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I have a 335i which developed a slow leak from a rear wheel.  On checking its got a crack in alloy on the inside of the wheel.  Having driven cars with alloys for many years, this has NEVER happened to me before.  I have driven other cars on rough roads on road trips etc, but this has cracked going from my home to the office!

BMW Stratstone in Maidenhead have now had this issue for 2 weeks and have told me the delay is with BMW.  The 335i is a lovely car, but I'm getting to the stage that I might never buy another BMW again if this is the treatment for a very obvious fault.  Rubbish!  

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/Complaint.cfm

Go to this link and report it. I have the same issue with a 335xi. It is very easy, about 5 minutes to report the issue. If enough people complain then maybe something will be done. I think in the current climate it may get some action.


This is what I entered...

[bold]BMW 3 series and also other series with run flat tires have an issue that with an average bump like a manhole cover the wheel will crack. I have replaced 3 so far on my wife’s 2008 335xi at my cost. After research I have seen that this is a common issue and that everyone has had the same experience with BMW denying it was the wheel. The car only has 35,000+/- miles on it.
When brought in due to rapid air loss BMW states it was the driving conditions not their wheel. I accepted this the first time but after 3 wheels I feel there is a major design or material defect.
It seems to be the run flat style tires. I thought maybe it was the tires so I switched from the factory tires to a different brand based on the dealers recommendation after the first wheel cracked and still have had the issue two more times.
My wife has an older Mercedes that she drives the same way and it has the same wheels from 2003. It must be the wheels supplied by BMW.[/bold]  

I have had a similar experience with Westchester BMW, and Park Ave BMW in NJ where i originally leased a 2008 335i convertible with 17" bridgestone turanza runflats.  Such a fun car, but in the short time I've had to replace at least 6 tires, and had to spend above my wheel/tire warranty to "resurface" the rims as they were severely bent and causing a horrible vibration of the car when driving highway speeds, along with a very noisy cabin for such an expensive car (about $58k).  Apparently the wheel/tire warranty company (Zurich) will only consider covering rims if they're clearly leaking air. And i've gone to Westchester BMW to get air in the tires at least 3 times for "low pressure" warnings, but these visits weren't documented, and the service tech felt they were due to cooler ambient temperatures / change of season.

Now recently i definitely hit a pothole, then felt a vibration. So this morning brought the car to Park Ave BMW (only they will honor the tire/wheel policy since i got the car there) to get the one tire i noticed with a "bubble" / gash replaced.  Then while waiting for it the tech brought me back to the car where it was up on a rack and showed me that both rear rims were cracked, left rear rim was severely bent, and both driver-side tires had bubbles.

Yeah, maybe they can chalk it up to crappy roads in the NY metro area, but I have never had such problems with any other car.  I would definitely say class action is appropriate, especially with BMW's growing reputation of disavowing responsibility for a problem as "coincidence" e.g. the twin-turbo 335 / 535 engine's fuel pump. I have already replaced one about a year ago, and now there is finally an acknowledged problem and a recall.

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/bmw-admits-fuel-pump-flaw-turbo-cars/story?id=11968495  

I have 19 inch wheels on a 2007 BMW 335i and have had all 4 rims repaired, some of the rims already have 3 welds on them (each weld is $150 a pop), I have also had to replace all the potenza tires because they started to tear apart.  I have also had to replace 2 tire pressure sensors.  I did take pictures of the tires and kept them for a couple of weeks and contacted BMW, they of course told me to contact the tire manufacturer. The tire manufacturer told that BMW has known about this situation for a long time but refuses to do anything about it.  Having a busy schedule I just threw the tires away and forgot about it until I had another leak due to a crack this week and then saw these posts.  

In my case, I first got a flat tire then noticed that the tread was starting to tear apart on the inside of the tire, so I took it to BMW and was told it was the tire manufacturer's responsibility, I get the tire changed for around $400, but found it didn't hold air because the rim was cracked, the dealer said that the rim probably cracked because I was driving on the run flat tire too long or too fast, I get the rim repaired (another $150 per weld, 3 welds total) and find the sensor is not properly working and get told by BMW that it was probably due to the heat from the weld, new sensor ($250).

After all of this it has dawned on me that I'm going to have to change the rims anyhow, I was reluctant to do this because I paid a $5000 upgrade for these tires and rims, but now I don't feel comfortable driving on rims with so many welds on them.

Like everyone else on this post this is probably the last in a long line of BMW's.  I can't believe that a company with such a good reputation is willing to gamble by taking complaints from customers so frivolously.  I remember in the early 80's how Audi was very well respected but overnight lost their reputation because they refused to listen to customers who told them they had a problem with stuck accelerator.  

Add a 2011 750LiX with M package 20" wheel and approx 17k in miles with a hairline crack in the middle of the rim, no damage to sides of the rim that would suggest that rim sustained damage from hitting large pothole.  I had just put new pirelli snow tires on the car within the last month and within the last week right rear kept leaking air, I assumed that maybe they didnt mount tire correctly had it back to tire installer and they remounted and balanced again, took it on a 400 mile trip the following day, and got up the next morning and tire low again, irrated I took car back to auto installer who also takes care of all my vehicles and left it at their store.  I called them the following day and they pulled the wheel and submerged it in water and the rim has a hair line crack and water was bubbling threw it, I had to order new rim, I haven't even been to the BMW dealership yet but they billed my tire installer over 800 for the new rim.  As of now the damaged rim is in my trunk in the box the new one came in.  

This is my 3rd 7 series and one M5 in the mix, I hope BMW steps up to the plate on this one, thank god it didnt let loose at 80+ mph, I still have other tires that I took off when I put the winter rubber on, just in case I get a flat and need to put rubber on quickly, because run flats arent worth a >>>>>  I experienced a sidewall front tire blowout coming back from Chicago late on saturday night and BMW roadside took almost 6 hours to get me off the interstate, and 36+ hours later I got a new tire, thank god I blew a tire 20 miles from the tire rack, no one stocks 20" low profile performance tires.  BMW needs to come out with a real spare tire, that isnt as wide so that you can at least get somewhere, my run flat didnt even last 20 miles and was shredded.  

I recently brought my BMW 335i 2008 to the dealer because i had all four tires become low in pressure. Upon the examination at the Great Neck, NY dealership my advisor told me I had 3 damaged tires with bubbles and two rear rims were cracked. I wasnt concerned much at first because i have supplemental tire and rim insurance. The tire insurance sent an inspector to examine the damage and stated that the cracks in the rims are compressing-cracks and not road hazard cracks and are not covered by the policy. The inspector stated since the tires are low profile run flat tires combined with aluminum rim tend to generate heat and produce compression-cracks. BMW dealership denied everything the inspector said and stated that it must off been due to road hazard. The rims are not overly expensive, about $400 each, but what is the guarantee that the same exact thing will happen next week? Can this potentially be life threatning? BMW needs to step up to their name..this is my second and last beemer.  

Had the same problem with all 4 of my 525i oem rims! Dealer wanted $3000 for a new set. I had them shipped to a Rim RepairShop and they fixed them for $100 a piece. They did a great job and they offer a warranty. highly recomend them. RepairMyRim.com  

I restored back exhausts to explains the difficulty -- the next day they were flat again.  The exhaust shop put the wheels under water and we glimpsed air bubbles approaching out of the *** in the wheels.  

My MOST painful customer experience @ BIG-O Dublin & the email to the ownwer of BIG-O

Greg – I need your help to fix my MOST painful customer experience.  Here is the story, I will understand if you give up reading this early as it is long and excruciating – I need you to intervene as the owner to get this fixed as this painful customer experience has impacted my work performance and family life and now I am forced to barrow my mother’s; car on mother’s day until the owner (you) certifies the car as safe and 100% corrected!

SERIES OF 7 VISITS TO DUBLIN BIG-O TO SIMPLY REPLACE TIRES
1. I originally came in for a simple 4 tire upgrade. But Dublin BIG-O missed the SIX wheel cracks and sent me on my way to begin a nightmare odyssey.  
2. After the cracked wheel's tire deflated on the way to work, shredding the tire, I was forced to buy a replacement tire and 4 new wheels from TireRack.  
3. The one week later the new TireRack wheels arrived but were the wrong wheels, so was forced to hurriedly buy Dublin BIG-O wheels from a very small selection; I don’t like the new wheels look…
4. Now with new tires and wheels installed, the vibration in the steering wheel is intolerable even after 2 rebalancing
5. I took the car in today for its 3rd rebalancing using a special lug alignment tool but we never got to rebalancing event as the left-rear is flat (been going flat every two days) and the Dublin BIG-O  guys tell me now that one of the new wheels have a manufacturing cracks in them and must be replaced. They also tell me that the wheels they sold me require a special lug to wheel alignment gasket that was not originally put on the wheels they sold me.
6. So as of today and my 7th visit to Dublin BIG-O , I need replacement wheel #3 for the left rear, alignment gaskets for all 4 new wheels and I do not know if the flat I brought in will need to be replaced because I ran on it with low tire pressure to get it into Dublin BIG-O  

Yanbu000,

There are a lot of issues herer and not all of them are Big O's fault.

First, it is easy to miss small cracks when mounting new tires.  You didn't say how long it was between your buying tires and the shredded tire, but it is possible that the cracks came AFTER the tires were installed.

Second, you've bought wheels from Tires Rack and aksed Big O to install them.  That was a mistake.  Big O had no investment in the wheels, so any problems with the wheels was Tire Rack's fault, but you are asking Big O to fix it.  Why should they fix someone else's mistake.

Third, the problem with the vibration is not the balance, it is either the fit of the wheels to the vehicle (centering) or the wheels are out of round - again, all traceable to Tire Rack, not Big O!

If Big O helps you - which they appear to be doing - they are going WAY, WAY beyond what they are obligated to do.  It would be very helpful to keep in mind that you have different companies with different degrees of involvment, but you are asking only one of them to fix the problem.  If you press too hard, Big O may decide that it isn't worth the trouble to continue to do business with you - and a court of law would back them up!  

Well most cases of bmw tire are not for long run. Beside I have the same problem before. My tire blows out in the middle of the express way and I had to get towed by and brought me to the nearest BMW repair shop. Hopefully nobody hurt.  

Best bet is just to buy a new set. Cracked Rims Suck so much ...

Auto Repair RI
-howdy  

Im so relieved in a way to have found this thread.  I own a brand new 2011 BMW 335is cabrio...I have already replaced one rim..which after multiple visits back n forth to tire dealer and BMW dealer, they finally found the crack on the inside of the rim (put it in a tank of water to find the leak).  The wheel is an OEM 19 inch MV4 model and came complete with factory OEM runflat tires.  While they are gorgeous to look at, they might as well be side tables or door stops...useless!  After having another rear wheel start to lose air rapidly, I took it in to service last week...when I got it back, I was told it was low on air and it was ok to drive. That was all.  Doubtful, I drove off in the vehicle supecting they hadnt listened at all to my predictions of a cracked rim. One day later (Today), my wheel nearly came apart on the freeway but luckily was able to pull to the side and get a tow...and after a heated argument with the BMW service manager about them not fixing the problem from 1 day ago, they told me the same BS many of you have stated....it must be the way Im driving it and I was told there was no way BMW would cover a wheel under warranty.  Really? so what is this warranty I bought? only good if BMW agrees to it?  Im taking the advice I see on this thread and filing with NHTSA and anyone else who will listen.  This is more than a nuisance...this is a major safey issue!!! and BMW's position on this shocking!  They are in for one hell of a backlash.  As others on here, I have never recieved such rude responses from BMW before now....looks like AUDI will win after all if this is the way BMW expects to treat their loyal customers.  This is my third (and possibly last) BMW.