[andrewbmw]

We had to replaced both rims and tires (18 inch) in the passenger side as wife hit the curb badly few days ago. Thanks God no one was injured though dealer charged us $2000+, :-(

Late today I was looking at one of the new rim and noticed about 1/4" crack around the center part of the rim. Please see the attached pictures below.

Do you think it was due to careless tire installation or something might be wrong with the rim itself?

I actually don't mind if it's caused by installation but just had a little hard time to imagine how could tire installation leave sth like this and in this area. The thing I am bit afraid of is the quality of the rim. Did a quick search with "bmw rim crack" and there are quite many scary posts regarding to cracked BMW rims, especially those with RFTs.

Will talk to dealer next week and highly appreciate your comments or suggestions.

Thanks and have a good weekend.

[utcadman]

IMO That is no crack... But just an opinion...

[Nahoa]

Looks like a scratch in the paint from the pic.

[tuco44]

Not a crack at all.....

[Dr Stig 2]

Only recurring thread I have ever seen on cracked rims is the 296 style of cast rim used on the Z4. They seem to be problematic - - that looks like a dent to me.
Strange place for a crack, as it doesn't follow any sort of stress line that would be placed on the wheel in normal driving conditions (which are radial from the outside inwards or the inside outwards - not around the centre)

[Radioactive]

For a crack that wide you probably would need tensile stresses, whereas compressional stresses would most likely occur in wheel failure.

[Nahoa]

To get a crack there going that direction, I think something dramatic would have happened to that rim and there'd been significant failure elsewhere evidencing what transpired.

It really looks like a scratch in the paint due to poor handling prior to installation or some road debris. Seems to be two additional, similar, smaller sections suggesting to me it may have been placed on it's "face" before the tire was on and spun slightly. Perhaps a worn or dirty pad on the tire mounting machine caused the damage?

While I'd be bummed to have scratches in my new wheels, it might not be worth the hassle of trying to get something done about it. If you drive this care at all, it's going to get scratches on the wheels from general road debris in no time. I've got about 10.1k miles and three of the rims (no idea what spared the last one) have at least one pencil line scratch of 3 inches or more. Anyway, for whatever that's worth!

[skier219]

Yeah, that is not a crack.

[andrewbmw]

I also inclined to believe that it's scratched during the installation. However, since the center of rim will not touch the ground if facing down, i am not sure how it got scratched. Does tire installation or balancing uses the center to lock the rim?

Originally Posted by Nahoa

To get a crack there going that direction, I think something dramatic would have happened to that rim and there'd been significant failure elsewhere evidencing what transpired.

It really looks like a scratch in the paint due to poor handling prior to installation or some road debris. Seems to be two additional, similar, smaller sections suggesting to me it may have been placed on it's "face" before the tire was on and spun slightly. Perhaps a worn or dirty pad on the tire mounting machine caused the damage?

While I'd be bummed to have scratches in my new wheels, it might not be worth the hassle of trying to get something done about it. If you drive this care at all, it's going to get scratches on the wheels from general road debris in no time. I've got about 10.1k miles and three of the rims (no idea what spared the last one) have at least one pencil line scratch of 3 inches or more. Anyway, for whatever that's worth!

[Nahoa]

I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure it has to use the center to hold it, but not sure what happens on the edges. Seems like the mating should have some kind of rubber gasket there.

[Itchywasabi]

dude are you on crack? Its not a crack its a scratch.