Hey Everyone, I figured I would take some time to post my recent undertaking of an unexpected project. A family member recently replaced their wheels with a new set because he could not cost justify having them refinished. So I landed a set of staggered 19" BMW Style 95s for free! These will either be a knockaround setup or a winter setup. It all depends on how they will look on the M.
Since 3 out of 4 wheels were pretty much curbed all the way around and pretty deep, I had some sanding to do. This wasnt as bad as I thought. Just to give you an idea of what I was dealing with, this was a shot of the LEAST curbed wheel.
I just utilized some 60 grit sandpaper to get the curbed parts as smooth as I could. Dont be afraid if you dont get them like new, that is what the epoxy is for.
Then I hit the whole wheel with 120 grit sandpaper. These wheels are pretty easy to get to all around, but for wheels with tight spokes I recommend a Dremmel to get in the tight spaces.
This was the sandpaper I used since I had it lying around.
Next up the epoxy, I just took some old business cards lying around, spread the liquid metal on it and gently went around the wheel 3 times to fill all of the gaps and nicks from the curb damage. This was the epoxy I used.
After applying the epoxy to fill the gashes created by curbage, I hit the lip one more time with 120 grit to get a flat even surface. This epoxy dries quickly so I gave it 4 hours just to be safe.
Next paint/primer. I decided to kill two birds with one stone since I am painting the wheels a glossy white. I went to walmart and picked up three cans of Krylon white dual paint/primer. Pic below.
After letting each wheel dry for 24 hours, I hit the wheel again with 1000grit sandpaper to get all the little imperfections out. If you do not wait long enough, the primer will still be gummy and will peel when you hit it with sandpaper.
Today I applied the first layer of clear coat on 2 of the 4 wheels and here are pics below. I will post pics and update the original post as I complete all 4 and mount them.
Second and third (final layer) of clear coat applied to wheels 1 and 2. Very happy with the end result! Will begin on wheels 3 and 4 tomorrow.
UPDATE*** 8/31- Did not have a ton of time to get work done on these wheels bc I had to utilize my lunch break time to get new tires mounted on the M. I was able to complete one wheel. It is the wheel I snapped a pic of. To my delight, after sanding all of the curb age came out. No need for epoxy this time! So I got to work sanding with just 120 grit. Below is a halfway shot to show progress. I sanded to evenness not to look. When wheels become years old some primer and paint begin to lift from the bare metal. Also I want to note that it appears BMW doesn't use a ton of paint on their wheels. It looks like one coat bc of how quickly you can sand to bare metal. Left side sanded to bare metal/primer, right side untouched except for the lip.
Once I finished sanded I wiped down the wheel with moist microfiber to clean the excess sand paper and dirt. Also followed up with a detail brush for tight spots. Here is the wheel after sanding is complete.
Flash makes it look shinier than it is. Just all bare metal/primer.
After that's done an dry I hit it with its first coat of paint/primer. Letting it dry until tomorrow. Final wheel will definitely need epoxy so I will update this with that step as well. That will most likely be during the week though.
This was my first time fixing curbed wheels and I have to admit as I started sanding I thought to myself oh my God what have I done to these poor wheels. But I must admit they do look leaps and bounds better than when I got them.
Enjoy!
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