Wheel finish, warranty replacement.

[russy01]

Evening,

My wife has a 2018 X5 40d, it’s 3yrs old in June. It’s done approx 30k miles and has been well looked after - apart from wheel kerbing it’s in great condition.

The alloy wheel lacquer and paint has started coming away around the centre caps and bolts on all wheels. It’s not terrible, but only getting worse.

It was in today for scheduled work and when we dropped the car off we made them aware of the issue, the service chap (without seeing the car) acknowledged this was a common issue and agreed to take a look with a view to a warranty fix.

Upon collection of the car my wife was told that they would not cover the full repair/change of the wheels due to kerbing on 3 of the 4 wheels. We’d have to contribute 20% which is £720 - she walked away knowing I’d want to follow up...

Now, where do we stand with this? As far as I am concerned the common deterioration of the finish in said areas is in no way linked to kerbing, thus it shouldn’t make any difference to the claim.

Kerbing, ultimately is a wear and tear issue. Where the deterioration of the finish is a quality issue!

Interested in your views/experience before I pick up the phone tomorrow.

Cheers

[Earthdweller]

There is a well documented issue with some types of alloys .. the satin finish ones and corrosion

I had a full set replaced on my X3 under warranty

When they did it they would only replace wheels that had not been damaged or repaired

They said that they would reduce the contribution based on the % of the circumference that had been damaged

Fortunately I had zero Kerbing damage on mine so they paid 100%.

Ie If 50% of your wheels surface is damaged they’d only pay 50% of the cost

It was about 3 years ago they did mine ... and now the replacements are equally shagged unfortunately with corrosion on the spokes and around the centre caps

[russy01]

Well that sounds like a crock of st? Produce a poor quality product and then penalise owners...

[Earthdweller]

This is what mine looked like

[russy01]

Yea ours is the same sort of thing

[rlg43p]

Their stance seems reasonable to me. You can't expect to trash your wheels and then expect them to replace them at no cost because of a bit of lacquer peel in the centre!

You could have them thoroughly reconditioned by a specialist like Lepsons for about £100 per wheel, unless they are diamond cut which would cost more.

I'd just get them reconditioned and ask BMW for a contribution to the cost!

[Earthdweller]

iirc at the time I had mine replaced there was reports that BMW had replaced 30k wheel sets in the UK alone

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Are they going to repair the kerbing as well as the failure in the centre? (If so then not so bad?)

[Earthdweller]

With mine it was brand new wheels under warranty.. not repaired

[Earthdweller]

They replaced mine, I was quite happy

I must admit as a long standing good customer is have been expecting/pushing the dealer to push goodwill with BMW if they hadn’t

That might be an option for you

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Earthdweller said:

With mine it was brand new wheels under warranty.. not repaired

Better yet. If I was offered brand new wheels for kerbed ones for just 20% I think I'd be chuffed.

[Trevor555]

Earthdweller said:

With mine it was brand new wheels under warranty.. not repaired

Op will have to pay £720 for new wheels.

The three wheel refurbs would have been £100 each for diamond cut finish?

So I'd look at it as I'd be paying £420 for a set of brand new wheels.

Might make it sound not so bad for you?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Trevor555 said:

Earthdweller said:

With mine it was brand new wheels under warranty.. not repaired

Op will have to pay £720 for new wheels.

The three wheel refurbs would have been £100 each for diamond cut finish?

So I'd look at it as I'd be paying £420 for a set of brand new wheels.

Might make it sound not so bad for you?

My thoughts too

[russy01]

Yes, ok - I get where you are coming from.

But I think you’re forgetting that I’ve already paid BMW £65,000 for the car.
So, regardless of a few scratches on the rims - why an earth am I expected to pay another penny for wheels that clearly have well documented finish issues.

[edthefed]

The warranty is designed to put you back in the postion you were before the warranty issue....no betterment

Your wheels have been kerbed and are damaged.

If BMW replace them you are in a better position than you are now., your new wheels will not have kerb damage.

We have had 4 otherwise undamaged wheels replaced because of corrosion round the centre cap replaced by BMW without quibble

[russy01]

edthefed said:

The warranty is designed to put you back in the postion you were before the warranty issue....no betterment

Your wheels have been kerbed and are damaged.

If BMW replace them you are in a better position than you are now., your new wheels will not have kerb damage.

We have had 4 otherwise undamaged wheels replaced because of corrosion round the centre cap replaced by BMW without quibble

Ok, so by your argument. BMW should be able to get away with shoddy quality on a premium product just because my wife has touched a kerb?

The kerbing shouldn’t even come into it.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

russy01 said:

Ok, so by your argument. BMW should be able to get away with shoddy quality on a premium product just because my wife has touched a kerb?

The kerbing shouldn’t even come into it.

Sounds like from the other contributor's post they would have replaced them 100% free if no other damage would have been present. The 20% is effectively a betterment charge.

Maybe with a bit more negotiation the 20% could be 10%?

[Muzzer79]

I have a 5 series. They replaced 3 wheels under warranty for the same issue.

It’s because the faces are polished alloy - they always corrode.

I had no kerbing, so no issue there.

If I had, I would have argued that the kerbing is on the outside and the corrosion is on the inside so the two issues are unrelated.....

[thebraketester]

Even if you get them replaced under warranty it will just happen again. They all do it.

[Cogito Ergo Sum]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Sounds like from the other contributor's post they would have replaced them 100% free if no other damage would have been present. The 20% is effectively a betterment charge.

Maybe with a bit more negotiation the 20% could be 10%?

Correct. BMW retailers use a tolerance sample - effectively a picture of a wheel split in to 12 sections. If 5 or more segments of the 12 have kerb damage then they are required to charge the customer 20% share of the cost. This is assuming that the wheels fulfil the other criteria for warranty replacement.

Typically, the only issue that will be considered for warranty is corrosion around the centre cap. Anything on the spokes or on the rim falls outside the guidelines for claiming. Even corrosion around the centre cap is often not covered, as this is often caused by tyre fitters levering the cap out, rather than pushing from the inside.

There is no movement on the 20% contribution so don’t bother trying to pursue. Sounds to me the retailer has applied the guidelines correctly - it is up to you OP whether you take up the offer.