I think there are a few hundred Plus models in Malaysia (UK-spec), with most of them running Plus wheels, and I've never heard of this happening here. But of course the majority of owners are not active members of the community.

Glad nobody was hurt, the main thing for now!!!

As for Speedline wheels (Italy), they are a fairly well respected name in the wheel world and started off making rally wheels. They moved into the OEM business and appear to supply may European manufacturers and some far eastern manufacturers' option wheels which are fitted by dealers locally. They claim production capacity of some 2.5m wheels a year.

The are owned by Ronal of Germany now. However, I doubt that they would be of any real help. I asked a simple question once about the Speedline wheels I bought for my wife's Impreza and they never replied

Is there exposed porosity on the back face of the wheel spokes - there looks to be something but it could be specs of dirt? I'm wondering if a "gassy melt" may have resulted in multiple fatigue cracks initiated at gas pores exposed on the surface.

Would be interesting to know when the other wheels that have failed were made - i.e. is it one batch.

Update from Fiat UK

My contact has made some enquiries and found the person she needs to speak to. Unfortunately, he's in Italy at the moment, but they will speak when he returns

I'll keep you all posted

In the meantime Hubby - please keep your wheel - I'll let you know how/when Fiat want to see it

PS - can I suggest that you take the other front wheel off and have a close look at the spokes, especially on the inside face

Not good, glad the final result wasn't too disasterous!

yeh dont worry the other wheels will be checked very carefully

thanks nigel keep us all upto date

They have not yet come across this problem in France.

Probably because they don't have shite roads out there

Could well be so.

again? jesus! we have all been lucky for this not to happen at speed and cause an accident!

last night i checked my mate's wheels over.

his car has lived a nice life, 150k and going storng.
His wheels have been powder coated around a year ago and all seems well.

spekaing to are powdercoaters he does not think that powder coating could be the casue.

he thinks its definatly some thing to do to the heat from the brakes transfering to the wheel and then hitting a bump or some along them lines.

All you need is a hair line fracture and then the weather and the roads will do the rest for you.

all i know is im going to be checking the shizzle out of my wheels.

afterall.. not exactly a lucky person when it comes to coupes

LOL well obviously they will say that regardless!

why would they?
they havent done my wheels or any one that im aware of from the forum.
he has no reason to lie to me.
he's a man who will tell you straight.
not sugar coat a blag.

knobber!

You said he was "are/our" powdercoater"
Anyway regardless of if he does work for you or not why would someone who powdercoats wheels for a living openly turn around and tell you that it could be the reason for wheels failing? Its not going to do the market any good.

Anyway I don't believe its to do with powerder coating or heat from the brakes. I simply think its down to the shocking state of the UK roads combined with stiff suspension that many of us have on these cars.

He has spoken...

LMAO

so why havent others had failures?
surley that would be a big thing..

how many lowered cars are out there with stiff suspension?

if it was that then im sure there would be people with wheels breaking off.

Well how many people have had their wheels powdercoated
Its down to bad luck
a combination of events which cause it to happen.
Depends on what holes you have hit, how hard, how many times, all different things. To narrow it down and say
all powdercoated wheels will fail, or all lowered cars will fail is ridiculous. Its a combination of different events which have led to these failures over time.

bet your holes have been battered.
MANY times.
VERY hard.
Proccy told me so.

Don't get me started on our roads. Marco knows!

You're bang on Mario, these wheels have had a hard life over the last 15+ years/xxx thousand miles. Unless you've had the car from new you've got no idea what they've been through.

My Alfa is on standard suspension and OE Alfa wheels and I destroyed a wheel hitting a pothole crater the other night.

But the wheels fail in exactly the same place, sorry but that's not coincidence or just unlucky.

Yes totally agree, the area these keep failing on is exactly the same on each spoke on every "wheel fell off" post we've seen these past few years, but the question is do pot holes start the issue.

Partial fracture could be to blame. Maybe from the poor UK roads etc.
I think it may not be just one thing that is giving the wheel failure.

Age plus compound fatigue could be the cause.

I have about 20 odd 20vt wheels knocking about at different milage. I will try and check them out.

If you keep battering the crap out of a wheel it will fail at its weakest point. So of course they will all fail there. It's the weakest part of the wheel. Once one spoke cracks the rest will take eneven strain thus causing them all to eventually fail.

There's coupes in countries with roads and climates much worse than the UK so lets see what the feedback from other countries is like.
I don't believe this is a case having lowered suspension or pot holes or as you say "battering the crap out of a wheel" (I don't know anyone who would do that?)

Jesus christ, that's some scary stuff. Glad your ok dude. I have a set of plus wheels in the garage that I'll be checking inside & out first thing in the morning!

I've got a spare 20vt Rim that I'm going to give a serious beating.
Also put in the parts washer and keep it at a consistent heat cycle, then drop it from the second story racking.

Keep repeating the process till it brakes.

Any ideas chuck them my way so I an do a mock (kida) test on it!

Very scientific approach Marco

I have seen a few of these coupes barrel rolled into hedges and various obstacles without the failure of the wheels.

Not uncommon to see wheels sheared off in the same place following hitting kerbs.
Large pressure to a small surface area will result in such a failure.

So I don't think a mass panic is needed but its worrying and all of my customers are mentioning this thread.

All these wheels have seen various kerb damage,oxidation and refurbishments.
How long does a manufacturer guarantee an alloy wheel for?
Or does it recommend replacement at a set interval or distance?

Might be worth following this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/bmw_latest.shtml



The following quotation may be key:-


BMW's Corporate Communications Manager Wieland Bruch said: "The root cause why these wheels crack to a higher degree in the UK whereas they are not conspicuous in other countries, is still under investigation.