[SONET]

I bumped into a planter when I was parking in an end spot today with my rear passanger wheel. The concrete was deformed when it was built and I didn't see the deformity when I was pulling in close. It made a 2" scratch on the outside lip of the wheel.

I do everything I can to avoid a door ding - in this case pulling as close to the planter as possible to leave plenty of space for the guy next to me - and I end up with a botched up wheel. Then I come back only to find a beat up VW Vanagon parked way over the line *right* next to my car (luckily there were no dings). Typical.

This totally ruined my day today. My car is only 3 weeks old! *sigh* Now I guess I have two choices... replace the wheel or have it repired. Does anyone know of a really good wheel repair shop in OC? Any ideas how much a new rear M68 wheel costs?

Thanks for any help.

--SONET

 

[Ben Chou]

Sonet,

That sucks man. Don't replace the wheel for a 2 inch scrape that can be fixed easily. A new wheel would cost you at least 450 or so from a dealer. 120 or less will get your wheel looking brand new. I had it done and you can't even tell it was fixed on one of my older rims. Good luck.

 

[ChrisTO]

isn't it ironic

i did something similar once to avoid door dings only to inflict damage on myself. i guess it doesn't pay to avoid door dings it will happen eventually, and you end up with self inflicted damage. the irony...

lucky for me it's only a plastic wheel cover.

 

[scottn2retro]

Good News SONET

There's one of those national wheel repair places (Wheels America) in Stanton. I think the number is 1-888-4FIX-RIM and they should be able to match the paint on your wheel fine. It's a flat fee of $109 for fix or exchange. My wheel is another story ('shadow' finish).

 

[SONET]

Re: isn't it ironic

i did something similar once to avoid door dings only to inflict damage on myself. i guess it doesn't pay to avoid door dings it will happen eventually, and you end up with self inflicted damage. the irony...

lucky for me it's only a plastic wheel cover.

I went 9 years with my last car with only one small ding (on my birthday of all days), and of course it happened the only time I didn't park in an 'end spot'. Figures! :thumbdwn:

If I ever own a parking lot every spot will be an end spot.

Scott: thanks for the info. Have you seen their work first-hand?

--SONET

 

[scottn2retro]

Not me

I haven't seen their work myself, but Phil Street (Strasse on the LA BMW CCA forums) says they've done good work for some of the club members. They advertise in the Roundel (page 124 of the current issue).

 

[SONET]

Thanks Scott, I will get in touch with them when I return from my trip.

--SONET

 

[jhc]

A possible solution...

Sonet-

Don't forget that you have a spare M68 in mint condition in your trunk. :angel: You may want to swap wheels until you decide to get the other repaired. And when you go to the shop, you can just leave the scratched wheel in the shop and pick it up later. I'm sure you were planning on doing this anyway, right? Your car looks great.

Jeff

 

[Ack]

The spare tire will unfortunately not work well. His rear wheel was scratched and his spare is the same size as the front tires.

Sonet - Sorry to hear about this. I backed my car into a bush at the end of my friends driveway late on Sunday. My car is only 7 weeks old so I feel your pain. It put a ton of scratches in the clear coat from the rear quarter panel to the middle of the door. I was able to rub them out but you can still see/feel the scratch when you look at it at certain angles. I'm going to try to get the rest of it out this weekend.

Sorry to post this here but if anyone knows a good product to get out scratches in the clear coat, please let me know. I have McGuire's Step 1 Cleaner but I think I need a product with some abrasive qualities.

 

[Chris330Ci]

I have to admit that as soon as I saw your subject heading, I cracked a smirk. I went thru the very same thing except it happened on the second day that I had my car! Same wheel, different circumstances so I feel your pain. I actually went thru more hassle than I should have, but I wound up buying and then sending back a refinished OEM m68 from Wheel Collision.com for about $225. It looked great but the only problem was that it had a leak inside the rim that was only detectable once it was mounted on the car. Anyway, those guys along with The Wheel Exchange will refinish your wheel for about $125. After I sent the bum wheel back, I have managed to live with the scratch. :dunno: Good luck!

 

[TranceLvr]

I tore off a mirror once trying to leave room for another person, talk about being pissed. Sorry to hear about your problems. They should have special 'BMW only' parking spots that are wider just for us. :thumbup:

 

[JPinTO]

I did that too on my Saab 900Turbo with 17" WHeels. Forgot about the curb and pulled out badly gashing one rear wheel!

The worst part is that you are parking there to AVOID damage and then you inflict it on yourself. Nobody to blame! Since then, I still park on the edge, but leave space for the curb... to allow for some room for error.

 

[WILLIA///M]

Did the same thing here too a couple weeks ago. I've decided to leave it until i change over to the type 44's and snows in the winter. Probably have it fixed then. I hate curbs.

 

[Nat Brown]

Backing in

I lost a wheel after drifting backwards against a curb while in neutral on a hill. I guess I was dependent on the auto-lowering mirror. $425 later....

--gary

 

[DrBimmer]

Does anyone know of a really good wheel repair shop in OC? Any ideas how much a new rear M68 wheel costs?

Thanks for any help.

--SONET

Call up your dealer's service department and ask them who does alloy wheel repairs for their used car department. My dealer has a company called "Alloy Wheel Specialists" that does all their more complicated rim work, and they do fantastic work. There was a guy with a new M3 that had the special titanium-colored finish on his wheel that is supposedly supposed to be impossible to duplicate. He went out and bought a new wheel (very expensive!!) When he came to have it mounted on the car, the alloy wheel guy just happened to be stopping by to do a delivery and noticed the wheel on the car. He offered to give it a shot and see what he could do. The rim looked brand new, and there was no way you could detect the repair. Too bad the guy had already bought a new rim and had the tire mounted on it. He was shocked how it looked, he was convinced he had to buy a new wheel.

Moral of the story- your dealer has alot of used car inventory, and there are alot of people that damage their wheels. They have to fix stuff like this to make the cars look good on the lot, so they probably do it often. I am sure they can recommed someone to you.

 

[bing330i]

If I do not have it fixed, will more damage occur to the wheel ? Thanks.