deijmaster

Monday morning, as I was going to my sons school, I had to do a sharp right on the road to not hit a bus that was coming wayyyy too fast.

In doing so I did not crash with the bus, but I clipped (damaged) my back wheel on the curb (right side). The wheels are original as I'm into the "mint" type of owners.

So here's my question: in canada dealers are telling me that this back wheel on a standard 911 is worth around 1500 dollars. From a couple of searches on the web I see many of them selling (based on their info of course) porsche OEM wheels for 400 to 500 dollars.

BTW: because tires were somewhat old, I'm upgrading to Michelin Super Sport on all 4 wheels.

OK, so my dealer told me they could "fix" this but this is a first for me, so what are you guys recommending.... Fixing the wheel seems to be around 300 dollars. So...

1 - New porsche OEM wheel and bite the cost (from what web site?)
2 - Fix it and see what happens as balance and performance.

Thanks.

PHX 911

Is it bent, or just have curb rash?
Pic would be helpful, especially of hot bus driver...

Spiffyjiff

if theyre original, theyre probably aluminum, right? "alum bends once, not twice." get a new wheel.

hoffa

try wheelenhancement...i have a set of wheels from them.

Farfelc2s

Im in Montreal too.
I know of alot of OE Wheels for sale.
Post a pic of your type and will tell you where you can buy.

FiatCoupe

I recently damaged the same wheel! Turned right too tight and smacked it over the end of a curb. Put a bubble in the side of the tyre and pushed out the rim about 5mm over a length of about 10cm. Fortunately I was getting new tyres fitted.

The place fitting the tyres said they could send off the wheel to be repaired for $180. I went with this option. The wheel came back in it's original shape but the paint job was horrific:

1) Overspray on the stainless steel valve stem
2) The inside of the wheel was rough from overspray and therefore is no longer whitish grey but silver. Felt like sandpaper.
3) Several paint runs
4) Valve cap was different
5) The paint chipped on the rim when they tried to mount the tyre on it
6) Several pits in finish that were not in original wheel
7) The edge was rough on the transition from the surface to the inside edge
8) Several areas looked like brake dust have been painted over
9) The silver paint was more metalic than the original finish

I gave them an oppurtunity to fix the issues but the wheel came back only slightly better. The tyre fitting place said the boss of the company will personally handle it. Sent it back for a third time but I still wasn't happy. By this point the numbers stamped wither side of the valve were just a bump from all the layers of paint. The tyre fitting place gave me my money back, no issues. They were as shocked as I was with the quality of the work.

I decided that refinishing the wheel wasn't going to be the best option for me so hunted around for mint condition replacements. I didn't want the car to be spoilt by one wheel.

As you've found out, these wheels are about $1500 from the dealer. Suncoast could give me about 20% off that price. I then spoke to Dave Martin at Wheel Enhancement. They had a set of new OEM wheels that had tyres fitted to them but were taken off the car before it was driven anywhere. Dave was fantastic to deal with, very understanding and patient. I wanted to make sure that the wheel was in mint condition and after several emails went ahead with the purchase. The price was a fraction of the dealership price. The wheel arrived, double boxed and was mint condition, brand new, not a mark on it, exxactly as he had described. I'm extremely happy I eventually went with this approach.

Just be sure you're getting an OEM wheel not a cheap cast Chinese knockoff.

John

IslandS52

its been a long time since I've heard the term "mag" wheels!

Tito_gsx

Fixing wheel Option - from my experience a re-finish looks nice but paint is not nearly as resilient as OEM. They scratch quite easily. However, your wheel repair might do a better job than what I've seen (or worse)

New wheel option - more $$ but no risk involved with getting poor quality

San Rensho

You caould also make a claim with your insurance company, should be covered under collission, and get a brand new one. But if you have a deductible, you would be out of pocket some.

Macster

The dealer should not be offering to fix the wheel.

'Fixing' light alloy wheels is not permissible according to the info in the factory manual.

Here's a note from my copy of a 996 Turbo factory manual and this same note is in other manuals, I've been told:

Note: Straightening and welding work on light alloy wheels is not permissible.

Based on the above, then my advice is to bite the bullet and replace the damaged wheel with a new one.

I had to do this, or this had to be done, when a wheel was ruined when it was sent out to be refinished to deal with some scuff marks after a deer encounter.

The wheel re-finisher ruined the wheel and a new wheel (thankfully not at my expense!) was sourced. IIRC the wheel cost $1800. (Hollow spoke, light, and expensive.)

Sincerely,

Macster.

gpjli2

The alloy (I'm sure it's not magnesium!) must be softened to be bent and then rehardened. Not even the manufacturers have the technology to do this safely. I once had a forged Champion rim "straightened". Looked great but rebent in a week. Had it happened at speed it might have been a real problem. Cast wheels are somewhat less af a problem (less brittle) but even if it looks ok you still can't see under the paint to the repair. You know what happens to metal that is bent back and forth. Replacing the wheel is safest.

sclemmons

I use these guys locally and they do a great job, while I wait, for $100-200 per wheel depending on the scope of the damage. Don't know if they go to Canada, but they have fixed scrapes on my Porsche wheels and pothole damage on my Fikses.

http://www.awrswheelrepair.com/

Taxi?

+1 Must be a Canadian thing.

Quadcammer

mag has no business being referenced in connection with factory 997 wheels.

RudyP

WTF is this "mag" nonsense? You damaged a "wheel." A "mag" is where you put the bullets for a pistol (magazine) or the mechanical device that energizes the spark plugs in a piston airplane (magneto). I suppose I've also heard of maglev trains and Maglite flashlights. But I can't say I've heard anyone refer to an aluminum alloy wheel as a mag.