I came out to my car today and something on the wheel caught my eye. In the middle of one of the spokes, on the front-facing top surface, there was a 1 cm long x 3mm deep rounded gouge followed by a fainter one below. If you run your finger over it, you can tell the metal edges caused by it are pretty sharp.

My 2003 MCS is otherwise in mint condition - not so much as a chip or ding so far. It just strikes me as odd that some piece of road debris could have hit the wheel with so much force that it gouged it. It almost makes me want to ask MINI what they think - this is a rim - shouldn't it be made of some hardened metal that could resist this? What do you think?

Erik

 

Is the gouge curved or straight? If its curved, it happned while the wheel was turning. If its straight, something ran into your car while it was stopped. Do you have kids? A bicycle maybe?

-Grissom

 

Your rims are aluminum, which is a soft metal. It is used for rims because it is strong, light and relatively cheep. I don't think MINI will give you anything for hitting a road hazzard that made a scratch. If they did they'd be out of business within a few years.