Costco won't let me buy tires for my style 32s! Help!

[DanDombrowski]

I recently picked up a set of style 32 wheels for my 93 525i. The wheels were taken from a 2001 540.

Costco has a nice deal on some BF Goodrich G-force sport and G-force T/A KDW tires (60 off 4 + the usual free road hazard), but they won't let me specify the size in the store. They said if they're not the original tire size, they won't do it. I explained (and embellished alittle) that the wheels were a standard upgrade for the 525i sport, and he said that would probably be okay, but he wanted to see the tire size on the door frame (damn, no luck there). So when I said that it wasn't on the door frame, he asked if the wheels were at least on the car, which they're not. Thats when he gave up and said no.

So, there's another Costco on the other side of town. I'm thinking that I can either:

1- tell them its a 2001 540, or
2- just bring in the wheels and say they're off of a 540.

Has anyone else ever had this problem and/or gotten any luck getting the tires put on? Anyone had Costco put tires on wheels without the car bieng there? My biggest concern is that if my car is in the computer as a 01 540, someone down the road might notice if I get a flat repaired and deny the warranty. Thanks a bunch, Im a bit frustrated right now.

[nizmainiac]

just take in the loose wheels and tell them they're from a 540 thats what i would do, the chances are they wouldn't notice if you got them repaired under warranty because they probably see so many people in a day that they wouldn't remember you

[repenttokyo]

just go buy the tires there and get them installed somewhere else?

[DanDombrowski]

Well, the tires are the same price as everywhere else, the huge savings you get at Costco is the free mounting, balancing, and road hazard. If I brought them in to get them installed somewhere else, it would be like $30 a tire and I wouldn't get the warranty (I originally planned on getting them from tire-rack, it would be the same type of thing).

[DanDombrowski]

I think this is what I'm leaning towards, unless I can get BJs or Sams to do it, I have memberships there too.

[repenttokyo]

fair enough - good luck man.

[Tiger]

Tell them to use the computer... computer will tell them right upgrade tire size. It is all BS.

You think you are getting a deal at Costco... you are not. You are better off buying tires from Tirerack.com or Tires.com and buy the road hazard insurance.

I am assuming you want "all season tire" I been looking at Tirerack.com on Ultra High Performance tires... 3 seasons only... I can't believe they highly rated the General Exclaim UHP... which they also said is kinda "all season" it has a light winter snow capability... and for tire size like 235-45R17 is only $77!!!! Read all the survey.

General is owned by Continental which also owns Uniroyal, Semperit, Barum, General Tire, Euzkadi, Viking, Gislaved and Mabor brands. So General is not a no name brand... just not as widely regarded.

[BimmerMeUp]

According to the tire department manager of my local Costco, you can bring in just the rims and they'll mount an balance them for you. When they mount up the tires they'll record the serial numbers and such and use those for the warranty.

I haven't tried it yet because I'm still mulling over getting some Style 5's or going with Rondell's.

[DanDombrowski]

Well that would be beautiful if they would do that. I called another Costco on the other side of town, and the guy said that it was up to the manager to approve it. I guess I'll just go in and talk to him and hopefully work something out.

[Ross]

Heard of this before. Find a tire dealer or buy from someone like Tire Rack and have them recommend an installer.
Costco has little knowledge and even less interest in serving you. The reason it's a problem for them is potential liability for improper fitment. They are mass merchants first, tire people way,way down and even less enthusiast car people. Forget about them and find a real tire store. TR beats their prices all day as well.

[Tiger]

The two costco tire departments I know strictly said their tires or no service. I even asked about new tires for our BMW in 17" and they fumbled on manual on what size can be put on... and still give me hard time.

I used to bring my own tires and rims to them and they mount and balance... no more... which is why I bought my own tire machine and parked it in my uncle's shop. I use his balancer. Now I am even tempted to buy my own balancer... his keep going out of balance and is manual calibration... takes a bit of time... but I just don't like the idea that I have to calibrate that machine every time I go there.

[Paul in NZ]

Just tell them it is an 01 525?

[Anton CH.]

I had the same problem as you did at my local Costco. I think I said I had a 98' 540i Sport. That was so the computer would show the proper tire size I needed. They installed without hesitation that way. When I had a flat the only problem I encountered is that I lost the receipt and forgot that I put it under a 98' 540i. As soon as we found the proper car, they fixed the flat. So moral of the story -- tell them what they want to hear and keep your reciept.

[markus]

**** em. its obvious they dont want your business. just go to some other shop and they will do it. here they have no problem mounting and balacing tires. and whenever i look for tires i always go tirerack. every local place says they have the lowest price blah blah blah. its usually cheaper to go through tirerack.

[DanDombrowski]

98 540 sport, huh? I think I'll try that. I'd like to try the oldest year I can and still get the same size - yours were 235/45/17 front and 255/40/17 rear, right?

I'm going to go into one of them today and ask the manager to do it, and if that doesn't work, I'll go into the other one and say its an 01. Pray for mojo!

[Ross]

Second the sentiment. Great place to buy 50 lb. boxes of fish sticks or MAYBE tires for grandma's Buick.
How many threads are here regarding ****-ups by the mass merchants?
If you are an enthusiast with enthusiasts expectations why trade with a store like Costco? Price is not a valid answer either, a liitle legwork can always get you a comparable or better price.

[markus]

for some reason i like going to the local firestone for small crap like that. i had my car aligned there 2 times already and no problems. theyre a little pricey but atleast they do a good job. I think they charge $10 for each wheel and tire they mount and balance.

[Dash01]

I suspect that Costco's legal department has a hand in this. I bought light truck tires for my lightly used conversion van there, with a lifetime rotation and balance warranty.

Now, as it turns out, "lifetime warranty" means until the manager decides he no longer wishes to honor it, regardless of pretty deep tread and low mileage. My right front tire is scraped up on its sidewall, due to wife and kids using it to curbside parallel park via Braille method. (They feel for the curb with the RF tire sidewall.) So, saying the scuffed tire is evidence of "aging," the Costco manager refuses to rotate or balance the other 3 tires, nor allow me to buy at my expense a new tire to replace the RF scuffed tire. He now refuses to touch my van, unless I agree to buy all new tires. Other Costco tire specialists have agreed to do the work, but were overrulled by this guy, whose "professional" background is in meat processing.

Costco may be in for more legal problems than they'd planned, if they continue to refuse to honor the written lifetime warranty that they sold me.

I recommend the Tire Rack purchase, then shop for a local installer from the TR list. Other big box stores with tire departments such as WalMart of Sears may be of use. In fact, Sears will put your car on the rack for an alignment check and charge nothing for it if it does not need the work, or $90 for the 4 wheel alignment if it does. Since they don't stock BMW or Porsche parts, I get the free check, then bring the parts to them later if needed.

[markus]

what is costco? is that a store like wal-mart and sam's club? if so then why the hell are you letting those retards touch your car? they are used to working on POS GM and ford products so a BMW to them is probly like trying to work on a space shuttle. I used to work at a chrysler dealer and whenever people came in for oil changes for their cars under warranty but went to wal-mart or jiffy lube they would always put the wrong weight of oil or wrong size filter on the cars. i dont see why people think $15 for an oil change is a great deal. usually they **** it up. the new chryslers are using 5w-20 in their engines and these goofballs put 10w-30 in it since they feel its good enough for any car. those places are where i buy my oil since wal-mart is usually the cheapest and whatever else i think i need while im in the automotive section.

[Anton CH.]

98 540 sport, huh? I think I'll try that. I'd like to try the oldest year I can and still get the same size - yours were 235/45/17 front and 255/40/17 rear, right?

I'm going to go into one of them today and ask the manager to do it, and if that doesn't work, I'll go into the other one and say its an 01. Pray for mojo!

I just checked on their website. Here is what you want to do:
Say you got a 98' 540 w/ the 17" optional tire:
Front: http://www.costco.com/Tires/SearchResult.aspx?IV=true&YW=1998&MA=BMW&MD=540i+w%2f17+Inch+Tire+Opt.+(Front)&SP=0&MN=13487&cat=3961&MNo=0
Rear:
http://www.costco.com/Tires/SearchResult.aspx?IV=true&YW=1998&MA=BMW&MD=540i+w%2f17+Inch+Tire+Opt.+(Rear)&SP=0&MN=13488&cat=3961&MNo=0

P.S. Get the Michelin PS2s!

[Phatty5BMW]

I just bought a set of 4 g-force sports. I love the tire, awesome grip so far in the dry/wet. Snow/ice, good luck man, all its good for is power sliding but obviously not a winter tire. I would just take off the rims n take em in, they have no choice but to do it. Good luck on the whole ordeal, it will work out.

Pat

[Phatty5BMW]

Oh yea, I bought mine at Discount Tire and they have free shipping. I just got the stock sizes and with total mount/balance at a local place was like 420 bucks or something... Not bad I don't think.

[DanDombrowski]

Thanks for the tip on the G-force sport. I probably should have gone with that tire, since it would have been a lot less expensive overall. However, since that tire was regular price, and the BFGoodrich T/A KDW was $60 off a set of 4, I got those instead. Fortunately, we have no snow/ice down south here.

My biggest concern with getting these tires online and having them shipped was the road hazard warranty. I don't really know how the RH works with tire rack, do you have to ship the tire back to them? Anyway, since I'm going to be running high performance tires on the track, I wanted to purchase tires that had a good RH warranty, and supposedly costco is really good about just junking the tire and giving you a new one if its damaged. I'm not saying I'm trying to get warranty service for driving on the track, just that I'll be doing mixed track/street with them, and if I get a nail in them on the street, I can't take them back to the track.

[DanDombrowski]

Well, because any dude in a tire shop can put on a set of tires, and thats all I'm there for. I don't go there for oil changes or anything else. Tires on a BMW are no different than any other car.

And they actually aren't going to touch the car, just the wheels.

[DanDombrowski]

Well, I got the problem resolved. I went back to the local one and talked to the manager. I showed him that the 235/45 was the correct plus size for 205/65, and that the tire size I wanted was the correct size for the 540i rims. He agreed on the condition that I bring him the wheels, he puts the tires on the rims, and I can put them on the car myself. I think he was more worried about having the wheels rub when they were on the car.

I promised him that if they rubbed, that it would be my responsibility and that I wouldn't bother him about it, but if they fit fine, I still expect all of the usual benefits of getting tires there. He liked how I handled it, and made the exception for me (he said usually they would just say no).

So, I ordered the tires, they should be here between 7-10 days. Thanks for the help everyone!

[Robin-535im]

what is costco? is that a store like wal-mart and sam's club? if so then why the hell are you letting those retards touch your car?

Costco is an AWESOME place to buy anything at all. I don't know about the people they hire for the tire dept, so that may be just like any of the generic tire places.

It is the ONLY place I buy electronics, appliances, tools, etc. If they have it, it will be a good quality item and a good price. Their return policy is superb... you can take in a broken coffee machine a year later and they'll give you your money back. Sorry to respond with such emotion... It's so rare to find a store with good products that they stand behind that I just hate to see them being maligned.

I've never shopped at Sam's Club or BJs.

But the odds of the guys at the tire shop being especially great, probably not good. I take my pickup there but not my e34.

[Phatty5BMW]

I know someone with KDW's also, an excellent really sticky tire.

[Dash01]

I suspect there may be something amiss at my local Costco tire department: I've been there twice in the past week, at prime shopping time with the huge parking lot full and with new tire discount coupons handed out to customers. Still, NOT ONE CAR in any of the 4 service bays, but still staffed by several Costco mechanics.

Then, as noted in my prior posts, the manager finds excuses not to rotate or balance my tires, which they sold me with a lifetime balance/rotation warranty.

As it happens, this may be a blessing in disguise: Previously I bought new tires from TireRack for my Porsche, and had Costco mount them. The Avon tires have a red dot on the sidewall, as a balancing index so the red dot is supposed to go next to the valve stem. They did this, with all 4 red dots next to valve stems. A week or two later, my kid was driving the car at speed, hit the brakes, and was suddenly in a 360 degree slide into a guardrail. On inspection, the right front tire red dot was no longer next to the valve stem, meaning that the tire rotated on its rim: Effectively, that meant brakes on the driver side but not on the passenger side, so the car did a bat turn 360 degree CCW turn. Luckily damage was not too bad and the kid was OK. Did the Costco guy properly mount this tire? Did he properly wash the tire bead to remove the lubricant used to keep it from sticking to the mold at the factory? Or, did he leave the factory-fresh tire unwashed, so the mold lubricant prevented proper adhesion between the tire and rim interface, allowing the tire to slip on the rim in heavy braking? What level of expertise to the Costco tire monkeys have, anyway?

[rufryder]

I'm all for Costco Tires! You may save a buck or two by ordering elsewhere and then having someone installing them, as others suggest. I wouldn't recommend it. Costco is excellent with their policies.

[Panda]

Well, the tires are the same price as everywhere else, the huge savings you get at Costco is the free mounting, balancing, and road hazard. If I brought them in to get them installed somewhere else, it would be like $30 a tire and I wouldn't get the warranty (I originally planned on getting them from tire-rack, it would be the same type of thing).

Land of the Free!?

How hard is it to buy tyres (sorry, tires) in the US, or is just a Costco problem? and what the hell is a "road hazard" charge?