Finally happened..grr

smk82

smk82

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Well it was bound to finally happen.. 16 months of careful driving and now a scraped alloy:( .
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As these are diamond cut part polished, does anyone have recommendations as to where to get it refurbed? Located near reading and would prefer not to travel to far. I would prefer a proper repair rather than just a alloy face smart repair which wouldnt last..
 
Nope, no rim protector.. just a tad too close an approach to a kerb:banghead:
 
Stuff of my nightmare's, after nearly a year into ownership and mine are still perfect but I am dreading the time it happens to me so I feel for you...
 
Hope you can get it fixed cheap.

Not sure what the part polished s-line wheel costs to replace - but the S3 standard wheel is £650. :faint:

Was painful handing that amount of cash over!
 
audi upgrades
Had mine repaired at the AutoWerks in Slough. Good price and excellent job. It will involve skimming a fraction from the whole face of the wheel so its worth remembering this can only be done a few times to each wheel.
 
SMK82, I'm gutted for you, it's so easily done. Gives you that funny feeling in the pit of your stomach.
Hope you get it sorted.
 
Ohhh that's not good, feel for you mate :(

Pulp84 said:
the S3 standard wheel is £650. :faint:

Was painful handing that amount of cash over!
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Think I'd be tempted to buy a full set from ebay or a wheel dealer, rather than pay that for one!
 
S32B......when it happened there were none on Ebay. Quite a rare wheel. In fact just checked again and certainly not on Ebay.

I sent some pictures to a refurb company (which veeeight kindly suggested) the same day I did the damage but they could not guarantee that it would match the rest of the wheels due to the diamond repair cut process.

Now keeping the damaged one in "reserve" so that if I do another wheel I can get both repaired so they match on one side of the car if that makes sense.....
 
Pulp84 said:
Now keeping the damaged one in "reserve" so that if I do another wheel I can get both repaired so they match on one side of the car if that makes sense.....
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Yeah that makes sense :) But I meant that rather than pay £650 for one 'original' I'd go for a full set of different wheels...funny enough this post: A full set with tyres for £1000 http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/peoples-thoughts-on-these-alloys.234579/#post-2343117

When I was looking to buy a Z4 I was going to pay £600'ish to upgrade from the standard alloys. A guy on the forums suggested to get the standard alloys, then spend the £600 buying another set of alloys to make the Z4 different from the rest. Then put the tyres off the standard alloys on the new alloys and use those in the summer, put a set of winter tyres on the standards for the winter!...Basically £600 for one set of alloys/tyres, or two sets (summer & winter) for £1000. I would have done that if BMW had wanted my order/money!!! BUT they didn't so I went to Audi :)
 
S32B said:
Yeah that makes sense :) But I meant that rather than pay £650 for one 'original' I'd go for a full set of different wheels...funny enough this post: A full set with tyres for £1000 http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/peoples-thoughts-on-these-alloys.234579/#post-2343117

When I was looking to buy a Z4 I was going to pay £600'ish to upgrade from the standard alloys. A guy on the forums suggested to get the standard alloys, then spend the £600 buying another set of alloys to make the Z4 different from the rest. Then put the tyres off the standard alloys on the new alloys and use those in the summer, put a set of winter tyres on the standards for the winter!...Basically £600 for one set of alloys/tyres, or two sets (summer & winter) for £1000. I would have done that if BMW had wanted my order/money!!! BUT they didn't so I went to Audi :)
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Ah makes sense now! Its amazing some of the deals you can get on a really smart set of alloys and wheels on EBay.

I really like the OEM wheels on the S3 so I stomached the £650 bill from TPS!
 
There is no way I will be putting non TUV approved non OE spec eBay wheels that haven't undergone quality and durability testing on any car I drive.

There's a reason why they are £300 for a set of 4...........

I've seen enough disintegrated wheels in my time.
 
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..... but not necessarily from eBay .......

And even then TUV marks are easily forged, from less reputable sales outlets on auction sites.
 
I'm reluctant getting ANYTHING from eBay, got caught out years back with a small electrical item! But if you're careful/picky/research you do get some good deals :)
 
Yep, be especially careful with getting electronic media (eg: SD Cards etc.) - eBay (and to some extent, Amazon) is flooded with fakes, that look near-identical to the genuine item.

It's only several read/write cycles down the line, and you discover that you've lost all your data. :(
 
veeeight said:
There is no way I will be putting non TUV approved non OE spec eBay wheels that haven't undergone quality and durability testing on any car I drive.

There's a reason why they are £300 for a set of 4...........

I've seen enough disintegrated wheels in my time.
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Yep. If there's one thing I've learned in all my years, it's that you get what you pay for and cheap stuff is cheap for a reason.

Even if the cheapo wheels are structurally sound, they're often far heavier than the OEM ones due to inferior production techniques and the increase in unsprung mass won't help the handling.
 
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veeeight said:
Yep, be especially careful with getting electronic media (eg: SD Cards etc.) - eBay (and to some extent, Amazon) is flooded with fakes, that look near-identical to the genuine item.

It's only several read/write cycles down the line, and you discover that you've lost all your data. :(
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I bought some headphones from a good online store and within a year they developed a fault, they were changed within days without any arguments. A mate decided to buy the same headphones only 'cheaper' from eBay, they broke within a few weeks and the dealer didn't want to know...so did he then use the same store as I did??? NO!!! he went and bought some more cheap ones from eBay!!! His combined purchases for the two sets of fakes were the same as what I had paid for originals :D You just can't help some people.
 
Ouch, I cringed when I saw that picture...... However, we all have to get close to a kerb sooner or later.

Wheels are something I would *never* buy from eBay. You're entrusting yourself and your passengers to them. Throwaway stuff where I'm willing to risk getting a potential lemon for a bargain, fair enough, but I can't even be bothered with the hassle of that these days.
 
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Pulp84 said:
Ah makes sense now! Its amazing some of the deals you can get on a really smart set of alloys and wheels on EBay.

I really like the OEM wheels on the S3 so I stomached the £650 bill from TPS!
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I will mention it again. There are plenty of Chinese (etc) wheels out there. They look great but are badly produced use poor materials and fail.
Would you buy dodgy brake pads? Not much difference in my book.

There are also plenty of great aftermarket producers too, I wouldn't suggest that you only buy Audi wheels. But for you and your families safety only buy from reputable dealers.
 
Personally I am not a fan of the "non-OEM" look and therefore wouldn't ever contemplate them. The deals are amazing on Ebay but you do wonder what you are actually getting quality and safety wise.

I have a friend that curbed two Golf MK5 GTI wheels and bought a "genuine" set on Ebay. A few months of use and they wormed super bad. So spent another £600 buying proper ones from VW. Says it all.
 
Screw fore and aft parking sensors, why haven't they invented kerb sensors yet? :)
 
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Elite wheels in Reading were great when I had to use them last year. Sell both new and refurb allows for Audi depending on stock. www.elitewheels.co.uk.

Good family run business.
 
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After a bit of poke around on the internet and a few phone calls, the best option I seem to find is pristine alloys in milton keynes who've quoted £100 inc VAT, wheel balance and refit. Ironically they are the same place Reading Audi send their diamond cut alloy refurbs and they charge £120 for the same service! - no point paying the middleman... its a damn site better than £600 odd for a new wheel!

Before I decide to strip the alloy off and send it - does anyone have any experience with these people?
 
smk82 said:
After a bit of poke around on the internet and a few phone calls, the best option I seem to find is pristine alloys in milton keynes who've quoted £100 inc VAT, wheel balance and refit. Ironically they are the same place Reading Audi send their diamond cut alloy refurbs and they charge £120 for the same service! - no point paying the middleman... its a damn site better than £600 odd for a new wheel!

Before I decide to strip the alloy off and send it - does anyone have any experience with these people?
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I used Pristine Wheels when I first got my previous A3. The car with with 2-tone 16-spoke alloys which I was not that keen on having had the same wheel but in a single colour on my A3 prior to that one. Pristine Alloys painted the new wheels in silver and made an excellent job. There were still as good as new when I traded it in 3 years later. I would certainly use them again.
 
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Well wheel off and space saver on..found a local garage who removed and swapped the tyres for me. Will go off to pristine on wednesday. Hopefully will come back gleaming..
 
Good luck !

I'd be interested to know how well they colour match the painted surfaces when you compare it to the existing wheel on the same side of the car.
 
Indeed. They have the remainder of the wheel and the alloy code on the inside so i would hope they have no problems!
 
JP Alloys in Cannock are very good, they did a 19" Rotor and my 3.2 TT wheels.
 
I enquired with them. The website claims they collect from anyone. Guy i spoke stated that it was only from dealerships they have agreements with in the local area. Rather misleading i thought!
 
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JP alloys couldn't help me with my S3 alloy :(

The didn't want to attempt it due to the painted areas being so close to the diamond cut areas on the spokes. They were very professional though and tried their best to work out a solution but no joy.
 
I've used JP Alloys for 2 of my 18" BE Rotors in the past, very high quality work.

But I did drop off and collect in person.
 
Oh I'm not saying their work is poor at all. More that they have

"Arrange for your Wheels to be Collected
To arrange a collection please call us on:
01543 503 362
At JP Alloys we provide a complete collection and delivery service. If you have a set of Alloy Wheels in need of refurbishment, but are not in our area - or you cannot find the time to get to our premises, we will collect them from you!

The majority of collections from UK mainland cost as little as £5.00 per wheel."

The above stated on their website. Which doesn't state - you must be a dealership or trader customer!
 
veeeight said:
Good luck !

I'd be interested to know how well they colour match the painted surfaces when you compare it to the existing wheel on the same side of the car.
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+1 on this

I think I may have to get one side (both wheels) done just to satisfy the OCD in me. BUT I know I have issues with this! :banghead::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Looking foreword to the pics & your thoughts upon your wheels return :thumbs up:
 
I will be sure to post pictures and opinion when they return for everyone to see as I'm sure I'm not the only one with diamond cut wheels around here!
 
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I had to get both wheels on one side done, as the BE Rotors were quite a fussy shade of titanium to match perfectly. :(

I have till this day the paint code etched on my brain. L8AU. What made it worse on those wheels is that the lacquer was Satin/Matt, and not gloss like 99% of all other alloy wheels out there. So my choice of repairer was very limited, as not many refurbishers could do a Satin/Matt finish lacquer.

During my quest to get mine repaired (JP Alloys could also fill deep gouges with Aluminium Weld, before machining flush), I saw many bad diamond cut repairs, including glossy wheels which stood out like a sore thumb.

I have heard good things about Pristine Wheels, it's just that they couldn't offer me a Matt finish lacquer at that time.
 
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S32B said:
Plenty of TUV approved alloys around if you use the right company, the OP in the link I provided is looking at some, set of 4 for £500. You can see which are TUV approved from their main page: http://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels
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I have no idea what Tuv approved is?! I ended up buying a set of 18" MSW By OZ from my link that you've quoted. Turns out they're Tuv approved. Only a good thing I guess?

I went for these. Just waiting for delivery :)

With Goodyear tyres bought from black circles they came in at £911 fitted. I think I'm gonna buy some Audi centre caps to try and half keep the OEM look

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