[Titanium Dragon]

Well, I actually didn't ding the body. What I ended up doing was during a little spirited driving, I took a right hand turn too sharp and I managed to scrape the back right wheel against the curb.

The outer lip of the 17" wheel now has a nice 4" scrape mark on it

I've only had the car for one month and I feel bad that I dinged it a bit. Does anybody have any suggestions of patching up scrape marks on the lip of the wheel? One of my friends told me that carefully sanding the scrape marks by hand (starting with coarse sandpaper and then working down to fine sandpaper) should fix it, but I'm leary of doing that.

Any suggestions? Do you think I should put some clear nail polish to seal over the scrape mark?

 

[cebo0650]

You should find a rim repair shop. They can fix the rim to new condition at a fraction of the cost of a new one. I'm sure there is one in your area.

 

[philgood]

If you prefer DIY: http://forums.audiworld.com/tt/msgs/667385.phtml

 

[Titanium Dragon]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I think the Mazda 3 Rims are actually painted too. But I wouldn't know where to get a matching paint for it.

Maybe it's best that after a few months (saving money) I could get some custom rims

 

[ZoominPoet]

I try to take EXTRA caution to avoid dings in my one-month old MAZDA too. I park all by my lonesome in back of lots, I take turns wide, and keep my undercarriage clean. I'm sure it's bound to happen soon...just trying to prolong it. lol

 

[rpc180]

My Dad just got a 6" verticle dent in the passenger door of his 2003 Miata. Man, he was soooo pissed. It looks like some careless a$$ opened their door too wide or messed up their parking job. I really feel for him, his car is definately styling...

Rims are hard to fix. Even if you use sandpaper you're end result will probably not be good since material has been removed. Probably the best thing is a rim repair place like mentioned above where they can add some material and then sand down.

 

[dinu01]

Moved to Wheels. Added to thread title.

 

[Kirk]

Your rims are painted and clearcoated. Sanding will remove both. Just an FYI.

I had two of my BBS wheels repaired at Wheel Collision Center in Bath, PA. Excellent job, but not cheap. You get what you pay for.

 

[Titanium Dragon]

Well, I've made some progress with cleaning up the ding.

I used a toothbrush and some wheel cleaning compound and scrubbed the heck out of the scrape mark. After I got all the dirt, brake dust, and grime out of the scratches, it didn't look so bad. The scrape looks shorter than 4" now.

I noticed there was some fine micro-scratches. I took some polishing compound and a buffer and worked them out. The scrape now, can only been seen if it's on top of the wheel. It looks to me now that in actuallity, the scrape is maybe 2" or 3" long.

I'll probably take PhilGood's linked instructions on repairing the deeper scratches. Even though I don't like the idea of using Bondo, a little of it to fill in the scratches couldn't hurt. And I'd definitely like to get some matching touch up paint and some clear coat to finish the job.

-Thanks guys for all your advice/suggestions,