To all "296" wheels haters!!!!

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Thanks Site Moderator

For putting up the Sticky on the BMW 296 Wheels

[habib86]

every 1 with a crack wheel plz take pics and tell us ur experience wether with the cracked wheel or with ur dealer reply so we can collect all that data and some how send it to bmw....thanks for making this thread a sticky

[Officer Dibble]

i checked mine today and no cracks what so ever. i must say i have driven it hard on bad roads. i wonder if it this issue is pre certain manufacture date??!!

[longhorntodd]

I have discovered both my rear wheels have developed cracks (2 on drivers side, 4 on passenger side). Very small, no loss of air pressure. Upon discovery, the service advisor had said that BMW does not warranty cracked wheels. So, they would not even look at them. After I called BMW USA, I was told to take them in to the dealer for inspection. I will deal with that in the near future. I have replaced all wheels with BBS and Conti Extreme Contact DWs. Whatever the outcome of this, I did not want to replace with the same wheels.

[zEdP]

Originally Posted by longhorntodd

I have discovered both my rear wheels have developed cracks (2 on drivers side, 4 on passenger side).

It would be great if you took some pictures of the cracks?

[rmorin49]

Originally Posted by longhorntodd

I have discovered both my rear wheels have developed cracks (2 on drivers side, 4 on passenger side). Very small, no loss of air pressure. Upon discovery, the service advisor had said that BMW does not warranty cracked wheels. So, they would not even look at them. After I called BMW USA, I was told to take them in to the dealer for inspection. I will deal with that in the near future. I have replaced all wheels with BBS and Conti Extreme Contact DWs. Whatever the outcome of this, I did not want to replace with the same wheels.

I'd like to see your BBS wheels and their specs.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by longhorntodd

I have discovered both my rear wheels have developed cracks (2 on drivers side, 4 on passenger side). Very small, no loss of air pressure. Upon discovery, the service advisor had said that BMW does not warranty cracked wheels. So, they would not even look at them. After I called BMW USA, I was told to take them in to the dealer for inspection. I will deal with that in the near future. I have replaced all wheels with BBS and Conti Extreme Contact DWs. Whatever the outcome of this, I did not want to replace with the same wheels.

This is simply not true. You may recall I discovered 2 cracked wheels in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The BMW dealer there also told me Canadian Cars are not covered under warranty in the USA, this is NOT TRUE as I was told later in Canada.

One of my wheels had an open crack (BMW declared that the wheel was bend). In fact the wheel was bend by 2 grease monkeys at a tire shop that BMW of Idaho Falls uses to do there tire work since they did not have a tire machine to change my 19 Inch wheel.

The other rear wheel (passenger side had 2 hairline cracks and BMW Canada changed it under warranty without any questions at all.

Bottom line ... I think we are not being told the truth all the time either on purpose or just because of inexperienced people. My advice to you is don't take this BS insist on a new wheel replacement or change the wheels to another type.

[shadowfax777]

Does anyone have BMW Performance 313 19" wheels fitted on E89? I know they are also cast wheels, but the additional production process makes them bit stronger and lighter than normal OEM wheels. Did anyone hear any cracked Performance 313 wheels?

If I decide to upgrade from standard 295 18" wheels to 19" ones, 313 will be the first choice. A set of ACS Type VIII forged wheels is shocking £4k.

[EricJ]

Hi you all !!!!

Since my last post the rear wheels cracked again…..What a surprise!!!
They were losing 10 lbs overnight.

Once again I went to BMW, they took pictures and sent them for evaluation.

The people who work at BMW agree that if they get the OK they will replace my rear wheels. I told them if they can change them for the 326 wheels from the 35is and I buy the front and they said OK. At least I get them new !!

Are the 326 and the 313 the same ??
Does any body know if the 326 wheels are forged ???
Please let me know…

[the belgian]

i am going to chagne my 18" 296 , what should i get in yuor opinion

[habib86]

Originally Posted by the belgian

i am going to chagne my 18" 296 , what should i get in yuor opinion

is there a 18" 296?

[habib86]

well i have good news...bmw gave my dealer the green light to change both rear rims ... and after 1 year use of the rubber and the fact that thy are RFT's i want to change them to non-RFT's ... and i remember a post here (dont know how to use the search) saying something about the size with more side wall or something like that

[Constant.S]

I had a rear cracked 296 style wheel from the really bad roads they have here in Greece, all it took me to address the cracked wheel issue was 50 Euro and 45 minutes in a wheel repair center. Problem solved and havent experienced such a problem for almost 5 months now. I refuse to change the wheels, they are simply beautiful and match the car perfectly although my BMW dealer told me they will replace the wheels free of charge if it happens again.

[uslic001]

What part/model # are the 18 inch wheels that came in the sport package? I am unable to find it on any of the paperwork that came with my car. I bought it stock off the lot when the first day the car was released. I checked my wheels out the other day and did not notice any cracks so looks like they are probably not defective like the 296 rims.

[BMWZ4]

Possibly 276's? Mine are anyway.

[uslic001]

I attached a picture of my rims. I think they are the 293?

[EricJ]

Finally BMW will replace both my rear wheels but unfortunately they will be the same 296’s.

I will continue to use the RFT and check them regularly for cracks. If they do I will take them back ASAP before the bent past BMW specs.

I hope someday they do a recall and we all get new wheels.

I am ordering the JV4 from burger tunning...I will let you know later !!

[keltraine]

Hey folks,

Adding my two cents-well more my saga-in here (warning, it's a bit long since it covers a year of problems):

In the space of just under a year, I've had 4 "flat" tires and 3 cracked wheels, for a grand total of $4k in repairs on my 09 Z43.5i (fully loaded, sport package with the 296s, etc). Fyi, I'm located in Los Angeles, CA near Santa Monica/Westwood area and keep in mind I work from home and only drive ~5k miles/yr so I'm not in the car much when you consider how many problems I've had!


So to be fair the first flat tire was a huge nail in the left rear wheel, and I know there's not much you can do about that-this was last June09 (my first unlucky flat in 10 years btw-little did I know what was to come!). Then a month later in July09 the TPM comes on for the right rear tire-I take it to the dealer and find out that not only is the tire flat, but that the wheel is cracked! I was like "WTF?!" b/c I've never had that happen before ever going back to my previous 3 BMWS-E46 M3 I got in 2006, the older Z4 in 2003, and a Z3 in 2000.

Anyway I just paid to get the tire and wheel replaced not thinking anything more of it ($1k!! OUCH!) and was fine for a while-then just three weeks ago, I get the TPM on my right front tire! I take it in and sure enough it's flat, but the wheel at least seems fine. I get it replaced and drive around *really* carefully but no less than a *week* after that I get TPM on the rear left tire (the one I replaced less than a year ago)!

So I take it in again to the dealer, they check it and replace the tire and that's when I start hating on the RFTs-I mean at this point I've replaced 4 tires and 1 wheel for a grand total of $2500 (~$500 each all said and done)-those tires are NOT cheap!

Now I get the car back but the TPM is still going off but I figure it must just be not resetting correctly (I mean, the dealership checked everything right, and they said the wheel was fine so everything must be ok, right?) so I ignore it and drive a few miles home but it's still going off the next day and when I check the tire pressure on the left rear tire, it's flat! So I hope they just forgot to put air in it after replacing it (b/c otherwise it's the wheel again-and I was ready to give them a piece of my mind if so!) and I put air in it and let it sit overnight-and the next day it's flat!

So I take it into the dealer yet again last week and leave it for a few days and they check it over throughly (check all the wheels and tires) and they tell me that not only is the left wheel cracked (as was pretty obvious at that point) but that the right wheel is cracked too (remember, this wheel was replaced last July once already!) and needs to be replaced again!!!

At this point I was like seriously "WTF?!?!?!?!" and was in for a total of $4k with parts and labor (and a $300 alignment I decided to have done once they replaced everything). I was leaving on a trip and I didn't think to get different wheels so I just had them replace the wheels with 296s (which I'm now regretting) but I just didn't have the time to figure it all out then, and decide what I'd replace it with, etc, etc.


Now at this point I'm considering just replacing the whole shebang with something that won't have problems for the remaining 1 year on my lease (anyone got a lead on a good replacement set of wheels and tires on this forum?), and making sure to not have this problem again by not getting 19" wheels and RFTs-that's the consensus on the problem right? Or is it literally just this wheel, the 296 that's the problem and other 19" wheels are all fine?

Thoughts, comments, commiseration, outrage-any and all contributions are welcome. I do have a call into BMW NA that's been escalated so I'm waiting on a resolution to that too...


P.S. Oh and I've been dealing with Santa Monica BMW for anyone who's wondering and I have to say that they've been pretty great and helpful as far as they can be, and that my service advisor William Manganaro is pretty much tops as far as helpfulness and going above and beyond with all my problems (for anyone else in SM or near there).

[ManiacGT]

Bugger, I've just found cracks in mine after seeing quicker and quicker pressure losses... Muy unhappy

[habib86]

well just wanted to share some pics for my back cracked rims

[narcolo]

Wow. I'm late to the party, but I too have just joined the cracked 296 club.

2 years old and less than 18k miles driving on the flawless roads of Orange County. My SA just told me I had 3 cracks in the left rear rim.

After reading up on this issue, its a widespread enough problem that BMWNA should address. What's the best thing to do? Call BMWNA and ask for a goodwill fix?

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Please Note: I issue this post only for those of you that have the Style 296 wheels - for no one else since the frequent crack issue only seams to be an issue on the 296 Style wheels.


I think BMWNA will only delay actions and do what ever they can to screw you in the end, I know I've been there and all my efforts were useless.

Best Defence like in your American Football is a good Offence ... this being ...

A) Check your tire pressure regularly, get a good compressor (small type with a good reliable pressure gauge). It should be the type that once you hook it up to the tire valve it shows you the now tire pressure (keep a record).

B) If you feel you loose tire pressure constantly and need to add say 4 to 6 pounds each week you check it you may have some issues unless your abeyant temperature as well as hot and cold tire pressure is the cause. To get accurate data I checked my pressure weekly cold and under much the same ambient (garage) temperatures.

C) If "B" above is your situation do one of the following ...

1) Remove the wheel and clean the inside outer inner rim and check for cracks (cracks can be found on the outer inner rim - just see the pictures above). Cracks will first show up as "Hairline Cracks" these cracks can only be detected if you clean your wheel very good and examine the wheel carefully.

2) If you don't have the time or tools to accomplish item 1 above then find a good tire shop and have them put your car on the lift or better take both rear wheels off and examine them in a water bath that they have to check for air leaks leaks.

Note that if you have hairline cracks BMW will change the wheel to a new one (they did for me without question). Once the crack opens up and air leaks rapidly then BMW will tell you the wheel is bend due to you having gone thru potholes (as it in the end happened to me in the US) and they will not replace it under warranty.

The earlier you discover the tiny hairline cracks the better a chance you have that BMW will replace your wheel with a new one under warranty.

Naturally the best option (as someone told me here of my former friends - now that I drive an m3 I no longer have friends ) would be to change the wheel to a different type. In my case the urge to get back into an M3 with forged wheels and normal tires was just to great since I drove a M3 before the Z4.

I hope you resolve your issues ... just think Offence ... and check your wheels ... Good Luck.