So I finally needed two new tyres....what's that I hear...oh bugger.

[MD]

Well I have been running the Z4 now for a good 18 months and touch wood, aside from £100 on an oil change/air con/handbrake cable session its been a good runner if I just block the cost of petrol out of my mind...

Alas though at the MOT two weeks ago I was advised that the rears were going bald on the inside and needed to be replaced as soon as possible. Cost at a stealer - £149.99 each fitted.

Hmm I though, I'm sure my local can do it cheaper - indeed I was right, £125 each and, more surprisingly than anything they had them in stock (BMW Z4's use a specific runflat tyre with a little star on the side).

Someone else I knowsaid he would see if he can get me a deal, cool I said and provided the tyre details. I was in luck, two rears fitted for £210.

So off I trot down to the tyre place, I had heard runflats were a bit of a bitch to fit to be honest and had to be done in a certain way, so I stood there watching the guy as he was going blue trying to pry the deflated tyre off my precious BMW 17" rims.

10 Mins of tools and compression on the tyre and off it came, great I thought, it won't be long now...

So he starts fitting these shiny new Bridgestone Potenza 225/45/17 with the coloured stripes down them, the first side goes on easy, then it comes to the other, its a bit harder, but he gets it on and starts putting air in expecting the tyre to pop out and sit nicely in its groove...

If only, nope, I hear swearing and lots of kicking and punching. Turns out the guy fitting the tyre is doing the kicking and punching on a wall of tyres. The other guy in the shop goes over and looks at my wheel sitting on the machine, he's confused, the guy aint saying whats happened and its not obvious to me or the other guy.

Then the wheel gets flipped over....there is a rupture in the wheel - in THE INSIDE WALL of the alloy itself. Yup the alloy had ruptured (see I told you these wheels were a bitch to fit lol)

So there I am on a Thursday evening standing with my car on two jacks and two wheels, no spare, no spacesaver, nothing, just one more alloy intact waiting for a tyre.

At this point I call BMW, they don't have the alloys in stock, but the guy gleefully tells me they are £235 + VAT FOR ONE.

Bugger.

So after offering me one 16" wheel in its place till they sort it - I refused (had expected to need to drive to London in the morning) - then they said hmmm well what about an 18" with a low profile tyre that matches, I said, hmm what about 4 18" alloys while you sort out the problem.

They agreed and fitted 4 normal tyres to 4 18" rims and I left, sitting outside the shop I looked at the car and though woah that looks much nicer on 18"'s.

So I needed to tell you the above to help me decide what to do next.

They have had the alloy refurbed this week and I am due to return.

Do I....

a) Have my Official BMW 17" alloys back, pay the £210 for the two tyres and leave.
b) tell them to keep my 17"'s and swap for free to these rather sexy 08 series replica's and buy 4 runflats for them

Im cautious about the fact they are replicas (not as cautious about having and lloy that previously ruptured...), although they look much nicer than my bitch-to-clean 17's. Bear in mind I will have to buy 18" runflats - I don't know just how much harsher that will make the ride, its bearable on 18's with 40 profile tyres...

For some reason the 17's on 45 profile feel MUCH lower than the 18's on 40's - as in the car just seems to sit much higher - not a bad thing although the front does get a little light if exceeding the speedlimit if you know what I mean, whereas that didn't happen with the 17's.

Anyway - Need your advise after all that, what should I do lol

Matt.

[99Flake]

Stick with your 17's if you want to keep your spine intact.

Also, I don't know whether your Z4 is still under warranty but BMW could squirm if you have suspension issues when running replica wheels.

[Barakka]

... or keep the 18" wheels with normal tyres and make sure your Roadside Assistance cover is up to date.

[MD]

The car is out of warranty, but i did note that just before I bought it the 18"s it originally shipped with from BMW had been replaced with the 17" I bought it with.

I am not sure about roadside coverage if you have no spare and no runflats - im not actually sure they are covered.

The tyres on there at the mo are part worns just to cover me for a week - even those were £50 each at this tyre place.

[DR]

I would keep originals - esp if you plan to move the car on in the future...

[Barakka]

I am not sure about roadside coverage if you have no spare and no runflats - im not actually sure they are covered.

Can't see them having a problem, it's not illegal, and cars like Porsches don't have a spare wheel or run-flats, you could always check first.
If the wheels look like original spec can't see a problem with residual value, the main issue i'd have is that your original BMW wheels are probably worth much more than copies and i'd keep them purely for that reason, i've always found the quality of original manufacturers wheels far superior.

[Butuz]

Firstly you've been put in this position because BMW are too lazy to bother designing in a spare wheel for any of their cars. Secondly you've been put in this position because the garage basicaly bust your wheel in a vein attempt to get your tyre on. Runflats do have stiffer sidewalls and are more difficult to put on - but theyre not "hard". Any competent tyre fitter should be able to do it. You think runflats are hard to fit you should try fitting a lorry tyre!!!!

Your garage destroyed your alloy wheel - they should replace it with a new one. NO rapairs.....I would not trust my life to a wheel that has been bodged back together with duck tape and a cable tie or two. New wheel paid for by the garage - or take em to court.

Butuz

[joshwa]

Pics

Pics are needed to make a fully informed decision

[MD]

Ive only got pics of how it looks now with the 18's on - I just called the garage, they are repairing the alloy but I am not happy about it at all.

I don't think i can keep the 18's either as there are no runflats available anywhere at the moment, but I am going to do some research and see if i can find some in stock somewhere...

Matt

[MD]

My current 17's



The 18's im currently running

[Saracen]

I'd be nervous about replicas. A lot would depend on the replica. I have no doubt there are good, high quality ones, but I rather imagine there are cheap and cheerful knockoffs too. Which is it?

Are the wheels on the car when you bought it genuine BMW wheels? I looked like they are, from what you said. If so, I'd want it kept like that, to be honest.

Also, are you sure they aren't the original wheels on the car? They may well not be the standard ones. When I bought the M3, I had optional alloys put on it rather than the standard ones, but they were fitted by BMW at the factory, simply as an upgrade option rather than standard equipment. As for price .... ouch!

Re: the replicas, personally, I wouldn't, especially if the Z4 is one of the performance variants. Before I'd even consider having the wheel repaired, I;d want BMW's input on that. If it can be done safely and with no compromise to the strength of integrity (or balance) of the wheel, fine. If it can't, don't accept it.

As for whose fault it is, that's a bit tricky. I'd think the garage are likely to be at least partially to blame (and therefore liable), and probably entirely. But .... why did the wheel fail? Was it manufacturing fault? Was it driver-caused damage?

And, could the garage be expected to detect the fault? If the problem was such that by exercising the reasonable care and expertise a garage should have and exercise, they should have spotted the problem and didn't, then I'd say it's down to them. But if the fault was in manufacture, or if it was damaged by use, and was not such that they could have noticed before it failed catastrophically, then it'd be much harder to hold them legally liable. And without much doubt, you'd need an independent engineering report on the wheel to be sure either way.

A retailer like that garage can be held liable for any mistakes they make in workmanship, or for not exercising due care or the expertise that you could reasonably expect of them, but they're not liable just because it failed when they were working on it. Much would depend on why. It'll be about whether they were negligent or incompetent in what they did, and if the fault was inherent and undetectable, they weren't either.

So, point one is what you can demand of them, based on legal rights. Point two is what they may be prepared to offer even if they have no legal compulsion to do so.

If you try to push them too hard, such as for a brand new wheel when a repaired one is (if it is) structurally sound and at least as good as it was before the incident, then you may lose even the goodwill offer and potentially not have much legal basis either. Essentially, IF they are liable, then you can certainly expect them to recompense you for the loss, but that it'll also be the case (legally) that you'd be expected to be reasonable in your demands and expectations. If you have good grounds for rejecting a repair, then fine. But if the repaired wheel was mechanically sound and as safe as the original, then capriciously rejecting that and demanding a new one could be seen as unreasonable and perhaps cost you the case if it wound up before a court.

So, as I said, I'd want official BMW comment on the notion of repair, or perhaps comment from an expert independent source. And go from there.

[MD]

When I bought the car I saw the factory spec sheet, they left the factory with 18" ellipsoid alloys and when I bought the car they were 17" 103 style official BMW.

I just called RAC and they will cover me for normal tyres and no spare

Im gonna go through the rest of your post in a min Saracen...

[GoNz0]

i dont think 45 to 40 profile going up an inch will make them the same size considering my 17" have 225x45 fronts and 245x40 rears, may as well order up a set of 18x35 profiles, it will be firmer but more fun to drive, buy a space saver and stick it somewere safe so your not taken off the road.

the repairs going to make that wheel weaker than the new set.

they look good and no ones going to know if you buy the M stickers off ebay, or even from bmw as they sell em as well.

at the end of the day the car came with them so why not keep it factory spec

chance is the 40 profiles on 18" may cause the tyres to rub on the rims or even catch an arch on full lock if u hit a bump.

i would check out the exact size the 18's should have and go that route !

[dave87]

The MV3 reps look rather tasty on the z4 I must admit.

I honestly think 18s with non run flats would be your best way out, however if you are going to stick with the run flat tyres then stick with the 17s

[Zak33]

Like Butuz, I'd say

A: the tyre fitter aint been trained on these tyres properly, and was prolly using the wrong tyre fitting press/machine thingy too.

B: As you don't know who is repairing the alloy, and so dont know the standards of repair, I'd not be happy about having it repaired.

Sorry...I know you didn't wanna hear that

[GoNz0]

yeh screw run flats, makes the ride a lot harder !

dont the z4's have a hole for a space saver ?