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[Benjaminjamie]

Noticed a bulge in the sidewall of my Turanza EL42 RFTs. I take it to the dealer and I say "manufacturing defect".

Dealer says" nope you hit something"

I say "if it was hard enough to damage the internal belts of the tire don't you think the rim would be damaged?"

Dealer says" Your rim is probably bent" The rim is NOT bent or damaged.

I am man enough to admit that I hit a curb or a pothole really bad. I didn't.

I was kind of lukewarm on the Turanzas now I think they suck.

Dealer wants $285 plus tax and shop fees to replace the tire. Tire Rack sells the tire for $165.

Bridgestone and BMW service are not my friends.

[KL2DC]

Ouch...it was concerns like this that prompted me to opt for the tire/wheel insurance/warranty. DC roads can be quite brutal...good luck!

[KevinC]

Call a Bridgestone dealer. Dealer is full of it, it's their way of not messing with it as a warranty claim. Don't sit for it!

[ward]

the reason they don't help you is for every person who didn't hit something and has a legitimate complaint there are 874 people who hit something and lie about it to the dealer trying to get free stuff.

it's always possible you hit something and didn't notice it, or maybe do you share the car with a wife, girlfriend or valet??

best of luck to you, although I must say I hold little hope in the dealer coming through on this one

[younghov85]

Did you purchase the tire and rim warranty. it covers damaged rims and tires up to $2000 dollars

[N1]

Ultra low profile of RFT is a problem, i choose 17 " and POTENZA re050A perhaps the best match for everyday.

[FlyingFinn]

Originally Posted by N1

Ultra low profile of RFT is a problem, i choose 17 " and POTENZA re050A perhaps the best match for everyday.

Just out of curiosity what is that flag in your avatar?

[N1]

This flag is the first of Portugal, it was the flag of our first King in 1139 A.C. 1185 A.C. lolol its fantastic. He was descendent of Count HENRY of BOURGOGNE and he founded the country between several battles against arabs and spanish.

[LEDZEP]

I agree with KevinC - your BMW dealer doesn't want to be in the tire business in the first place. Go to a Bridgestone shop. They should also be able to tell if the bulge is a result of trauma or defect, and should handle your tire warranty. If they give you crap about warranty then buy from Tire Rack and have the dealer mount it for you.

[gmcwv]

I had the same problem, had a bulge in the tire and no damage that I could see, and I didn't think that I hit any potholes that hard and I know I didn't hit any curbs. My father works for Bridgestone/Firestone so we took it to a shop and they looked at it, and well the rim was bent on the inside so I guess one pot hole to many for me.

Take it to the Bridgestone shop and have them break it down and they can tell if it is a defect. If it is they will replace it minus wear. If not, buy the new one from them and get road hazard on it. You can also buy road hazard on your other tires as long as they OEM (the ones that came with the car). It will save you a lot of money down the road.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Benjaminjamie

Noticed a bulge in the sidewall of my Turanza EL42 RFTs. I take it to the dealer and I say "manufacturing defect".

Dealer says" nope you hit something"

I say "if it was hard enough to damage the internal belts of the tire don't you think the rim would be damaged?"

Dealer says" Your rim is probably bent" The rim is NOT bent or damaged.

I am man enough to admit that I hit a curb or a pothole really bad. I didn't.

I was kind of lukewarm on the Turanzas now I think they suck.

Dealer wants $285 plus tax and shop fees to replace the tire. Tire Rack sells the tire for $165.

Bridgestone and BMW service are not my friends.

Tires are warranted by the manufacturer.
Take your car to reputable tire dealer in your area that sells that brand. They can make a determination about what to do and if it's a warranty issue. The tire dealer is more adept and better able to deal with tire issues than the car dealer. The car dealer will on want to make money on the repair and not try to see if it's a warranty claim.

As hard as those RFT's are, I agree the damage to the wheels would be quite obvious. In regular tires, typically a bulge is the result of a hard impact that weakens the side belts and allows the air to push that portion out and "buldge". However, I didnt' think that would happen with a run flat. So, I too am curious and I say take it to a real tire dealer to assertain what happened.
It very likely could be a defect and barring a hard hit, that would be my conclusion as well. I had 2 or 4 brand new tires develop buldges
and Goodyear became very cooperative when I suggested that I would hold the liable for any damages to my car, passengers, or myself if the sidewall blows and I lose control. They replaced the buldging tires for free and gave me another 2 for about 25% of their cost. Those tires had about 10k miles on them when it happened.

If the tire dealer doesn't satisfy your wants and needs, do not hesitate to call and speak with the tire manufacture themselves.

Good luck.

T

[RichReg]

Originally Posted by Benjaminjamie

I take it to the dealer and I say "manufacturing defect".

Dealer says" nope you hit something"

I say "if it was hard enough to damage the internal belts of the tire don't you think the rim would be damaged?"

Dealer says" Your rim is probably bent" The rim is NOT bent or damaged.

Just curious, how do you know the rim isn't bent?

I have the exact same bubble on my front right Turanza. Its been there for over six weeks and the tire is not losing pressure. I just check the pressure & ignore it.

I don't know if the rim is bent or not....the car doesn't pull, nothing feels weird, but there is a tiny, tiny nick in the rim next to bubble. If I did hit something, I never noticed it......but the rim could be damaged.

[Bimmerista]

Originally Posted by RichReg

Just curious, how do you know the rim isn't bent?

I have the exact same bubble on my front right Turanza. Its been there for over six weeks and the tire is not losing pressure. I just check the pressure & ignore it.

I don't know if the rim is bent or not....the car doesn't pull, nothing feels weird, but there is a tiny, tiny nick in the rim next to bubble. If I did hit something, I never noticed it......but the rim could be damaged.

90% you either hit a pothole or an object on the road.

I had a $300 experience like that-except I hit a pothole and believe me I felt it. However, the rim did not bend and the car was not missaligned, just like you. But the bubble in the side wall was there as well and it is unrepairable, so I had to change a winter tire with only 2,000Kms on it :mad:

[gmcwv]

Originally Posted by RPM90

Tires are warranted by the manufacturer.
Take your car to reputable tire dealer in your area that sells that brand. They can make a determination about what to do and if it's a warranty issue. The tire dealer is more adept and better able to deal with tire issues than the car dealer. The car dealer will on want to make money on the repair and not try to see if it's a warranty claim.

You can only take that tire to two places really, the dealer or a bridgestone/firestone (or a expert tire as bridgestone/firestone bought them out). Sears and other auto stores will only warranty tires that you bought there. You can take it to another store like Sears or where ever and they can tell you if it is defect or not and if it is defect go back to the dealer and make them take care of it or go to the bridgestone/firestone store and they will take care of it for you. But like I said go to the nearest bridgestone/firestone and get road hazard on the rest. It is a great tire so don't get mad at the manufacturer just yet.

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/store...r/index_bs.asp

http://experttire.com/

[Flyingfart]

Originally Posted by Benjaminjamie

Noticed a bulge in the sidewall of my Turanza EL42 RFTs. I take it to the dealer and I say "manufacturing defect".

Dealer says" nope you hit something"

I say "if it was hard enough to damage the internal belts of the tire don't you think the rim would be damaged?"

Dealer says" Your rim is probably bent" The rim is NOT bent or damaged.

I am man enough to admit that I hit a curb or a pothole really bad. I didn't.

I was kind of lukewarm on the Turanzas now I think they suck.

Dealer wants $285 plus tax and shop fees to replace the tire. Tire Rack sells the tire for $165.

Bridgestone and BMW service are not my friends.

Bridgestone should be able to cover the tire defect under its manucfacturers warrantly, based on your argument its not your fault.

But the issue will be the labor cost to have it replaced for you, and certainly the dealer dont want to be the go-between.

[Benjaminjamie]

I don't know for sure but then again the dealer doesn't know either.

He did not remove the tire/rim and did not demount the tire.

I am the only driver so I am pretty sure that with 6500 miles the rims are in the same condition as delivered.

[Benjaminjamie]

I am the only driver and haven't used a valet. Could have been a normal bump in the road for all I know. Next stop is a Bridgestone dealer.