Pitted/flaking M-parallels restorable?

[UnknownPerson]

I'm looking at an E38 that has been sitting for a while and the rims have some pretty harsh pitting and flaking going on. Here's what it looks like:

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/someunknownperson/DSCN5606.jpg

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/someunknownperson/DSCN5610.jpg

You can see some of the flaking on the top of the rim in the bottom picture. I cannot tell whether these rims are chrome plated or polished aluminum, but my understanding is that it should be possible to sand off the clear coat and pitted sections and re-polish and re-clear coat the rim. I'm not sure how good it will look after this process, but I would expect it to look much better than that ^^^ As you can see from the pictures as well, I would probably replace the emblem and ///M badge.

Of course, the alternative is to replace the rims with the same OEM, replica, or completely different aftermarket rims.

Has anyone had any luck restoring pitted/flaking rims?

[Kyle Anderson]

These are chrome, which is not clear coated. There's no saving these wheels. The only thing you can do is get them chemically stripped ($$$) and refinish them. Mechanically removing the chrome plate (sanding or sandblasting) does not work well.

[UnknownPerson]

These are chrome, which is not clear coated. There's no saving these wheels. The only thing you can do is get them chemically stripped ($$$) and refinish them. Mechanically removing the chrome plate (sanding or sandblasting) does not work well.

Damn. I figured this was the case. I checked a local plating company to verify the costly stripping process and it if definitely not an option I will be looking into. Stripping and re-plating was going to be around $1000/wheel :eek:, stripping and polishing the aluminum (no plating) would cost around $1000/set, and finally stripping (no polishing or plating) would run about $500/set.

I think that I might attempt to sand down the ugliness as much as possible, then look into picking up some polished aluminum m-par replicas.

Any recommendations or M-par replicas?

[JE BMW]

you can take some of the stuff thats peeling off with a wire brush, then you can powder coat over the chrome.some of the inperpections might be noticeable a bit, but would look better than they look now. that white suff might come off with some cleaner. how much are they asking?

[UnknownPerson]

you can take some of the stuff thats peeling off with a wire brush, then you can powder coat over the chrome.some of the inperpections might be noticeable a bit, but would look better than they look now. that white suff might come off with some cleaner. how much are they asking?

Thanks for the advice. That might work the best. Perhaps an attempt to sand down the chrome as much as possible would be worth a shot as well - might hide more of the imperfections? The car is a 95 740i that they are asking $6990 for. I originally posted about the car here: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1874404

[andrep6810]

Glww

[UnknownPerson]

^^^ Good Luck With... W...?