FIRESTONE TRASHED My RIM !!!

NYF32DRIVER · 10-17-2008, 10:34 PM

The other night I heard the dreaded "click, click" sound coming from one of my tires. Too dark to investigate, I waited until morning. Sure enough, when I started the car, I got the tire pressure warning in my iDrive screen. Upon checking the rear drivers side tire there was a screw/bolt imbedded in it.

I decided to try bringing the car to Firestone, to a location listed as a "Run Flat Specialist" on their website (Freeport, NY) After replacing 5 tires in 9 months it is getting rather expensive to bring to have tires replaced by BMW. Firestone charged $337.00 plus $10.00 for labor. BMW charged $370.00 plus $35.00 for labor... a $58.00 difference. I am beginning to think it was NOT worth the savings.

All my rims are in excellent condition, not a SCRATCH on them. When they had finally finished with my car, not only was the rim FILTHY (Couldn't they wipe it off ?) but there was both a GOUGE and a SCRATCH in the rim ! (Pics below)
The Manager "ABE" was very nice about it and said that they would have it fixed, but I need to leave the car overnight. This is a HUGE inconvenience for me. I am actually thinking of disputing the charge. WHY would they even ATTEMPT to give it back to me in this condition and think I would not notice ?

Next time (if there is one) I'll pay the extra $58.00 !!

What would you guys do ?

brokemywallet · 10-18-2008, 01:41 AM

combination of inexperienced wheel mounting/dismounting tech + the very stiff sidewalls of the rft= damaged wheel

i had the same mistake of taking to a small mom & pop shop and they did the same thing. i just let it go, cause it was my own fault for taking it there in the first place. at least firestone owned up to it (b/c they probably knew that they did it)

san~man · 10-18-2008, 04:44 AM

You can either:

1. Allow them to try to get it repaired, or

2. Insist on a new wheel.

I doubt they'd pay for a new wheel, so your only choice is probably #1. I would, however, insist that if the wheel isn't repaired to your satisfaction that they go ahead and do #2.

Deda · 10-18-2008, 07:51 AM

sorry to hear man!

ando · 10-19-2008, 11:50 AM

I feel your pain. The exact same thing happened to three of my wheels last week when I had my new Blizzaks LM22 RFTs installed. We take our work car to this Firestone place and they seem to do decent work. I asked the manager if he would price match an internet ad for the Blizzaks and he did but had to order the tires. I picked up my car after a couple hour wait (they said they had problems getting the RFTs off due to the side walls) and I looked around to make sure they had the correct tires and directional arrows correct. My car was dirty so everything looked okay. The next day, Saturday, I was drying my wheels after a wash and noticed they scrapped a couple of the wheels in a similar circular pattern and also noticed they must have been in a rush because it appears they missed the bolt with the impact wrench and scratched that area as well on a couple of the wheels. I will not go back and in the end you get what you pay for. I would not leave my car overnight at Firestone though.

NYF32DRIVER · 11-06-2008, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ando

I feel your pain. The exact same thing happened to three of my wheels last week when I had my new Blizzaks LM22 RFTs installed. We take our work car to this Firestone place and they seem to do decent work. I asked the manager if he would price match an internet ad for the Blizzaks and he did but had to order the tires. I picked up my car after a couple hour wait (they said they had problems getting the RFTs off due to the side walls) and I looked around to make sure they had the correct tires and directional arrows correct. My car was dirty so everything looked okay. The next day, Saturday, I was drying my wheels after a wash and noticed they scrapped a couple of the wheels in a similar circular pattern and also noticed they must have been in a rush because it appears they missed the bolt with the impact wrench and scratched that area as well on a couple of the wheels. I will not go back and in the end you get what you pay for. I would not leave my car overnight at Firestone though.

I want the rim replaced and i have disputed the charge with AMEX.
Will advise re: the results.

Joseph

maui86 · 11-07-2008, 01:14 AM

same thing happened to me. nice fact gash about inch half thick and 1/4inch long on both my rears. very very lucky these are the stock 17's that i care less about so i didn't feel the sense to bitch about it since im replacing the rims anyways. glad the guy was cool about fixing your rims.

teri

Raz335 · 11-07-2008, 09:58 AM

Yup, looks like this has happened to a lot of people including me. I had a patch repair done on my rear RFT tire. THe sidewalls are very stiff and the tech used metal bars to pry the tire off. The result was gauges and scratches everywhere.

To say I was pissed would be an understatement. I insisted they fix it and told me I'd have to leave the car. Fortunately I know a mobile wheel repair place that comes to you and so i used them. So in the end, I paid $30 for the patch repair, and the wheel place paid $130 to have my wheel fixed. Talk about bad business.

I live on LI, so if you want the name of the mobile repair company, PM me.

Scimitar335i · 11-07-2008, 10:10 AM

I hate firestone they are not careful with ur crap. my girl had her oil changed there when she had her mazda 6. after a few days her oil light came on and upon investigation the idiots that changed her oil crushed the canister oil filter. A few days of driving with little to no oil caused the engine to have a loud, loud knocking noise. She was estimated 2000 dollars to fix and Firestone denied all responsibility.

BS That place sucks arse

Kev · 11-07-2008, 10:21 AM

I would avoid most of those places in general, even simply to install a set of mounted, balanced, wheels from The Tire Rack. I would go to my local BMW specialist for the peace of mind. I'm a little OCD when it comes to my car.

ALPINE6SPD · 11-07-2008, 11:09 AM

58.00 to go to firestone??????????????????? I would pay 100 more for BMW to do it. I am sorry this happened but why cut corners with money here? You do have a 50k car after all so treat it like its a 50k car. Lesson learned, I just hope you and others will learn from this. I hope I dont sounds like an asshole but other people have to realize if BMW did it and something happens you have a much better chance for them to help you out than a shitty firestone store. I would want a BMW tech to put it on for safety alone.

Psylight · 11-07-2008, 12:32 PM

Firestone is the worst shop ever. Not only did they scratch like 2 of my wheels on my old G35 (which they re powdercoated), the re painted wheels came back to me scratched again!!

To make matters worse, they put the wrong AT fluid into the car, and my old car suffered tranny damage. They of course, denied responsibility because THEY put the wrong milage on their paper work.

To quote Cyrus Grissom of Con Air, "For me, you're somewhere between a cockroach and that white stuff that accumulates at the corner of your mouth when you're really thirsty."

ak335 · 11-07-2008, 01:43 PM

yep its happened to me

good luck

Firefly6 · 11-07-2008, 04:35 PM

Yet another Firestone story.

Blue Streak · 11-08-2008, 06:58 PM

The same thing happend to me when I got tires replaced at Discount Tire. I alwasy use Discount Tire to buy tires. They've been very good to me over the years. I noticed my left rear wheel was really scraped bad and there was a square looking chunk out of it (way worse than yours looks). I brought the car back and had the manager look at it. They determined that it was caused by their machine and an inexperienced person must have done the tire mounting, even though they claimed that they don't let inexperienced employees mount tires on BMW's and other nice cars with expensive wheels. They contracted a mobile wheel repair business that came to my home and repaired the wheel in my driveway and then billed Discount. I was unsure about how that would turn out, but WOW! It is exactly like a brand new wheel now. I was very surprised and am very pleased by the result. So, if a reputable business or person can repair the wheel, don't worry. It's definitely possible to get it just like new.

willie55912 · 11-10-2008, 11:24 AM

When I buy tires, I always tell the business up front that I have run flat tires...and they are hard to mount. In the rural areas that I live, most will refuse my business....or not tell me that they will not guarantee they will not damage the wheel. I will move on to another business. When I find one that I will buy tires from, I go and have the wheels cleaned on the day of tire mounting....and have the shop people inspect the rims...then when I pick the car up, I will have the shop people go with me and re-inspect the rims after mounting the new tires. If there is any problems... it can be taken care of....as I have not paid my bill yet. I have used my Firestone shop and have gotten great results. They tell me that masking tape has to be used on the rims to avoid the damage.

10-17-2008, 10:34 PM	#1
NYF32DRIVER Lieutenant 135 Rep 556 Posts Drives: 2016 428i X Drive Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Long Island, NY, USA iTrader: (0)	FIRESTONE TRASHED My RIM !!! The other night I heard the dreaded "click, click" sound coming from one of my tires. Too dark to investigate, I waited until morning. Sure enough, when I started the car, I got the tire pressure warning in my iDrive screen. Upon checking the rear drivers side tire there was a screw/bolt imbedded in it. I decided to try bringing the car to Firestone, to a location listed as a "Run Flat Specialist" on their website (Freeport, NY) After replacing 5 tires in 9 months it is getting rather expensive to bring to have tires replaced by BMW. Firestone charged $337.00 plus $10.00 for labor. BMW charged $370.00 plus $35.00 for labor... a $58.00 difference. I am beginning to think it was NOT worth the savings. All my rims are in excellent condition, not a SCRATCH on them. When they had finally finished with my car, not only was the rim FILTHY (Couldn't they wipe it off ?) but there was both a GOUGE and a SCRATCH in the rim ! (Pics below) The Manager "ABE" was very nice about it and said that they would have it fixed, but I need to leave the car overnight. This is a HUGE inconvenience for me. I am actually thinking of disputing the charge. WHY would they even ATTEMPT to give it back to me in this condition and think I would not notice ? Next time (if there is one) I'll pay the extra $58.00 !! What would you guys do ? Attached Images __________________ 2016 428i X Drive. Mineral Gray Metallic. Born 2/2016, Munich Factory. Member BMW CCA Since 2008
	Appreciate 0 Tweet Quote

10-18-2008, 04:44 AM	#3
san~man Tired 136 Rep 2,673 Posts Drives: BMW-less Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: USA iTrader: (7)	You can either: 1. Allow them to try to get it repaired, or 2. Insist on a new wheel. I doubt they'd pay for a new wheel, so your only choice is probably #1. I would, however, insist that if the wheel isn't repaired to your satisfaction that they go ahead and do #2. __________________ BMW-less
	Appreciate 0 Quote

10-18-2008, 07:51 AM	#4
Deda Major General 572 Rep 7,033 Posts Drives: BMW M5 comp Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Croatia iTrader: (0)	sorry to hear man!
	Appreciate 0 Quote

10-19-2008, 11:50 AM	#5
ando Colonel 2282 Rep 2,196 Posts Drives: F80, G80 & G87 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago iTrader: (0) Garage List 2015 BMW M3 [9.50] 2024 M2 [9.50] 2022 BMW M3 [7.83]	firestone is bad I feel your pain. The exact same thing happened to three of my wheels last week when I had my new Blizzaks LM22 RFTs installed. We take our work car to this Firestone place and they seem to do decent work. I asked the manager if he would price match an internet ad for the Blizzaks and he did but had to order the tires. I picked up my car after a couple hour wait (they said they had problems getting the RFTs off due to the side walls) and I looked around to make sure they had the correct tires and directional arrows correct. My car was dirty so everything looked okay. The next day, Saturday, I was drying my wheels after a wash and noticed they scrapped a couple of the wheels in a similar circular pattern and also noticed they must have been in a rush because it appears they missed the bolt with the impact wrench and scratched that area as well on a couple of the wheels. I will not go back and in the end you get what you pay for. I would not leave my car overnight at Firestone though.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-07-2008, 01:14 AM	#7
maui86 Captain 38 Rep 738 Posts Drives: 07 335i Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: paradise iTrader: (1)	same thing happened to me. nice fact gash about inch half thick and 1/4inch long on both my rears. very very lucky these are the stock 17's that i care less about so i didn't feel the sense to bitch about it since im replacing the rims anyways. glad the guy was cool about fixing your rims. teri __________________ http://videos.streetfire.net/video/s...rays_37268.htm gotta do what i gotta do to get them donuts 04 spec-v: rip dec07
	Appreciate 0 Quote

10-18-2008, 01:41 AM	#2
brokemywallet Slaveaholic 18 Rep 707 Posts Drives: 2006 330I Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: So. Cal iTrader: (6)	combination of inexperienced wheel mounting/dismounting tech + the very stiff sidewalls of the rft= damaged wheel i had the same mistake of taking to a small mom & pop shop and they did the same thing. i just let it go, cause it was my own fault for taking it there in the first place. at least firestone owned up to it (b/c they probably knew that they did it)
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-07-2008, 09:58 AM	#8
Raz335 Major 55 Rep 1,162 Posts Drives: BMW M3 Convertible Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: LI,NY iTrader: (2)	Yup, looks like this has happened to a lot of people including me. I had a patch repair done on my rear RFT tire. THe sidewalls are very stiff and the tech used metal bars to pry the tire off. The result was gauges and scratches everywhere. To say I was pissed would be an understatement. I insisted they fix it and told me I'd have to leave the car. Fortunately I know a mobile wheel repair place that comes to you and so i used them. So in the end, I paid $30 for the patch repair, and the wheel place paid $130 to have my wheel fixed. Talk about bad business. I live on LI, so if you want the name of the mobile repair company, PM me. __________________ Jerez Black/Fox E93 M3 - Prem 2/Cold/Conv/DCT/EDC/19's/Ext Lthr/Crbn Trim/Enhanced Sound/Sat Mods- 20" BBS LM's DBK/Challenge Catback/Eibachs/Trim wrapped black/Lux Angel eyes/35% Tint
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-07-2008, 10:10 AM	#9
Scimitar335i Major 211 Rep 1,313 Posts Drives: 2007 335i Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (12)	I hate firestone they are not careful with ur crap. my girl had her oil changed there when she had her mazda 6. after a few days her oil light came on and upon investigation the idiots that changed her oil crushed the canister oil filter. A few days of driving with little to no oil caused the engine to have a loud, loud knocking noise. She was estimated 2000 dollars to fix and Firestone denied all responsibility. BS That place sucks arse __________________ 2007 TiAg e90 335i sport. Yes, The e90 "Mustache" is cool!
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-07-2008, 10:21 AM	#10
Kev Critical Care Anesthesiologist 491 Rep 8,824 Posts Drives: SMB F83 Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Seattle, WA iTrader: (24) Garage List 2009 Porsche 911 Ca ... [9.50]	I would avoid most of those places in general, even simply to install a set of mounted, balanced, wheels from The Tire Rack. I would go to my local BMW specialist for the peace of mind. I'm a little OCD when it comes to my car. __________________ kev { divinum est sedate dolorem } "your friendly neighborhood critical care anesthesiologist"
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-07-2008, 11:09 AM	#11
ALPINE6SPD Lieutenant General 161 Rep 10,407 Posts Drives: 2010 BMW 328i Sport Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Highland Lakes NJ iTrader: (2)	58.00 to go to firestone??????????????????? I would pay 100 more for BMW to do it. I am sorry this happened but why cut corners with money here? You do have a 50k car after all so treat it like its a 50k car. Lesson learned, I just hope you and others will learn from this. I hope I dont sounds like an asshole but other people have to realize if BMW did it and something happens you have a much better chance for them to help you out than a shitty firestone store. I would want a BMW tech to put it on for safety alone. __________________ 2010 AW e90 328i: 6 speed, Black Leather, Dark Wood trim, ZPP, ZCW, ZVP,ZSP, Nav, Xenon BMW Performance CF Rear spolier and Gloss black grills 2008 Candy White MKV GTI 2.0T 6 Speed Manul Gone 2008 AW X3 3.0si: 6 speed Returned 2006 AW e90 330i: 6 speed Dinan Stage 1 Returned
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-07-2008, 12:32 PM	#12
Psylight Brigadier General 92 Rep 3,486 Posts Drives: Space Gray E92 M 6MT Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Diamond Bar ,California iTrader: (12)	Firestone is the worst shop ever. Not only did they scratch like 2 of my wheels on my old G35 (which they re powdercoated), the re painted wheels came back to me scratched again!! To make matters worse, they put the wrong AT fluid into the car, and my old car suffered tranny damage. They of course, denied responsibility because THEY put the wrong milage on their paper work. To quote Cyrus Grissom of Con Air, "For me, you're somewhere between a cockroach and that white stuff that accumulates at the corner of your mouth when you're really thirsty." __________________
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-07-2008, 01:43 PM	#13
ak335 Lieutenant Colonel 130 Rep 1,564 Posts Drives: Cayman S Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Northern Va iTrader: (3)	yep its happened to me good luck
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-07-2008, 04:35 PM	#14
Firefly6 Lieutenant 13 Rep 412 Posts Drives: 2018 330i Xdrive Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: New Jersey iTrader: (2)	Yet another Firestone story.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-08-2008, 06:58 PM	#15
Blue Streak Gunny 31 Rep 623 Posts Drives: '07 E90 335i 6MT, 2016 F10 535 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: San Diego, CA iTrader: (0) Garage List 2007 E90 335i [9.00]	The same thing happend to me when I got tires replaced at Discount Tire. I alwasy use Discount Tire to buy tires. They've been very good to me over the years. I noticed my left rear wheel was really scraped bad and there was a square looking chunk out of it (way worse than yours looks). I brought the car back and had the manager look at it. They determined that it was caused by their machine and an inexperienced person must have done the tire mounting, even though they claimed that they don't let inexperienced employees mount tires on BMW's and other nice cars with expensive wheels. They contracted a mobile wheel repair business that came to my home and repaired the wheel in my driveway and then billed Discount. I was unsure about how that would turn out, but WOW! It is exactly like a brand new wheel now. I was very surprised and am very pleased by the result. So, if a reputable business or person can repair the wheel, don't worry. It's definitely possible to get it just like new. __________________ 2007 E90 335i 6MT, ZSP, Nav, PDC, CA, Montego Blue, Terra Dakota leather, CDV, clutch-stop, E46 M Shift Knob, Logic HVI, JB4 PnP, MS 3" downpipes, Koni Yellow adjustable sport shocks, RE 12mm(f)/BMS 15mm(r) spacers, Blacklines, LUX 5.0 LED halo ring lights, DAEOS (Vista) harness, GP Thunder 7500k fogs, 35% sides-20% rear tint, matt black kidney grill, matt black 335i trunk badge
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-10-2008, 11:24 AM	#16
willie55912 Private First Class 51 Rep 130 Posts Drives: 2021 M850xi gran coupe Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Minnesota iTrader: (0)	When I buy tires, I always tell the business up front that I have run flat tires...and they are hard to mount. In the rural areas that I live, most will refuse my business....or not tell me that they will not guarantee they will not damage the wheel. I will move on to another business. When I find one that I will buy tires from, I go and have the wheels cleaned on the day of tire mounting....and have the shop people inspect the rims...then when I pick the car up, I will have the shop people go with me and re-inspect the rims after mounting the new tires. If there is any problems... it can be taken care of....as I have not paid my bill yet. I have used my Firestone shop and have gotten great results. They tell me that masking tape has to be used on the rims to avoid the damage.
	Appreciate 0 Quote