Has anyone else heard of any problems with the BMW light alloy star spoke styling 124 alloys. My wife hit a (not too large) pot hole last night at around 45mph and the wheel has cracked around 70% of it's diameter! See the pictures attached. I have never seen an alloy do this with so little impact. The car and wheels are only 3 months old but the dealer is at present shrugging their shoulders and saying it's accident damage.

 

That shouldnt happen. A light alloy still requires a lot of force to cause it to crack.
We just got our small but messy dump of snow here, its all gone now, and potholes everywhere! but I remember going over BIG potholes at least that same if not larger in size.
Have you checked with your insurance provider to see whether they can cover it? If not there may have been wheel/tire insurance offered to you at time of purchase.
If your stuck buying a new mag (which would bite) be sure to get original only. Since OEM or aftermarket can look the same but be a different compound making it heavier or lighter, affecting balance.


good luck.

 

Those pics remind me on JDN's.

 

Sorry for the misfortune. A bent or cracked rim is one thing, but for the wheel to completely split in half is ridiculous. This has to be some type of defect in my mind.

 

Iceman beat me to it, but you are not alone! JDN has had this happen. It should not, and BMW may cover it, don't remember if they did for JDN or not. With the run flats though, more energy has to be absorbed by the rim, since the tire doesn't "give" as much. May be more out there not on this board also. Good luck however things go.

 

Yup, i saw that and was like JDN

 

What happened after the you hit the pothole?

Oh and the OEM 124s are cast not forged, correct?

 

Sorry about the wheel. I see you are in Scotland, but the wives here in the US frequently lie about what they hit and the severity of a hit when returning their husband's car damaged.
Just a thought.

Here's a picture of my car after my wife "supposedly" hit a bird doing 30mph.

Sorry, only kidding. It does seem that the E60 have had more than their share of problems. I have never joined a forum before concerning a car that I was driving so we might just be subject to many more issues then you would ever come across. I know when I read something a sort of hypochondria sets in, as I think I have the A/C pulley problem I read here but my dealer says no. Do other cars listed in onlune forum have this much trouble ?

 

JDN's pictures

Same Thing, but he had 2 go

 

Maybe you can try getting your city to pay for a new wheel, since they did not have properly mentained road. Somethign to think about especially if your dealer doesn't want to cover it.