NHTSA Complaint #10456687 — 2011 BMW 550I

MY 2011 BMW 550I X GRAN TURISMO WAS PURCHASED IN 3/11. IN 10/11 I HAD THE TIRES CHECKED AND TOPPED OFF WITH NITROGEN. THE CAR HAD ABOUT 10,500 MILES. ON SATURDAY, 3/17/12 THE IPM SYSTEM SAID THE TIRES HAD LOW PRESSURE. ALL TIRES. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP, DROP IT OFF AND, WITH A LOAN CAR, DID SOME RUNNING. I RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE DEALERSHIP THAT MY RIGHT REAR TIRE WAS DOWN TO THE CORDS ON THE UPPER INSIDE SIDEWALL. IN ADDITION, THE LEFT REAR WAS ALMOST DOWN TO THE CORDS ON THE SAME PLACE ON THE TIRE. THE FRONT LEFT AND RIGHT WERE NOT AS BAD BUT SHOWED WEAR AT THE SAME SPOTS ON THE TIRES AS THE REAR TIRES. THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME TO REPLACE ALL TIRES. AT THAT TIME, I CHOSE TO JUST REPLACE THE REAR. THE DEALERSHIP ALSO TOLD ME THAT IT WAS PROBABLY CAUSED BY A THE CAR BEING BADLY OUT OF ALIGNMENT. THEREFORE, I HAD MY 2011 BMW 550I X GT GIVEN AN ALIGNMENT. WHEN I LOOKED CLOSELY AT THE TIRE THAT WAS SHOWING THE CORDS I COULD SEE THAT THE TREAD WAS SEPARATING FROM THE BODY OF THE TIRE. IF THAT TIRE OR ANY OF THE OTHERS WOULD HAVE HAD THE CORD SEPARATE IT COULD HAVE CAUSED A VERY BAD ACCIDENT. THE ALIGNMENT WAS OK, ONLY THE FRONT RIGHT TIRE OUT BY 0.01 DEGREE. I CALLED GOODYEAR AND I TOLD THEM WHAT HAD HAPPEN. WHEN I TOLD THEM THE TREAD WAS TRYING TO SEPARATE THE AGENT PUT ME ON HOLD, CAME BACK, TOLD ME TO TAKE THE CAR TO A LOCAL TIRE COMPANY AND LET THEIR REPRESENTATIVE LOOK AT THE TIRES. THE TIRES WERE LOOKED AT, THE REP CALL GOODYEAR, CAME BACK AND TOLD ME GOODYEAR WOULD BE REPLACING THE FRONT TIRES. GOODYEAR WOULD ALSO SEND ME A REBATE FOR THE BACK TIRES, NOTHING ELSE. I WONDER IF THIS IS PART OF THE SAME PROBLEM THAT PEOPLE ARE HAVING WITH BMW 5 SERIES AND GOODYEAR RUNFLATS. LASTLY, I STILL HAVE THE TIRE WITH THE CORDS SHOWING AND THE TREAD SEPARATING. THE DEALERSHIP GAVE THEM BACK TO ME SINCE I PAID FULL PRICE FOR THE TIRES AT THE TIME OF REPLACEMENT. *TR