[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

They have been taking customers for granted ever since BMW came into India. I've been hearing of wheel/tire issues from the 'E' generation of the 5 series back in 2007.

We really don't matter as a market since BMW India sells only 10k units a year, which is paltry compared to other markets, and lowers the incentive to make something more durable/appropriate for our market. It'll be bonus if they start offering durable wheels but it'll always be seen as a compromise rather than a feature as they'll tend to be heavier.

Yes!

When they think of Major Asian markets, all those Asian countries have fantastic road surface which are a lot more even and pothole free with standardized civic amenities like on\off ramps, walkways, kerb side etc. So you will see big vans like Toyota Alphard riding on Porsche spec wheels and tyres in such countries without any problem.

BMW when it reaches this Asian market called India, suddenly the suspension travel is not enough, the bushes are too stiff, the wheels and tyres are too delicate, all the weight savings they did on the plastic parts outside and inside the car, they all start to fall apart, warp , squeak and rattle.

This is the BMW story! Lovely vehicles to drive and then hand it over to their respective owners.

[el lobo 6061]

Car: BMW X1 20d Mar'18
Tyre: 225 55 R17
ODO: 64,000 Kms

Having driven all across Bharat to Puri, Rameswaram, Wayanad, Goa, Dwarka GJ, Bikaner, Tadoba and many more places;

Been through a lot of potholes and never faced issue of cracked or bent rims.

As long as tyre sidewall height is 120 mm or above; your car can handle Indian roads.

Only issue was faced with Pirelli Cinturato P7 RFT which were too soft and be cut by stone.

Changed over to Bridgestone Turanza T001 RFT which helped and later moved over to Yokohama Earth1 tubeless.

Modern BMW sedans and even SAV like X5 having big rims and low side profile tyres out on highway will face issues. Best is to change over to lower rims with thick rubber.

Like upcoming 5 LWB 225 55 R18 tyres.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Car: BMW X1 20d Mar'18
Tyre: 225 55 R17
ODO: 64,000 Kms

Having driven all across Bharat to Puri, Rameswaram, Wayanad, Goa, Dwarka GJ, Bikaner, Tadoba and many more places;

Been through a lot of potholes and never faced issue of cracked or bent rims.

As long as tyre sidewall height is 120 mm or above; your car can handle Indian roads.

If only you had the mSport variant with the fancier alloy design

You would have spent a lot more time in Wayanad.

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

If only you had the mSport variant with the fancier alloy design

You would have spent a lot more time in Wayanad.

That is why did not go for X1 xLine or M Sport variant which came with 225 50 R18 tyres.

Roads is Wayanad were good though.

[navin_v8]

I know someone who used to own a BMW X1. He owned the car for less than 2 years and sold it. Reason being unending alloy wheels and tyre issue. Like many here he was frustrated due to alloy wheel bending and tyre failure issues. He had claimed insurance but had to wait for close to 2 months for the tyre alone, due to unavailability from BMW. Even after the replacement he started facing the same issue. Blame it on either pothole ridden roads, general quality of roads otherwise or the wheel and tyre design.

Not really sure if BMW would modify/reinforce their standard alloy wheels and tyre configuration, just for India.

P.S. Although off topic, would like to share an incident I had in July 2022 (monsoon season) in Bombay. I was climbing down Gandhinagar junction flyover (going towards Powai) and there was water puddle at the end joints where the flyover ends. Due to low visibility and rains I failed to spot a sharp and deep pothole at the right corner where the flyover ends. Speed would've been close to 50 KMPH. BANG! my right front tyre hits the pothole with great force and the whole car jerks. The impact was so strong that I could hear the loud noise inside the cabin. Later on I realized that the front right brake hose ruptured due to sudden impact. On close observation, I didn't find any damage on the wheel or tyre. Car was Mitsubishi Lancer (SLXi) with OEM alloy wheels sporting Yokohama Earth 1 tyres. During this episode I didn't know who to blame: myself, roads, authorities or weather.

[Akshay1234]

So I think the main issue here is runflat tyres. Runflats are certified to drive for 50 miles at 50mph with a full load (as per international quality roads). Hence the sidewalls are really thick and they don't really absorb too much of the bumps. The full shock is transferred to the wheel and suspension.

BMWs also generally give us more performance oriented sidewall profiles (which has been slowly changing over the last few years). This coupled with the runflats gives one a very small margin of error. So a really bad bump or pothole can leave one with a bent or cracked rim.

Of course one solution is to change to tubeless tyres which will reduce the chances of this, and give a better ride. That being said, I personally believe some designs like the F10 lci 530d alloys were maybe made of a softer alloy, as there are far too many with bends and cracks that I have seen.

[GeeTee TSI]

Are alloy wheels covered under insurance for damages? How amenable is it to make a claim for a real world incident, if covered?

[wandering_soul]

I don't think this is limited to BMW cars, even the GS 850/1250 owners have reported same issue. Sadly ICICI denies insurance claims for bent rims looks like.

[Karjun]

It’s not just BMW wheels but most manufacturers generally try to cut costs where we least expect it, and I guess wheels are one of those areas.

I had a similar experience with my BMW F10 5series a few years back. On my way back from Trivandrum at night the front left fell into a medium sized pothole at about 90kmph. Didn’t notice anything then thanks to the run flats but upon inspecting the next morning I found out the alloy was bent, surprisingly the tyre was still fine. Was hard to find a single FR alloy but got one in a weeks time.
The same happened last year with my Lexus ES when it fell in a pretty big pothole as I had swerve the car when an idiotic bus driver decided to overtake abruptly. Again the tyre was in good condition but the alloy was bent on the inner edge.
And both the Beemer and Lexus have always been on stock alloys which we’ve all (at least I did) believed to be of better quality. When we look back in time we see manufacturers giving us plastic caps on those steel tyres compromising on looks and quality because India was new to the Automobiles. But now we are among the biggest consumers but still our roads are still compromised and have not been developed to the standards they should be.

After delving into this subject of Alloys testing that are to be done by manufacturers, I found out JLR puts them through the most stringent norms. Other manufacturers set a much lower bar for the obstacles and potholes they have to deal with compared to JLR. Which is why we never hear JLR products suffering from bent/cracked alloys but rarely just punctures from our pothole ridden roads.
And thats why most manufacturers give India spec cars smaller alloys with higher profile tyres, but we complain asking for euro spec wheels which would never survive on our roads and would destroy any comfort aspect of the car. After learning my lesson with the last two cars, when changed the alloys on my 2023 Q7 I decided not to go with aesthetics. The car came with R19’s and I went up just one size to R20/275 50. Could’ve gone to R21’s but chose not to because it would affect amazing ride the Air suspension has been programmed to and the alloys may not survive our road conditions.


Back in 2015- the staff at the tyre shop were surprised to see a cars alloys bent but the tyre in perfect condition.


After getting the fresh FR alloy.




50 profile tyres always soak in the bumps and ensures I can a do a bit off soft roading on my Ooty trips.

[VellVector]

Originally Posted by GeeTee TSI

Are alloy wheels covered under insurance for damages? How amenable is it to make a claim for a real world incident, if covered?

In my experience very difficult (at least with Tata-AIG) unless there's damage to both the tire and the wheel. They will not cover it.

Originally Posted by wandering_soul

I don't think this is limited to BMW cars, even the GS 850/1250 owners have reported same issue. Sadly ICICI denies insurance claims for bent rims looks like.

This is a different problem all together. The spoke wheels used on the current GS bikes are just of a lower quality than the earlier ones that were made in Germany. Hit a pothole on the highway at speed and you're losing the wheel on that GS.

Another major issue is that spokes become loose and the rim fails at the base point of the loose spoke. The service centres which are supposed to check and tighten the spokes do not know how to do it properly.

[Tutenkhamen]

Originally Posted by Karjun

I found out JLR puts them through the most stringent norms. Other manufacturers set a much lower bar for the obstacles and potholes they have to deal with compared to JLR. Which is why we never hear JLR products suffering from bent/cracked alloys but rarely just punctures from our pothole ridden roads.

Ah, I thought I had a dataset bias with 225/45/R17 all around tires on my XE.
Haven’t had any problems so far and I’ve had 2-3 occasions where it jumped over some practically invisible loud-thudded unscientific highway bumps/potholes.

But there’s no dents so far, at least not visible to me. The BMW stories are scary!

[avira_tk]

I've read that this is a safety allowance to prevent sudden failures. The trade off is between hardness and malleability, they later allows for repairs but is affected by bad roads, hard alloys will be brittle and crack when encountering a shock.

The size choices also play into this, you need atleast 70mm GS sidewall to be on the safe side.

[Tutenkhamen]

Originally Posted by Tutenkhamen

Ah, I thought I had a dataset bias with 225/45/R17 all around tires on my XE.

Checked today. It’s 225/55/R17* tire. All the more reason of no dents!

[sandygordon]

At last, The thing that I dreaded happened

Hit a random pothole during rain at night, heard a "bomb blast" like sound from the left front tire and the car started wobbling at speeds more than 30kmph.
Stopped the car, checked and did not find a puncture and TPMS did not show any pressure loss.


Took it to DBS tyres at Edapally, Cochin. They did a good job of identifying the problem in a minute. There was a huge bend in the inner side of my 18 inch M sport alloy wheel on the left front side. Asked me to get in touch with BMW service. Took it to service yesterday. By that time the tyre pressures had gone down. Did not find any structural damage to the tyre though.


The cost of single alloy would be close to eighty thousand rupees which is outrageous for this easily damagable wheel. They said they would check and revert on Monday. They do not have alloy wheels in stock and would have to order it from their Delhi warehouse.

Seems like I should be downgrading to 17 inchers with 225 50 R 17s. That would be a better option than keeping these flimsy alloys. BMW India should ensure rigidity of metal and strenghthen the suspension parts as part of their rough road package.

What should I do?
Spend 80k and buy a new alloy? Claim insurance as accident and get a new alloy wheel? or Try to get the alloy under BMW secure as tyre is not holding air?
Another wild thought is to replace all OEM alloys with better premium alloys like BBS in black and complete the black package with wrapping of that chrome grille.

[vivekgk]

Personally, I feel that any tyre with a side profile below 55 is unsuitable for Indian roads. Even if the highway itself is new and well finished, there's always some uncleared debris and no proper regular inspection to clear it.

The trouble is that the newer vehicles, be it cars or SUVs are designed with big rim sizes and low profile tyres in mind, and look a bit weird with higher profile rubber.

Maybe, invest in a higher profile, lower rim size set for highway runs and use the low profile set for the city?