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View Full Version : How best to un-do an old color change, and restore to OEM, or refinish properly?



mynamenumber
11-25-2015, 05:47 PM
Hi all,

I'm not familiar AT ALL with wheel refinishing. I bought a set of 135s for a good price, but they need to be refinished or stripped or something. Check it out:

22776


22777


22778

I'd love for them to either be restored to original, or perhaps finished in a silver that is the same as the silver of the car itself (so the whole thing has a match-y silver / black look).

Thoughts on next steps? Do I need to take them to some type of shop, and what keywords do I use to search for this shop? I'm in Eugene, OR if anyone knows a specific place.

Thanks!

fredo
11-25-2015, 06:16 PM
Dup with next post.

fredo
11-25-2015, 06:18 PM
I heard good things about Wheel Technologies, but didn't see any location in Oregon.

http://www.wheeltechnologies.com/

BMWCurves
11-25-2015, 07:30 PM
I have no clue either, but in for other members' input.

KevinC
11-25-2015, 07:49 PM
Take them to local wheel pro (hopefully one will be local so you don't have to incur 2-way shipping cost) and have them professionally refinished. Typical cost $100-$125 per wheel. They will fix any bends, cracks, chips, scrapes, etc in the process, and they will come back good as new. WELL worth the investment IMHO.

hcbeck2689
11-25-2015, 09:11 PM
Has anyone ever tried using brake fluid to strip paint? I feel like it might work well. It would take it all the way down to the metal. I feel that if your wheels are not damaged then you could get them repainted for less than $100/wheel


-Holden

az3579
11-26-2015, 07:17 AM
Has anyone ever tried using brake fluid to strip paint? I feel like it might work well. It would take it all the way down to the metal. I feel that if your wheels are not damaged then you could get them repainted for less than $100/wheel


-Holden

That would take an eternity. Aircraft stripper works best.

ELCID86
11-26-2015, 02:39 PM
Find a local shop. Bad clown had good luck with one in OH.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

mynamenumber
12-04-2015, 01:25 PM
Thanks again for the tips everyone, mounting them tomorrow...

22872

az3579
12-04-2015, 01:32 PM
What did you end up doing?

mynamenumber
12-04-2015, 03:47 PM
Took it to these folks, who run a semi-mobile operation in this area:
http://www.awrswheelrepair.com/eugene

They discounted the price a bit by not doing some of the very minor curb rash repair they normally would have. Not too expensive in the end.

KevinC
12-04-2015, 04:24 PM
I've used their local franchise in Phoenix a few years ago when I scraped up the rims on my (former) Z4MC. They did a pretty decent job for being mobile, and 5 years later, the finish was still holding up.

I noticed the rash in the pics - seems penny wise/pound foolish to skip fixing that, when they were already refinishing?

mynamenumber
12-04-2015, 05:07 PM
You mean the tiny couple of ridges in the left one? It's really quite invisible from most angles. I really just wanted the job done for now, I'm sure I'll consider a full repair job in the future but just happy to get the right wheels on the car for now!

mynamenumber
12-09-2015, 09:52 PM
I meant to post the actual car, post-install, and say "thanks again" to everyone for the help thinking this through.

I posted a while back, maybe in the general questions thread, about a weird rut-following situation. Someone referred to it as trammeling, or tram-lining, and suggested the former wheel and tire combo might be the culprit. Thanks for that as well, as these new wheels exhibit NONE of that behavior thus far.

22934

BMWCurves
12-09-2015, 10:26 PM
Looks good :thumbsup