Dr. No

Anyone have an opinion on the strength and durability of a straightened/reconditioned alloy wheel? I'm thinking of buying some OEM BMW wheels from a place called Wheelcollision, which does a lot of Ebay business and claims to be able to straighten them to factory tolerances. They're reasonably priced, but is this a good or bad idea?

FYI, I just suffered the expensive pain of a cracked head (at 80k ) on my BMW (depleting the 993 fund again ). So I'll be driving it for much longer than I'd planned, and now want to mod it a bit: just bought Bilstein sports w/ H&R and want to upgrade to 17" wheels too. In for a penny, in for a few grand.

Thanks for any insight.

Midnight Rider

You need a japanese daily driver to avoid these little german car surprises!!!!!!!! I understand , I have had bimmers!!!

mike cap

Doc,

I had Wheels Collision (Bath PA) recondition, 'true up' and refinish my four 18" TT hollow spokes about a year ago. I have NEVER had such good service from a vendor and the finished product looks as good or better, than new. They were a pleasure to deal with and took a tremendous amount of pride in their work. Also, most of the 'high end' dealers (Lexus, Mercedes, Porsche, etc) and independents in Upstate NY use Wheels Collision. I actually got their name from the Porsche dealer in Buffalo where I bought my '97. In short, they are very reputable and you will not regret dealing with them. Hope this helps.

johnwelch

A few years ago I slid off the road, and did a fair amount of damage to my rims. My insurance co. wanted the rims repaired, not replaced. So, the rims were straightened. After about a week of driving on them, I brought the car back to the repair shop and said 'No way'. I had really pronounced steering wheel vibration. Now, the rim in question was pretty severly bent prior to the repair. You may not encounter the same problem as I did. How much are you saving? Do they offer any type of guarantee?

Terry Adams

I would consider a SF Bay Area shop like Wheel Techniques . Used them twice for bent hollow spoke. Satisfied but not affiliated. Maybe they sell also.

David in LA

IMHO it's one thing to repair wheels that you damaged yourself and quite another to buy repaired wheels with a damage history thay you have no idea about.

Dr. No

Mike Cap - that is extremely helpful. Thanks.

JW - the used stuff is much much cheaper than new, but it's a good question as to what they guarantee (i.e., trueness as opposed to finish, which I know they warrant). Any thing is too much for a wheel that's weak or not straight.

Dr. No

Agree 100%. They say that they keep track of the incoming condition by wheel and so can tell you how much "fixin" was done to each one.

mike cap

Doc,

You're welcome. Now that you mention their tracking system, it reminds me that one of my wheels had their (Wheels Collision) work-order number etched on the rear face of the mounting flange. They recognized it and told me that the wheel had been there before from the Buffalo Porsche dealership to repair a pothole close encounter. Big surprise in Buffalo, right? I would think they could tell you the 'blood-lines' of the wheels you are interested in as well.

993 Guy

I have 2 sets of wheels at Wheel Collision right now and from past experience, they are a great outfit to work with. I'll let you know how my latest "reconditioning" turns out...