Well, it's been 3 months since I bought my '07 530xi. Gently driven a few thousand miles and last night a habitually pot holed local street caused damage to the right front Bridgestone RFT. It doesn't appear that the rim is damaged and the black marks showing on the picture are rubber that I've since cleaned off.

There were two local police officers in the area ... and I've filed a report.

The annoying thing is this road has this specific area, about a 100' stretch, under constant repair. You would think if they repaired it once and did it properly they wouldn't have to have the road department there every 3 months! It's a well known defect - most drivers cross the center line to avoid it - but when there's traffic in the opposing lane that is impossible.

Oh well, I've filed a police report and have left a message for the "risk manager" of the city so I can file an insurance claim with them and my insurance company too. I had to go thru this about 5 years ago ... same city...different pothole. They paid the claim up to the limits of my comprehensive deductible. I hope their insurance practices haven't changed sine then.

And to think I had an appointment with my dealer for next week to discuss wheel and tire warranty/insurance plans!

Sometime you bite the bear ... other times the bear bites you.

UPDATE: Inspected the rim ... it's scraped about 1/3 the way around the circumference close to where the tire joins the rim. Before the pothole these rims were pristine. Looks like I'm in for a rim repair or replacement too

 

Does this type of claim count against your insurance? I had similar thing happen to me and not sure how to handle it. thanks

 

First I'm filing a claim against the municipal insurance carrier. This road was previously reported as unrepaired. I'll coordinate coverage with my own insurance carrier since I expect the municipal policy will cover up to the deductible ($500) of my comprehensive coverage.

I have already determined that the replacement tire is available for ! $335 + s&h. + ~$35 mounting and balance at a NTB shop that has the correct equipment to handle RFT's. I'm not sure about a straight out replacement of the scraped wheel. The damage is right where the tire meets the rim and could be repaired cosmetically for a lot less than a replacement wheel. (approx $100 vs $400).

My dealer might be able to give me a better deal on the replacement tire - I'll know tomorrow. And I'll weigh that if my dealer will permit a BMWCCA discount on the new wheel and if that's the case I may ebay the old wheel to help out with the out of pocket costs.

 

Wow, that l'il hole caused a lot of damage.

Sorry to hear, Luigi.

What size wheels do you have and were you running winter or summer tires?

(and get that wheel/tire insurance!)

 

DINAN530i--Dude, where the hell is that car wash? Looks like LA, so I'm SOL. If those are just some "imported" palm trees in the background somewhere in Chicagoland, it may be worth the drive.

 

Yup ... the Bridgestone RFT's are the "summer" tires. Looks like the edge of the pothole also scraped the wheel rim at the very edge where the tire is seated. More cosmetic but about 1/4 of the circumference of the wheel. I was a bit surprised because the hole was about 4-5" deep at the deepest part and about 18" across. But the edges were sharp asphalt and I was doing about 45mph when I hit it. A higher profile tire would have bounced thru it but the 245/40's ... baddabing bam!

The insurance policies I looked at would have helped financially - and even if the city claims no liability the most I'm in for is the $500 comprehensive deductible. [Time and aggravation aside!] Then I'll pray that that's it for potholes this calendar year.

 

You should seriously consider a winter set of wheels/tires. I move down from 19"ers to 17"ers in the winter, shorn with Blizzaks. Basically tank treads with a cushy side wall to absorb the potholes. BTW, here in Pittsburgh the streets are revolting against the cars this winter (lots of freeze/thaw cycles). Bottom line is I'll probably have keep the Blizzaks on unitl August, which is about when they'll get around to fixing the potholes!!!

 

I have a "foul weather" car and for the most part here in southern NJ if I don't want to drive I don't have to. We don't have what I'd call severe weather with freeze thaw cycles like Pitt or NY state.

These pothole situations in this area are more often resulting from poor maintenance or sloppy repairs [i.e. throw some cold patch in the same hole every 3 months instead of a proper repair!].

It's an issue I've raised to our local road department but they don't seem to get the message.

That said, we were returning home from a play and dinner ... this pot hole is less than 1/2 mile from my home. Bummer !

 

Update:

Insurance carrier for the county denied my claim citing that their investigation determined that the pothole was not previously reported.

Interesting determination since when I spoke to the person who manages that department he said he was well aware of the condition of that section of road. I'm preparing my reply to the insurance company since it seems their investigation missed some important information in reaching a conclusion.

Any suggestions out there? BTW, if there is a next time before I report a damage claim I'll ask a neighbor to call and report the pothole FIRST!

 

Same thing happened with my '06 650i and RFTs.
It happened while out of town. I was extremely fortunate to find a replacement tire at a local BMW dealer. They would have closed for the weekend 15 minutes after I called looking for the tire. The replacement cost me $550.

The pot hole was 20 miles west of Asheville, NC. Because of the RFT, I didn't know I had a problem until 20 minutes later I got a low tire warning.
I would not have been able to find it, report it, or submit a claim.