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      09-05-2010, 09:10 AM   #22
teagueAMX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alext View Post
Good question. Now as far are tires go, the Nissan GTR also uses Bridgestone RFTs as OEM, so do Ferrari etc. BMW - like these manufacturers - have developed a OEM tire with Bridgestone to suit their cars, so this makes me believe the issue is with the alloy. After reading people's experiences with cracked rims on BMWs in general it appears that more often than not it only occurs with certain styles of 19 inch rim. There are several reports I have read of cracked rims even with non-RFT tires.

I checked an old chrome rim I saved from years back and it actually has a similar crack in the same spot as Rolfs. It was done by going over a 4 inch Kerb at around 40km/h. Tires at the time were non-runflat Falken FK451 205/40/17 I think.
We're focusing on BMW here, but are we absolutely sure this is a BMW problem, per se?

As an example, it was my understanding years ago that Enkei produced alloy wheels for the US auto manufactures. No doubt another company produces all the alloy wheels for the Germany manufactures as well. I’d suggest that BMW produces a design sketch or possible even a clay model. They then sent that information to _________ (place company name here) who then actually produces the molds, dies, whatever. No doubt the rim component of the wheel is standard for each wheel and only the spoke design, hub and offset changes according to BMW specs. And remember, we’re talking about the inside rim design failure and not the portion of the rim that attaches to the spokes.

Here’s my basic point: Years ago, this company would have developed wheel standard design practices for metallurgy, strength of materials, standard dimensions, final production, etc. For these guys, prototyping a rim with spokes and a hub is child’s play – they’ve done it a million times. No doubt they use the same procedures and methodology for BMW, Volkswagen big ten marquees, etc. If that’s true, why aren’t the other marquees' wheels produced by this same company having the same issues as BMWs? Although I believe the RFT are a component of this problem, I’m sure that there is also consistency in the RFT design Bridgestone is producing across the board, as well.
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Last edited by teagueAMX; 09-05-2010 at 12:32 PM..
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