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[seslait]

Hi guys,

I ve been thinking of powder coating my rims. My 135i is cashmere silver. I was thinking a glossy black would look best on it. What do you guys think?

Thanks

[IZAGLO]

Matte Black or Dark Gunmetal......Check out Irishace's powderoated rims...his look really nice for OEM rims...

[onehungevo]

I just had mine powder coated dark gunmental and they look great. I get compliments all the time from various car nuts.

[Red Bread]

This is a wheel from my M Coupe, powdered in Morton's Black Chrome, which is very, very close to BMW OE Brake Dust:

[seslait]

Originally Posted by onehungevo

I just had mine powder coated dark gunmental and they look great. I get compliments all the time from various car nuts.

How much was it???

[onehungevo]

$300 total including tax

[Red Bread]

I paid $40 wheel.

[gavolant]

anyone know of any shops in the DC/MD/VA area that powder coat?

[seslait]

Does anybody have pictures of the Stock OEM Star-spoke style 189 18" Sports Package Rims in either glossy black/gun metal/ or matte black?

[IZAGLO]

Originally Posted by onehungevo

I just had mine powder coated dark gunmental and they look great. I get compliments all the time from various car nuts.

pictures???????please.....

[onehungevo]

I'll take some and post them up.

[seslait]

Thanks

[TPLSM3]

Here's a quick pic of mine powder coated matte black.

[Sdracing]

I wouldn't powder coat wheels out of an abundance of caution. There have been reports that the heating process can weaken some wheels leading to cracks and failure of the wheels....

I'm sure the guys from Tire Rack can chime in with their recommendation.....

[onehungevo]

Originally Posted by Sdracing

I wouldn't powder coat wheels out of an abundance of caution. There have been reports that the heating process can weaken some wheels leading to cracks and failure of the wheels....

I'm sure the guys from Tire Rack can chime in with their recommendation.....

Have to make sure they aren't baked at too high of a temperature.

[onehungevo]

Pictures of my powder coated 264's

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Sdracing

I wouldn't powder coat wheels out of an abundance of caution. There have been reports that the heating process can weaken some wheels leading to cracks and failure of the wheels....

I'm sure the guys from Tire Rack can chime in with their recommendation.....

As stated, you just have to make sure that the shop doing it knows not to bake them at too hot of a temperature. My place does mostly track motorcycle work and my wheels have thousands of track miles on them with no issues. Given that stock M wheels are powdercoated, I think this is mostly a myth.

[seslait]

Originally Posted by onehungevo

Pictures of my powder coated 264's

They look really nice. Thanks guys!!!!!! great info.

[Sdracing]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

As stated, you just have to make sure that the shop doing it knows not to bake them at too hot of a temperature. My place does mostly track motorcycle work and my wheels have thousands of track miles on them with no issues. Given that stock M wheels are powdercoated, I think this is mostly a myth.

It's definitely not a myth. Heating metal to a high temperature can weaken the metal. I have seen wheels that have been powdercoated and crack. It really depends on the wheels, what they are made out of, and how they are manufactured. As for telling a shop not to get them too hot, not sure what too hot is.

Ultimately, I don't think you are going to see a catastrophic failure of the wheel at speed.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Sdracing

It's definitely not a myth. Heating metal to a high temperature can weaken the metal. I have seen wheels that have been powdercoated and crack. It really depends on the wheels, what they are made out of, and how they are manufactured. As for telling a shop not to get them too hot, not sure what too hot is.

Ultimately, I don't think you are going to see a catastrophic failure of the wheel at speed.

I've seen higher temps on wheels due to heat transfer from the track than what it takes to do powder transfer, especially near the hub. So using that logic, simply tracking a car is worse on wheels. I've seen plenty of stock wheels fail due to track usage, and I've seen powder coated wheels fail, I don't think it has much, if anything to do with the heat treatment for powder, more likely it's from the uneven heat soak from track use and poor design.

[Sdracing]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

I've seen higher temps on wheels due to heat transfer from the track than what it takes to do powder transfer, especially near the hub. So using that logic, simply tracking a car is worse on wheels. I've seen plenty of stock wheels fail due to track usage, and I've seen powder coated wheels fail, I don't think it has much, if anything to do with the heat treatment for powder, more likely it's from the uneven heat soak from track use and poor design.

Here is a guy who powder coats for a living. Here is a link to his blog, and here is the pertinent part:

"Now that we have tackled those two problems, this is where the key, and the heavy debates come in on powder coating wheels. Does the heat from the curing process effect the integrity of the alloys in the wheel. Long story short, and sparing you of all the nitty gritty metallurgy aspects of it all, yes it can and it's possible to be quite detrimental to the part. This is where the main ingredient comes in to success in powder coating wheels, and it can be a long and time consuming setup."


http://powdercoatingbeginners.blogsp...ng-wheels.html

[Red Bread]

We can go back and forth on this forever, but the summary is that if you do a longer bake, at lower temperatures, something that a good powder coat person will know a lot more than either of us about, you won't heat a wheel beyond safe limits, and you won't even heat it as much as many tracks and cars can heat their wheels anyway. Nearly eight years of tracking on powder coated wheels leads me to trust the process, feel free to form your own opinions.

My shop does wheels for track bikes, and I've seen front wheel temps on those be comically high at the hubs, well beyond what powder kilns are even capable of.