E92 but if this is a common problem that is not being addressed by BMW/dealers I will be reluctant to part with any money.

[xenon]

Without putting words into Darren's mouth (which I'm not) BMW insist there is no problem and have presumably instructed their franchised dealers to tow the line. Any problem is down to the driver hitting kerbs and / or pot-holes. If you do buy an e92 then avoid 225M wheels.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by xenon

If you do buy an e92 then avoid 225M wheels.

Am I right in saying these are the 19" double spoke wheels you get on an M-Sport as an optional extra?

If so, they're exactly the ones I was looking to have on the car

[xenon]

Yes, they're the ones.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by xenon

Yes, they're the ones.

Gah...going to have to rethink. May I'll find a model with the standard M-Sport wheels then go aftermarket for the other ones.

[Nickleback]

Originally Posted by toxicnerve

Am I right in saying these are the 19" double spoke wheels you get on an M-Sport as an optional extra?

If so, they're exactly the ones I was looking to have on the car

You could still do it, but get them shod with non RFT & fit some quality rubber like PS2's & reduce the riskl ?
Since I did that 5k ago I've not had a problem with cracked 225 rims

[md179248]

There's a few forums out there with drivers experiencing 19in cracked alloys. The same happened to me (335D M Sport 28K miles 57 plate) both rears cracked. Both the dealer and customer services will try and blame either the driver or the road conditions. I paid over £2K for new wheels/tyres as I needed the car back on the road ASAP. However I kept on at customer services and stated that I wanted to return the car as it's not fit for UK road surfaces. I threatened legal action and they have now offered to refund the cost of the wheels (£1K). They're obviously very aware of the problem and with my case a precedent is being set and at least the wheels as being covered. But the main issue here is driver safety which is why they should recall all 19in with RFT's before one shatters at high speed.

[Flash Harry]

Hi folks,

I've got a 330d M Sport with 19" rims and reading through this thread I appear to be one of the lucky ones so far!

What's not clear to me though is that if I wanted to avoid becoming a cropper and decided to fit non RFT tyres, which tyres can I buy without having to change the rims? Are there any available?

My current set up is :
Front : 225/35 R19
Rear : 255/30 R19

The tyre specialist adjoining my local BMW dealer (Wollaston) has basically advised me to stick with my RFT's but "avoid any pot holes" (I would if I could!), as if I changed the tyres to non RFT's I'd probably be less protected than I am now because the profile of any alternative tyre would be the same - but I wouldn't have the benefit of the reinforced sidewall that you get with a RFT. He was implying that if I hit a pot hole with a non RFT, there was a good chance that the tyre would come away from the rim and/or the rim would get hammered anyway!

Those of you with non RFT's and 19" rims have replaced them with what???

[Nickleback]

I've got 19" 225M rims & have changed from RFT's to std tyres as I have already suffered a cracked rim & had to replace it with a new one - Thanks BMW GB for the £400 + bill
Now running PS2's with no problem for 3K & still going strong !
Do yourself a favour & ditch the RFT's on 225 rims !!