2007 BMW 550I Wheels Problems

“I have just suffered my seventh cracked wheel in 13k miles / 18 months! According to wheel wizard in atlanta, they see an inordinate number of Bmw 550I, m5s, 650i, m6, 750i cars. They subcontract for all the majors - porsche, jaguar, Bmw, ferrari etc. Wheel wizard believes that the bmws (particularly with run flats), chose an alloy for the wheel that is defectively soft or and prone to cracking given the weight, power and suspensions on these cars. I agree!! 7 times in 18 months. I work out of my house and do not drive my car hard. …”

“Have had this Bmw 550I for about 2 years, and in that time I've had 3 bent wheels and one cracked wheel. I have cars with similar, aluminum alloy rims and lower profile tires on them - and have not bent or cracked a wheel on the other cars. The rear wheel cracked, but it was along the inner edge - and was not noticed. The only reason it was checked was because the tire kept leaking air. Luckily it was caught before the wheel cracked even more (it cracked for about 1 long from the rim edge to just past the tire bead). Updated 12/02/10 updated 12/07/10”

“I own a 2007 Bmw 550I sport. I ran over a raised road marker while in atlanta and ruptured the side walls of both left side tires, while also bending the factory 18 rims. In my judgment the contact was not significant enough to cause the damage that occurred. Once I had the tires removed I noticed that the inside portion of each rear tire was worn down to the metal mesh embedded in the tire. The outer portion of the tires showed at least another 10k miles on them. This was/is very disconcerting and alarming to me. I see it as a design flaw, and a significant safety concern. …”

“I have a 2007 550I that I bought in 2009. I several problems with the wheels, all of them are some what bent, but the rear left wheel is cracked. There have been several issues with many Bmw owners regarding bent rims. I suspect there is an issue, as wheels don't just have hairlines, straight cracks on the inside wall without some sort of bend in the wheel. Even the tire guy, where I bought my tires, said it looks a little suspicious. This crack is about 1 inch long on the rim edge.”