Arrggghh! I've dinged the S4! AGAIN!

50mph I think, had mine on for a few days a while back. Made sure it went on rear axle, not sure if this is a requirement but seemed the right thing to do
 
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Dropped the alloy off for repair this morning. The tyre pressure alert came on during the drive, so when I got home, I put 61psi in the spacesaver spare,and reset the stored pressures in MMI. It looks horrible and I'm driving very slowly and gently. The timing is awful, as snow is forecast.
 
@jdp1962 you may have worse luck than me! In the space of last week I have the paint removed from my front bumper by unfinished road works, someone has damaged my near side wing mirror and a lovely screw with washer included embedded itself in my new winter tyre!

But unfortunately we love our cars and spend more looking after them than ourselves!
 
arobson90 said:
@jdp1962 you may have worse luck than me! In the space of last week I have the paint removed from my front bumper by unfinished road works, someone has damaged my near side wing mirror and a lovely screw with washer included embedded itself in my new winter tyre!

But unfortunately we love our cars and spend more looking after them than ourselves!
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That's some serious bad luck. I hope you get it all sorted out soon. :) x
 
Got a phone call today to say the wheel was ready to collect. This was two days sooner than expected, so schlepped across to the workshop with a sense of optimism, only to have it dashed when I saw they'd got the colour match way off. The grey colour on the spokes and centre is far too light.

Several people came and looked at it, mumbled something about the wheels on the car being too dark (really?!), but when it was obvious I wasn't budging, a guy with a sense of responsibility started taking it seriously, offering up sample colour cards and trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

His conclusion is that the wrong lacquer has been used, and that's throwing out the final colour. They're going to do it again with a different lacquer and it'll be ready to collect on Wednesday after all.

If they do eventually get it right, all it'll have cost me today is a gallon of petrol and two hours sat in the rush hour. But if it isn't right on Wednesday, I'll be hopping mad.
 
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Since I'm sure that you're a financially astute young man Jeff, I assume you checked what the price of a brand new wheel is? :)

It is true I am cynical. I only had experience of wheel refurb once, and once was enough. For me if the repair cost is significant I always consider whether to go ahead and pay more for replacement, knowing that at least then it would be a 100% solution and I won't forever be doubting if the repair is as good as I first thought it was...
 
Dippy said:
Since I'm sure that you're a financially astute young man Jeff, I assume you checked what the price of a brand new wheel is? :)

It is true I am cynical. I only had experience of wheel refurb once, and once was enough. For me if the repair cost is significant I always consider whether to go ahead and pay more for replacement, knowing that at least then it would be a 100% solution and I won't forever be doubting if the repair is as good as I first thought it was...
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That's one hell of an assumption you make, there, @Dippy :)

Last time I was wandering round an Audi dealer, the average price of an OEM rim was upwards of £700. The repair is costing me £95.
 
Hopefully they get it sorted this time around.
Different car and different sprayer - but mate of mine had similiar problem couldn't get the 1 wheel to match the originals. Ended up respraying all 4 in the end!! Fingers crossed for good result Wednesdy for you
 
jdp1962 said:
That's one hell of an assumption you make, there, @Dippy :)

Last time I was wandering round an Audi dealer, the average price of an OEM rim was upwards of £700. The repair is costing me £95.
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WOW. Yes I'd have to think about that. However I would cost in the resale value of the damaged rim. There are usually people willing to buy damaged rims so I guess yours would be worth between £200 and £300?

Nevertheless I'm keen to find out how good your repair is in the end. As I stated, I paid for wheel refurbs before and was not happy, including after the second attempt.
 
I'm back on all four proper wheels. Report tomorrow, with pics.
 
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OK, I've now got more time on my hands today than anticipated. Just tried to log on to work from home, mis-keyed in my login, and my account's been locked. Rang the IT helpdesk to get it reset and they said they need to ask me a couple of security questions. First one was fine, "What was your first car?" Then (and I really cannot believe I chose this as a security question) "What is your favourite song?"

I've got more change of remembering the colour of the socks I wore on my 11th birthday as I have of answering that question correctly. What was I thinking of? Arrggh!

Upshot is, they'll only unlock my login if I present myself in person in the IT department. So that'll happen tomorrow, my next in-office day, so today is an enforced day off. Am about to have some breakfast while the car thaws out a bit, then I'll clean it, photograph it, and tell the story of my alloy wheel repair.
 
Ok, so here's the story; a bit of a saga. First off, no criticism here of the company that did the work. They've had a great attitude throughout, and are prepared to go the extra mile to get a good resolution.

I went back yesterday to collect the wheel, and when it was put up alongside the front wheel on the car, everyone agreed it still wasn't quite there. The operations director came over to speak to me personally and agree next steps. He's anxious to find a solution because his company gets all referral work from local Audi dealers. Right there, all I wanted to do was get the wheel on and go home; it was late, the rush hour was approaching and I'd had enough of driving on the spacesaver.

He's proposed that the car come in on a day when he can have his paint supplier on site, so that they can establish if there's been an mixing error in the current batch. He'll collect my car, provide a courtesy car, keep it overnight to do a fresh finish using a mix overseen by the supplier, and then deliver back to me the next day. Until then, I pay nothing. We agreed I'd get back to him once I'd had a chance to clean the car, see it properly in daylight. So, here it is.

The whole car:
P1000678_zpsp9snkdar.jpg


OEM finish
P1000679_zpswdffcclb.jpg


Repaired finish
P1000680_zpsq3pfho95.jpg


I really appreciate what the company's prepared to do, but it's still a lot of disruption, and I'm not convinced I can't live with it as it is. The other thing is, sooner or later, it'll happen again. That wheel, or possibly another one, will suffer damage. The pragmatist in me is thinking the sensible thing to do is wait until I've got several nicks and scratches all over, and have them all done together in one go.

Over to you, peoples.
 
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Doesn’t look too bad from the photos but I’m sure is very different when viewed in real life.
I know from similar experiences, it’s your good self that has to be 100% satisfied or it’ll always bug you!
Have they offered to do all four wheels? Can they provide loan wheels?
Its reassuring to see you have a positive company on the case that want to help

One of the secondary reasons for me having my rotors done in hyper silver (apart from the diamond cut rim) was me been scared of poor colour match when the inevitable happens - that said, the colour can be matched, im sure @scotty76 had a repair done?

My car goes in for bumper and tailgate repair on Monday, following my incident in December, I’m already anxious and fearing the worst for paint match and the state they leave my ceramic coating in.

Hope it all plays out ok for you mate
 
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@Keef I have the standard 18" wheels. I was too paranoid of the diamond cut rotors to go BE when I ordered. Saw what a mess my Dad's diamond cut wheels were. The repair on mine was spot on but an easier match I guess.
 
jdp1962 said:
Ok, so here's the story; a bit of a saga. First off, no criticism here of the company that did the work. They've had a great attitude throughout, and are prepared to go the extra mile to get a good resolution.

I went back yesterday to collect the wheel, and when it was put up alongside the front wheel on the car, everyone agreed it still wasn't quite there. The operations director came over to speak to me personally and agree next steps. He's anxious to find a solution because his company gets all referral work from local Audi dealers. Right there, all I wanted to do was get the wheel on and go home; it was late, the rush hour was approaching and I'd had enough of driving on the spacesaver.

He's proposed that the car come in on a day when he can have his paint supplier on site, so that they can establish if there's been an mixing error in the current batch. He'll collect my car, provide a courtesy car, keep it overnight to do a fresh finish using a mix overseen by the supplier, and then deliver back to me the next day. Until then, I pay nothing. We agreed I'd get back to him once I'd had a chance to clean the car, see it properly in daylight. So, here it is.

The whole car:
P1000678_zpsp9snkdar.jpg


OEM finish
P1000679_zpswdffcclb.jpg


Repaired finish
P1000680_zpsq3pfho95.jpg


I really appreciate what the company's prepared to do, but it's still a lot of disruption, and I'm not convinced I can't live with it as it is. The other thing is, sooner or later, it'll happen again. That wheel, or possibly another one, will suffer damage. The pragmatist in me is thinking the sensible thing to do is wait until I've got several nicks and scratches all over, and have them all done together in one go.

Over to you, peoples.
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@jdp1962 - Like @Keef says, the OEM and the repaired wheel don't look too bad in photos but I’m sure is very different when viewed in real life

I'm probably not he best person to ask as I have serious car OCD (that SWMBO says I need treatment for lol)
But if there is a mismatch it would drive me nuts !
The best solution would be to get both offside wheels refurbed at the same time. That way if there is a minor discrepancy in the colour match you won't see it IMO

Just a thought Jeff :thumbs up:
 
jdp it sounds like this is your decision. If your not quite satisfied could you live with it as is? As keef said it looks pretty close in the photo, but in the flesh? Me? if I was being offered a further fix if I wasn't happy, I think I'd keep at it untiI I was. IMHO
 
Thanks all for the responses. I'm still mulling it over; there's no rush to make a decision. One of the things I'm trying to do as I get older is obsess less about the car than I have in the past. As Mrs Grumpy Old puts, it, "you're a nicer person when you're not obsessed than you are when you are".

@Bristle Hound, Col, getting the front wheel refurbed to match isn't a sensible option. Aside from the colour issue, even the best refurb finish won't be as good as the OEM factory finish, plus part of the profile of the wheel is lost in the process. The "shoulder" between the painted and polished sections on the refurbed wheel has been reduced, as the surface has been polished down. All I'd be doing is diminishing the quality of what is, at present, a pristine wheel, leaving me with two slightly sub-standard wheels instead of one. That would probably bug me more than what I have at present

@chucky1, yes, the company is happy to pursue a solution, but there's still no guarantee of getting it perfect plus, as I mentioned above, each refurb exercise takes a bit off the wheel's profile. I don't want to run out of wheel!
 
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Mmmm.... I didn't realize that to remove a lacquer that the polishing process would remove metal as well. If thats the case are they as close as they look in the photo jdp? To your eye in the flesh so to speak. Here's another option if its bugging you. Keep it as is, and perhaps look out for a good second hand rim. There are quite a few 19" rotors out there that are single.
 
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To my eyes the front looks darker,however as you say you don't want to keep getting them re-finished.

How about they do the other 3 to match instead ??
 
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jdp1962 said:
@Bristle Hound, Col, getting the front wheel refurbed to match isn't a sensible option. Aside from the colour issue, even the best refurb finish won't be as good as the OEM factory finish, plus part of the profile of the wheel is lost in the process. The "shoulder" between the painted and polished sections on the refurbed wheel has been reduced, as the surface has been polished down. All I'd be doing is diminishing the quality of what is, at present, a pristine wheel, leaving me with two slightly sub-standard wheels instead of one. That would probably bug me more than what I have at present
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Fair comment @jdp1962
Didn't realise that every time you refurbed a rotor you lose a bit of 'shoulder'
Plenty of rotors on eBay Jeff :thumbs up:
 
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Does anyone have the part number, offset and rim width info to hand?

I know this info is stamped on the back of the wheel but it'd be handy if I can avoid having to unbolt it from the hub.
 
OK, no need to remove wheel. Careful use of Mrs Grumpy Old's make-up mirror allowed me to get these:

Wheel%20part%20number_zpsjwsdktft.jpg


Wheel%20specs_zpstgl28vnu.jpg


So the part number is 8KO 601 025CN, and although the second one's not well-focussed, I can confirm it's ET43, 8.5J x 19".

So that means this eBay item is an option - a like for like exchange. It's a 33-mile schlep round the North Circular that'll easily take two hours each way, but worth a phone call at least.
 
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Not sure about you guys being in the UK but if you wreck a tyre outside Sydney you are really in a bind. You don't have to go far for a 255/35 R19 to be a foreign object.( "Yeah that's a pretty flash car mate, what is it? Yeah we can have one here in 3-4 days if your lucky") . The space saver is a last ditch alternative at 80 km/hr for a long distance. Around town it would be OK. I carry a full spare in the back when I'm out of the city wrapped in a tyre tote bag to keep things clean. Either on the back seat, or in the back of the Avant. I pack out the centre with stuff. So jdp I think they are a handy thing to have up your sleeve. And also if you ever need it, your not forced into a rushed decision to buy another tyre because of reliance on the skinny. I think it would definitely be worth a look. That said, it would only be a back seat job though. These are a decent size wheel when they're off. It would be a squeeze in a saloon boot I recon.
 
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Just out of interest, has anyone tried to see if a full-size wheel will fit into the spare wheel well? I know there's a lot of paraphenalia in there as well as the battery, but most of that could be relocated.
 
I have. The 255 doesn't fit in the Avants' well unluckily.
 
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