colejl

My experience of the tyre alone was scary! I'd start saving now if you have to pay...

JDN

I replaced 4 wheels and tires. Cost was about 3700 USD before car club discount.

smarty marty

JDN, the pictures of your wheel damage looked exactly like my own. Did you try BMW for compensation or were the circumstances different? Did you replace them with another set of 124s?

JDN

I did not try for warranty replacement. I was on a cross country jaunt and thought that the road condition contributed. The design of those lane dividers was to intentionally do damage. The Florida DOT had a choice of dome shaped or pyramid from the same manufacturer and chose pyramid. I am still discussing the issue with them.

I replaced with original equipment. After seeing and feeling how the run flats and the car performed with two instantaneous flats and wheel failures on the same side (never swerved), I was sold on the set up of the 545 Sport.

JDN - not so smart

markt540i

JDN, how fast were you going when you hit the dot? Do you really think the dots were intended to do damage like that? I can see a tire puncture or bent rim, but total rim failure is extreme and dangerous. I am impressed that the run flats held the wheels together like that, especially if you were really booking it. I have been concerned about getting the run flats as OE on the 545 due to potential harshness of ride. Maybe its worth it. However, I still will never believe that there is not a defect with the 124 wheel.
Markt

rollee

thanks for the post, i really feel for your 124. :'(
i just ordered 124s for my car.

it looks like there exist a hairline crack in the wheel since new. most likely from the manufacturer or while shipping.
from the damage, an all round even split does not seem to incur by simply a run-in through a pothole. the force of impact is unidirectional.

if its metal pre mature fatigue, then the manufacturer is at fault for using a lesser compound mix with steel, perhaps this is a 'tip of the iceburg' scenerio? :'(

you may wish to do an xray on all the remaining wheels to ensure that this is not going to happen again, since they are all put on together probably from the same batch.
also a reminder to check on suspension, tire sensory module, caliper and wheel well damage. best of luck , please keep us posted.

JDN

JDN, how fast were you going when you hit the dot? Do you really think the dots were intended to do damage like that? I can see a tire puncture or bent rim, but total rim failure is extreme and dangerous. I am impressed that the run flats held the wheels together like that, especially if you were really booking it. I have been concerned about getting the run flats as OE on the 545 due to potential harshness of ride. Maybe its worth it. However, I still will never believe that there is not a defect with the 124 wheel.
Markt
[/quote]
I wasn't really boogeying at the moment. That was the problem. It was 3:30 am and I was hung up behind a truck at about 50 mph with the other lane clear and empty and miles between me and Dallas. The truck and I were the only two vehicles on the three mile span of bridge. The lane dividers had rebounders and plenty of signs saying do not change lanes. However, those signs were intended for when there was two way traffic. At this stage of construction, both lanes were going the same direction and there were plenty of gaps caused by missing rebounders that invited a BMW driver to swing out and around the truck. That was a big mistake. I was immediately benched by the coach. These lane markers were referred to as "insinuators" (sic) by the tow truck driver employed by Florida DOT. I feel surely he had heard them called "intimidators" which they surely would have been if I had seen the design in daylight. However, at night, they looked just like your normal row of bright reflectors, except more closely spaced.

I was surprised that the wheels did not just bend or warp. It was about an hour after the mishap that the tow truck driver and I discovered the extent of the damage to two of the wheels. The other two were not discovered until the dealer's tech tried to align the wheels.

smarty marty

Thanks for the honest reply JDN, for all the sceptics out there I must say that I do not have an issue with the run flat tyres, they may even have saved my wife from a horrendous accident in this case. The ride from my 530 with the sport suspension is first class.

colejl

I agree it's not as bad as some people say but my previous car rode like a supermarket trolley so it was a revelation I guess if I tried non-runflats then it would be ever better!

The only really annoying thing is the 'rubber crunchy' noise when they're cold and you're moving slow...

evperry

I has the EXACT same problem last week. my rear rigth wheel cracked the same way. i tell u this, i did hit a hell of a pothole.