[ChrisMWard]

Originally Posted by Rochester BMW

Has anyone else had similar problems?

Problems with the brakes or the dealer?

Since this thread started I've been looking at various cars discs including our own 335 and other cars we own. I guess this must be a fairly new thing (the coating that is put on the disc) as I've never noticed it on any of the previous BMs that we have owned. I would imagine that this coating is put on at the manufacturing stage purely as a transit/storage protection barrier and is not intended to last the life of the disc.

Just about every new car I've looked at doesn't have any coating on their discs and already have a nice coating of rust.

Discs are made from cast iron and they will rust, not away but an oxide film will form on the surface. Any coating, paint or plating is going to subjected to some pretty high temperatures especially if you drive hard, and will suffer. Its not something I'm going to loose any sleep over.

Regards

Chris

[NFS]

Couple of points:

1. This has to have an environmental factor:

I have no rust on my discs or hubs at all, but I have seen a lot of BMW's that do. The rust in the discs will be rubbed off in normal use, but the rust on the hubs / rear drum brake will obviously not be.

There has to be something which accelerates the rust, either local air quality (e.g. proximity to coast) or because of the cleaning chemicals used.

2. I have had very good customer service from BMW over the last six or seven years. Warranty problems I have had have been sorted quickly and efficiently. I have had to complain, but I usually get what I want .

I think there is an issue here and if I had the problem on my car I would probably kick up a fuss. The difficulty is that your dealer is taking the stance that 'they all do that'. Plus they don't know how to fix it.

You could argue that the discs are a functional component which cannot be protected from surface oxidation. You could not argue this in respect of the drums or hubs.

You could try e-mailing BMW direct:

Warranty Enquiries:

warranty@bmwfin.com Tel: 0870 5050 195

Customer Services:

customer.service@bmw.co.uk Tel: 0870 5050 160

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Z4 Beemer

This suggests the dealer is being completely unreasonable. BMW have admitted themselves that the wheels shouldn't be the way that they are, i.e. rusty, and have agreed to supply replacement parts. The dealer is trying it on for a quick profit. Reason with the dealer or contact BMW Customer Services for help. The dealer must have a contact at BMW - ask them to tell you who it is and speak to them directly. Keep us updated.

They haven't admitted anything. The parts were offered as a goodwill gesture, which means that there is no acceptance of liability or even that there is a problem.

IMO the dealer is not taking the problem seriously - he just thinks that Roch is being 'difficult'.

If it were me I would be making the point that there is no logical reason why the hubs and drums should suffer with surface oxidisation.

Every other component on the car is protected from rust. Why does it not matter when it comes to the hubs?

[Rochester BMW]

I totally agree...

I had a phone from Coopers this morning, the latest is...

After I kicked up a stink about them wanting to charge £350 for fitting the new hubs they have got back to me and are now saying that Coopers will pay some of the labour costs, leaving me to the remainder... £75+vat.

I said this is still £75 to much! It has been left that I am going to get back to them with my decision... My next point of attack is 'sales'... if the salesman I deal with does not lift this £75 then ill cancell my M3 order... I bet that will get their attention!

Will keep you updated.

[ShereKhan]

Originally Posted by Rochester BMW

I totally agree...
My next point of attack is 'sales'... if the salesman I deal with does not lift this £75 then ill cancell my M3 order... I bet that will get their attention!
.

Not sure about that strategy as i'm sure they will have another eager buyer for your cancelled M3. So i'd avoid that one.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Rochester BMW

I totally agree...

I had a phone from Coopers this morning, the latest is...

After I kicked up a stink about them wanting to charge £350 for fitting the new hubs they have got back to me and are now saying that Coopers will pay some of the labour costs, leaving me to the remainder... £75+vat.

I said this is still £75 to much! It has been left that I am going to get back to them with my decision... My next point of attack is 'sales'... if the salesman I deal with does not lift this £75 then ill cancell my M3 order... I bet that will get their attention!

Will keep you updated.

I'd say keep pushing.

Bottom line is that they need to either explain why it is acceptable for parts of a brand new car to rust completely unnecessarily.

OR .. they stop pissing about and sort out the problem.

I think it's actually a little more annoying that they waived most of the cost, but still asked for £75 plus VAT from you.

To me this means they still don't agree that you have a problem. The £75 is nothing to them, the fact that they are holding out for it is an insult.

Why should you accept rust on a brand new car ?

Why should you pay to have rust removed from a brand new car which is supposedly covered by one of the best warranties in the market?

[stevew]

I just bit the bullet & did the job myself over easter. Takes about 1hr per corner so easily done on a nice day (longest part is waiting for the smoothrite to dry .

Looks miles better now. I noticed that my father-in-law's avensis has the same problem.

[the_oracle1980]

Lads

I have found it to be the acid/wheel cleaner that is used, along with a pressure washer being sprayed to closely to that area. I now just use soapy water to clean my wheels once a week and dont have any problems unlike the last E90 I had.

Oh and some of you guys talking about buying Mercedes and Audi. You will regret it and come crawling back!, trust me!

[Rochester BMW]

Originally Posted by the_oracle1980

Lads

I have found it to be the acid/wheel cleaner that is used, along with a pressure washer being sprayed to closely to that area. I now just use soapy water to clean my wheels once a week and dont have any problems unlike the last E90 I had.

Oh and some of you guys talking about buying Mercedes and Audi. You will regret it and come crawling back!, trust me!

since buying my car just over 2 months ago, I've never used a jet wash on it, and only ever used soapy water to clean the wheels.....

I'm going to give it one last push... if I still don't get anywhere ill do it myself and never grace their palms with silver ever again...

[silverbmwz3]

Very short-sighted of the dealership IMHO. 75 quid is an insult considering the business you obviously put their way, time for dealer change.

[Rochester BMW]

Yep I think so!

[Ridgy]

Hi everybody,

I was just searching this issue in Google and this thread was thrown up so I thought I'd join the forum and add my disappointment to the thread.

I can't believe a luxury car has this problem. I find it quite embarassing when with people that know how much I spent on this car and they point the rusty hubs out to me. I mean c'mon, this car is a 56 plate, hardly old.

I've only had the car for a month or so and I'm not best pleased with this. I mailed the salesman I dealt with and he said that he has a car park full of them and there's not much that can be done about it!

Has anyone successfully got their dealer to remedy this?

Pics of all four hubs below

[Oli]

When I get mine, the wheels are being swapped over, and at the same time I will spray the hubs black

[squeezebm]

Just noticed,HUBS are going RUSTY...............will let you Know how i get on when i get the time to speak to the stealer,but what i will gaurantee you my lurnid friends is that i will NOT be paying a bean for any repair work

anyone know how Rochester got on???

[Monty's Si]

I bought my 8 month old 320si (which has big alloys with lots of gaps to see the surface rust on the disc hubs) a few weeks ago being fully aware of the surface rust issue, I had a similar problem with my E46 320d sport a few years ago which appeared after a few winter months (road salt).
I've worked on Gas Turbine test beds which had frames sitting outside in all weathers and we used an RS product called cold galvanizing spray paint (silvery grey) which stood up to high temps and all weathers.
I went looking for this type of spray a week ago but came across a can of spray paint by Plasticote called No rust in matt aluminium colour in Halfords for just over a fiver.
Due to the wind last week I didn't want to spray the hubs so sprayed some of the paint into a can lid and used a brush to apply (its quite thin paint but gives good cover) not having alot of time I just overpainted the surface rust as directed on the can I do intend to carry out a proper rub down and spray in a few weeks time though. I've now done a couple of hundred miles in wet conditions and keep inspecting the hubs. I know its early days but the paint appears to be doing a good job and looks exactly like the original colour. I will update the thread with good or bad news as the miles rack up. The only car I've owned which hasn't suffered this corrosion issue is my other car which has ceramic discs mounted on stainless steel hubs!

Paul

[booforty]

Originally Posted by Monty's Si

I bought my 8 month old 320si (which has big alloys with lots of gaps to see the surface rust on the disc hubs) a few weeks ago being fully aware of the surface rust issue, I had a similar problem with my E46 320d sport a few years ago which appeared after a few winter months (road salt).
I've worked on Gas Turbine test beds which had frames sitting outside in all weathers and we used an RS product called cold galvanizing spray paint (silvery grey) which stood up to high temps and all weathers.
I went looking for this type of spray a week ago but came across a can of spray paint by Plasticote called No rust in matt aluminium colour in Halfords for just over a fiver.
Due to the wind last week I didn't want to spray the hubs so sprayed some of the paint into a can lid and used a brush to apply (its quite thin paint but gives good cover) not having alot of time I just overpainted the surface rust as directed on the can I do intend to carry out a proper rub down and spray in a few weeks time though. I've now done a couple of hundred miles in wet conditions and keep inspecting the hubs. I know its early days but the paint appears to be doing a good job and looks exactly like the original colour. I will update the thread with good or bad news as the miles rack up. The only car I've owned which hasn't suffered this corrosion issue is my other car which has ceramic discs mounted on stainless steel hubs!

Paul

Great post Paul

Please do keep us posted on this and whether the paint holds up.

[- Paul -]

I'd never really noticed it that much but since I got the new wheels on, I notice it now!

[squeezebm]

Wife popped into the stealers today,re RUST on Hubs

Got hold of service manager to be told that "Most BMW Wheels do this at the moment, take a look round the forcourt" but "what we do with our used selection is paint the hubs when they are in for prep work"

Makes you wonder why BM dont just sort this out on the new ones before they get to this

Anyhow car is booked in for two weeks time to have HUBS painted

O of course FOC;

[Monty's Si]

Originally Posted by Monty's Si

I bought my 8 month old 320si (which has big alloys with lots of gaps to see the surface rust on the disc hubs) a few weeks ago being fully aware of the surface rust issue, I had a similar problem with my E46 320d sport a few years ago which appeared after a few winter months (road salt).
I've worked on Gas Turbine test beds which had frames sitting outside in all weathers and we used an RS product called cold galvanizing spray paint (silvery grey) which stood up to high temps and all weathers.
I went looking for this type of spray a week ago but came across a can of spray paint by Plasticote called No rust in matt aluminium colour in Halfords for just over a fiver.
Due to the wind last week I didn't want to spray the hubs so sprayed some of the paint into a can lid and used a brush to apply (its quite thin paint but gives good cover) not having alot of time I just overpainted the surface rust as directed on the can I do intend to carry out a proper rub down and spray in a few weeks time though. I've now done a couple of hundred miles in wet conditions and keep inspecting the hubs. I know its early days but the paint appears to be doing a good job and looks exactly like the original colour. I will update the thread with good or bad news as the miles rack up. The only car I've owned which hasn't suffered this corrosion issue is my other car which has ceramic discs mounted on stainless steel hubs!

Paul

Two week update, 1500 miles, still lots of water on the road, Plasticote looks as good as the day I applied it. I will be leaving the hand painted finish until mid sept when I'll take the wheels off and rub down hubs for proper spray job with the Plasticote. I will carry on the updates as I remember.

Paul

[silverbmwz3]

DIY is the way forward (or DID - Do It at Dealer). I did something similar on my old E46 325ci when this happened and it never came back. Poor show from BMW IMHO, just hope mine are ok.

[squeezebm]

Originally Posted by Ridgy

Hi everybody,

I was just searching this issue in Google and this thread was thrown up so I thought I'd join the forum and add my disappointment to the thread.

I can't believe a luxury car has this problem. I find it quite embarassing when with people that know how much I spent on this car and they point the rusty hubs out to me. I mean c'mon, this car is a 56 plate, hardly old.

I've only had the car for a month or so and I'm not best pleased with this. I mailed the salesman I dealt with and he said that he has a car park full of them and there's not much that can be done about it!

Has anyone successfully got their dealer to remedy this?

Pics of all four hubs below

My stealers sorting it out after speaking to the Service manager all FOC and courtesy car in 2 weeks

[Ridgy]

Originally Posted by squeezebm

My stealers sorting it out after speaking to the Service manager all FOC and courtesy car in 2 weeks

Please define 'sorting it out'

Is this just a hub swap with more of the same that will rust in another few weeks?

I still think it would be better for them to prep and paint the existing hubs with something that will prevent them rusting again.

Congrats on getting a result though. I haven't pressed my dealer beyond their first refusal but I'm willing to.

Reminds me of when I had popping clutch pedal issues on my old E46 Sport Coupe. They asked me to leave my car there on two separate occasions so they could check it out and both times they said they couldn't find anything wrong with it. I told them I wasn't imagining it and showed them a wad of complaints from the E46Fanatics forum about the same thing. After pushing them they told me they would book me in to coincide with a visit from their area manager so he could take it out. After driving it for ten minutes he said he could feel it and they offered to fit a complete new clutch and assembly with new uprated parts (hmmm, new and uprated eh? an admission by BMW that there was an issue maybe? funny they just had these lying around!)


So....maybe it's time to get tough on my stealer? Dealing with a different stealer this time though