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A bit of a long story, but might be of interest to people running 225M wheels.

Recently I got a low tyre pressure warning and found the driver’s side rear was low, so I went to the tyre shop to 'hopefully' get the puncture repaired if it wasn’t a sidewall problem (I go to a tame tyre place that plugs RFT's). After looking for the offending object in the tyre for a while without success, we put the wheel underwater to try to find if there was a leak.

There was a leak – from the wheel, not the tyre. The inside edge of the rim had a crack big enough to put a fingernail into. So instead of a quick puncture repair I was looking at a new wheel! I got the shop to check the other wheels and sure enough, the passenger side rear was also cracked, in two places.

I did not have time to go straight to the BMW service centre that afternoon so I pumped up the tyre and headed home the book a service time at the dealership and do a bit of research. There are several threads on the forum dealing with the issue, I found. 225M rims have a history of failures (particularly the rear rims) with documented cases in both the UK and USA. In the UK the owners made enough noise about the issue to get a television segment aired and magazine article written. Another owner took legal action against BMW UK and received an ex gratia payment, although BMW UK would not admit liability.

According to the threads I read, BMW insist that the wheel ‘out of round’ tolerance is 0.3 mm or less - insanely small. If the wheel measures greater than 0.3 mm, they conclude that the wheel has been abused by driving over rough roads or potholes, and therefore BMW accepts no liability.

That was the exact story I got from the dealership. Even though the vehicle is under warranty they would not replace the wheels as both were greater than 0.3 mm out of round. They kindly provided quote for $2500 for two new wheels. I asked the dealership to write a report and send it to BMW Australia, thanked them and left, as I had already ordered a complete set of CSL reps from Jason (who delivered promptly, thanks Jason) and put on a set of non-RFT Pirelli’s that I had previously sourced from Tire Rack in the US.

The story does have a pleasant ending - I wrote to BMW Australia including photographs of the faulty wheels, a copy of the UK magazine article on the 225M failures and the BMW UK settlement letter written to the guy who had taken legal action. BMW Australia came good with two new wheels supplied free of charge! So, if anyone would like to buy two rear 19” 225M wheels brand-new and two used front 19" 225M wheels for a very reasonable price, you know who to contact!

[Ninjaoz]

thats great news! I've sent you a PM about the wheels.

[Haydrick]

Thanks for sharing!

Wonder if the other 19" wheels suffer the same problems

[cruvon]

Though I have put OEM 230s on mine with Michelin PS2 non runflats which have been great this far, I have heard stories of them too prone to cracks if they go through potholes at speed. Would have thoughT since they are thicker because they are made for RFT's, they should have been stronger. I wonder how the non OEM 19's stack up.

[sbce90]

Good result!

[luckyg777]

Thanks for the post!

I have the same rims (just purchased an 07' E92 335i), and will be having them checked for cracks the next time I have my tyres replaced. I had read about the NA/UK issues with these wheels, but I have had my fingers crossed that mine would be ok -- that said I already have HPFP issues after 3 weeks! haha.

If it isn't too much trouble, would you be able to forward me the documents/links you sent to BMW Australia? I may need to send a similar letter at some point.

Cheers

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I don't have a copy of the magazine article I included but the BMW UK settlement letter is attached (note the recipient did not include the entire letter, just the attached page). You should be able to find references to the magazine and TV items in the UK forum.