Slow Puncture Reveals a cracked alloy rim!!! Update

[nynd]

That looks like its on the inside not the outer side. So, how is that you would hit a curb with the inner portion? Makes no sense. A GOOD Dealer would cover that somehow...customer service is more important on a 60K+ vehicle.

[drod]

just from looking at the picture you posted it actually does look like you may have rubbed against a curb or something... it shows scratches and significant wear around the crack... (unless it's a reflection or something similar that is showing up on the photo)

honestly, just from looking at it, if I were the dealer I would have said the same!

remember, these are alloy rims...they are light and a bit fragile... and they scratch easily... will they crack easily??? probably not but i've seen cracked alloy rims caused by hitting small potholes..

rubbing hard against curbs can also give you the exact same results!

not saying you did that but these wheels are not as durable as the stock ones and they are a huge difference (lighter and weaker) compared to wheels made years ago.

if you can get the dealer to swap it go for it... he may do so if the vehicle has low mileage and you've only had her for a short period of time...

if it's been more than a few weeks or months then forget it... he won't do it!

[rodybmw]

This reminds me of the run of defective Type 124 wheels on the E60's a few years ago. When it first started happening the dealers tried to tell the owners that it was their fault. But then more cases popped up and they started to realize that it was a run of defective wheels that would crack completely around the circumference when driving over potholes at moderate speeds.....speeds that normally would at worse bend the wheels, not crack them.

The funny thing is that even after BMW accepted that the wheels were defective and replaced them under warranty some dealers would still tell the customers that it was their fault and not covered under warranty. People would have to take them printed pages from the internet or contact BMW to make the dealers cover it under warranty.

I know the crack on this E70 wheel is not in the same category as the pictures I'm posting (which show obvious defects), but we should keep an eye on this and see if more cases like this happen in the future......if they do then there would be a better chance of BMW being convinced that the wheels may be defective and cover it under warranty.

[nynd]

All I can say is WOW....

[JBHorner]

Originally Posted by drod

just from looking at the picture you posted it actually does look like you may have rubbed against a curb or something... it shows scratches and significant wear around the crack... (unless it's a reflection or something similar that is showing up on the photo)

honestly, just from looking at it, if I were the dealer I would have said the same!

remember, these are alloy rims...they are light and a bit fragile... and they scratch easily... will they crack easily??? probably not but i've seen cracked alloy rims caused by hitting small potholes..

rubbing hard against curbs can also give you the exact same results!

not saying you did that but these wheels are not as durable as the stock ones and they are a huge difference (lighter and weaker) compared to wheels made years ago.

if you can get the dealer to swap it go for it... he may do so if the vehicle has low mileage and you've only had her for a short period of time...

if it's been more than a few weeks or months then forget it... he won't do it!

I believe that is the inside of the rim in the picture. Note that on stock rims, the weights are in the inside. If I'm correct, it would be very difficult for any dealer to say he rubbed up against the curb.

I had a friend who had a 540 a number of years ago. He had problems with bent rims. His dealer told him that the BMW rims are made of a softer metal, so it wasn't unusual to have them bend. This guy is anal about his cars, so I have no doubt that he babied his car. The potholes in Los Angeles can be bad---but not so bad that they would bend a decent rim easily.

Joel

[The Big Easy]

Thanks for posting, We have not had any such cases here yet, but there are not many E70s with style 214s either. Get customer service involved cause the crack may be due to an intrinsic fault in the alloy. This one needs replacing and not repairing.

Hey Rody, what is the detail behind the cracked rim you posted - scary - did this happen while the person was driving?

Cheers,

[irishE70x5]

It is the inside of the rim not the outside (Kurb Side) once off I will take more photos and post

[dwarfer]

Originally Posted by irishE70x5

It is the inside of the rim not the outside (Kurb Side) once off I will take more photos and post

Is anyone running 21" wheels and due to the lower profile wheel has anyone experienced damage to rims from a moderate pot hole or something? I'm considering 21" rims but having seen this im having second throughts. Maybe its not a good idea on such a big car.

[rodybmw]

Originally Posted by The Big Easy

....Hey Rody, what is the detail behind the cracked rim you posted - scary - did this happen while the person was driving?

Cheers,

That exact thing happened to at least 5 or 6 people on E60.net alone. Most of them did acknowledge hitting potholes just before the wheels cracked, which should have bent the wheels.....not crack them down the middle........clearly the wheels were defective. They reported driving at speeds ranging from around 35MPH to 75 MPH. None of the cars lost control or became unstable after the wheels cracked and the only way most of them knew something was wrong was because of some "weird" noised that they heard. Some of them even drove for a couple of minutes before pulling over to check where the noise was coming from.

[AidenL]

Sounds like mean and miserable service from your dealer to be honest