Arkansas Auto Repair Shops

AR Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Wait for the bill or not? [woodah]

by volvomax on Tue Jul 14 14:32:11 PDT 2009

Are you sure that no Lexus dealer is participating? If not, that is understandable. Not too many people driving a qualifying car will have the bank account to sign for a new Lexus. No flames please, just because YOU might be the one guy who can doen't make you representative of the ar buying public at large. Dealers ALWAYS play the odds. For the average Lexus dealer, even one of these sales might be seen as too much of a PITA to bother with.

Re: Flat Tire? Perhaps... [ny540i6] & bdr127 [totalsystm]

by ron2hoff on Tue Jul 14 08:07:36 PDT 2009

BWM refuses to acknowledge that their rims are defective and crack as a result of normal driving, especially their 18 inch rims when coupled with run-flat tires. We have a 2006 530i with standard 18-inch alloy rims and run-flat tires that came on the car. The car is driven 90% on Los Angeles freeways, and the other 10% on well-paved local roads. The car has never taken off road or driven on a particularly bumpy/potholed roads. Nor do we take speed bumps at 40 mph, run over curbs, or not slow for a pothole . . . events that might possibly crack a rim or break a tire. I tell you all this because BMW’s excuse for not replacing 2 cracked rims was that the cracks must have been caused by the driver impacting some object, like a pothole, rather then a result of a defect in the design of the rim. In the past several years we have owned 3 BMWs . . . but this will be our last. After reading all of the threads on many websites about BMW’s problems with these rims and run-flat tires, it became quite clear what the problem is. The rims were designed too weak to take the impact of normal on-road driving. The problem is exacerbated by the run-flat tires, which are very hard and have strong sidewalls resulting in too much of the normal road force from small bumps being transmitted to the rim rather then absorbing some of the shock in the tire. Confirming the hundreds of comments on reliable Internet sites about the faulty rims and too hard run-flat tires is the reviews of Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Run Flat tires on cites from every supplier of these tires. In general, the comments conclude that the combination of weak 18-inch rims and 245/R40/18 Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Run Flat tires (original equipment) was a very bad mistake by BMW. One comment, similar to most, says: “These tires are terrible! Harsh ride, noisy and prone to impact bubble in the side walls from hitting small potholes. . . I am going to switch to non run flats . . . What was BMW thinking when [they] picked these tires?” [http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/readReviewsTire.do?postalCodeSelected=90291&ra- =%2Ftires%2Fbridgestone%2Fsize%2FviewProductResults&pc=25428&ar=40&rd=18&cs=245]- We asked the Service Manager at Santa Monica BMW to replace the rims under warranty. Not only was he rude, but he was uninterested in any discussion about comments on many websites about the defective rims. It seemed apparent to me that he had been through this problem all too often before and did not want to deal with it again. I then called BMW NA Customer Service. They were very nice, but totally useless. After four phone calls and escalation to a customer service supervisor, I began to understand the way it works. Customer Service has no authority whatsoever, all they could do was call the Service Manager at the dealership and get the same answer you had already had gotten. They seem to be in business of playing “good guy” to take the heat off of the Service Manager by providing the same answer as if it came from an independent, higher authority at BMW, which it does not. Not willing to accept the result, I contacted the Director of Parts and Service at Santa Monica BMW, and told him of our displeasure with how his Service Manager had handled the problem, and asked him to involve BMW NA regional “team” to evaluate the problem and try to get some help. To his credit, he seemed very professional and appeared to want to help. He clearly understood the problem . . . you should be able to drive a BMW on normal streets and not have the rims break. Next day, he got a response from BMW regional team . . . “they would not participate” . . . meaning they would not cover it under the warranty or assist the dealer in any way. My next step is to contact the General Manager of BMW Santa Monica and alert him to the problem. We certainly won’t be buying any more cars at Santa Monica BMW so he loses a loyal customer because the service folks won’t handle this problem. No response from the GM of Santa Monica BMW after two calls. Next step is a letter to the CEO of BMW North America, and a compliant with U.S. DOT about the situation with these failing rim/tire combination. Perhaps DOT will investigate.

Re: My First Sport Package [ctshorse]

by ron2hoff on Tue Jul 14 08:06:15 PDT 2009

BWM refuses to acknowledge that their rims are defective and crack as a result of normal driving, especially their 18 inch rims when coupled with run-flat tires. We have a 2006 530i with standard 18-inch alloy rims and run-flat tires that came on the car. The car is driven 90% on Los Angeles freeways, and the other 10% on well-paved local roads. The car has never taken off road or driven on a particularly bumpy/potholed roads. Nor do we take speed bumps at 40 mph, run over curbs, or not slow for a pothole . . . events that might possibly crack a rim or break a tire. I tell you all this because BMW’s excuse for not replacing 2 cracked rims was that the cracks must have been caused by the driver impacting some object, like a pothole, rather then a result of a defect in the design of the rim. In the past several years we have owned 3 BMWs . . . but this will be our last. After reading all of the threads on many websites about BMW’s problems with these rims and run-flat tires, it became quite clear what the problem is. The rims were designed too weak to take the impact of normal on-road driving. The problem is exacerbated by the run-flat tires, which are very hard and have strong sidewalls resulting in too much of the normal road force from small bumps being transmitted to the rim rather then absorbing some of the shock in the tire. Confirming the hundreds of comments on reliable Internet sites about the faulty rims and too hard run-flat tires is the reviews of Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Run Flat tires on cites from every supplier of these tires. In general, the comments conclude that the combination of weak 18-inch rims and 245/R40/18 Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Run Flat tires (original equipment) was a very bad mistake by BMW. One comment, similar to most, says: “These tires are terrible! Harsh ride, noisy and prone to impact bubble in the side walls from hitting small potholes. . . I am going to switch to non run flats . . . What was BMW thinking when [they] picked these tires?” [http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/readReviewsTire.do?postalCodeSelected=90291&ra- =%2Ftires%2Fbridgestone%2Fsize%2FviewProductResults&pc=25428&ar=40&rd=18&cs=245]- We asked the Service Manager at Santa Monica BMW to replace the rims under warranty. Not only was he rude, but he was uninterested in any discussion about comments on many websites about the defective rims. It seemed apparent to me that he had been through this problem all too often before and did not want to deal with it again. I then called BMW NA Customer Service. They were very nice, but totally useless. After four phone calls and escalation to a customer service supervisor, I began to understand the way it works. Customer Service has no authority whatsoever, all they could do was call the Service Manager at the dealership and get the same answer you had already had gotten. They seem to be in business of playing “good guy” to take the heat off of the Service Manager by providing the same answer as if it came from an independent, higher authority at BMW, which it does not. Not willing to accept the result, I contacted the Director of Parts and Service at Santa Monica BMW, and told him of our displeasure with how his Service Manager had handled the problem, and asked him to involve BMW NA regional “team” to evaluate the problem and try to get some help. To his credit, he seemed very professional and appeared to want to help. He clearly understood the problem . . . you should be able to drive a BMW on normal streets and not have the rims break. Next day, he got a response from BMW regional team . . . “they would not participate” . . . meaning they would not cover it under the warranty or assist the dealer in any way. My next step is to contact the General Manager of BMW Santa Monica and alert him to the problem. We certainly won’t be buying any more cars at Santa Monica BMW so he loses a loyal customer because the service folks won’t handle this problem. No response from the GM of Santa Monica BMW after two calls. Next step is a letter to the CEO of BMW North America, and a compliant with U.S. DOT about the situation with these failing rim/tire combination. Perhaps DOT will investigate.

Re: front passenger side brake locks on [ed1973]

by ed1973 on Sat Jul 11 11:06:06 PDT 2009

Hi This is now sorted, it turns out i put hydraulic fluid in instead of brake fluid,, yes i am an ar**ole but the honda dealer done a gravity bleed overnight,filled it with good fluid and its now as good as new..

Torque control

by eniale on Wed Jul 08 09:43:02 PDT 2009

After replacing two sensors a couple of months ago, my torque control went out with my daughter and her family as they were traveling through Little Rock AR. last week, so they had to leave my van at the ford dearlship. They said the torque convertor needed to be replaced or a new rebuilt trans was needed. They were so high, I fortunately had a brother that put it on a trailer and brought it back to Texas!

Re: . [ghulet]

by fintail on Thu Jun 25 09:09:02 PDT 2009

I don't like the "face" on the new 3...really too dopey and cutesy for me to tolerate. I think dumb styling cues (like aggressive headlights) ar an admission that designers can't do anything else. The tank-window look is about safety...not actual safety, but the feeling of safety and isolation. I think the sheeple value that in these times. Even MB, which has a history of tall-windowed cars, has shortened them up a bit.