Style 135 rims cracking.

[danewilson77]

Might as well, make a dedicated thread to this:

Fella's, I have read over the past few days, that people are beginning to have/report problems with style 135 rims cracking.

Just looking for some data.

Please post here if you have encountered this issue.

Please include:

1. Means to correct (Repair/replace).

2. Why you think it cracked (don't know, rough road, etc).

3. How did you know it cracked (Tire would not hold air, etc).

4. Age of rim (mileage, years, etc)

Thanks for your time,

DW

[johnrando]

- 1 cracked rear. No idea how it cracked nor am I fixing it.
- Knew it was cracked as it had a slow leak
- No idea mileage/years on the rim as I bought a set from someone else

[Jlastor]

My driver's side rear wheel is cracked, and my driver's side front bent. I was not able to avoid a pothole since I had cars in both sides, so I was only able to slow down a little (I also had a truck in front of me which I did not see the pothole until last second). I do loose some pressure, but I only refill after two weeks which cause about 10psi loss (now I keep my pressure a little higher to compensate).

Cracked the wheel two months ago with 93,000 miles on the clock.

[Asiah119]

1. Means to correct (Repair/replace): Replaced through BMW cost was bout $650

2. Why you think it cracked (don't know, rough road, etc): It seems like it was an accumulation of stress. I'm pretty careful about avoiding road hazards and it's a recent development so I can't necessarily blame the PO.

3. How did you know it cracked (Tire would not hold air, etc): Slow leak in the tire; one cold morning it was near totally flat.

4. Age of rim (mileage, years, etc): I can only assume that it's original so ~7 years 67k miles.

[danewilson77]

Thanks Asiah

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[echo46]

Is they fact that the tire is losing air have to mean that the wheel is cracked? Couldn't it be losing air because of a small puncture or bead not being seated correctly or tire wear. On my previous e46, I was running style 68s with Pilot Sports. After about a year I noticed that two of the tires had slow leaks. I fastidiously checked for small punctures to no avail. I took them to a tire shop and they showed me that while they were safely seated both tires were slowly leaking air at the beads. They took the tires off, cleaned the rims, and reseated the tires---fixed. I'm not saying that a cracked wheel will not cause a leak but I think there are a lot of other reasons for same.

[danewilson77]

Is they fact that the tire is losing air have to mean that the wheel is cracked? Couldn't it be losing air because of a small puncture or bead not being seated correctly or tire wear. On my previous e46, I was running style 68s with Pilot Sports. After about a year I noticed that two of the tires had slow leaks. I fastidiously checked for small punctures to no avail. I took them to a tire shop and they showed me that while they were safely seated both tires were slowly leaking air at the beads. They took the tires off, cleaned the rims, and reseated the tires---fixed. I'm not saying that a cracked wheel will not cause a leak but I think there are a lot of other reasons for same.

Ok.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[Smolck]

Rear passenger side cracked, bought the car with 138k miles so sometime before that. No leaks, no issues, keeping fingers crossed. Local guy welds aluminum wheels, but I can buy a new one (rep) for the $150 he wants.

[Sockethead]

In my opinion,a properly repaired wheel is no more dangerous that any other wheel. You can Google it and draw your own conclusions on how you feel about it. Personally, I will always get my wheels repaired.
My last wheel was the right rear. it was cracked in two spots... got it fixed and it lasted IDK 20 or 30 thousand miles before I bent the crap out of it in a construction zone and it couldn't be repaired... even did a track day on it... never thought twice about it. I don't remember how many miles were on the car then... that was like, two years ago.

This time it was the front left. It just started loosing air out of the blue. I finally got sick of filling it all the time and pulled it of to find the leak. After check the whole tread surface, it hit the lip and sure enough, I found the crack. I have 120K on the car now. I have no idea if I hit a pothole or what. The roads are pretty crappy around here so who knows...

The only symptoms will be leaking air. If you suspect a crack but can't find it, hit the back lip of the rim with some soapy water and you'll find it. The cracks will always be on the back lip.

When ever I take a rim to get fixed they tell me how crappy the BMW wheels are and how they are always fixing cracks in them. They said the 6 series wheels are the worst of all.

Here's a pic of the crack in mine...

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp325/r_powell123/_DSC2547_zps3a805b61.jpg

And here is the same wheel fixed... it doesn't have to be pretty since it's on the back

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp325/r_powell123/_DSC2549.jpg

[johnrando]

Is they fact that the tire is losing air have to mean that the wheel is cracked? Couldn't it be losing air because of a small puncture or bead not being seated correctly or tire wear. On my previous e46, I was running style 68s with Pilot Sports. After about a year I noticed that two of the tires had slow leaks. I fastidiously checked for small punctures to no avail. I took them to a tire shop and they showed me that while they were safely seated both tires were slowly leaking air at the beads. They took the tires off, cleaned the rims, and reseated the tires---fixed. I'm not saying that a cracked wheel will not cause a leak but I think there are a lot of other reasons for same.

Correct, they can leak for various reasons.

[iZHP]

My drivers side rear is cracked....

1. Means to correct (Repair/replace).
Advice was to replace rim. ~$450

2. Why you think it cracked:
No idea, car was possibly bought that way. I've never hit any major potholes.

3. How did you know it cracked:
Prestige BMW let me know during the tail light recall. No loss of tire pressure.

4. Age of rim:
9 years. Original set.

[rvariverguy]

Passenger front wheel cracked. I had noticed a slow leak and then last week hit a bad bridge junction in a construction zone. Hard impact resulted in a completely flat tire within a mile, shredded inner sidewall.

1. Means to correct (Repair/replace).
- Bought 4 refinished wheels from a forum member. I plan to repair the crack and refinish my other wheels so I can run summer/winter sets.

2. Why you think it cracked (don't know, rough road, etc).
- I blame the stupid Virginia Department of Transportation for half-doing construction work in a high traffic area, not to mention continual repairs during rush hour!

3. How did you know it cracked (Tire would not hold air, etc).
- Slow leak developed into flat tire. Crack was obvious when the wheel was removed.

4. Age of rim (mileage, years, etc)
2003 ZHP with 100,000 miles. I've only owned it for 10,000 miles so it was probably abused previously.

[Meric]

Wooww these are scary stories.. Good thing here if your car gets damaged by the road (like suspension or tire or rim) Alberta's government gives you the repair costs to replace the damaged parts. (of course they check the car first)

[webster]

Wooww these are scary stories.. Good thing here if your car gets damaged by the road (like suspension or tire or rim) Alberta's government gives you the repair costs to replace the damaged parts. (of course they check the car first)

seriously? every time i go over a nasty pothole i want to stop, snap a pic, and send it to my local rep. of course i realize that would be totally pointless, so i don't ever do it. it's awesome that canada has a law like that.

[TheStig]

seriously? every time i go over a nasty pothole i want to stop, snap a pic, and send it to my local rep. of course i realize that would be totally pointless, so i don't ever do it. it's awesome that canada has a law like that.

Pennsylvania has that to some degree as well. Had a friend who had his wheel get destroyed by a hidden pothole and PenDot cut him a check for the damages. It can take a bit to get out of them though.

That said, everyone is paying for that service via taxes.

[JupiterBMW]

1. Probably could get it repaired, but would rather replace... all 4.

2. No idea why it cracked. Went for a drive one day (no hits)... came outside later that evening, tire was flat.

3. Went to dealer for air and they checked it and informed me of the crack.

4. I'm guessing the original rims, so almost 9 years, 97,8xx miles.

[danewilson77]

Thanks for data Joopy.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA