[bmw330dconv]

Hi everyone, I wanted to know your advice on the following:

I gave my car in to BMW in June literally a month after purchasing from dealers because the car didnt feel smooth and i could hear a small squeek coming from the wheels...turned out i need a new cluth and the squeek was a characteristic of the car that is what i was told so it was nothing apparently.

the clutch was replace on warranty - all good

the squeek however got worse over the last few weeks and i gave in the car to bmw again this morning, i just got a call back from them saying the squeek is coming from my rear wheel due to the allow being cracked and 2 tyres are apparently worn down to the core!

now the cracked wheel was a refurb done by bmw when i bought the car and the crack is in the inner side of the wheel so basically i need a new wheel BMW said

and 2 tyres are worn down so 2 new RFT needed total cost around £1500!!!

where do i stand with BMW, shall i take the car back to the BMW i purchased it from?

I never do any harsh driving and i have only had the car since end of may 2009

what should i do I cannot afford this expenditure at the moment!!

pls help me

[creepy coupe]

Hi, I suggest you read through these posts, they might help you to understand BMW's standpoint on cracked 225's

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190162

[Dr Dave]

How does a squeak indicate cracked wheels?? Or how would a cracked alloy make a squeak noise?

How often do you check your tyres, 330dconv?

[NFS]

Originally Posted by bmw330dconv

I never do any harsh driving and i have only had the car since end of may 2009

what should i do I cannot afford this expenditure at the moment!!

pls help me

Unfortunately I think you are stuck with this. However the cost seems excessive for 1 wheel and 2 tyres. I would try to arrange for these to be sourced and fitted by a tyre specialist.

I'm guessing up to £500 for the rim and max £250 each for the tyres?

Should be able to get it down to £1k I think.

Edit - check here:

4 x 225's with rubber = £2k

http://www.mstyle.co.uk/acatalog/Onl...eels_1602.html

I'm sure they would sell you 1 and you can get the tyre from http://www.camskill.co.uk/

[RagingKileak]

You could get a set of 225 alloys with good tyres all round for about a grand (a little more) and then sell your other three for a reasonable return.

Might be an idea.

If BMW did the refurb then I would be willing to suggest that they will offer some kind of 1 year guarantee or similar on the repair, if they dont then I suggest you 'suggest' that such a warranty was implied or should be offerred as goodwill.

With regards to your tyres, as you have had the car for lets say 2-3 months and the tyres are worn to the core, I would have thought they were close to that point when the car was sold to you. Again I would be looking for goodwill etc on this one!

Matt

[E92Fan]

A new 19" rim is about £350 including VAT. Contact Chris @ Derek Woodman BMW and I'm sure he'll sort you out a good price on the wheel.

However, you will probably find that the wheel can be repaired by either Pristine Alloys in Milton Keynes or Lepsons in Gillingham. They've repaired many many cracked BMW wheels now and they're so used to seeing them come in it doesn't surprise them anymore. I've used Lepsons many times in the past, both for myself and other people, and everytime the finish is spot on. Lepsons telephone - 01634 580582. Retail cost on the repair is about £75 for a 19" wheel, so MUCH cheaper than a new rim!

Having spoken to the guys from Elite Tyres in Romford, I can tell you that the Bridgestone runflats for the rear wheels (255/30/19) are £275.94 fitted inc VAT each, (or £270.25 if you want them delivered without fitting)

Front tyres are £235.69 fitted inc VAT each (or £230 delivered)




So - you have two choices.



Scenario No 1

1) Phone Lepsons, take car to them, let them have a look - if they can fix the crack, then perfect and it'll cost £75.
2) Phone Elite, order two new tyres, have them sent to Lepsons in Gillingham and ask Lepsons to fit them for you after they've refurbed your wheel. For the rear tyres, it'll be £270.25 each tyre delivered, or £230 each front tyre delivered.

Total cost - either £535.00 or £615.50 depending on if it's front or rear that is needing tyres.



Scenario No 2

1) Buy new rim from BMW. £350
2) Take to Elite. Two rears @ £275.94 each or £235.69 for each front

Total cost - £901.96 for the rears, or £821.38 for the fronts.



Actually, there's a third scenario...


Change all four runflat tyres to non-runflats and go plus one in size (ie 235/35/19 and 265/30/19)... then either repair your wheel or buy a new one...

For instance (prices from Elite again)

Vredestein Ultra Sessanta - 235/35/19 - £126.44 fitted
Vredestein Ultra Sessanta - 265/30/19 - £155.19 fitted

Total - £563.26

Continental ContiSport 3 - 235/35/19 - £183.94 fitted
Continental ContiSport 3 - 265/30/19 - £218.44 fitted

Total - £804.76


If it were me, I'd see if Lepsons can repair the wheel, then I'd buy a set of Continentals and have all four wheels shod in non-runflats, all at a cost of less than £900.

And in any situation, I'd AVOID going to the BMW dealer !!!!!

[xenon]

^^ Good advice. As I have said before in the cracked wheels thread, BMW UK's stance on this is nothing short of disgraceful. The wheels are clearly unfit for UK roads and for BMW to sell them as a factory option and then deny any problem when there are *loads* of cracked examples is criminal. I have bought 5 BMWs in the past, all brand new, but my current e92 will be changed for a Audi or MB because of this issue. Well done BMW.

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by xenon

^^ I have bought 5 BMWs in the past, all brand new, but my current e92 will be changed for a Audi or MB because of this issue. Well done BMW.

Although I totally agree with your comments Ian, would you really want to drive a MB because BMW fail to own up to cracked wheel issues, wouldn't you been giving up driving what amounts to a good all round package because of your feelings on one particular point?

[xenon]

You're absolutely right, Del, but is has annoyed me immensely even though it has (yet) to happen to me. I check my 225 wheels regularly for the dreaded crack but BMW's attitude stinks.

I'm assuming you've collected the 335i now?

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by xenon

You're absolutely right, Del, but is has annoyed me immensely even though it has (yet) to happen to me. I check my 225 wheels regularly for the dreaded crack but BMW's attitude stinks.

I'm assuming you've collected the 335i now?

Yes I have Ian, and yes the 225 issue did hang over the decision to buy a 3 series, but I still went ahead with fingers crossed, The first job I did was to take the wheels off and have a good look and clean them, for what a visual check is worth.

I suppose because I've been around the house with cars of late, I'd realised just how good the overall BMW package is, although not perfect, I’ve been down the Audi path and had DM flywheels replaced, and new clutch assemblies, all admittedly covered under warranty, but it still sours the ownership experience.

I might be writing something different when my 225's give up.

[bmw330dconv]

ok guys sorry for such a late post but all i have done today is run around trying to sort this issue out, i took the car from bmw i cannot be assed to waste time with them at all...they wanted to do a diameter test or something for half hour labour time to find out if the cracked issue was manufacturer warranty or a pot hole in the road...i was heaving and decided to take the car to a guy i know pretty well...straight away he knew about the cracked 225 issue and said he can fix the wheel and fit 3 new rfts that needed replacing cost around 950 pounds...or fix wheel and fit non rfts all round for 650 with falken tyres which are not budget but close to...

in the end i decided to change all wheels to another set and new falken tyres cost 1200 pounds...i decided on these:

http://www.beyernwheels.com/BMW_whee...n_typemesh.php

i went for the 19s in black mesh, 8.5 at front and 9.5 on rears they have been ordered and will fit tomorrow...job done

bmws total cost was £1600 inc vat:

500 for new wheel
1100 for 3 rfts

cost for new wheels and repair to cracked wheel total cost 1260 pounds...fair enough i spent some money today but its better to go to new wheels with non rfts than going to bmw for a new wheel and tyres that i will have to replace within few months like u do with rfts and the worry of my wheels being cracked again!

now basically i want to know is my ride handling going to f***ed?
is my warranty screwed?
can i buy a space save wheel for my car?
do those cans that fill air or something when you have a puncture work and where can i get them?

and does anyone want 3 absolute mint 225s and 1 repaired by a good reliable tyre and wheel supplier called K1 in east london also one near new tyre as the other 3 will be binned. i think i will most likely sell the wheels off separately to try and recover the money i lost today!!!

its been a long day for me and i think i just need to get bed and get over today...i know its not as major as other problems i have read but when you spent the money i was meant to use for my gfs engagement ring it truly does hurt your pocket on that note goodnight!!

[NFS]

Originally Posted by bmw330dconv

now basically i want to know is my ride handling going to f***ed?
is my warranty screwed?
can i buy a space save wheel for my car?
do those cans that fill air or something when you have a puncture work and where can i get them?

Glad you got it sorted.

The warranty will be fine. But you should tell your insurers, especially as you have also changed the wheels.

I use the stock pressures midway between full and part load for my tyres.

Handling on my non RFT tyres is different, but no worse than with RFT. Ride quality is massively improved.

I bought a 400ml can of Holts Tyre Weld and a mini compressor from Screwfix. Cheaper there than anywhere else. Reading up on the internet from other peoples experiences it does seem as if it works.

[bmw330dconv]

got the new wheels put on today, really do like them they suit the car 100% the back dish is toooo nice!

i also got the car computer wheel aligned too, front and rear were both out cant seem to figure that out because even with my wheel striaght the car pulled fine and never really swerved to left or right...tracking was good havent had one of these done for few years and was suprised at how good mechanics have got with all these diagnotics computers and wheel alignment computers, it cost me £60 and outof curiosity i called bmw to find out how much they charge .... £360!!!! it was defo worth it, they threw in a mini compressor and holts tyre weld 500ml can for free as they knew i dont have a spare wheel.

rfts are nothing compared to normal tyres...the car is so much smoother handles just as well and if anything much better than rfts!

new rims make me feel like i have a new car couldnt stop driving all day today!!

[bmw330dconv]

by the way if anyone was wondering i put 235/35/19 on the front and 265/30/19s on the rear, the back look v wide and nice!!