[keir84]

Well car went in to menzies at bmw stirling for an mot and to get pads replaced.......... well to cut a long story short i now have a bill of £1500 quid !!!!!! the rear off side has a crack in it and is an mot failure and are running the bridgestone run flats , turns out loads of people have this problem and is a common fault with these wheels the dealer has quoted me £458 + vat per wheel im not keen on paying that price and was thot of maybe putting an aftermarket csl reps on but the dealer told me that if i was to do this then i would have problems with the ABS warning lights coming on on the dash so i guess what im askin is....... if anyone on here has had experince with this? or is the dealer just trying to get me to buy a new wheel ? ive seen alloys being welded on tv and could i not just get someone to weld the wheel? and didnt know if to start an arguement with bmw about this as this is obviously a manufacturing flaw either in the metal tape within the run flat tyre or within the alloy its self ...who knows , any help or advice is more than welcome cheers gareth

[AlanQS]

This is an old and well established problem. If you would care to read the last few pages of this sticky thread you will read what has been happening recently.

The dealer is trying it on with you because you don't know about it. They use a "run-out" test to establish if your wheel has been seriously kerbed - which would cause the crack. Now of course, if the wheel is cracked it is most likely going to fail this test so, usually, BMW accept a replacement wheel when there are no obvious signs of outward damage.

How old is the car? How many owners? Obviously, the older the car and the more previous owners it has had, the harder it is to prove that someone didn't abuse the wheels in the first place but the dealer knows about the Watchdog programmes and knows fine well that cracked wheels were and are pretty common. You need to push him a bit but if the cracked wheel has had signs of previous resprays, it will be harder.

[Kerr]

Loads of people have them replaced under warranty/goodwill as it is a manufacturing issue.

They carry a check to see if the wheels are running true within their tolerance levels of not hitting a big hole.

Complete lies about the aftermarket wheels. BMW themselves fit all different sizes of wheels and tyres.

The wheels can be welded but not sure I would feel comfortable.

Really poor attitude by that dealer trying to take advantage of you.

[IanS100]

I'm running 18" Riva DTM / Conti TS810s (square) winter setup in place of my MV3s / RFT tyres (staggered) summer setup & I haven't had problems with ANY warning lights and I really can't see why you would. I think I smell German BS

[Sir_Pigley]

You can get them safely repaired and refurbed.

Lepson and http://www.platinumwheelrefurb.com/ for instance.

[Jules59]

I'd also change from using that dealership ever again.

[BGM]

i've had two replaced, one was just this past june (ish) and waaaaaaaaaaaay out of warranty

just ask for a run out test, and tell them about watchdog etc.

good luck

Originally Posted by Jules59

I'd also change from using that dealership ever again.

oh yes, and this! haha

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by keir84

maybe putting an aftermarket csl reps on but the dealer told me that if i was to do this then i would have problems with the ABS warning lights coming on on the dash

Numpties,are all Scottish BMW dealers as bad as the Scots members on here suggest?

Go elsewhere OP,south of Hadrians wall if possible

[zltm089]

Originally Posted by Jules59

I'd also change from using that dealership ever again.

plus one.

[briers]

What is the machine called that is needed to remove run flats? I believe you can't remove them on normal tyre machines, or its very hard to?

Also is it possible a crap fitter could damage and crack an alloy trying to remove a flintstone tyre?

[keir84]

thanks for the input on here guys , dirty bastards leading me up the garden path by the sounds of things ! ill be demanding a run out test to be carried out on the faulty wheel in the morning before running about and finding another wheel or another set of csl reps , i bought the car from them aswell !!! what a joke ! , so if i have hit a pot hole then i have still to pay for this out of my pocket ? i have hit many a pothole and have never had an alloy crack on me , this has to be a manufacturing error no? cheers gareth

[zltm089]

tell them you're contacting watchdog as they did an episode on this!

[BGM]

Originally Posted by briers

What is the machine called that is needed to remove run flats? I believe you can't remove them on normal tyre machines, or its very hard to?

Also is it possible a crap fitter could damage and crack an alloy trying to remove a flintstone tyre?

they are pretty tough.. i don't really think you can damage them in that way. could be wrong though!

[mrv335d]

I had two crack on me at different times, had them replaced by the dealerships as a "goodwill" gesture, had to argue a little tho.
Iv changed to non run flats and not had a problem since. Been running on non runflats for almost two years

[G_M_S]

Originally Posted by Jules59

I'd also change from using that dealership ever again.

There's a good reason I drive past Menzies and keep on the M80/M74 (for a 100 miles) until I get to Carlisle and the sanity of Lloyd BMW