Hi,

I have quite old alloys on my BMW. They are BMW brand ones of twin spoke design. I need to be sure that they are running true and I'm faced with a bit of a dilemma. If I get new ones, it will cost a lot of money, however second hand ones are just as likely to be in the same state as my own.

I was considering getting an alloy wheel refurb. Has anyone had any experiences or recommendations with regard to this? Can they check that the wheels are running true?

I suspect that my alloys are slightly warped due to the large number of weights needed to balance a couple of them. I've had ongoing problems with steering shimmy on brake and as I know the discs/hub runouts are all in tolerance, ball joints and reaction bushes are ok it's really starting to make me think that the wheels are worth looking at.

I suppose that at least if I got new or refurb, they would look better as they do have scuff marks.

BMW garage have suggested that I go for the wheels next and rule them out. I've asked a couple of friends to borrow their wheels for testing, but it's like asking to take their wives out for a spin!

Thanks,

Neil.

Niel I believe there is a garage by the Lexus showroom just off the M53 which refurbish alloy wheels.
I used to go there when I worked at 3 counties but cannot remember the name of the place, maybe someone else will know?

Sprayforce in Moreton do wheel refurbs (behind the Shell Garage on Hoylake Rd)

They should also be able to tell if they are buckled if they run them up without tyres on their balancing machine

Thanks, will give them a try. Not been over the moon with Sprayfarce in the past when they did a paint job for me. They are a back street garage that do back street quality jobs.

Have you had any experience of using non-BMW alloys on BMWs? Would rather avoid spiggot rings if at all possible, but new OEM ones would cost the earth.

Cheers.

I had a set of M3 reps on an E36 a few years ago without any issues, but all my BMW wheels since then have been genuine items.

If I didn't have any issues and the wheels were just tatty, I'd probably consider reps, but I'm in the expensive "rule out the issue phase".

If the refurb won't work, I might just see if I can get two new ones for the front first, subject to being able to find wheels identical to what's fitted.

Has anyone used this guy: http://www.smartalloyliverpool.co.uk/

Niel i take it you`ve had the tyres checked?

Hi Ste, had a few sets of tyres on it since i've had the problem.

This article is really good: http://www.meeknet.co.uk/E38/E38_Shimmy.htm

The suspension on these cars is really unforgiving, especially with mine as it's lowered Bilstein.

I was considering replacing the front shocks next as they've done 100k. It's a a shame as there isn't anything else wrong with the car.

paint wizard FTW hes done mine an has huge contracts around the wirral, he done my managers maserati wheels an they look the dogs when hed finished

i've tried ringing round a few places including paint wizard and smart alloys and they say that they can only really repair cosmetic damage. There isn't much that can be done if the wheel is egged.

I'll take the wheels to get them checked on a balancing machine, but this is only likely to show that one side is running true not the entire wheel is fully rounded.

They did suggest that I'm best staying with OEM wherever possible due to quality and it wil negate the need for spiggot rings to hold the wheel against the hub bearing.

Took the car to sprayforce this morning..about as much use as tits on a boar hog. Thought I'd call into ATS which is just down the road.

The guy took the wheels off and balanced them. They did show as being out, considering that Frank Bathurst had only balanced them a week earlier!

Seems to have cured the problem. The guy recommended getting more expensive tyres for the front as known branded tyres have less imperfections than chinese shite. Guess it reinforces the message that BMWs are very sensitive to wheel balancing, so I would recommend getting it checked if you have wheel wobble, especially when braking before shelling out on discs, suspension components, wheels or tyres.

When I brake I do feel any road imperfections more than normal driving. Do you think changing front shocks would help with this? as my front Bilsteins have done over 100k.

Hi Neil, Ithink Bathers have gone down the pan recently.My wife and I both had punctures repaired there recently and both went completely flat the next day,when we went down to complain they just laughed and said "Oh that will be boomerang, his repairs always come back".A few days after they had re-repaired mine whilst travelling to the Lakes the same tyre went flat on the M6. I took it to be repaied in Keswick and the bloke there said that it was the worst repair he had ever seen and he was able to just pull the repair plug out by hand.We will not be dashing back there!

I only found out on Friday that Sprayforce had moved their tyre machine, and had a car right in front of it on the day, so it may have been a bit awkward for them to use it just to balance a tyre.

Id still recommend them for a wheel refurb though, if there was a bit more work to make it worthwhile moving stuff around.

They always do the tyre swaps / tyre rotation for me on my race car, and Ive never had a problem with balancing.

Personally I would give tunnel tyres & bathers a wide berth. The next tyres I get, i'll probably buy off ebay or top gear if part worn and take them to ATS to get them balanced.

I'm not particulary looking forward to replacing the front shocks due to the danger involved.

Once the shocks are done, i'll probably remove the wheels and drop them in to get re-touched.

Neil what size tyres do you use?

the back are pirelli. Front are chinese shite, Sunny and Goodride I think. The problem was that I got Pirelli all round, but larger ones on the front caused the wheel to touch the sills on full lock. Took the car back to topgear but they didn't have any part worn in 205/r17, so endeed up getting new chinese crap on the front for the time being as could hardly drive it out on the rims and take it elsewhere to get a known brand.

May see if I can do a trade in for part worn branded to replace new chinese crap on the front, but they seem alright for now and I only drive the car at weekends. I don't think they'll last before they are completely worn, but will keep checking to ensure the walls dont crack etc.

It used to have Yokos all round on 205, but it was a serious pain in the arse for speed bumps. The small extra clearance I get having larger tyres on back seems to make the world of difference.

I've used Sprayforce in the past for various jobs. Don't use them now though.

Why wouldn't you use Tunnel Tyres Neil? I've found them excellent.

I've never had a problem with Tunnel Tyres either, but I've never used them

Bathers have always been great with me and I have used them loads.