Pothole damage

[archieb]

With less than 400 miles on my i3 I hit a pothole on Saturday 3/7. Right front tire has a leak in the sidewall and can not be repaired. Rim has a small dent on the inside but should remain serviceable. I had just checked the tires two days before and had adjusted the psi to slightly above the recommended 33 psi.

After contacting our BMW dealer about a replacement tire, none stocked, he mentioned that they had another i3 towed in over the weekend with tire damage from a pothole. Getting a replacement would take 4 days. It is sounding like the i3 maybe more susceptible to damage from potholes than most cars.

The Tirerack stocks the i3 tires and will have a replacement here in 1 to 2 days. More important is that they provide free two year road hazard coverage with each purchase. Road hazard protection appears to be a must have for this car.

 

[justanotherdrunk]

yea in 40 years of driving ... never had pothole tire damage


let us know what the tire costs

and good luck



:ugeek:

 

[i3an]

Do you have 19" or 20" wheels? The 20s have a very short sidewalls, and a skinny footprint, so look quite susceptible to potholes. Here in San Francisco we often have to park on steep streets, and are required to curb the front wheel, and I have that it is quite easy when I let my i3 roll to the curb for the 20" tire to be indented up to the rim, not good.
Try upping the pressure a bit more. Or move to a place that invests in infrastructure maintenance.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Potholes, for the most part, are the result of freeze/thaw cycles, and those in most of sunny CA probably never encounter them! Well, poor patches from roadwork there may produce some. The pothole season has just kicked into high gear where I live...days above freezing, nights below. It can happen all winter, but February was particularly cold, so we had a reprieve. While BMW does not like to deal with tire warranty details, call the Bridgestone dealer in town...you may be covered. The tire warranty is with the tire manufacturer, not BMW.

 

[sc68z28]

....call the Bridgestone dealer in town...you may be covered. The tire warranty is with the tire manufacturer, not BMW.

Bridgestone/Firestone does NOT cover road hazards on OE tires.

---Bill.

 

[Spanglo]

I know some cities will reimburse you for pothole damage. Worth checking out.

 

[archieb]

The tire was a standard 155/70-19. Replacement cost was $135 plus $14 shipping. Included at no cost was 2 years of road hazard protection.

I did check with the city and pothole damage would not be covered. The day after the incident there were small construction barricades blocking the pothole(s) area. Monday morning the entire right lane was closed for about 100 yards and remains closed yet tonight.

Potholes are a fact of life spring time in Wisconsin. Hard to see at night and this was something that just happened. I will be pleased if this was a once in a lifetime event.

 

[alohart]

I have increased the inflation pressure of my tires by 10 psi in hopes of protecting them and their wheels from pothole damage. This means that the rear tires are inflated to 51 psi, their maximum pressure as stated on their sidewalls. A potential benefit is lower rolling resistance and thus slightly greater range. Disadvantages are a slightly rougher ride and likely slightly less traction, so I'm not suggesting this for everyone. But so far, so good.

 

[I33t]

Keep an eye on tire wear, Art.

Measure on the edges and centre of the tread. Usually, high inflation wears the centre of the tread faster. Wouldn't want to hear about you skidding off into the bushes because you ran out of tread in the centre!

 

[alohart]

Keep an eye on tire wear, Art.

Measure on the edges and centre of the tread. Usually, high inflation wears the centre of the tread faster.

For 13 years, I have inflated the Bridgestone LRR tires on the front of my 2000 Honda Insight hybrid to their maximum sidewall pressure with the rears 3 psi less which is ~10 psi above Honda's recommendations. Many Insight owners have inflated them to much higher pressures in search of lower rolling resistance and better fuel efficiency. Yet the tires always wear out on the edges rather than the centers. Speculation is that this is due to the front suspension geometry on this front wheel drive car, but higher inflation pressures don't seem to have counteracted this wear pattern, unfortunately.

It appears that the relationship between inflation pressure and wear patterns in radial tires is much less than with old bias ply tires. But I will, indeed, check my tire wear closely as I always do.