Beware style 296 wheels

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by jparnes1

Yeah, I have a comment...nice ram's head.

Hey you behave will ya nice red Z take good care of it I may take it off your hands one day ... missing the red colour in my stable you know read, white and blue three nice colours.

BTW the Rams head was made by a Canadian Artist in Alberta I also have a plague carving of 2 Canada Geese by his brother (he is the better artist) in my man cave my wife made me take the Rams head into the garage she did not want it in the house

[Baremeg55]

Originally Posted by Alter Peter

Hey you behave will ya nice red Z take good care of it I may take it off your hands one day ... missing the red colour in my stable you know read, white and blue three nice colours.

BTW the Rams head was made by a Canadian Artist in Alberta I also have a plague carving of 2 Canada Geese by his brother (he is the better artist) in my man cave my wife made me take the Rams head into the garage she did not want it in the house

I thought the two mushrooms were nice!!!

Seriously, I think you need to write that letter again, and this time, add the photo of your garden hose rack to the mix! Maybe that will either humor them, or humble them, into a settlement...

[Jayda]

Forgive me for asking but there are so many threads on this I could not find what I was looking for. I thought I read something about inner edge wear of the rear tires. Is this the first step to a wheel crack problem? I looked at my rear tires today when I washed the car (actually slid under the back of the car). I do notice unusual wear on the inner edge of the rear tires. Should I worry? Car now has about 8,000 miles on it and 296 wheels. I was glad I saw somewhere that the 296 wheel appears to have redesigned to be thicker toward the inside.

[jparnes1]

Originally Posted by Jayda

Forgive me for asking but there are so many threads on this I could not find what I was looking for. I thought I read something about inner edge wear of the rear tires. Is this the first step to a wheel crack problem? I looked at my rear tires today when I washed the car (actually slid under the back of the car). I do notice unusual wear on the inner edge of the rear tires. Should I worry? Car now has about 8,000 miles on it and 296 wheels. I was glad I saw somewhere that the 296 wheel appears to have redesigned to be thicker toward the inside.

Inner edge wear on BMW's is normal due to the camber angle of the wheel. It provides for better cornering ability at the expense of uneven wear. You can rotate side to side to even things out.

[Jayda]

Originally Posted by jparnes1

Inner edge wear on BMW's is normal due to the camber angle of the wheel. It provides for better cornering ability at the expense of uneven wear. You can rotate side to side to even things out.

Thank you. I just noticed this and I am heading out for a weekend road trip in the mountains. I wouldn't want to be enjoying top down from the side of the road with a cracked wheel. I need to stop reading these posts because I am getting paranoid! Did check tire pressure and no loss of air since I checked it last about 2 weeks ago. I'm taking that as a good sign!

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by Jayda

Thank you. I just noticed this and I am heading out for a weekend road trip in the mountains. I wouldn't want to be enjoying top down from the side of the road with a cracked wheel. I need to stop reading these posts because I am getting paranoid! Did check tire pressure and no loss of air since I checked it last about 2 weeks ago. I'm taking that as a good sign!

I was told by a very knowledge fellow in the tire business (when I experienced inner tire wear and my cracked wheels on my then Z4) that the inside tire wear on a 2 seater like the Z4 is quite normal. This would increase with the roof in the trunk and some additional luggage. His recommendation to me at the time was to add 10% or about 4PSI more air pressure to the rear tires to reduce this wear when driving with the roof down and luggage.

I also checked my tire pressure every week in my garage after my cracked wheels incident.

Just some fruit for thought ... enjoy your weekend trip !

Cheers, Rolf

[Jayda]

Originally Posted by Alter Peter

I was told by a very knowledge fellow in the tire business (when I experienced inner tire wear and my cracked wheels on my then Z4) that the inside tire wear on a 2 seater like the Z4 is quite normal. This would increase with the roof in the trunk and some additional luggage. His recommendation to me at the time was to add 10% or about 4PSI more air pressure to the rear tires to reduce this wear when driving with the roof down and luggage.

I also checked my tire pressure every week in my garage after my cracked wheels incident.

Just some fruit for thought ... enjoy your weekend trip !

Cheers, Rolf

Great advice will add some extra air!

[kernelkraut]

Hi Guys,

I posted an update on one of the other threads (There are so many about this problem...) Just wanted to update you:

Got a response today from the BMW rep - BMW S.A. have agreed to replace the cracked rim with a new one of the same type (first gen). Unfortunately this is what they have in stock and they (so far) have not been able to find out anything regarding the newer, thicker rims. They are not getting any answers from Germany about this and the fact that the part number on ETK has not changed is not helping. Either way I'm still going to contact other dealerships around the world and try get as much info as I can for future cases.

As this only affects one of my rims I am just glad that they are going to replace it and that they treated me really well (not like some of the horror stories I've heard from some of the other forum members). Either way I have promised the rep from BMW that I will continue to assist in trying to track down someone in Germany and or the US who works for BMW who has seen and worked on the newer rim's. So if anyone has any case numbers, photographs, contact details of dealers who have been helpful with this problem, please continue to post about it or PM me. Hopefully this will help future cases here in S.A. and indeed the rest of the world.

It must be said that without your help and the help of many forum members (posts, photos, pm's) this would possibly have been a most daunting task. With your help it's been easier to get assistance and for that I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU!

[jparnes1]

glad it worked out to your satisfaction.

[kernelkraut]

Hi Guys,

Just another update:

The rep ordered a new rim on Monday (original first gen) - It arrived at the dealership yesterday. Unfortunately it went straight out to another client before the service manager could grab it.

So, another rim was ordered and arrived this morning... Guess what? The rim that arrived this morning is the new style rim (second gen - much thicker)... Definitely a massive difference...

See pics below:

[jparnes1]

You've got an angel looking out for you!

[kernelkraut]

Second update for today:

Just spoke to the rep from BMW - They have already ordered a second rim to replace the left side. So in the end both wheels will be the new thicker type.

Well done to BMW South Africa for splendid service! I will be emailing them a thank you letter shortly...

Again, If you guys need any help on your wheel issues I will gladly help with my info (case numbers, contact details etc) if you need it.