Not Happy Bmw!!!!! (UPDATE)
 

Just got a call from my wife who is late arriving to her destination with my son and her sister.

They spent 6 hours doing a 4 hour journey to see some other family members but had a blown tyre..... and I mean BLOWN!

The left rear is apprently in shreds, and when they pulled over they found the rim was ruined too. How that is I don't know as they are now some hours away.

A passerby stopped to change the wheel and the BMW jack collapsed! Now.... I know the X5 is a heavy car, but the jack should be able to hold it up!!!!!!!!

Apparently it is all buckled and they could not lift the car up high enough to put on the spare. What a joke! Where is the quality control! I have no problem with annoying little problems but WHEN MY WIFE AND SON ARE STRANDED BECAUSE THE OEM DOESN'T CUT IT I GET P^&*D.

Here they are, two women and a 3yr old in the middle of nowhere flagging down strangers because they can't use the jack.

So flag down ANOTHER passerby who thankfully had one of those balloon jacks that you use with the exhaust.

When they get back and I have a look at the jack I will be off to BMW with a few choice words!

Oh man that's terrible but here's hoping your wife, kid, and sister get home safely. The blown tire you can accept but the blown jack is unacceptable.

Good luck and keep us posted, LVR.

Glad you family is okay.

That whole situation sounds unbelieveable. I mean, I believe you. I'm just astounded. Any chance the shredded tire and rim were the result of driving on a flat for a bit?

Good luck.

Wow - that's ridiculous. Glad to hear the family is OK!

As long as your family is alright, that's all that matters. Glad to hear they're OK.

Does australia have roadside assistance like we do here???

Sorry to hear. Do you have BMW assist?

Hope your family got to their destination safely. The jack thing is crap! Did they have the sos or "wrench" button in the car?

Sorry to hear that. Hope everything is Ok with your family and they arrive/return home safely, LVR.

sorry to hear...

don't know what the passer-by did, but the scissor jack works fine for me... i've tried it on both the 3.0 and the 4.4 at both front and back...

Good thing everyone is Ok after a blowout like that.

Is it possible that whoever helped them didn't know how to use the jack? If the X5 wasn't on level ground and the jack was at an angle it's possible to break the jack.

I blew a tire once on the interstate and it shredded to pieces like the one you describe.

Another thing for those who've added different wheels than what came on your car, make sure the factory lug wrench fits. I found out the hard way that the wrench for factory 18's does not fit 19" "snowflakes". :(

Uh oh... So where does one find the 19" wrench?

that's horrible. i hop they are alrite. The jack broke, thats horrible!! also, what about the sos/wrench button?

This thread concerned me that my lug wrench wouldn't fit my 19" sport wheels (type 63?). I went out to the garage and tried it, it fits! Are the lug bolts different for different wheels?

I am definitely going to check my jack and see if its up to the job!Hayaku has confirmed that his is ok!I think we should all do the same!

By the way, I checked my jack too. It's not to beefy. I can see it would work only under ideal circumstances. If the jacking surface was uneven or the car not level, the jack could angle sideways and collapse.

sorry to hear...hope the wife and kids make it home safe.
breathe! breathe!

I used my jack the other day while installing my mudflaps. I agree...it is functional, but not the best I have ever seen. If I thought I would have to use the jack occasionally (like if I lived somewhere that required snow tire swapping), I would buy a better jack.

I'm a "gear head" and I've used the BMW jack and find it to be entirely adaquate. I'd hazard a guess that the person helping change the tire didn't have the vehicle adaquately "chocked" and while jacking it up the vehicle rolled slightly causing the jack to be compromised. This is not the fault of BMW's jack!

Additionally, if a tire severly blows out, and this can happen to ANY tire if a sufficient road hazard is encountered, than the tire may actually be damaged such that the wheel is bent and or the wheel makes contact with the pavement (you've seen the police spike strip videos and the sparks that fly).

I can understand your concern for your family, but I believe you should ponder this matter a bit further before launching into BMW.

Tomaz,

I don't know if they use different lugs or not. When my tire blew out on the 19" bmw rim I tried using the wrench that came with it (non sport package 4.4 with 18's) and it would not fit. Luckily, I wasn't out of town and a friend was able to bring a wrench that fit. When I got the lugs off, they were clearly a different size than the wrench head. I tried posting to see if a different lug wrench exists but didn't get any responses. Now I keep a ratchet, extension, and socket (17mm i believe) in the back of the car. Not that big of a deal I guess, but I would prefer to have an oem wrench that fits.

Sorry to hear this...glad your family is ok. I will check my OEM jack tonite. Hope you can straighten everything out with your BMW dealer, they should cover the damages...Best of Luck!! :thumbup:

I agree with withidl.

Sorry to hear about your family and I hope they're okay, but a shredded tire and damaged rim will happen with any vehicle (very common at high speed when driving on an underinflated tire). It's not BMW's fault and I can't see them bearing any responsibility. It also sounds to me like the guy who jacked up the car didn't know what he was doing and either didn't have the jack located properly to the jack point, didn't have it properly aligned, or didn't have the vehicle firmly secured in place with brakes & chocks before jacking it (or any combination of the three). Have you ever shown your wife how to jack the vehicle properly and change the tire in a situation where you aren't available to help her?

I do think it is pretty cool that BMW includes 2 chocks as standard equipment. Never had that with any other vehicle.

SuperH, thanks for the update. I must have an OEM 19" sport wheel lug wrench. It's a shame you never got a response to your original posting, this information could save anyone with non OEM wheels the danger of not having the correct wrench. Clearly, there is a difference between the 19" wheels and others.

I agree.

I went from type 130, 17" to type 132, 19" wheels/tires and the OEM wrench that came with my 3.0 worked perfectly on all rims. I used the same wrench to take off the 17s and put on the 19s (I reused the lug nuts)...no problems.

So...I guessed superH either have non-OEM lug nuts or non-OEM lug wrench.

Thanks DKL,

I went and checked my lugs, they are 19mm. SuperH said he needs a 17mm socket. Sounds like someone changed his lug nuts.

wow... sorry to hear that. Glad to hear everyone is OK. Please keep us updated.

Juan

I agree also and have shown my wife how to jack her car. I should do that with the X also. She probably would not try it anyway as we have AAA and I know she would call them instead of changing the tire by herself.

Jacking a car is dangerous business if you dont take proper precautions. Glad to hear that that no one was hurt in the ordeal.

Dennis

Not directed at you, LVR, because I don't even know if BMW Assist is available or worthwhile in Oz, but this is clearly one reason why I pay the money for the service for both my X5 and my wife's MB. If she breaks down somewhere, and I am not available, in a little while a guy in greasy coveralls will be along to do the dirty work. That is peace of mind for me.

thanx for the kind words guys......

in answer to some of the comments, we are part of BMW assist, but they were 1 and a half hours away at best, and the temperature was 120 degrees (51 degrees C)....with no shade around, and a 3yr old. they made the decision to flag someone down as my wife could not undo the the wheel nuts......

Yes I have shown her all the safety features such as how to change the wheel, where everything is located etc. I have even gotten her to 'simulate' an emergency stop so she understands what ABS feels like (so she does not get scared of it) when it is working both in the wet and dry.

From what I understand, the car was not level, but only by about 2-3 inches. They placed the jack correctly in the spot and lifted it to remove the wheel. The spare wheel, being inflated, meant the car then had to go up higher and that is when the jack buckled.

I intend to have a look at the hardness of the jack arms when my wife returns.

It seems to me that

a) it is a 4wd and the chances of needing a jack on uneven ground would be high-ish so the design would have to reflect that,

b) a jack should have a load margin greater than the corner weight of the car fully fueled,

c) the X5 is not a low car so the deisgn would have to take into account operation load at it's most extended point

A shredded tyre and possible rim damage doesn't matter as they can be replaced. I certainly would not lay that at BMW's door either as that is wear and tear in my book, however I don't think a $100k car should have a jack performing like some cheap $2 shop item......

This jack clearly doesn't cut it.

Isnt there any lawsuit potential in this?! Make 'em pay! Someone could have been seriously hurt!

Maybe if enough people complain about this ,Bmw will recall all X5s owners and provide adequate jacks!

it does?? :dunno:

Page 164, 2005 owner's manual

164

What you will need

In order to avoid rattling noises later,
note the position of the tools when you
remove them and return them to their
original position when you are through
using them.

>

whilst dropping off my 4.8 today I took my wifes car jack in for examination....

the dealer asked me all the right questions, including was the jack used correctly. during the discussion they revealed that they recently had another jack brought in to them in pieces. seems it collapsed under the weight of the car, although there was some doubt as to whether it was used properly according to the dealer.

they are replacing our jack as the centre screw was bent out of shape, evidence that it was not hardened enough to take the load. dealer seems to think it was faulty out of factory.

I personally recommend anyone with a 2004 X5 does a practice tyre change and see if their jack will hold the load. methinks there is a faulty batch out there...........

thanks for the advice. I always use my floor jack when working on the X but of course that is not an emergency situation. I will definitely test the OEM jack.

Glad no one was hurt.

Worse story:
One of my friends is a wholesale car dealer. He was jacking up an Integra with the Honda jack to put a new tire on and while he was pulling the old tire off, the jack gave way. He was so lucky, when the car fell it torqued the tire being removed in at the bottom of the tire. This caused his thumb to be split open by the body of the car. However, had the tire torqued inward at the top, it would have caught his hand between the rotor and the rim and the weight of the vehicle.

Another thought as far as the wives, daughters, and kids are concerned--make sure they call someone first or get highway patrol enroute to provide a degree of security. Even if they can do the change themselves, there is a window of vunerability and their time and location needs to be immediately noted and monitored...FHP will usually get a trooper on the scene right away, but they are loathe muss their uniforms.

Make sure when demonstrating a change, to break the nuts (how else do I describe this?) free before taking the load off the tire.

Use Caution
 

What an ordeal!! Glad to hear the family is safe, though no doubt a bit frazzled. In the big picture I afree with Withidl above that the jack just takes some care in keeping it plumb/straight up & down, and also chocking the tires. Both tips are mentioned in Bimmer manuals, and make it an effective jack, for level road situations.
A quick note: If you ever feel unsafe with the angle/ use of a jack on ANY car, follow your intuition & get a tow! When I first started driving, I pulled over to help an elderly woman waving wildly at the roadside, only to find her husband had been changing a flat & the jack dropped (slipped in gravel). The entire Cadillac dropped onto, get this... his wedding ring,pinned between the frame & the rim, as I recall. Though it was still wildly painful for him, the wedding band at least saved his fingers from getting chopped, and we flagged down 2 more guys to lift up the car & get him freed just before the ambulance pulled up. So just a note to err on the cautious side when setting up & using a jack. If it feels dangerous, it probably is.

In my earlier posts, I mentioned that my wife knows how to use the jack, secondly the car did NOT move. It was unable to be jacked up to the full height as it began to collapse WHILE BEING USED TO LIFT THE CAR.

The dealer has thought that the only other way for it to fail as it has was for the car to be overloaded..... although we reminded them that you have to unpack the car to get to the spare and the jack.

See reply above