Had my dedicated snow tires removed today from the MINI 16" "v-spokes".
It was done at the local Firestone shop who has the appropriate mounting equipment. I did enquire before hand to ensure they had the right equipment and experience.
While adding air to one of the 16" Dunlop runflats the bead seated itself on the rim of the wheel and air was filling the tire. The wheel then burst in the middle! It's obvious that the air inside found a weak point and just blew a gash in the wheel/rim.
It's not on the lip, it's dead center in the wheel and about 3" long running clockwise as opposed to across.
Dealer says he'll look at it and "see what he can do" regarding warranty.
Firestone shop says there's no way they are responsible because it's an "obvious defect". I wonder though, if it's an "obvious defect" why did it blow when they were working on it and not any other time? I figure they were blasting air in and when it finally seated they pumped it up to 80-90 pounds and ruptured it.
Fortunately I have my 17" s-lites w/ Pirelli's and put them on so I'm not that inconvenienced.
Any thoughts on the rupture cause, warranty, how to determine if it was the shop's error or a defective wheel?

*Checked out the machine they mount the runflats on. Max air pressure on it is 60 psi and it was set at 45 psi.

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Red/black S, sport combo, cold weather combo, premium combo, panther black leather, cd changer, floor and boot mats, map light, full Aero kit w/painted wheel arches,BMP filter,BMP red strut brace. I LOVE MY MINI!!

 

Wow! Absolutely sounds like a defect in the wheel casting. If the tire shop did anything to damage the wheel and cause this, it would have had to been significantly violent, and you'd undoubtedly see some kind of evidence at the failure point. The dealer should definitely warranty the wheel.

As an engineer, I'd love to see some pictures of the wheel; sounds very interesting. Can you post one/some?

Best of luck to you,

James

 

Took the tire off and lo! and behold!, there was a nice big gouge and a smaller one staring us in the face. When I had the snow tires installed last Nov. the installer apparently goofed and stressed the inside of the wheel. It was not at all noticeable on the exterior. When pressure was added it blew the rim out exactly at the spot where they gouged it on the inside. I took it to the firm who installed the snow tires, they immediately recognized that they goofed and are paying for a new OEM wheel with no questions asked and many apologies.