Are reconditioned wheels a good idea or bad idea? I have some flat spots on the inner rims of 3 of my 4 wheels that were most likely caused by potholes. A couple of them are pretty significant. So I'm looking for a solution. Some vendors on eBay and the web talk about wheel reconditioning. I had my own wheels reconditioned about 13 months ago and they came out looking great. But I knew the history on the wheels since I was the original owner of the car and knew the reconditioning was going to be more cosmetic than structural. However, now that I have to replace my wheels, I'm concerned about buying reconditioned wheels that I don't know the history of. I was looking at RTW Wheels online and they seem to have a very large investment in machines and years of history, so they may be a good bet. But I've heard horror stories about micro-fractures and other problems with light alloy wheels like mine that make me hesitate. Does anyone have any experience they could share with me? Thanks, Ty
No experience with RTW, but I've used shops in the DC area to true/repair/paint/polish my own wheels, or purchased refinished wheels directly (Wheel Collision Center in PA) and have been happy with the results and savings over buying new ones. Have you received any feedback from local chapter members re: RTW?
Thanks for the reply. No, I haven't heard from anyone locally (Seattle area) about RTW. They seem to do most of their sales over the web. Their based in Houston. Here's a link to some info on their wheel repair service: http://reviews.ebay.com/WHEEL-REMANUFACTURING-PROCESS_W0QQugidZ10000000011403085 Their prices are tempting and it looked like a good way to keep the OEM wheels on my car.
In the past 15 years I have had the misfortune to need wheels repaired more times than I like to think about. I also have the very good fortune to live about an hour away from Wheel Collision Center in Bath, PA. They literally invented the repair process for alloy wheels and have the patents to prove it. Their work has been consistently spectacular on anything I threw at them: curb rash, pothole bends, a divot gouged by a raised manhole one foul night or even a cheap(-ish) MSW wheel bent out of true at the hub (don't ask, I was young[er] and careless). No wheel they repaired for me has ever so much as leaked, let alone cracked, suffered "fatigue memory" or failed. Repaired wheels carry a lifetime warranty (excluding subsequent abuse of course). They are also recommended in Roundel from time to time. I have no experience, anecdotal or otherwise, with RTW or any other wheel shop--and frankly at this point I see no need to experiment, so I'm afraid I can't help there. I agree with John in VA that you should seek feedback from actual customers of any vendor you plan to use.
My only experience was having some M3 LTW wheels refinished. I took them to Wheels America in the SF bay area. Frankly, I wasn't all that impressed with the finished product. They looked okay but certainly not like new.
YE OLE WHEEL SHOP 6363 Washington Blvd. Elkridge, MD 21075 410-796-8400/ 800-526-8260 Just south of Baltimore. Slow, but reasonably priced. Others I've heard of, but no experience: http://www.rimdoc.com/ http://www.wheelrefinisher.com/
Reconditioning in Dallas area? I recently purchased my 02 M Roadster with the M Roadstar wheels. The wheels appear to be in good shape structurally, but are discolored and there are areas where the finish has flaked away entirely. Any recommendations on a Dallas area shop that does reconditioning?
Wheels America in Dallas has done a good job in the past - no recent knowledge about the skills of their staff: http://www.wheelsamerica.com/index.php?page=dallas http://www.wheeltechnologies.com/locations.asp http://www.wheelrepairsolutions.com/ Discount Tire in Flower Mound is a Lone Star chapter advertiser - you might check with them to see if they have a recomendation. Also check with the BMW or other high-end dealerships to see who they have good experiences with. http://www.lscbmwcca.org/advertisers.html
