Cracked BMW Alloy Wheel Repair

Selecta Tyre's procedure dictates that they give each wheel a thorough check over before carrying out any work. Makes sense really, it protects them from claims the workforce has damaged customer's property, and they might spot potentially dangerous faults then highlight them to the customer.

The latter is what happened to me whilst having four wheel alignment and rear tyres fitted.

Before fitting the rear left tyre I got called out to have a look at the rear left alloy.

Not good news, it was quite badly cracked on the inner edge, something the early BMW BBS Style 230 19" Twist alloys are prone to.


The later alloys were modified to have reinforced inner rims to avoid cracking as much as possible. You'll never completely avoid it, pot holes are getting worse and tyre walls are getting smaller, it's physics really.

Despite the crack, I instructed the guys to continue fitting the new Goodyear tyre. I needed to get the car home then organise having the alloy repaired. The guys were decent enough to put some sealant on the inside of the crack to help stop it leaking just enough to get me home (2 miles down the road).

Thankfully, my Dad knows a guy who runs a welding company, usually specialising in industrial applications, but was happy to have a go at my alloy. Even better, he agreed to weld it up for 'drink money', result! I just had to arrange to get the tyre taken off, then refitted and balanced.

All welded up, I laid down a bit of silver aerosol paint just to mask the darkened area around the weld. It looked a neat job, so fingers crossed it holds out.

Use the comments section below to leave a message, have you had any of your alloys welded? Did the weld hold up?

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