50p Alloy Wheel!

[retreat]

My front nearside alloy looks like a 50 pence piece according to the chap who has just changed the tyre!

3 weeks ago while on a spirited drive my E39 M5 caught a pothole- well more of a crater than a pothole that nearly threw us off the road! A quick inspection revealed nothing wrong- no alloy scratch, just a rubber mark on the rim...

The "Tyre Defect" warning has binged on a few times but checking the tyres and pressures revealed nothing until Saturday, when bending down to get a cold beer from the garage floor I noticed an egg shaped swelling from the tyre sidewall!

Bugger! after much phoning I found a very reasonably priced PS2 to match the other side- they were only 3000 miles old aswell...

Even with the new tyre the warning light still comes on, the tyre fitter reckons the wheel is flat on the spot where the crater impacted thus causing the tyre not to be properly seated. He has recommended that the wheel is attended to to make it round once more (I've no idea about the procedure he has in mind)

Can anyone explain what the fitter means?

Can anyone recommend a place to have it done- I live between Emsworth and Chichester and don't relish a long drive on the wheel

My wheels could do with a refurb- can this be done at the same time

How much do you reckon it will cost

I am a bit worried that the wonky wheel will bugger the new tyre- is this possible?

Thanks for any help,

Jim

[LukeBird]

Having just had a wheel crack on my car I would just get it replaced.
I appreciate it won't be cheap, but piece of mind doesn't have a price in this case...
Have a look on eBay, I managed to buy a decent condition replacement for my car for £25 (£40 delivered!) instead of £200 from a specialist!

[normalbloke]

Agreed, throw it away.

[DC]

The Wheel Specialist and Fareham is the man locally and is highly regarded on here. However, in your case it sounds like a replacement is the best bet.

[dwilkie]

I'll echo what everyone else here has said, I had one of the Superleggs bend on the Coupe after a massive Devonshire pothole - seriously, I nearly ran over the spelunkers on their way out - I was told by everyone I'd asked that it couldn't be repaired so I had to splash out on a new one.

Although I think the Superleggeras are a special case anyway because of what they're made from or sommat

[retreat]

Thanks chaps!

[Karlos69]

From what I can remember, most alloys tend to crack if they're heated up and reshaped after becoming deformed through an impact.

Although BMW wheels seem to be made of cheese - my brother had to change his alloys on his 325ti Compact after he bent one in much the same way and couldn't find a replacement. It was cheaper to buy a new set than get a replacement through BMW!

[bmthnick1981]

Good mate had an E39 M5 and the trye defect warning seemed to always be coming on and off, don't think he got to the bottom of it.

[doorman]

Echo what all are saying, but do remember, you have redress to the local authority on who's pot hole you did the damage. My understanding is that provided the council had not put out a warning sign of the problem ahead, then you have every right to claim, and I also understand that most authority's won't even contest the claim.

[Karlos69]

doorman said:

Echo what all are saying, but do remember, you have redress to the local authority on who's pot hole you did the damage. My understanding is that provided the council had not put out a warning sign of the problem ahead, then you have every right to claim, and I also understand that most authority's won't even contest the claim.

Almost right. The council will only pay out on a pothole-related vehicle damage claim if they were aware of the pothole at the time of the damage being caused. In other words, if they didn't know about it, they won't pay up.

[retreat]

I was going to write a letter and see what happened as the news seems full of councils having to pay out.

The crater in question was so large it swallowed one of those motorway cones (I carefully approached the scene a few days later to find someone had thoughtfully marked it with the cone)

The roads are a disgrace...I sound like my old man, but now I'm more aware of the tyre wrecking wheel bending mess below me- Even my four year old nearly fell in one on his scooter!