I was thinking if there's such a thing as a tool that resembles a chisel or a punch, but where the end is flat, and rubber coated so as not to mar the surface being worked on, I'd use that and tap at this dent with a hammer. If that's a good idea, you all think it's ok to do with the tire still on the wheel?
Any and all advice is appreciated.
I have with a rubber mallet on some old bbs wheels i had but those were very flexable.. not sure about that.
I would take a block of hardwood and a 5lb hammer to it right there with the tire on the wheel
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I would take a block of hardwood and a 5lb hammer to it right there with the tire on the wheel
That's what I did with some Momos I had that were bent and not worth the $200/ea for a pro wheel place to fix. Worked great. I had a ~4"x4"x10" block of wood from a metal shipment and used it against the wheel and beat on the back of it with a minisledge. Really wasn't that hard and didn't take a long time. The wheels straightened out and held air. Sold the car with them still on it a year or two later.
Unless you want to spend $100 plus transport by sending to a pro, I think the BFH is your only choice.
Bad quality you-tube vid, but it gives the general idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAsYmRITVwE&feature=related
I love this forum!! BMW forum answers were much differnt.. 
rubber coated/plastic dead blow works wonders
Hit it with a hammer!
I used an old 2lb sledge to fix something like that once. I think I used some wood so as not to damage the metal.
GrantMLS wrote: I love this forum!! BMW forum answers were much differnt..
Ever read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"? 
Keep in mind that if you miss, you will hit the tire and the BFH will bounce back and hit you in the crotch. I am not telling you not to do it, simply to get it on video because I want to submit it to Tosh.O. Thanks.
Crap. I meant BUY A MIATA!
if theyre RPF1's like the ones my ex had on her miata i was able to straighten the lip like that with a hammer too. surprisingly flexible i thought. i think i used a plastic faced hammer up against the lip and hit that hammer with a dead blow.
Hydraulic shop press, tire off wheel, inside bead prolly bent too. Pro would press then roll out the bead and true for 'bout $100.
If it holds air i would not touch it. If it leaks i'd pull it off and bring it over to MCWheel.
http://www.mcwheel.com/
There about 5 miles from my work and do great job on people stuff i've sent there.
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ReverendDexter wrote:GrantMLS wrote: I love this forum!! BMW forum answers were much differnt..Ever read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"?
yup - my father gave me that book about 20 years ago.. Glad to see there are more of us out there - scares my wife a little..
It's hard to really control the force input by a hammer when you're hitting something relatively springy and not firmly located. This is why a blacksmith uses an anvil.
A forged wheel will be relatively resistant to bending, but the grain structure of the metal lends itself to being bent back. A cast wheel is fundamentally brittle and is much more likely to crack.
Were I to attempt this on a cast wheel I'd demount the tire and make a wooden block shaped to match the interior of the bead seat out of hard maple or at least oak. I'd use a bandsaw and a round-over bit in a router. Ideally the block would be angled on the bottom so the wheel, when resting in the block which in turn would be atop my anvil - or a curb, or a CMU on a concrete floor - would "present" the damaged area for easy access.
I'd put a few plies of thick, old school masking tape on the damaged area and use a dead blow hammer with a hard plastic face, or my BFLRHH - "Big berkeleying Lead and Raw Hide Hammer" and investigate precisely how hard it needs to be hit for the metal to move.
Work GRADUALLY back and forth along the area and take your time. One good wallop and a cast wheel lip will crack. Work it gently and it may go back.
I wouldn't use that wheel on track afterwards even if you're "OK' with it. It's not fair to everyone else.
Hammer and block of wood.
Rather than just try to bend the whole thing in at once, I'd start on one side and work my way in a bit, move to the other side, do the same thing, then do the middle last.
Duct tape.
Shotgun
White_and_Nerdy wrote: Duct tape.
No Crazy glue?
I concur with the the rest of the bunch dead blow hammer or a 2lb sledge and a block of hard wood. Missing and hitting the tire is no joke either.. . .. . Yes I do have first had experience. Not one of my prouder moments.
Someplace, I read that you can heat aluminum with a hardware store torch. Apparently some gases burn at a low enough temperature that it won't melt the metal, but softens it until you can readily hammer it back into shape. Can't remember which type of torch it was.
To anneal aluminum: Use an acetylene torch and cover the metal with a layer of thick black smoke that results from turning the acetylene up much higher than the oxygen. Then re-tune the torch, and heat up the metal until the black layer is burned off. The deposits combust at the right temperature to anneal aluminum.
I wouldn't recommend doing this with a wheel, heating it up unevenly could stress and weaken the wheel. Use a BFH and check for cracks after. Doesn't look very bad.
My wife bent a cast wheel on her 626 a million years ago. The local wheel shop said new wheel because cast would crack. A new wheel was $400. BFH and a block of wood. One hard hit. Six years later we sold the car.
Pull the wheel and lay it flat on the grass. I used a 2X4 long enough to go across the wheel and tire and stick off the other side. Stand on the 2X4 and smack it. The wife's was bent a good bit worse than yours, so you shouldn't have to hit it too hard.
Brass drift or hammer works the same as it is softer than the metal being hit.
BTW thats how i take the bearings out of heavy trucks.
Dead blow hammer first, wood w/sledge second, brass hammer as last resort. I had 3 mustang rims to hold air using the above technique and cracked the E36 M3 out of my shins once.
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