Just had to vent my frustration about the damage done to my rims today when I had the runflats replaced with some all-seasons.

Yesterday, I called TireRack and ordered a set of Sumitomo HTR+ in 215/45-17 and got a great deal. Decided to drive up to South Bend to pick them up. I didn't realize until I got there that they could install at the warehouse....I had already made arrangements with a local independent shop here in town (a tirerack recommend installer) to put them on today.

Last year I had IndyTire (a local chain) put some tires on my '06 MC and they scuffed the heck out of my rims, so I vowed never to go to another chain to have tires put on again....hence my decision to go to this little shop that touts its knowledge and experience each time I've been there.

Today I had the tires put on and drove home. Upon getting out of the car, I looked closely and each one of the rims has what amounts to curb rash to some degree. Three of the wheels just have a small spot....one of the wheels has it around the edge of the rim amounting to about 10 inches or so.

Is there something about taking runflat tires off that just makes this process difficult? I'm so disappointed since these wheels are a week old. The dealer had switched out the wheels on my slightly used '08 MCS with a brand new clubman S on the lot....so I ended up with these brand new rims with summer Dunlops on this car when I bought it. Now they are just scraped up.

What upsets me the most is that I went to this shop because I expected a higher level of service and care and I ended up with damage 10 times worse than what the chain store did. grrrr.

Frustration@

 

Are you positive it's not adhesive? Sometimes residual goo from mounting the tires dries on the rim, looking just like curb rash.

I only use shops that use the Hunter GSP9000 road force mounting/balancing system. It will not cause any damage to your rims.

 

No, it's real scrapes. Now that I'm looking at it, it really does look like curb rash. I don't know how the mounting machine would scrape like this. I suppose it's possible that it was there before and I just didn't see it. With the black tire rubber goo smeared in it, it really sticks out, but I can see how it may have been there before and was just not noticed until it was really dirty. With the goo cleaned off, it really is not very noticeable.

I was told by the MINI dealer that the wheels were brand new (off of a Clubman S) even though the car was slightly used. It wouldn't be the first time a dealer stretched the truth I suppose.

I think my "new car OCD" may have caused me to make assumptions and false accusations.

 

Some shops have a hard time with the stiff sidewalls of the runflats, but in your case it will be hard to determine if the wheels were already like that when they came off the Clubman. Did you inspect the wheels closely before they mounted the tires?

 

Same thing happened to DaFlake recently:

 

Light scratches could occur when mounting the tires, but certainly nothing akin to true curb rash.

Sample of typical curb rash that is far worse than what could be done with the mounting process:


Also, depending if there were wheel weights mounted on the lip, those may have left marks when being removed.

Post some pics of the damage, and that may help determine what happened.