Issue with Vossen wheels

[BMWBear]

I purchased a set of Vossen HF3 wheels for my X7 in February of this year from Vibe. Delivered at the end of March. Shortly after they arrived I noticed an issue with the finish around the centercap of one of the wheels. The wheel vendor who is a forum sponsor coordinated the shipping of the one wheel back to Vossen to recoat and ship back to me. This process took about a month. I now have a few hundred miles on the wheels and was removing them for winter when I noticed the finish around the centercap of all the wheels is flaking/peeling off. (See pics) This includes the wheel that had been refinished by Vossen.

I’m asking for Vossen to refund me the full purchase price for the wheels. I can’t trust that this issue won’t happen again after a recoat. I’ve sent a message to the vendor to see if this is something they’ll handle or if I have to deal directly with Vossen. I fear I’ll be told to kicks rocks because the wheels are 9 months old even though they only have a few hundred miles and had previous issues. To be fair I have yet to receive a response because of holidays.

Thoughts? ..should I expect anything less than a refund?

[RJ-EVO]

They have warranty.
IMHO this isn't acceptable.

i have had multiple set of Vossen wheels and I do like them.

[overcoil]

Are these the GRAPHITE FINISH ?

https://www.myg37.com/forums/wheels-...te-finish.html

[BMWBear]

Originally Posted by Caravaggio

Are these the GRAPHITE FINISH ?

https://www.myg37.com/forums/wheels-...te-finish.html

Satin black.

[grannyknot]

You should get a refund but Vossen will probably try to get out of it. I suspect they either weren't cleaned properly before the recoat or the center caps are vibrating causing the powder coat to crack.
If you want to keep the wheels take them to a professional powder coater and ask him to strip and recoat with special attention to decontaminating the area around the center cap with a strong solvent.
When you get them back, have the tires installed and balanced then apply a tin layer of flexible cement to the lip if the cap and snap them in. Don't remove the caps until it's time for new tires.

[TAZ007]

The flaking is a result of improper surface preparation. The recoat, if the surface was not prepared properly, would just flake off again. If you like the wheels, I suggest you mention the warranty to them and the second time and suggest they pay for a local shop to recoat them. This way it will not take a month. If they refuse, get your refund.

[Steeler]

Only way to have a chance of this not happening again is to remove all the existing coating and recoat, creating a whole new "envelope".

Vossen likely just spot repaired.
This is fine with a "wet coat" system as the product that still remains can reflow during the spot repair.
Powder coat does not reflow.

I would send back under warranty and demand they recoat completely.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by TAZ007

The flaking is a result of improper surface preparation.

I agree with this. There simply wasn't enough adhesion either in the form of scratches or the proper primer.

[Game]

Not acceptable.

[BMWBear]

Response from Vossen through the vendor.

“ Vossen is saying according to their warranty guidelines, they will refinish or replace the wheels if they are defective. However they never refund if they can resolve the issue with a refinish or replacement. Should I request them to send labels to start the return process?”

So I’ve wasted a lot of my time and money dealing with an issue that’s clearly been caused by Vossen and no refund or monetary offer in response. Just another attempt to resolve their issue while I again waste more time with packaging and shipping out wheels. I’m not happy with their response but it looks like my hands are tied. Only thing I can do is share my story to warn others and try to sell these wheels when refinished. More time wasted.

[crazyinp]

They are trying to do the right thing, covering their work. I doubt they will allow refund but you have 2 options, send them back for refinish and keep, make sure you document that and be very specific with them that they might have to re-do it again if they don't do that right again or refinish and sell and move on with some lost.

[MooMooM2]

Seems standard to me, they will either fix the problem on the current wheels or replace them, they are not going to refund the money (unless the wheels were few months old). I dunno. maybe some companies out there do that but seems pretty normal to me what they are offering you. Hopefully they cover shipping costs.

[TAZ007]

Originally Posted by BMWBear

Response from Vossen through the vendor.

“ Vossen is saying according to their warranty guidelines, they will refinish or replace the wheels if they are defective. However they never refund if they can resolve the issue with a refinish or replacement. Should I request them to send labels to start the return process?”

So I’ve wasted a lot of my time and money dealing with an issue that’s clearly been caused by Vossen and no refund or monetary offer in response. Just another attempt to resolve their issue while I again waste more time with packaging and shipping out wheels. I’m not happy with their response but it looks like my hands are tied. Only thing I can do is share my story to warn others and try to sell these wheels when refinished. More time wasted.

Standard answer. Did you mention to them concerning the improper surface preparation?

Anywho, keep sending it back to them until it's done right. It is costing them in the long run. On a side note, start documenting this and check your states lemon laws.

[BMWBear]

Originally Posted by TAZ007

Standard answer. Did you mention to them concerning the improper surface preparation?

Anywho, keep sending it back to them until it's done right. It is costing them in the long run. On a side note, start documenting this and check your states lemon laws.

I did not since the vendor is handling the situation. Sounds like they want to see them first so they can determine who is at fault. Which is fair. The part I don’t like is I feel like a guinea pig for their coating process.

Shipping costs are covered so I’m sure they don’t want this to go any further either.

[quakerroatmeal]

I would push for just having the entire wheel replaced instead of them trying to repair it.

[grannyknot]

Originally Posted by BMWBear

I did not since the vendor is handling the situation. Sounds like they want to see them first so they can determine who is at fault. Which is fair. The part I don’t like is I feel like a guinea pig for their coating process.

Millions of things are powder coated each year with no problem, whom ever is coating them just isn't prepping properly. That's why I suggested you bite the bullet and take them to Pro, that's if you like the design and want to keep them. There is obviously some contamination around the center holes that requires strong solvent and bead blasting to get down to fresh aluminum.

[BMWBear]

Originally Posted by grannyknot

Millions of things are powder coated each year with no problem, whom ever is coating them just isn't prepping properly. That's why I suggested you bite the bullet and take them to Pro, that's if you like the design and want to keep them. There is obviously some contamination around the center holes that requires strong solvent and bead blasting to get down to fresh aluminum.

If they pay for it that’s an option but doubt that’ll happen. No reason why I should pay for that out of pocket.

[M8Bimmer]

I wonder if there is an issue with the metal itself. Not sure if that's possible or not.
I'd be looking for a refund after they tried to repair but didn't. To me they stuck you with second hand wheels. After all if it was correct in the first place they'd probably be fine still. Endless fixing until it's correct. Not for my liking.
I'd hesitate to buy their wheels now with this story.
It's not your fault for doing business with them is it? This is all their problem and an offer of another set of free wheels would go along way imo. After all they resell those ones after refurb to some dealer they have.
You gave then 2 chances now. The original purchase and now the first repair. Bail out.....lol.
If they won't do that....well it will cost them in the long run.

[BMWBear]

Wheels were stripped and recoated. I asked for $200 for my troubles and Vossen agreed. Wheels are going up for sale as soon as I get them since I don’t have the X7 anymore. Overall it’s been handled well but I’m still not happy about having the same issue twice.

[TAZ007]

Originally Posted by BMWBear

Wheels were stripped and recoated. I asked for $200 for my troubles and Vossen agreed. Wheels are going up for sale as soon as I get them since I don’t have the X7 anymore. Overall it’s been handled well but I’m still not happy about having the same issue twice.

Congrats on the resolution.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by BMWBear

Wheels were stripped and recoated. I asked for $200 for my troubles and Vossen agreed. Wheels are going up for sale as soon as I get them since I don’t have the X7 anymore. Overall it’s been handled well but I’m still not happy about having the same issue twice.

At least they gave you something in compensation, which is very important IMO. Merely fixing the wheels doesn't get you back to zero.

With a new factory finish, I'm sure you'll have no problem selling them for a good price.

My only question would be if the new finish is warrantied the same as a new wheel so that the buyer is protected.

[SlowX6M]

Like others said, this is the result of an improper prep. I don't know if they can even refinish these properly, stripping the old powder coat is likely to require sandblasting, which can cause other issues.

I wonder what BMW would do if it happened to factory wheels?