Completely Restored my Wheels

[Matticus91]

In another episode of; "Matt does Something He Should Have Just Paid Someone Else to Do..."


I decided on a bit of a whim to, instead of cleaning my car (which it actually really needs...), do a full(ish) resto on my wheels. They had really been showing their age lately; curb rash, pitting, burnt-in tar, clearcoat peeling, etc.

I'll spare the decision process and just go over the details of "how". Reason is because I would never do this again, despite the savings. It took an immense amount of very tedious effort, and all-in about 7 working hours. I should also mention I was not looking for perfection here, just for them to be in better condition than they were.

Steps:

1. Very thoroughly clean wheels and tires, inlcuding the back
2. Sand down bigger imperfections with 80 grit paper and wire brush on a drill
3. Sand further with 160grit on previously sanded areas as well as lesser imperfections
4. Scuff all surfaces with 180grit pad
5. Wash again and use alcohol to remove any substances on surface, apply automotive painters tape to tires and tire stems
6. Spray down 2-30 thin coats of filler primer
7. After 20 mins, wet sand with 320 grit (i wanted to kill myself during this part lol)
8. Wash down and very thoroughly dry
9. Apply 2-3 layers of base coat color
10. After drying for 1 hour, apply 2 light coats of clear, followed by 2 heavy coats about 20 mins apart

Supplies Used:

• Dupli Color Hyper Silver Wheel Paint Kit $15
• Sand paper pack (wet/dry) $10
• Automotive painters tape $4
• Rubbing alcohol $2
• Soap/water/bucket/brushes etc
• Filler Primer $6

Washed up and out to dry for a bit

20180617_153902 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Sanded down major imperfections and scuffed up for primer. I could have used metal-infused body filler at this point to build up the bad curb rash, but these wheels honestly aren't worth the effort for how minimal the damage was.

20180617_153912 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

20180617_153931 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Still sanding..........

imagejpeg_0 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

imagejpeg_4 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Primed up!

20180617_182113 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Primer sanded and smoothed

20180617_202053 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

First coat of color

20180617_204124 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Color done, waiting on clear

20180617_204124 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

All done!

20180617_211219 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

20180617_211229 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

20180617_211237 by Matt Steele, on Flickr


In the end, the fronts came out better than the rears, ironically since they were in worse shape to start. I'm thinking I spent more time sanding them for this reason, so the rears have some spots that aren't totally smooth.

Overall I'm happy with the results, especially for the cost. But the effort, specifically on these CSL style wheels, is insane. If I didn't have tires on them I'd have taken them to just get sand blasted.

In person I'd say they're up to a 8.7/10 in condition now, from a 6/10.

[Esteban]

Nice job, and the wheels show the effort that was put in to them...

I think you have way too much energy and need to come and detail my car to help burn some off.

Seriously, great work!

[Gangplank]

Want to refinish mine? Should be easier since they are 264s.

[HyeWarrior]

Oh god I just had PTSD of back when I was a young lad with my E46. I decided to refinish some style 72's:



One of the most brutal DIY's ever lol.

Props to you sir, takes major patience. Yours came out really good! You should be proud

[1and1]

See....
SEE!!!

You should have just sent em to me. I could have saved you that grief.
but NOOOOOoooOOOooOOOooooooooo




Wheels look great Matt! Well done.
You must be abusive as all get out on your wheels- I swear these were new, what, maybe a year ago?

[jkoral]

How did you handle the curb rash? Filler?

[chris_flies]

Looks awesome! My wheels aren't even worth the effort to keep in flawless shape ($59 a wheel from Tire Rack), so, I don't.

Why not just strip them to bare aluminum, polish the aluminum, and then seal them? My dad did that on his old Style 19's (best BMW wheels, IMO) and it made them pop...

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Nice job, and the wheels show the effort that was put in to them...

I think you have way too much energy and need to come and detail my car to help burn some off.

Seriously, great work!

Come on over to the east coast and I'll see what I can do haha

Originally Posted by Gangplank

Want to refinish mine? Should be easier since they are 264s.

I am never doing this again lol

Originally Posted by HyeWarrior

Oh god I just had PTSD of back when I was a young lad with my E46. I decided to refinish some style 72's:

One of the most brutal DIY's ever lol.

Props to you sir, takes major patience. Yours came out really good! You should be proud

It was unbelievable, I imagine the 72's were about the same with all those small sections haha. Thanks for the compliments!

Originally Posted by 1and1

See....
SEE!!!

You should have just sent em to me. I could have saved you that grief.
but NOOOOOoooOOOooOOOooooooooo




Wheels look great Matt! Well done.
You must be abusive as all get out on your wheels- I swear these were new, what, maybe a year ago?

Hahaha thanks man. They were "new to me" about 1.5 years ago, came off a friends 2 series actually, and had some minor issues then. After some time in the city and several road trips involving dirt/gravel they were really showing some age!

Originally Posted by jkoral

How did you handle the curb rash? Filler?

I used a wire wheel on a drill to even it out a bit and then just let the filler primer do its job. If I wanted them to be perfect, metal filler would have been the way to go. But the rash is barely visible and I'm $25 richer (cost of smallest metal-bondo filler)

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Looks awesome! My wheels aren't even worth the effort to keep in flawless shape ($59 a wheel from Tire Rack), so, I don't.

Why not just strip them to bare aluminum, polish the aluminum, and then seal them? My dad did that on his old Style 19's (best BMW wheels, IMO) and it made them pop...

Thanks! What wheels did you get?

I am actually not a huge fan of the polished aluminum look. I really like the hyper silver style especially on my paint color.

[Yeineken]

Very nice! Doing things yourself usually saves a lot of money in the long run. I cant imagine how much deeper my money pit would be if it wasn't all DIY

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Come on over to the east coast and I'll see what I can do haha

Sounds like a fun and epic road trip!

Besides, I'd love to meet Apollo... and you too, of course.

[desertman123]

I gotta say man out of all the jobs I do myself, this is one I'd rather just pay the man $300-$400 to do.

Came out looking great though!

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Sounds like a fun and epic road trip!

Beside, I'd love to meet Apollo... and you too, of course.

Tail of the Dragon is worth the drive and not far off!

Originally Posted by desertman123

I gotta say man out of all the jobs I do myself, this is one I'd rather just pay the man $300-$400 to do.

Came out looking great though!

Quote from several places was over $500. I paid $550 for these wheels lol so really not worth it. Glad I gave it a shot but I would certainly just buy another set/have a pro do it if I were looking for perfection or if they were worth more money.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Thanks! What wheels did you get?

I am actually not a huge fan of the polished aluminum look. I really like the hyper silver style especially on my paint color.

Sport Edition SE-16. I haven't bent them, yet...