Experience with DIY BMW Wheel Touch-up/Repair?

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A couple of weeks ago I hit a deep pothole in the 340 while going around a driver making a left, except this wasn't an ordinary pothole, it exposed the front edge of a storm drain. The sheer edge of the storm drain was on the outside edge of my contact patch and subsequently ran along both passenger side wheels causing damage that looks as if they were curbed.

My question is has anyone here done a DIY touch-up or repair on BMW wheels? If so what kind of silver paint did you use and did it match? Was painting sufficient or was filling with epoxy required? In either scenario was it done locally or was the whole wheel treated?

If I get positive feedback here I may attempt the repair, otherwise a wheel repair guy makes a daily stop at my local dealership.
 
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I have attempted to repair wheels myself before on old beater type vehicles. It is a lot of work and painting it only is not even close to the amount of work required. Id leave this one up to a pro considering how new and nice your vehicle is.
 
IIRC its an odd silver shade, maybe two odd silver shade options, so was more difficult than I had originally hoped to ID the color. Fortunately my mark is barely noticeable, but I'll be interested to hear the opinions and findings here.
 
Many BMW wheels are not straight silver, they are a "hyper silver" which means a layered finish. It's notoriously difficult to fix.

I got curb damage on one of my M3's wheels which were hyper silver, and took them to a well-regarded wheel repair shop. They clued me in on the hyper silver thing: (1) it's almost impossible to match the factory finish and (2) if they don't do the other wheel on the same side of the car, you might notice the slight difference. I opted to have them do both wheels since I'm very particular about my cars.

I would NOT let some jabroney traveling wheel repair guy try to fix it, if it truly is hyper silver (or even if it isn't, honestly). Those mobile guys are all about getting the job done as fast as possible. What they will do is fill in any gouges and then just spot-spray silver paint. Believe me when I say it will look terrible and not hold up well.
 
You didn't get the optional wheel insurance from BMW? Many of those lightweight wheels will bend when hitting a pothole. You got off lucky if the only damage was a blemish. Mobile paint guy will be the best option ($$$-wise) in most cases. Esp since the car is leased.
 
Call your local BMW store and ask who they use. 90% of trade-ins come curbed... Look at the used line and judge their work.

If there is a paint dot on one of the tail lights, it has had touch up work done - either paint, wheels, or both.
 
I have an estimate from the repair person/service the BMW store uses (I submitted it to the municipality as a damage claim in hope they might help with the cost since they let this condition exist).

The service adviser said it's fortunate (if you can really say that) two wheels on the same side were damaged because there could be a very slight variation if they were mixed.

Fortunately the wheels aren't bet at all, this was literally the rim riding along the edge of a metal storm drain for about 6-8".
 
I wouldnt mess with it, depending on the finsih of the wheels it can be very tricky to match and no make it noticeable. Wheel collision center has always done good work by me, but theyll either need to take your wheels to their place or swap them out with 2 refurbished wheels and then youll need to pay to have the wheels mounted and balanced.
 
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Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Call your local BMW store and ask who they use. 90% of trade-ins come curbed... Look at the used line and judge their work.

If there is a paint dot on one of the tail lights, it has had touch up work done - either paint, wheels, or both.


This^^^
 
Originally Posted By: gofast182
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Ugh, that's a bad one. So it comes down to this, in my mind: how picky are you about the car? Do you notice every little scratch, flaw, and imperfection? Do you work hard at keeping the car as clean and close to showroom-new as possible? If so, find a dedicated wheel repair place with a good reputation and have them fix it. Tell them you want it to look like new and won't accept a rush job.

If not, I would just let someone reasonably competent take a shot at it. It won't look perfect, but unless you are up close to the car and know where to look, 9/10 people won't know any better.



If you are the DIY type, you could try and do it yourself. Worst case, you waste a few hours of time and maybe $50 in materials and end up taking it to a pro. Since both wheels are on the same side, a slight mismatch won't be the end of the world. Heck, do all four if you have any other spots that bug you.
 
I had a RAV4 sport 18'' wheel that my wife curbed badly like that.

I was able to make it look halfway decent with a dremel and touchup paint.
 
I am VERY meticulous about keeping my cars clean but this is why I'm asking...if I have a go at it myself and it's not satisfactory, I can always turn them over to the pros. I'll be able to decide whether having the blemishes still be noticeable or risking entire wheels that don't match is worse. Regardless, I will check out the used cars at my local dealership and see if I can notice anything.
 
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Originally Posted By: gofast182
I am VERY meticulous about keeping my cars clean but this is why I'm asking...if I have a go at it myself and it's not satisfactory, I can always turn them over to the pros. I'll be able to decide whether having the blemishes still be noticeable or risking entire wheels that don't match is worse. Regardless, I will check out the used cars at my local dealership and see if I can notice anything.


Not sure if you belong to Bimmerpost or the other BMW owner communities, but ask around and see who people have used locally for this kind of stuff. I would avoid Yelp since 9/10 of those reviewers will have some generic Camry and that typically means a less-discerning eye.
 
I belong to bimmerfest. Maybe I'll post there.

dparm, I see a Vette in your sig. but I seem to recall you had a BMW recently, no?
 
Originally Posted By: gofast182
I belong to bimmerfest. Maybe I'll post there.

dparm, I see a Vette in your sig. but I seem to recall you had a BMW recently, no?



Yes, I had a 2011 M3. Sold it and bought the Corvette.
 
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