Tire Bulge from Pothole, SA says "Its fine, No problem"

I hit a big pothole over the weekend which created a bulge on the sidewall of my right rear tire. I have the tire/wheel warranty and had a similar problem replaced last year on a front tire.

I took the tire in today to the dealer and my SA said, "That is normal, they won't replace that under warranty unless air is escaping. I have a bunch of those on my tires, nothing to worry about."

Is he serious?! I am going to take it to another dealership to get it replaced I guess. I hit a road hazard which damaged my tire, making it unsafe to drive on. That is the whole reason to get the warranty. Why on earth would that not be covered?

Makes me think the SA is a complete moron.

Take a pic of the bulge and send a note to the General Manager or owner of the dealership. All it would take is one accident & lawsuit after that sort of "professional" advice and that dealership could be out of business.

Originally Posted by d geek

Take a pic of the bulge and send a note to the General Manager or owner of the dealership. All it would take is one accident & lawsuit after that sort of "professional" advice and that dealership could be out of business.

Why take a picture? The OP was in the dealership, he should have escalated it right then and there, first asking for the Service Manager and then the General Manager if necessary. A picture may be worth 1K words, but seeing it in person is worth 1K pictures.

P.S. To the OP: where in "California" are you? What dealer?

Originally Posted by SD Z4MR

Why take a picture? The OP was in the dealership, he should have escalated it right then and there, first asking for the Service Manager and then the General Manager if necessary. A picture may be worth 1K words, but seeing it in person is worth 1K pictures.

P.S. To the OP: where in "California" are you? What dealer?

+1. Enquiring minds want to know so they can avoid that dealer. If it is NorCal, I can pretty much guess which one. SoCal is another matter.

Originally Posted by anE934fun

+1. Enquiring minds want to know so they can avoid that dealer. If it is NorCal, I can pretty much guess which one. SoCal is another matter.

I have no problem telling you I went to Santa Monica BMW to have the tire replaced yesterday when the SA told me it was fine and that there was no problem. Claimed he has a bunch of these on his tires and unless the tire is losing air the warranty would not replace it.

Today I am taking it to Long Beach BMW where I bought the car to have it replaced. Will update you all with the outcome after today's visit.

Originally Posted by gjimmy

I have no problem telling you I went to Santa Monica BMW to have the tire replaced yesterday when the SA told me it was fine and that there was no problem. Claimed he has a bunch of these on his tires and unless the tire is losing air the warranty would not replace it.

Today I am taking it to Long Beach BMW where I bought the car to have it replaced. Will update you all with the outcome after today's visit.

To your SA, Mr. Bozo, we say:

Originally Posted by gjimmy

I hit a big pothole over the weekend which created a bulge on the sidewall of my right rear tire. I have the tire/wheel warranty and had a similar problem replaced last year on a front tire.

I took the tire in today to the dealer and my SA said, "That is normal, they won't replace that under warranty unless air is escaping. I have a bunch of those on my tires, nothing to worry about."

Is he serious?! I am going to take it to another dealership to get it replaced I guess. I hit a road hazard which damaged my tire, making it unsafe to drive on. That is the whole reason to get the warranty. Why on earth would that not be covered?

Makes me think the SA is a complete moron.

Unbelievable.

Originally Posted by gjimmy

I hit a big pothole over the weekend which created a bulge on the sidewall of my right rear tire. I have the tire/wheel warranty and had a similar problem replaced last year on a front tire.

I took the tire in today to the dealer and my SA said, "That is normal, they won't replace that under warranty unless air is escaping. I have a bunch of those on my tires, nothing to worry about."

Is he serious?! I am going to take it to another dealership to get it replaced I guess. I hit a road hazard which damaged my tire, making it unsafe to drive on. That is the whole reason to get the warranty. Why on earth would that not be covered?

Makes me think the SA is a complete moron.

I had a bubble that was pretty hard to notice, and the dealer replaced the tire under the tire and wheel insurance program no questions ask. Did you get the car and the tire and wheel insurance from the same dealer?

No this is a different dealer. This particular dealer is closer to where I work so I usually go here, but I prefer my other dealer.

When I had my other tire replaced on the road trip the SA did say that the warranty company is cracking down so they needed pics and they had to sign off on it before any work could be done. But this was a blatant result of hitting the pothole and it is compromising the safety of the tire! I can't believe he just passed it off like that.

Originally Posted by gjimmy

When I had my other tire replaced on the road trip the SA did say that the warranty company is cracking down so they needed pics and they had to sign off on it before any work could be done.

Sounds like an HMO for your tires.

Pictures are always a good idea, espically with the metadata displayed, establishes the damage and timeline.

Originally Posted by lqaddict

I had a bubble that was pretty hard to notice, and the dealer replaced the tire under the tire and wheel insurance program no questions ask. Did you get the car and the tire and wheel insurance from the same dealer?

Same here. Bulge in sidewall, no leaking, replaced no questions asked under tire warranty purchased from dealer. Sidewall bulges are a *serious* compromise to tire integrity--especially runflats.

I agree it would have been best to escalate it right then and there, but since that didn't happen getting the attention of Sr management at the dealership (and having documentation) should get a response that might include a goodwill gesture too. Its worked for me before.

in ny i dont believe you can pass state inspection with a tire bubble.

I hit a pothole and bent a rim and bubbled a tire in the 335 a few years ago. At the time I had tire insurance through Auto Club. They paid for the replacement of the tire and the rim. A year or so later I had a cut in the sidewall of a tire and they paid for that too. When the policy ran out they would not renew it saying that they would no longer insure BMW products. Can't say as I blamed them.

Last year the 335i failed NYS inspection because three if the tires had cuts in the sidewalls. I was planning on replacing them anyway so I wasn't that upset. BMW would only sell me RFTs and would not accept delivery from Tire Rack if I purchased them myself. I purchased 4 new rims (three were bent) and a set of Conti DWS tires and had them installed at Autobahn Service on Park Avenue and had the old rims resurfaced. At some point in the process the rear quarter panel got dented. While the car was in for service last week at BMW Manhattan I had the dent removed using paintless dent removal. They did a perfect job and the dent is gone and I am out $500.

CA

Originally Posted by jago

in ny i dont believe you can pass state inspection with a tire bubble.

In California one can pass without any tires at all. Bare rims. That's DMV - Highway Patrol has a diff opinion.

Originally Posted by gjimmy

My SA is a complete moron.

ftfy.

This is probably one of the dumbest things I have ever read here. Your SA says he has a bunch of bubbles on his tires?

Originally Posted by Db750

This is probably one of the dumbest things I have ever read here. Your SA says he has a bunch of bubbles on his tires?

I went to my local dealer when I had the bubble in my tire - I didn't get the car/insurance combo from my local dealer. I was told to they will replace the tire on my own coin and then I will have to take it with the insurance, etc. So I just turned around, went 80 miles up to the dealer I got the car from and it was replaced with no questions asked.

Ask the SA to put it in writing.

Originally Posted by gjimmy

I hit a big pothole over the weekend which created a bulge on the sidewall of my right rear tire. I have the tire/wheel warranty and had a similar problem replaced last year on a front tire.

I took the tire in today to the dealer and my SA said, "That is normal, they won't replace that under warranty unless air is escaping. I have a bunch of those on my tires, nothing to worry about."

Is he serious?! I am going to take it to another dealership to get it replaced I guess. I hit a road hazard which damaged my tire, making it unsafe to drive on. That is the whole reason to get the warranty. Why on earth would that not be covered?

Makes me think the SA is a complete moron.

You're in the gold there.

Have you noticed? SA's are not mechanics, and if they know anything at all it's enough to be dangerous.

Glorified clerks, they're there to shuffle paper and sooth customers, leaving mechanics to do their thing. See, that's the appeal of a small, informed shop. No SA's.

BTW, you're paying for that SA. Does that gall yer stones?

Originally Posted by CALWATERBOY

You're in the gold there.

Have you noticed? SA's are not mechanics, and if they know anything at all it's enough to be dangerous.

Glorified clerks, they're there to shuffle paper and sooth customers, leaving mechanics to do their thing. See, that's the appeal of a small, informed shop. No SA's.

BTW, you're paying for that SA. Does that gall yer stones?

You may be interested to know that in most dealerships, the SA is a salesman in their most important profit center. They work on commission, so their incentive is to talk the sucker (oops, customer) into as much (unnecessary) work as they possibly can.

Originally Posted by JKRIT

You may be interested to know that in most dealerships, the SA is a salesman in their most important profit center. They work on commission, so their incentive is to talk the sucker (oops, customer) into as much (unnecessary) work as they possibly can.

Y'know, you're right. But the best salesmen have no need to lie or fudge or say more than they really know. The right sales guy does very well, and has a real interest in doing what's right for his customer, not having to worry about money.

Hard to find. A gem when ya do - don't mind paying a premium for that.

Update:
Took the car to Long Beach BMW and they replaced the tire under warranty no questions asked. Still shocked the original SA passed it off as no problem. That dealership has lost my business for good.

Originally Posted by gjimmy

Update:
Took the car to Long Beach BMW and they replaced the tire under warranty no questions asked. Still shocked the original SA passed it off as no problem. That dealership has lost my business for good.

I feel it would still be a wise idea to inform management at Santa Monica BMW. They may be unaware there is a potential problem.

Originally Posted by gjimmy

Update:
Took the car to Long Beach BMW and they replaced the tire under warranty no questions asked. Still shocked the original SA passed it off as no problem. That dealership has lost my business for good.

What surprises me is the SA at Santa Monica passed on the opportunity to write some business. Whether the tire warranty or the customer pays for the new tire, they (the SA) is writing the business. LB got the business instead.

Is business that good at Santa Monica that they can send business elsewhere?