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[Tirewarmer]

Had my Star Specs mounted over the weekend. The tire shop that I use for good wheels has a very good Hunter machine that they use on tires primarily for big (20"+) truck wheels for show car type vehicles. I've never had a problem with the shop, and they have never, ever scratched one of my wheels. They are pricey at $120 for 4 tires mounted and balanced, but with wheels that I care about, I go there.

After they mounted and balanced my 261m wheels from my '09 135, I noticed that the paint had been scraped off 2 of the spokes on each wheel. You can see what the damage looks like in this pic below and I plan to take closeups later.



On each wheel, the paint has been scraped down to metal.

Initially the shop has been very good to work with, offering to fix or replace the two damaged front wheels.

They believe that their painter that they use can fix the damage is the wheel is painted. If the wheel is powdercoated, they are willing to have them repowdercoated.

My questions are:

1. Are these wheels paimted or powdercoated?

2. Will a automotive paint person be able to match the color/finish if they are painted or a powdercoater match it if they are powdercoated?

3. Should I ask them to send the wheels to a professional wheel repair shop, like Rim-Pro?

4. Should I tell them that no matter what they do, the wheels will not be back to like new condition, as they were when I brought the car in with 800 miles, and request two new wheels?

This is really the first set of wheels that I have cared about keeping in perfect condition on a vehicle, and I plan to keep the car at least until the 4 year warranty runs out, so I'd like to keep it in the best condition that I can.

[ChrisK]

Getting the run flats off these wheels can be very tricky, since the sidewalls don't give.

Call your dealer, wheel rash and damage like this is very common and easy to fix. They should be able to point you in the right direction.

[arrutled]

You should actually have them take care of it for you. This happens all the time and there are plenty of options for them.

[PrimoM3]

I beleive they are painted not powdercoated. They can sand and repaint them easily, and if done properly you'll be surprised how perfect they look. I had a wheel repaired on my last Audi after a guy curbed one during his test drive. (And yes, I almost shat my pants when it happened).