Kerbed Alloy

[Odysseus]

I’m sure we’ve all done it, but hate admitting to it.

 

Yesterday I caught the near side rear wheel on a protruding kerb while taking a tight corner. Blame the pedestrians limiting my cornering options, blame medieval Cambridge roads, blame someone else, etc.

 

Anyway, I’ve got a nasty little scratch on my otherwise pristine wheel, so I want to get it fixed. ChipsAway quoted me £90 and would do it in the car park, and my local body shop quoted me £84 and would need the wheel for three days.

 

Any suggestions or recommendations?

 

 

 

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[Normski]

Would also be worth finding out how much your dealer charges...

[rich1068]

Agreed. Dealers can sometimes surprise you (in a good way!) with this sort of thing. I haven't had a BMW since 2013 but still use the local dealer for wheels and other cosmetic work.

[Odysseus]

Great idea Normski and rich1068.  Thank you!

Lexus Cambridge will repair the scratch for £80 and will pick the car up from my office and return it the same day.  I'm sure in terms of repair quality it will be closer to ChipsAway than the body shop, but if I have an issue I feel much more confident going to Lexus than I do either other option.

Shows the value of forums!  I'll update the post once the work has been done.

[Farqui]

Doh, I've clipped mine a couple of times and have repeatedly beat myself silly with a thorny stick!

I haven't clipped a curb for a while now, tho this comment is likely to change that 

The repair estimate from Lexus is surprising, keep us posted.

[Normski]

Added advantage is that it's likely to come back cleaned inside and out 

[Odysseus]

Well that didn't go entirely to plan...

 

Long story short I need new rear tyres, and I should do that before the alloy is refurbed.  Lexus are also unable to drive a customer's car with illegal tyres (0.9mm in my case - ask me how I know).

It's re-booked for next Tuesday when I'm having four new Michelin Pilot Sport 4s fitted, and the alloy refurbed.  I took the decision to get all four tyres done as the front tyres are "Landsail", and I've never been entirely comfortable driving something weighing two tonnes with 340 bhp on budget tyres.

That kerb scratch is working out quite expensive!

[rayaans]

On 10/6/2017 at 3:53 PM, Farqui said:

Doh, I've clipped mine a couple of times and have repeatedly beat myself silly with a thorny stick!

I haven't clipped a curb for a while now, tho this comment is likely to change that 

The repair estimate from Lexus is surprising, keep us posted.

Why do you find the pricing surprising?

Lexus Bradford quoted me £60 for 18" and £80 for 19"s and above which isn't too bad to be honest.

26 minutes ago, Odysseus said:

Well that didn't go entirely to plan...

 

Long story short I need new rear tyres, and I should do that before the alloy is refurbed.  Lexus are also unable to drive a customer's car with illegal tyres (0.9mm in my case - ask me how I know).

It's re-booked for next Tuesday when I'm having four new Michelin Pilot Sport 4s fitted, and the alloy refurbed.  I took the decision to get all four tyres done as the front tyres are "Landsail", and I've never been entirely comfortable driving something weighing two tonnes with 340 bhp on budget tyres.

That kerb scratch is working out quite expensive!

How did you manage to get them down to 0.9mm! Don't you check them! tut tut

[sorcerer]

May be worth investing in some AlloyGator or Rimblades protectors too, once it's repaired.

[Farqui]

@rayaans, because dealers seem to always over charge.

 

Having previously refurb'd my own alloys, I'll happily pay someone to do it in the future. Within reason ofcourse ;)

[Britprius]

The Landsail tyres you are worried about are actually very good so called "budget" tyres. Although I agree some budget tyres are of dubious quality this does not apply to them.

I do not work or have any association with Landsail tyres.

John.

[Odysseus]

May be worth investing in some AlloyGator or Rimblades protectors too, once it's repaired.

I’ve never seen such products before. Which would you personally recommend?


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[rich1068]

Well done you for biting the bullet and getting new quality tyres on each corner. 

[rayaans]

4 hours ago, Odysseus said:

 

I’ve never seen such products before. Which would you personally recommend?


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They look dreadful though, somewhat similiar to adding stabilisers to a race bicycle.

Heard many reports of them flicking off and damaging paintwork too.

[rich1068]

Colour coded I assume they'd look OK but many seem to choose the same colour as the paintwork 

I've also heard about them coming off and/or flat tyres as a consequence of the seal between the wheel and tyre breaking.

I think if this is a once in a blue moon thing you might as well just put it down to experience. 

[Odysseus]

I just did a quick google for Alloy Gators and I'm not keen.  Looks a bit Max Power for my tastes, and not in keeping with my otherwise understated GS.

With the exception of a week or so ago, the last time I clipped an alloy was some years back, so I'll manage without the protection I think.

Naturally this means I'll ding the lot of them in the next month!

While they haven't done the work yet, I was pleasantly surprised with Lexus Cambridge.  They are price matching BlackCircles for the Michelins, and you can't really say fairer than that.  I'm also comfortable that when the tyres are replaced they'll not make a mess of the TPMS valves and will know how to deal with such tech.

So far so good.

[rayaans]

7 hours ago, rich1068 said:

Colour coded I assume they'd look OK but many seem to choose the same colour as the paintwork 

I've also heard about them coming off and/or flat tyres as a consequence of the seal between the wheel and tyre breaking.

I think if this is a once in a blue moon thing you might as well just put it down to experience. 

I dont believe you can get them custom coloured though so they always tend to look different to the wheel unless you get black ones which may blend in with the rubber but make the wheel itself look smaller.

Also worth remembering that when these things get kerbed, they look absolutely shocking 

[rich1068]

Sorry, don't know why I said colour coded. I meant black to match the tyre.

Whatever, I've never felt the urge to get any. Now, replace the alloys with cheap wheel trims on my wife's car? That I've considered 

[stevet]

22 hours ago, Odysseus said:

While they haven't done the work yet, I was pleasantly surprised with Lexus Cambridge.  They are price matching BlackCircles for the Michelins, and you can't really say fairer than that.  I'm also comfortable that when the tyres are replaced they'll not make a mess of the TPMS valves and will know how to deal with such tech.

 

Lexus dealers are good with tyres. Lexus Stockport couldn't match the price I found for the Goodyears's I wanted from Tyreleader so they agreed that I order them and they fit them for free. Which came out cheaper than the fitted price from Blackcircles.

[Odysseus]

All done. Four new Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres, plus the kerbed alloy refurbished. Total bill £709.92.

Apart from a minor grumble about not returning my car when agreed and nearly causing me to not collect my offspring in time, it was very good service from Lexus Cambridge.

I am MUCH happier not having budget tyres on the car, from both a safety and an aesthetic perspective.




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[rich1068]

Again, good for you. And without sounding too precious, especially as you're carrying children. The expense is always extremely painful but worth it for the peace of mind I think. 

[65mike]

Hi all.

Sounds like you had a result there Andrew seems like a company / dealers who seem to be prepared to not flees there customers when it comes to tyre pricing which is a good thing for a change, but a big tut tut for not keeping a eye on the depth off tread on the tyre.

Still look good in picture so all turned out well.

65mike