Bent wheel rim - cause?

taylorcom

taylorcom

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I had 4 new tires installed on my 2800 CS recently and the installer called me over to show me that one of the rims was bent. He turned it on his balancing machine and I could see the inside edge of the rim was indeed moving up & down. The wheels are stock, btw.

At the installer's suggestion, the bent wheel went on the back of the car, and I don't notice any problem when driving on it. It seems to hold air ok.

But I'm wondering how the rim could have been bent? Hitting a pot hole? Someone at the tire shop mishandling it? Metal fatigue?

Has anyone else had a similar issue?

Thanks.
 
When I bought my coupe I could visually see a flat area on the diameter of one of wheel lips. I just assumed the PO hit a curb at speed or a pothole. I switched it out with the spare wheel from the trunk the first time I bought new tires.
 
Roads worthy of a third world country are likely the culprit. Our road surfaces in the US have been deteriorating for a couple of decades now, ever since Congress began draining the highway trust fund for other purposes.

By the way, I would not simply put a bent rim back on a BMW and run it. Wheels and tires are the most important safety item on a car, if the tire is bent it is far more likely to enable a loss of tire pressure. This tendency goes up when the tires get hot, as when driving at highway speeds in the summer.
 
The roads have gone to pot (holes) here in NorCal, too. I remember really whamming into one a while ago. It was in front of a bus stop after a rain had turned the hole into a puddle. Hard to see.

It sounded so bad that I stopped the car & took a quick look at the undercarriage. Saw nothing wrong, but you never know.
 
The Midwest and northeast roads get bad potholes every spring. The freezing and thawing breaks up the asphalt. Then the plows pull the high spots out of the road. I have severely bent a 14" wheel on a Midwest road.

FYI, you can have it repaired for around $150, possibly less.
 
taylorcom said:
how the rim could have been bent? Hitting a pot hole? Someone at the tire shop mishandling it? Metal fatigue?
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As others have written, your first guess is probably the correct one: "hitting a pot hole". It is unlikely that a tire shop could damage a wheel, other than cosmetically. And no, metal fatigue isn't likely.

Stock, five-spoke e9 wheels are fairly plentiful. A good, used wheel would be cheaper than trying to straighten your bent wheel.
 
jmackro said:
Stock, five-spoke e9 wheels are fairly plentiful. A good, used wheel would be cheaper than trying to straighten your bent wheel.
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Plentiful and accessible are two different things. Don't expect to quickly find a single wheel on Craigslist or eBay. Your best bet is a wtb post in the classefieds here. These wheels aren't on the market. They are all hiding in our garages.
 
Markos said:
Plentiful and accessible are two different things. Don't expect to quickly find a single wheel on Craigslist or eBay. Your best bet is a wtb post in the classefieds here. These wheels aren't on the market. They are all hiding in our garages.
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Well, maybe not in Seattle. Here in Southern California we just find them lying by the side of the road.

OK, I'm kidding. Sure, a message in the "parts wanted" section of the e9 board is your best source - I'll bet most people here have a trove in their garage. Mine seem to be multiplying.
 
Its always good to be lucky. Now that you know about it, however, I suggest not pushing your luck.
 
You don't know bad roads till you have driven in Quebec. Toronto has several places that will straighten a bent rim for about $75 -90 USD, remount and balance it afterwards. I'd go that route first.
 
I invite you to visit New Orleans. A large pothole once bent both of my front axle tow hooks against the frame. The f-bombs are still reverberating through the car.


Nicad said:
You don't know bad roads till you have driven in Quebec. Toronto has several places that will straighten a bent rim for about $75 -90 USD, remount and balance it afterwards. I'd go that route first.
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A large pothole once bent both of my front axle tow hooks against the frame. The f-bombs are still reverberating through the car.[/QUOTE

Steve,did that happen on the day you took me on an e9 drive around New Orleans?
 
Ohmess said:
By the way, I would not simply put a bent rim back on a BMW and run it. Wheels and tires are the most important safety item on a car, if the tire is bent it is far more likely to enable a loss of tire pressure. This tendency goes up when the tires get hot, as when driving at highway speeds in the summer.
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I think he's talking about a slightly bent wheel, which isn't a concern for safety, just vibration and tire wear. We take off hundreds of wheels each month and its amazing how many cars on the road have bent ones. I bought a car the other day that had a 1 1/2" chunk missing on the lip of the wheel and it was still holding air (the sealing bead is actually quite far into the wheel).

Dan
 
No, a while before. Coincidentally, I just saw a segment on the local news called "pothole of the day" where they try to shame the city into coming out to repair it. Fat chance.


tmason said:
A large pothole once bent both of my front axle tow hooks against the frame. The f-bombs are still reverberating through the car.[/QUOTE

Steve,did that happen on the day you took me on an e9 drive around New Orleans?
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Right. When the installer spun the wheel to show me the bent rim, the bend in the inside rim was obvious. When I looked at the surface of the new tire, tho, I didn't notice it moving up & down so much, if at all.

But, yes, it's got "spare tire" written all over it in my book.
 
dang said:
I think he's talking about a slightly bent wheel, which isn't a concern for safety, just vibration and tire wear. We take off hundreds of wheels each month and its amazing how many cars on the road have bent ones. I bought a car the other day that had a 1 1/2" chunk missing on the lip of the wheel and it was still holding air (the sealing bead is actually quite far into the wheel).

Dan
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Yeah, I spend a fair bit more than most people on wheels and tires. If I think a wheel is bent, I'll fix it or replace it. I get rid of tires way before they get toward the end of their useful lives. I watch not only treadwear, but tire age too. I've also replaced tires when my wife bounced off the curb too hard, simply because of concern about sidewall damage.

I'm even crazy enough to check that my tires are properly inflated from time to time.
 
wheels

I doubt that you will have trouble finding a single out there, but if so, I have several. None are concours; but several probably only need a clean-up, a scruff, and some paint, if that...
 
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