[lukeb817]

Here's a story for you. So, in a previous thread, I described how I bent my front right wheel on a monster pothole (M5 rep) in this thread:
http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=765073

Well, I kept driving on the wheels with the intention of swapping the M5 reps out for my original wheels with some Blizzaks this weekend. In the meantime I didn't seem to to notice any significant vibrations up front. I did however start to notice a vibration that I could feel in the seat at speeds of 70+MPH (didn't feel it through the steering wheel) so I started to suspect that maybe I had a bent or off-balance wheel in the rear as well. It started to bug me every time I drove on the highway, but I always wondered if it was just my imagination and I was feeling road bumps/imperfections with the stiffer suspension (H&R sports).

Here's where it get's interesting: Last night, I diverted from my usual route home from the cleaners to stop at an ATM. In order to get back on the usual route after hitting up the bank ATM, I found myself turning left at an unfamiliar intersection, under construction, in the dark, running late for a dinner reservation, in a bit of a rush. I pulled out to turn left onto the main road and right at the last split second I realized I took the turn too tight and was about to go up over the divider curb. (photo below, path in RED..I SHOULD have taken the green path, blue arrow is my usual route) UGH...It seemed to feel like it took me 30 seconds to go up and over....and the tires slammed into the curb and I felt like I FLEW over the f-ing thing. I'm guessing I was probably going 20ish MPH This is a 50 MPH zone and nowhere to pull over, so I had to keep driving. I didn't notice anything amiss at first, so I just kept driving home. But when the adrenaline wore off, I could pay a bit closer attention, and there was a definite vibration/shimmy to the car. Again, I didn't feel much through the steering wheel, just in the seat (butt/back) but this time it was much more pronounced, and at almost any speed. I clearly screwed up one or all of the wheels. I was worried that the impact could have damaged suspension components (like a control arm). I woke up early to swap the wheels out with my originals before work today, and get underneath in the light to inspect the components and didn't notice anything -- only visible damage I could see was a scrape underneath the front airdam on the driver's side and the rear passengar side plastic jack point was chewed up a bit. After I took a spin with the OEM wheels/tires, all vibrations/shimmy, etc. seemed to disappear. What a bummer -- 17 years of driving, and quite a few cars with aftermarket wheels and suspensions, I've never made such a stupid mistake, and I've never even curbed a wheel, let alone bent one -- now, in less than a month's time, it appears I may have ruined an entire set! So frustrating.

Does anyone have experience with the shops that claim to fix bent rims? The local one I know of charges $100 per wheel...at that price I wonder if I might as well just buy new rims (the M5 reps are cheap, at $800 a set plus shipping).

Thanks,
Luke

[jsedlak]

Curb them again and we may have to start a petition to have you hand them over to one of us

[SamS]

Cheap reps are gonna bend easily.

[lukeb817]

Originally Posted by SamS

Cheap reps are gonna bend easily.

Yes indeed -- Granted, I think almost any wheel would bend from the monster pothole two weeks ago and my idiotic curb incident last night.

Now I'm asking myself the question: "do I even try to fix or replace them, or just give up on them altogether and find something else?" I don't really like anything else, and now that I've had 19s on the car, going back to the OEM 18s is a visual disappointment.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by lukeb817

Yes indeed -- Granted, I think almost any wheel would bend from the monster pothole two weeks ago and my idiotic curb incident last night.

Now I'm asking myself the question: "do I even try to fix or replace them, or just give up on them altogether and find something else?" I don't really like anything else, and now that I've had 19s on the car, going back to the OEM 18s is a visual disappointment.

Fix or replace, and it will happen again eventually with reps.

Why not try the OEM 19" Sport or M-sport wheels?

[Seagull]

Originally Posted by jsedlak

Curb them again and we may have to start a petition to have you hand them over to one of us

Curb them again, and next time he has to provide a slide package with animations and music with it...

Seriously, that sucks man. My condolences. It seems for me that when I care about something, it somehow gets dinged up. When I don't care anymore, they are never damaged again. Sometimes its just really bad luck/timing.

[shivaswrath]

Try your luck with 18's man...

[Jackson743]

Can't you just call **********s and replace the one bent wheel?

[lukeb817]

Originally Posted by Jackson743

Can't you just call **********s and replace the one bent wheel?

That's the rub...I know one is bent because I can see it, I presume at least one other is also bent, maybe all- no matter what I do, I will have to take them all in to a tire shop to figure out which ones are bent and then either pay 80-100 USD to repair each bent wheel, or replace the bent one(s) for 200ish each, then pay to have the tires re-mounted and balanced. Almost seems easier to just order a new set of wheels, swap out the tires and sell the old wheels to someone else to deal with straightening them (full disclosure, of course).

I'm not going to worry about it until spring time since I will be riding on the factory M-Sport 18s with winter tires now-- I'll figure it out in March. Maybe I will fall in love with another wheel by then. (Not likely, I really love that wheel design).

[lukeb817]

Originally Posted by Seagull

Curb them again, and next time he has to provide a slide package with animations and music with it...

Seriously, that sucks man. My condolences. It seems for me that when I care about something, it somehow gets dinged up. When I don't care anymore, they are never damaged again. Sometimes its just really bad luck/timing.

Haha, yeah, I made those pictures trying to explain to a friend what happened who didn't quite understand without the visuals...I realize it's a bit over the top