Buckled BMW wheels!

[dazz25]

Just had an MOT and warranty check done at BMW and have ended up with 3 advisories for 3 buckled wheels.

These are 19" 442m wheels.

What are my options? BMW have quoted me £660 per wheel but is there anywhere that sells genuine wheels cheaper? Or is it possible to get buckled wheels repaired?

It's the first time I've ever had this happen.

 

[ci_newman]

Did they fail the MOT and is there any excessive wobbling or vibrations in the car?

What I am getting at here is to get them checked at a second source. 3 buckled wheels seems really unlikely. I've only ever had a single buckled wheel in 15 years of driving.

 

[Housey]

What BMW is it?

 

[Haze]

As mentioned, get a 2nd opinion, should be fixable either way

 

[andicole0]

Used set from ebay.
Andi.

 

[dazz25]

Did they fail the MOT and is there any excessive wobbling or vibrations in the car?

What I am getting at here is to get them checked at a second source. 3 buckled wheels seems really unlikely. I've only ever had a single buckled wheel in 15 years of driving.

No wobbling or vibrations when driving. I think it was picked up on the end of warranty check. Was thinking of getting a second opinion as I had 4 new tyres fitted around 2 months ago and nothing was mentioned then.

Been driving about the same amount of time and never had a buckled wheel before either.

What BMW is it?

It's a 2015 430d

Used set from ebay.
Andi.

Had a look and they seem to be going for about the same price plus I was a bit worried as I might be buying another buckled one!

 

[Cristian]

Did they fail the MOT and is there any excessive wobbling or vibrations in the car?

What I am getting at here is to get them checked at a second source. 3 buckled wheels seems really unlikely. I've only ever had a single buckled wheel in 15 years of driving.

Unfortunately it depends on the wheels and manufacturer. Back in the day, the MV2 wheels on E90's would be notorious from cracking due to runflats.
I used to think it's quite rare - until I managed to buy a set of 18" genuine Audi wheels last year 3 of which where buckled.

If it was noticed in an MOT - it should be quite visible. You can take the wheel car off and literally use a measuring tape to measure the inside diameter. Rotate around the "circle" and measure 10 times, there should be no deviation. Using this method I easily spotted the buckles on my Audi ones.

Alternatively any decent tyre shop can take the wheel off and put it on their balancing machine for a spin. Buckles are very easy to spot when the wheel is moving. If it rotates easily - you can spin the wheel on the car as well, without taking it off.

ebay is your friend, absolutely NOT going for the same price, here's a quick search, £500 for a set of 4: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Set-of-B...546309?hash=item4b50a520c5:g:Y~oAAOSwBCtbKBUf You'd be absolutely mad to buy new ones when eBay is full of OEM second hand ones for less than 1/4 a price.

While cracks can be mended/repaired and buckles as well - it tends to cost a fair whack and personally I don't like the idea of heating up a wheel and hammering it back into shape, I don't think the integrity is really the same. I'd go on eBay and get myself recond hand OEM replacements. You can avoid buckles with a measuring tape, as outlined above.

 

[dazz25]

Thanks for the link, don't know how I missed them! I'm based in the north west so quite far away but i'm sure I will find some closer eventually.

Will take the wheels off at the weekend and check them over.

 

[UnworthyBean]

No wobbling or vibrations when driving. I think it was picked up on the end of warranty check.

Was anything mentioned on the MOT? AFAIK buckled wheels are an advisory or whatever under the new scheme as my two rears were picked up.

If it was just mentioned at the end, not noted on the MOT and you can't feel anything then I'd just carry on without tbh.

The new MOT rules may have excluded this though so I wouldn't take this as 100% fact.

Edit: have just checked my MOT history and it was "Offside Rear Tyre tread mishapen slightly" so may not have just been the wheel.

 

[dazz25]

Unfortunately they've listed them as 3 separate advisories.

 

[Cristian]

Thanks for the link, don't know how I missed them! I'm based in the north west so quite far away but i'm sure I will find some closer eventually.

Will take the wheels off at the weekend and check them over.

That's the way to go.
You're better off searching for "4 series wheels" as people sometimes forget to put in the right name / size and the like. I for one always tick the "used" box to save me from all the new chinese crap. It takes a bit of trawling but they are reasonably common and you should be able to get a set for the price of a single one from BMW.

 

[andicole0]

Have you looked at a repair, these guys list wheel straightening, not sure if it's even possible. https://www.autowheelrepairs.co.uk/
Andi.

 

[Housey]

A friend of mine had awful issues with buckled wheels on his 135i run about. All 4 became buckled fairly early doors from new and BMW (I think) swapped them all but he had a fight as I remember (badly). There is a really issue with some of the BMW wheels, lots of noise on the web about it.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

I cracked many on my e92.. It was one of the reasons i got rid of it.
I think I did 3 in 2 years. I managed to get one done on warranty.
It was (and still is!) a huge problem on some specific wheels from BMW of this era. By the sounds of it, the problem has not yet gone away.
I even have had an advisory on my current 7 series of the same on two wheels

 

[Deleted member 66701]

If you can't feel the buckle when driving and they are only advisories then why bother changing them?

 

[Nasher]

Are they making them out of cheese or something

Pot holes can do it, but it shouldn't be that easily done.

 

[Sanchez]

I've never known anything like it with BMW. The MV1s on my E46 buckled. And the E9X wheels are no better. My current MV3s have a crack in one wheel. Style 225 and 313s are also renowned for cracking.

 

[Funky-Melon]

I felt a vibration through my S40 T5 at speed last week, so took it to my local Tyreshack and was told I have 2 buckled wheels

The 'tech' showed me the wheel when spun up, could definitely see the problem.

My car has 18" Volvo Medusa wheels on it which are around £500 each to replace direct from Volvo. I'm taking the punt in a few days from a guy that TyreShack use and swear by to get them repaired.

He heats up the wheels and puts them on a jig to get the wheel back into shape. I'd also read about the structural integrity of the wheel after this but I've not actually read of anybody having issues after having the work done so I'm going to give it a go and see. He reviews well anyway.

£70 per wheel vs £500 - Worth a shot for me.

The joys of big wheels, low profile tyres and absolutely **** roads!

 

[snapdragon69]

Sounds like the structural integrity is already poor so may as well take a punt.

 

[Dis86]

Was chatting to my local tyre place and they've seen a rise in it over the past few years. Lighter wheels to save weight and thus increase handling and fuel economy along with more and more speed bumps. Particularly those little angled island ones.