Put my winter 17" Blizzaks on a few weeks ago. This morning I took my summer 19" BMW 101 wheels to my dealer to have them mount new Michelin PS2s that Tire Rack delivered last week. The wheels were immaculate. No scratches, brake dust etching - nothing. I even used a plastic scraper and adhesive remover last night to remove the old weights. I am extremely particular.

Anyway, stop by around 5:30 this afternoon to pick them up. I know them really well and walked back to the shop. The tech was still working on them. I took a look at one of them (front wheel) and there's a half inch scratch on the rim lip and a 5 mm ding in one of the spokes near the hub. He said he screwed up - that was the first one he did and he put on the machine good side up. Apparently they're supposed to go on good side down. Ouch. The others looked ok, but I didn't inspect them too intensly.

So, the shop foreman comes out and says they'll have it fixed or I'll get a new wheel. I asked who pays for it and he said the tech. For my own personal solace, I need it to be fixed. My car is essentially perfect, even after two years as a daily driver.

Couple quesitons. First, can the wheel be fixed? If not, should I have the dealer replace it, knowing it comes out of the tech's pocket (retail price is ~$800).

 

Had the same thing when I had my original Dunlop Thumpflats replaced under warranty with new ones. A pencil-eraser sized through-the paint-gouge in one wheel (and faint marks on all the others). I complained and demoted their service followup rating because of it and never heard anything more....other than decreased willingness to take care of me, owing, I assume, to the legitimate service reivew.

Be careful.
Ray

 

I'm just plain old PO'd.

 

For about $120 they can be fixed to OEM , you'll never know , just make sure they pay !!

Cheers

 

+1 It's an easy fix. A pro can handle much worse.

 

FWIW, Maybe you want a new wheel? As it was explained to me (when I was contemplating a similar situation), the 'wheel fix' options out there are less than perfect. I saw a MB AMG with a 'wheel fix' job. The chrome paint was bleeding into the bolt areas and if further damage occurs to the area the painted surface starts to scratch off (like flakes).

It hits a tech hard in the pocket, but maybe teaches them to be more careful in the future? I would imagine that a dealer should be in a position to negotiate cost or at least wholesale pricing for the replacement wheel.

04 545i | sport | nav | cwp | logic7 | xenons
* Retired 99 750il;
* Retired 97 M3 with Dinan enhancements;
* Retired 92 525i;

 

Seems like that's the consensus around here regarding giving service ratings of sub-perfect (5-stars). I have yet to take my car to the dealership and makes me think twice about giving low scores? Whenever I take surveys, I usually give neutral scores (I'm assuming 3 stars in this case) for regular work. Unless they're giving me great customer service and going above and beyond, why do they deserve perfect scores?

 

The damage you have described should be easily fixable. I am impressed with the fact that the tech owned up to having screwed up, and with the foreman for offering up front to have the wheel fixed or replaced. That's a level of honesty and integrity that is rare these days and would make me want to rate these guys up rather than down.

 

+1. same thing happened to me a while back when i had a nail in the inside sidewall of the front right wheel. they fixed it the next day and looked like nothing happened.

 

As a port mortem on my wheel issue, the dealer sent it off to a place in Baltimore (they removed the tire first). The guy in Baltimore took the wheel apart (there has to be 50 torx rivets around the perimeter) and repainted it and then replace the rivets with new ones from BBS. Not a perfect paint job on it (some minor peel between the spokes which you can feel), but only I will ever know and it's not worth being a complete jerk over. Bottom line is they did right by me.