Polished Aluminum Road Stars...from BMW???

[sitdownrando]

So I just bought some Road Stars in lovely condition, but I noticed the color was a bit different (brighter, but definitely not hyper silver) from traditional chrome shadow. No matter, as they were in such great shape I couldn't pass them up for the price.

That said, I decided to take them in to a reputable wheel shop here in town to inquire about the water spots I couldn't get off with a good wash yesterday. They told me the wheels were bare polished aluminum and needed a good polish to get rid of the spots and quite a bit of oxidation. No powdercoat, no chrome, no paint...bare polished aluminum. Hmm, ok.

So I contacted the seller to ask if he had ever had them stripped and polished, as he was the original owner of the coupe & wheels since 2001. Nope, he took them off straight from stock and put them in storage.

So, the $1,000,000 question: Did BMW deliver any M Coupes to dealerships with polished aluminum Road Stars, or did dealerships possibly polish them on their own? Keep in mind these are from an '01 M Coupe with one owner. Thanks for any input...

[JoshS]

Dealership must have done it.

[Eurospec]

You got a heck of a deal, water spots and all... enjoy them!

Be sure to post some pics after the recondition.

[sitdownrando]

You got a heck of a deal, water spots and all... enjoy them!

Be sure to post some pics after the recondition.

Will definitely enjoy them and share some freshly polished goodness. Should have them all polished this weekend and will post some pics. Would be interesting to hear if anyone else received their coupes with polished wheels from the dealership.

[2000mkoop]

What? That's really weird...

I can't make any sense of it lol

BMW didn't offer them polished, but the guy is the original owner so obviously he could've told you if they'd been stripped/polished during his ownership

Probably better just sell them to me. Lol

[lokijibber]

How heavy are they? Are they just simply polished? Or truly a full aluminum wheel?

[2000mkoop]

How heavy are they? Are they just simply polished? Or truly a full aluminum wheel?

huh? the oem wheels are aluminum

[sitdownrando]

How heavy are they? Are they just simply polished? Or truly a full aluminum wheel?

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking.

They're aluminum through and through, simply no coating on the exterior face. Just shiny polished bare metal.

Will post pics when I'm in front of my laptop.

Sent from my iPhone using BF.com

[Randy Forbes]

This is a brand new replacement set of Chrome Shadow wheels that were completely stripped and polished. Still not sure what I want to do with them, but they've never had a tire mounted on them, still virgin-ny goodness...







Polished wheels were never a factory option, certainly not for the 2001 models, as I scoured the list well before placing my order.

[tractorcrusher]

This is a brand new replacement set of Chrome Shadow wheels that were completely stripped and polished. Still not sure what I want to do with them, but they've never had a tire mounted on them, still virgin-ny goodness...

I mean, I'll take them off your hands or whatever if you're not using them...

My friend and I polished the wheels from his VW one time, using aircraft paint remover and some other chemical. Turns out I am way more meticulous than he was, in the time he finished three wheels I still hadn't finished one. Needless to say, he had one beautiful shiny wheel, and three hazy, half-polished wheels.

[scrap]

I'm curious if you guys are putting any clear coat on these or just rolling on the car with bare metal. I'm in the process of polishing my style 42s and worry a little about the roads eating away all my hard work.

[tractorcrusher]

I'm curious if you guys are putting any clear coat on these or just rolling on the car with bare metal. I'm in the process of polishing my style 42s and worry a little about the roads eating away all my hard work.

According to this site, which may just be salesy, you should put a wheel wax on after polish- http://www.autogeek.net/how-to-clean...at-wheels.html

I think the biggest risk of not sealing the wheels with something is getting chemicals (like tire shine) baked into your wheels when they heat up (from the brakes)

[brm]

Mine are bare and have been so for 3 years, I think. They're holding up well, but the car is stored winters. (Pic obviously taken before polishing.)

[2000mkoop]

I'm curious if you guys are putting any clear coat on these or just rolling on the car with bare metal. I'm in the process of polishing my style 42s and worry a little about the roads eating away all my hard work.

I wouldn't. I've heard bad stories about clearcoat on polished wheels. Not enough for the clear to really adhere to I think, which is why aftermarket wheels with clearcoated lips are machined lips, not full polish

Plus, even if the clearcoat did adhere well enough, I think you'll run into the issue of getting a small stone-peck at some point, then having moisture creep under that little wound and make it spread

at least with bare aluminum, you can always just polish it back to life, vs having to recoat any paints

[kobayashi]

Probably would have sold well as an option on the roadsters.

[sitdownrando]

This is a brand new replacement set of Chrome Shadow wheels that were completely stripped and polished. Still not sure what I want to do with them, but they've never had a tire mounted on them, still virgin-ny goodness...

Polished wheels were never a factory option, certainly not for the 2001 models, as I scoured the list well before placing my order.

Wow, Randy...those look great. I'm looking forward to seeing how well mine shine up with some elbow grease. Any tools out there I should look into, or will my arm be really sore this weekend?

Sent from my iPhone using BF.com

[boncovi]

Randy,
Those rims are screaming my name.

Paypal ready

[sitdownrando]

Here's wheel #1 after a good 30 minutes of hand polishing. One down, three to go...

[QuestMCoupe]

Wow all polished looks pretty damn good! Hmm...

[killeen_john]

Wow all polished looks pretty damn good! Hmm...

+1

I was not pleased with the results of typical wheel refinishing (paint/clear coat) by Wheels America, but going polished would be a interesting option depending upon the cost.

[MC28REPSOL]

Here's wheel #1 after a good 30 minutes of hand polishing. One down, three to go...

all i can say is ... WOW! i think you got them too cheap! hehe

[Bcar]

question. Im in the process of refinishing my BBS RX IIs (PO curb rashed all 4, grrr), had the lips dipped/stripped (leaving the centers as-is/hyper silver). Im not really into the polished/chrome look so was going for more the brushed look like the original machined lip. Clear coat or not on a more matte/brushed look? The anodizing place the dipped the lips said I should for sure get them clear coated, but others have said dont do it... car parked for winters, 5-10k miles/yr.

[2000mkoop]

question. Im in the process of refinishing my BBS RX IIs (PO curb rashed all 4, grrr), had the lips dipped/stripped (leaving the centers as-is/hyper silver). Im not really into the polished/chrome look so was going for more the brushed look like the original machined lip. Clear coat or not on a more matte/brushed look? The anodizing place the dipped the lips said I should for sure get them clear coated, but others have said dont do it... car parked for winters, 5-10k miles/yr.

If they've got a machined finish vs polished, you should have good enough adhesion for the clearcoat. Then your maintenance is simple, soap/water just like the rest of the wheel

Non-clearcoated brushed lips would be even more difficult to maintain than polished, since you'd have to keep them spotless at all times, and if you did get waterspots/etc.. you'd have to essentially "rebrush" the lip to get rid of it...and that's gonna be next to impossible to maintain the original consistent machining

- - - Updated - - -

question. Im in the process of refinishing my BBS RX IIs (PO curb rashed all 4, grrr), had the lips dipped/stripped (leaving the centers as-is/hyper silver). Im not really into the polished/chrome look so was going for more the brushed look like the original machined lip. Clear coat or not on a more matte/brushed look? The anodizing place the dipped the lips said I should for sure get them clear coated, but others have said dont do it... car parked for winters, 5-10k miles/yr.

If they've got a machined finish vs polished, you should have good enough adhesion for the clearcoat. Then your maintenance is simple, soap/water just like the rest of the wheel

Non-clearcoated brushed lips would be even more difficult to maintain than polished, since you'd have to keep them spotless at all times, and if you did get waterspots/etc.. you'd have to essentially "rebrush" the lip to get rid of it...and that's gonna be next to impossible to maintain the original consistent machining

[BenFenner]

Not my cup of tea.

I know, no one asked me...

[tmaher]

lets see them on a car