[brommy]

Has anyone had a scuffed diamond cut alloy repaired and if so, what was the quality of the repair like?

I have what I would describe as a medium depth scuff, about 5mm in height, that covers about one quarter of the circumference of the outer edge (just before the wheel meets the tyre) of my front nearside 403.

I have alloy wheel insurance. I've read many posts on how most wheel policies don't cover diamond cut alloys but I assure you my policy does cover diamond cuts.

I've read through the small print of making a claim and there are no issues for me except this statement -

"If your alloy wheel has a diamond cut finish - the repair will not match the original manufacturer finish of the wheel."

I'd like to hear from those who have experience of a repair to diamond cuts, ideally 403s. What difference was there to the original finish? How noticeable was it if compared to the other wheel on the same side of the car? Was the difference in finish fairly even over the whole wheel or did it stand out as the area the was previously damaged?

I could just live with the scuff but it is slightly annoying when contrasted against a nicely polished EBII F30; besides which, I bought the 3 year repair policy so I wouldn't have to live with the occasional scuffed alloy.

[Tr0y]

Signing on to see what happens.

[cr55]

Dreading the day I do this on mine,, that said I do have a stone chip on the grey paint on the inner spoke on one wheel !!

My wife has an X1 with the diamond cut style 323 wheels, like you she scuffed the outer edge, she does not have insurance so I called the local dealer who advised they used The Wheel Specialist, so I have them a call and a few days later and £104 lighter the wheel came back,, having OCD, the wheel was not perfect however other people have not been able to pick out the repaired wheel,, the machine cut finish is perfect but what lets it down slightly is the leading edge between the painted spoke and the machine polished face,, that said I do have OCD and it is definitely better than staring at a kerbed wheel,, so worth doing when taking everything into consideration,,

[Steven1077]

This is why I'm not bothering with insurance, I'll just replace the wheel, not a cheap option but I think I was told £480 for a rear 403, but I px the 3 series and they didn't care about the scuff on the wheel so I never replaced it

[malc1]

Also like to see if this type of repair is successful.

[brommy]

Originally Posted by Steven1077

This is why I'm not bothering with insurance, I'll just replace the wheel, not a cheap option but I think I was told £480 for a rear 403, but I px the 3 series and they didn't care about the scuff on the wheel so I never replaced it

Even if the repair finish is not perfect but I see it as 'decent', I will still be glad I had the insurance. I'm hoping for an '8 out of 10' or more, in my opinion.

Still be interested as to what others diamond cut repairs have been like...

[dazzapb]

I "repaired" mine myself with some wet and dry paper was 'lucky' enough to damage the outside rim. Managed to get rid of the deep scratches. Used a little lacquer and its hard to see. I would probably also get a new alloy but its an extreme way out but having said that I just missed out on ebay for 403m's x 4 brand new S001's - sold for £820 what a bargain.

[davethefish]

scuffed the nearside front a couple of weeks ago...
i'm surprised i wasn't more gutted, inevitable though....

as dazzapb,
i sanded it with some abrasive not as fine as wet and dry though
as it left a more 'cut' finish i thought.
touched up with some lacquer and artists brush,
and later wet and dry P2000 sanded, then polished with megs ultimate compound.
you can see it if you look really closely but it's near enough.

rears don't have the same problem as the tyre bead is much deeper.
caught the rear a time or two and just scrubbed the tyre.

[r1cey]

Originally Posted by brommy

Has anyone had a scuffed diamond cut alloy repaired and if so, what was the quality of the repair like?

I have what I would describe as a medium depth scuff, about 5mm in height, that covers about one quarter of the circumference of the outer edge (just before the wheel meets the tyre) of my front nearside 403.

I have alloy wheel insurance. I've read many posts on how most wheel policies don't cover diamond cut alloys but I assure you my policy does cover diamond cuts.

I've read through the small print of making a claim and there are no issues for me except this statement -

"If your alloy wheel has a diamond cut finish - the repair will not match the original manufacturer finish of the wheel."

I'd like to hear from those who have experience of a repair to diamond cuts, ideally 403s. What difference was there to the original finish? How noticeable was it if compared to the other wheel on the same side of the car? Was the difference in finish fairly even over the whole wheel or did it stand out as the area the was previously damaged?

I could just live with the scuff but it is slightly annoying when contrasted against a nicely polished EBII F30; besides which, I bought the 3 year repair policy so I wouldn't have to live with the occasional scuffed alloy.

Before you do anything, have a close look at your wheel hub. How long have you had the car? The 403M's are notorious for corroding at the hub. My car was a 5month old AUC and when cleaning for the first time, noticed a surface blemish on the outer face on one of the wheels. Not very noticeable from a few feet away, but noticeable to me and bugged the life out of me, so after weeks of it putting up with it, mentioned it to the sales manager, while complaining about something else, and he asked me to look at the hubs, and sure enough signs of corrosion.....took it into the dealer, they took photos, put in a warranty claim to BMW, and ended up having all 4 alloys replaced with brand spanking new ones. One of the wheels is showing early signs of this again already, and only been on the car 6months. Will get them to assess it at my first service.

P.S. One of the replacement alloys arrived from Germany damaged, so had to wait several more weeks for another replacement, but after all this hassle, and my original complaint being dealt with, got a roofbox and support system (approx £530 worth) as a goodwill gesture....if you don't ask, you don't get....happy days ;-)

[dazzapb]

Originally Posted by davethefish

scuffed the nearside front a couple of weeks ago...
i'm surprised i wasn't more gutted, inevitable though....

as dazzapb,
i sanded it with some abrasive not as fine as wet and dry though
as it left a more 'cut' finish i thought.
touched up with some lacquer and artists brush,
and later wet and dry P2000 sanded, then polished with megs ultimate compound.
you can see it if you look really closely but it's near enough.

rears don't have the same problem as the tyre bead is much deeper.
caught the rear a time or two and just scrubbed the tyre.

indeed mate forgot I used a more abrasive sandpaper first but not as pro as your efforts, still looks better than it did

Yes the tyre protection is far better on the rear and it saved my bacon. (hit a kerbstone at traffic lights) didn't see the fecker

[brommy]

Originally Posted by r1cey

Before you do anything, have a close look at your wheel hub. How long have you had the car? The 403M's are notorious for corroding at the hub. My car was a 5month old AUC and when cleaning for the first time, noticed a surface blemish on the outer face on one of the wheels. Not very noticeable from a few feet away, but noticeable to me and bugged the life out of me, so after weeks of it putting up with it, mentioned it to the sales manager, while complaining about something else, and he asked me to look at the hubs, and sure enough signs of corrosion.....took it into the dealer, they took photos, put in a warranty claim to BMW, and ended up having all 4 alloys replaced with brand spanking new ones. One of the wheels is showing early signs of this again already, and only been on the car 6months. Will get them to assess it at my first service.

P.S. One of the replacement alloys arrived from Germany damaged, so had to wait several more weeks for another replacement, but after all this hassle, and my original complaint being dealt with, got a roofbox and support system (approx £530 worth) as a goodwill gesture....if you don't ask, you don't get....happy days ;-)

Thanks, very interesting. My car is 6 months old and whilst there is some rust visible on the hubs I think the wheels are good. I will check again in the light tomorrow but I haven't noticed any blemishes in the finish of the alloys.

[r1cey]

Originally Posted by brommy

Thanks, very interesting. My car is 6 months old and whilst there is some rust visible on the hubs I think the wheels are good. I will check again in the light tomorrow but I haven't noticed any blemishes in the finish of the alloys.

Rust on the hubs will be sufficient to push for warranty replacement regardless of any damage elsewhere. Search "403M" on this forum, there have been numerous posts on this. :-)

[brommy]

Originally Posted by r1cey

Rust on the hubs will be sufficient to push for warranty replacement regardless of any damage elsewhere. Search "403M" on this forum, there have been numerous posts on this. :-)

I must be missing something. How would replacement wheels cure rusty hubs? I thought the hub was the part of the car that the wheel bolted on to?

[r1cey]

Originally Posted by brommy

I must be missing something. How would replacement wheels cure rusty hubs? I thought the hub was the part of the car that the wheel bolted on to?

Apologies for any confusion, I mean rust on the alloys at the hubs. If you look at your alloys where the BMW hub cap is, if there is any sign of rust, then you can get them replaced under warranty.
As I said, search the forum, there's been a few threads on this topic.

[brommy]

Originally Posted by r1cey

Apologies for any confusion, I mean rust on the alloys at the hubs. If you look at your alloys where the BMW hub cap is, if there is any sign of rust, then you can get them replaced under warranty.
As I said, search the forum, there's been a few threads on this topic.

Thanks for the clarification. I will remove the centre caps and have a look - probably at the weekend. In the meantime, I have received authority from the insurer that they will pay for the repair. I will hold them off until I have checked for rust on the centre of the alloys.

[magic77]

Had similar wheels on my wifes B-class dealer attempted two repairs in end ended up respraying the wheels just one colour as the laquer would only last about 5 months and start to peel and flake off

[brommy]

Originally Posted by magic77

Had similar wheels on my wifes B-class dealer attempted two repairs in end ended up respraying the wheels just one colour as the laquer would only last about 5 months and start to peel and flake off

That doesn't sound good. I will be asking what warranty there is on the repair.

I was under the impression that a diamond cut alloy needed to be taken away for a few days to repair. The insurer's repair centre rang me today to book the repair date and told me it will be repaired on my drive 'while you wait'.

Repair agent is very busy as first appointment for me was 20th October! At least that gives me plenty of time to check for rusty alloys with the chance of replacing them under warranty!

[johno]

Originally Posted by brommy

That doesn't sound good. I will be asking what warranty there is on the repair.

I was under the impression that a diamond cut alloy needed to be taken away for a few days to repair. The insurer's repair centre rang me today to book the repair date and told me it will be repaired on my drive 'while you wait'.

Repair agent is very busy as first appointment for me was 20th October! At least that gives me plenty of time to check for rusty alloys with the chance of replacing them under warranty!

I wonder if they know what diamond cut alloys are. They need to be turned on a lathe to get the finish right. If he's repairing it on your drive he's not going to do any better than you could yourself with some wet and dry. Which, by the way as others have said, is pretty easy to do and gives decent results if you don't suffer from OCD.

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by johno

I wonder if they know what diamond cut alloys are. They need to be turned on a lathe to get the finish right. If he's repairing it on your drive he's not going to do any better than you could yourself with some wet and dry. Which, by the way as others have said, is pretty easy to do and gives decent results if you don't suffer from OCD.

You'd be surprised....I've seen a wheel lathe in a Van.

[brommy]

Originally Posted by johno

I wonder if they know what diamond cut alloys are. They need to be turned on a lathe to get the finish right. If he's repairing it on your drive he's not going to do any better than you could yourself with some wet and dry. Which, by the way as others have said, is pretty easy to do and gives decent results if you don't suffer from OCD.

When I asked her, the phone agent said the repair agent would be equipped to repair diamond cut alloys. Even if he uses some wet n dry, instead of a lathe, provided the repair is decent I will be happy. For the £10 excess cost, I'd trust his repair experience (that will also hopefully have a warranty) more than my untried ability with only myself to blame if my repair is sh!t.

[magic77]

In my case wheel went off to Lepsons twice and each time the laquer starterted to bubble and crack on the creese point on the wheel. Even Lepsons admited they only warranty the work for 6 months. Hence in end dealer contributed and I had all 4 wheels powder coated just one colour at a firm of my choice.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by magic77

In my case wheel went off to Lepsons twice and each time the laquer starterted to bubble and crack on the creese point on the wheel. Even Lepsons admited they only warranty the work for 6 months. Hence in end dealer contributed and I had all 4 wheels powder coated just one colour at a firm of my choice.

You powder coated diamond cut wheels!?