Refinishing Style 5's

[BrandonWA]

I've been looking through the DIY for polishing style 5's.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1156455&page=7

I was wondering if its possible to polish the wheels with the tires still on them? I noticed that most people have them removed, but I already have tires on the wheels and would have to pay to have them removed. What issues will I run into with them on the wheel?
Thanks!

[sirius815]

Yeah you can do that. I don't see a problem with that. I'm doing the lips of my wheels that way. If all you need to do is lips ad not the part where bolts are, you can just leave the wheels on the back, put the car on jack stands, start the car, put it in third and let the car do the work for you - the only down side is that metal shavings get all over the car force you to thoroughly wash it, but at least polishing takes no time at all.

[BrandonWA]

But then you can't get in between the bolts, and I think that would look terrible. Is there any kind of problem with jasco getting on the tires? I think I'll just end up masking them off

[sirius815]

You'll have to unbolt them afterwards of course - this just saves you a TON of work - especially if they have a lot of pitting on the lips.

I would personally not let JASCO get on the tires. 60 grit sandpaper will get the clear coat off.

[downsouthdub]

it will only cost you about $5 per wheel to get the tires taken off, and it will alow you to take the wheels apart. that will save you a lot of headaches. if you have ever polished anything before you know it will be a bitch to do it with the wheels still together and you will never get around the bolts without either messing them up or leaving that area unpolished. and i also would not start with 60 grit paper, that will only make deep scratches that you will have to buff out later. jasco has a heavy grit compound that i use to take down the casting on intake manifolds. that should also work on the clear without making deep scratches. good luck :thumbup:

[pac0]

it will only cost you about $5 per wheel to get the tires taken off, and it will alow you to take the wheels apart. that will save you a lot of headaches. if you have ever polished anything before you know it will be a bitch to do it with the wheels still together and you will never get around the bolts without either messing them up or leaving that area unpolished. and i also would not start with 60 grit paper, that will only make deep scratches that you will have to buff out later. jasco has a heavy grit compound that i use to take down the casting on intake manifolds. that should also work on the clear without making deep scratches. good luck :thumbup:

Agreed. Try one wheel with the tire on and you'll understand why everyone removes the tires to polish them. Post pics once you start :buttrock

[sirius815]

it will only cost you about $5 per wheel to get the tires taken off, and it will alow you to take the wheels apart. that will save you a lot of headaches. if you have ever polished anything before you know it will be a bitch to do it with the wheels still together and you will never get around the bolts without either messing them up or leaving that area unpolished. and i also would not start with 60 grit paper, that will only make deep scratches that you will have to buff out later. jasco has a heavy grit compound that i use to take down the casting on intake manifolds. that should also work on the clear without making deep scratches. good luck :thumbup:

To get around the bolts, definitely take the bolts out. I had to use 60 to get the pitting out of them. The owner before me had them sitting out side for around a year I think. They looked terrible. I tried starting with 320, but that didn't work. I worked my way down from 320 and finally at 60 I was starting to make progress. But you are correct, I did have to buff that out later - 120,220,320 and so on.