Refinish Wheels?

[540sonice]

Had help from a buddy mounting and balancing new Dunlops SP 2000E's on my #32 17" painted aluminum wheels. He works in a Chevy dealership, so I wasn't able to "oversee" the operations. He used some sort of brake cleaner to clean up the inside of the rim in order to place lead stick-on weights while balancing. Unfortunately, the runoff from the cleaner completely messed up the clearcoat on the outside of the rims and, seriously, ruined the rims. He was 2 wheels in before he noticed this. I'm dying. Classic trying to save a buck and it is going to cost me. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Any recommendations for refinishing the rims? They were not perfect, so maybe this is a good thing in the end. The rims are 17" recessed stock to the 2000 540i Sport. I love them. Looks like powdercoated grey and on the outside an aluminum silver with a clear coat finish. The cleaner hosed the clearcoat and is showing the powdercoat grey. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
As an aside, what can anyone tell me of the various replica m-parallels 18" all over ebay? Any good? Any horror stories? Running 500 - 700 for a set...<o:p></o:p>

[TAGHRP2]

Wheels America Repair, <TABLE cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>New York, NY</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>Wheels America

141-F Central Ave

Farmingdale, NY 11735

(631) 756-9303 Toll Free(888) 3-FIX-RIM
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Hope this would help you...they have a website somewhere

[Dementor]

Well Lakeshorewheelandtire.com (http://www.lakeshorewheelandtire.com/bmw/bmw-rims.shtml) has some 18 in M parallels for bout 500. I plan on getting mine from there, There is a guy with a 528 tha tparks next to me @ work, I left him a note on his car inquiring bout his rims, he said he got them from there and he is very pleased, They also have tirepackages, but I can't personally say it's "great" cause I haven't ordered from them yet...soooo I dunno GL :P

[supark]

yeah just don't get the m-pars from wheelexchange - major flaking within 3 months of mounting them.

[540sonice]

Thanks for the posts.

Decided, after some more homework, to refinish the rims myself. End of day, they should look better than when I got the car and the brake cleaner incident will be forgotten, hopefully. I found what looks like the "German" standard wheel color - Wurth Silver Lacquer. I bought 2 cans and 2 clearcoat cans at properautocare.com. They seemed to have the best prices after a brief search.

I came across the following DIY link for what looks to be major P.I.A. Style 5 Cross Spoke Composite rims. My task will not be that involved. I'll let you guys know how I do with some pics... http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e39/forum.php?postid=3148502...

I might look into the 18" M-Parrallels for some summer tires after I get the car back form the shop and I can sit down comfortably again. The car was a recent purchase. And it appears that I bought some deferred maintenance issues...unless the stealer has me hook line and sinker. Valve cover gasket (85,000 miles on the car), Reseal intake manifold (What?), new 02 sensor (knew I needed that), drive belts dry cracking (ok), rear lower ball joints and sway bar links replaced (can't afford), and clutch recommended (will not do until dire). Mechanically inclined but work too much to roll up the sleeves and need the car back on the road. I won't even tell you guys how much, although I was successful in talking them down significantly.