Taking the good lady to the shops, I clipped a curb while parking, and have a 4" scrape on the bead adjacent to the tyre - anyone any idea how I can restore this to its previous pristine state? It is now the only thing I see when I look at the car!!

 

I don't know if you have any shops like this down under or not...

 

If you don't have a wheel shop that can take care of the problem and the scratch is only cosmetic you can try to repair it your self with this procedure from: http://www.robsaudiworld.com/wheelrepair.htm. I attached a copy of the procedure in case the link doesn't work or the site is down.

 

I've unfortunately had to use fixrim.com aka Wheels America and they didn't do that great of a job. I had to send the wheels back numerous times and finally gave up. I also tried http://www.wheeltechnologies.com/ and they did a much better job. Please keep in mind the wheel will not be perfect like it was from the factory, they will polish the outer edge and it will look pretty good with a tire mounted but without a tire mounted you can tell its been painted/repaired.