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I'll try to keep this short and to the point.

While my car was in the body shop having the rear bumper replaced by my insurance company, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get a rash repaired that I put on my right front wheel while parking. They sublet the job out to a company that does wheel repair and the cost is $175. I'm sure they're marking it up a bit but I didn't care, I wanted the wheel repaired.

Anyway, I went to pick my car up today and the first thing that came to mind when I looked at the wheel is the color was wrong, it didn't match the others. It was darker and more grayish than silverish. In order to make sure it wasn't the lighting we moved the car around in the sunlight, but still, the color was wrong and did not, in my opinion, match the others.

Being a perfectionist, I want the color match to be perfect, so they're keeping the car overnight because they do want me to be satisfied with the color match. My question is, is there not a factory color formula for BMW wheels? They tell me BMW does not sell "factory" paint, which I understand. BMW does not manufacture paint, but there has to be a "standard" that shops go by.

I trust this body shop, I've had many repairs of various degrees of damage done there and they always get it right. I will say, however, I was somewhat shocked that they didn't see the difference themselves. My feeling is, they probably finished my car, saw the difference and thought,” let's see if the customer notices. If he does, we redo it. If he doesn't, no harm no foul.”

Again, my question is, there is a factory standard color formula for this paint, yes? I mean, there has to be.

So assuming there is, they just screwed up on the formula. That would have to be it.

Sorry, no photos. I doubt seriously you would have ever seen the difference in a photo anyway, it was too subtle.

[diesel007]

I will never be perfect that is why they should repaint both wheels on that side so they match.

[mds82]

There definately is a BMW Wheel color. I went to a professional wheel place to get my Breyton Visions repainted and all he had was the stock OEM Paint color. He does Hundeds of jobs for dealers rapairing wheels and he showed me a few of the jobs, 100% match. I would go back and tell them your not happy and want them sandblasted, and repainted.!

Originally Posted by mds82

There definately is a BMW Wheel color. I went to a professional wheel place to get my Breyton Visions repainted and all he had was the stock OEM Paint color. He does Hundeds of jobs for dealers rapairing wheels and he showed me a few of the jobs, 100% match. I would go back and tell them your not happy and want them sandblasted, and repainted.!

Thanks. I'm definitely not accepting it unless it's a perfect match. That's for sure.

[ALPINE6SPD]

Originally Posted by CMD

Thanks. I'm definitely not accepting it unless it's a perfect match. That's for sure.

demand a new wheel. problem solved

[DFW_M]

Originally Posted by ALPINE6SPD

demand a new wheel. problem solved

For $175 he could have had a new wheel... I am not sure why he went through all that for that price?! Don't they go for like $200, maybe $250apiece?

Originally Posted by dr325i

For $175 he could have had a new wheel... I am not sure why he went through all that for that price?! Don't they go for like $200, maybe $250apiece?

No, actually, at BMW Wheels, the front is $328 and the rear is $330. On top of that there is shipping, and then labor to switch out the tire and balancing. So, $175 was a price I was willing to pay, since my car was in the shop anyway and I was in a rental car at the expense of my insurance company.

[Fenianz]

I’ve heard many times that Wheel Repair Specialists shops leave your wheels just a little off the original color. I'm sure there are some shops that do a good job. If I was a perfectionist I would of just spend $155 more and gotten a new wheel.