last time i went to my local firestone shop to get new tires, they nicked/marked my rims a little. and i saw them laboring to get the tires on, with flat bars.

do certain tire places have machines that guarantee that the rims dont get scratched? and a machine that doesnt require a flat bar to put a tire on?

 

Discount Tire and Tire dudes... theres not much to look for except that they should have the proper equipment to mount and balance your wheels. Using a flat bar alone is not the proper way to mount a tire itself... though it works, it's best to use a machine that is made to do this. Also, most tire shops I know use rags/padding when handling special wheels.

 

also look for a shop with a road-force balance machine, to eliminate vibration

 

There are special or maybe just newer tire mounting machines that don't touch the face of the wheel.

http://www.hunter.com/PUB/product/tirechan...5797T/index.htm

I ended up finding where the exiotics get thier wheel/tire work done since the dealer had an "old shool" machine and had damaged my wheels.

 

how do you find a place that uses those machines? just call and ask??
i watched a tire guy once, who lathed the perimeter of my wheel....on an older truck i had. he acted like its normal to happen.

and if you ever go to discount tire, make sure they dont use the scissor lift on your car. they pushed up the rear floorboards on my old m3 that i had.

 

Yes - Different machines are needed to mount/dismount tires on wheels that are 18" or larger.

 

+ 10000! I was just about to mention this machine. A local Toyota dealer has it and that's one reason why I let them do all my wheeljobs. They use special plastic pieces with the machine to get the tire on the wheel without damaging it.

These:

 

This weekend, I put new 15mm rogue spacers on my new 172s (they came with my 550i). I agonized over having it done by a shop, but at the end of the day, they were my wheels, so I did the work myself. It only took 1 hour total (washing the wheels down as well).

I was very suprised at how loose the bolts were (the car was delivered last month). They are supposed to be about 90lbs, but these seemed like 50lbs.
You should never go to a shop that uses a "gun" to replace the bolts. The gun can scratch the wheels very easily. The wheels should be done only with torque wrench, and only to 90lbs (which is not that tight). You can buy the large wrench at any auto store for about $25-35.

I would never go to a "discount tire" store. Only the exotic car shops know how to treat an exotic car. Sometimes, even the exotics have people who don't care (which is why you should be prepared to give the guy $10-20 up front to treat you well).

If you take $2500 wheels to a discount shop that normally works with wheels that cost $600 and deals with "volume," you will get what you pay for. The wheels are not an item where you should skimp.