Just after I purchased my 07 earlier this summer, the left front rim developed a crack on the inside lip. The crack started at the lip and extended about 1 inch into the inside of the wheel. I thought this was odd since the wheel looked otherwise undamaged and the car only had 19K on it. The dealer where I purchased the car from (non Audi) had it fixed at a local shop free of charge. I later mentioned this to the service manager at the local Audi dealer and he just shrugged his shoulders and gave me the "it happens" response.

This morning I was pulling out of my driveway and got a TPMS warning. I pulled back in, found my right front to be 5 lbs low, and added air. Then I started checking the tire for possible FOD and discovered another crack. Now that makes two rims that have cracked in the same manner. This rim also showed no signs of trauma except for some slight curb rash that appeared to be old.

I took it to the dealer and had the WTF discussion with the service manager. This time he showed considerable more concern and promised to get back to me today.

Is this a common problem with these rims?

Stand by for updates.

Chip

 

No, it's not common. Although we have no idea what rims you have. Regardless, the dealer should replace them(if they are OEM wheels). I would ride their *** like a carnival donkey till they agree to replace ALL 4. if you don't get the problem resolved at NO CHARGE, pm me. I have the VP of customer relations email address. I'm certain she would find this info disturbing and replace your wheels for you to avoid any legal issues. They tried to deny my warranty for my passengers side axle because there was "too much done to my car". DONT TAKE ANY **** FROM THE DEALERSHIP! if you handle it right, and you have a little patience, you can get it done.

 

Apologies - these are the 19" rims that are OE on the 07 RS4.

I talked with the dealer again yesterday - they want to inspect the rims to ensure the cracks were not the result of other damage to the rims before they call Audi.

I have not personally inspected the rear rims, but I expect them to replace all four.

I will say that my past experience with this dealer has been very good (I have owned a number of Porsches, Audis and VW's over the years so I know all of their parts and service guys by name). We'll see how this goes.

On a side note, I'm not fond of not having a spare wheel/tire available for emergencies. I'd like to keep a spare in my garage. Any advice on who makes a quality after-market repo?

Thanks

 

I wouldn't use a repro as a spare. You never know if the weight of a repro will be the same as your oe wheels. Too much of a gamble for me. Good luck with the dealership. Keep us posted.

 

No joy on the cracked rim problem. The dealer deferred the issue to Audi (of course). The response I got back was that Audi will not replaced cracked rims. Period. They didn't even want to look at it.

Meanwhile, I took the rim to a local wheel repair shop. They discoved a second crack on the rim - and they don't repair wheels with more than one crack. Lovely.

Next step - Audi customer service

 

Well I fired off an email to Audi Customer Service this past Friday (15 Oct) - thanks warranty225 - and so far no response.

This weekend I decided to pull the rear wheels for a good cleaning - and found another crack - on a rear wheel this time. Again, no visible damage to this wheel either.

That's three out of four wheels that have developed cracks. Any bets on four out of four? This is getting tiresome (no pun intended).

 

No offense but until we can see pictures of the wheels we can not give any opinion that could make any sense.
personally the only thing I see on crack here is the person who fix a cracked wheel on an RS4
you don't even fix flat tires on these cars period, you want a blowout at 130+ mph?
never seen an audi wheel cracked without showing any kind of abuse, non audi dealer? 1st mistake in the picture, repair free of charge? how generous. did you verbally abused them as you did the audi service guy who has no idea what is going on? after all they sell you the car
I totally agree with audi on this,
you can e-mail all you want and wish you luck but I think will take months if anything gets done.
I always inspect cars before buying, any decent shop would have caught this easily, 200.00 well worth for an inspection.

 

S4Master1,

I appreciate your response, but you made some incorrect assumptions. First, the car was inspected prior to purchase by an independent Audi certified tech. I too have this done every time I buy a car. We both went over (and under) the car. There was some slight curb rash on the inside of one of the wheels, but the others were fine. Plus there were no unusual vibrations felt during the test drive, so there was no need to look further.

The dealer where I purchased the car didn’t have to fix the rim – but they did. By that time I had already decided to replace it, so it was all good. I agree, never trust a repaired rim. After I found the second crack, I replaced all four immediately.

As for the Audi dealer, I was a little bugged when they passed a verdict before they even looked at the rims, but I realized my argument was with the Audi rep – after all, the car was still under warranty. So no poor service guys were harmed during this process. Besides, you may verbally abuse people, but I find that method to be rather ineffective.

To make a long story short, I finally made contact with Audi Customer Service and although they determined (after finally inspecting the wheels) that the cracks were not caused by manufacturing defects, they did compensate me for my troubles. I decided it would be pointless to continue this crusade and moved on. At least I now have full set of spares (albeit refurbished). I’ll just have to remember that if I use them to keep it under 130…