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Thread: stamped LTW wheel question - paint quality from factory?

  1. #1
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    stamped LTW wheel question - paint quality from factory?

    I just ordered 4 brand new 8.5 stamped LTWs and they came shipped from Germany. I would say one of them was of acceptable quality for the price paid, the other three were heavily "over" sprayed with too much paint and the "bmw motorsport" stamping looks terrible/washed out as it filled in with paint. Yes, Im picky.

    Sending 3 back and keeping 1 to have 3 more re-sent...I have a feeling Im not going to get lucky and get 3 good ones however...but was curious - were they all terrible from the factory when mounted new? I mean these are new old stock wheels sitting in boxes so painted 10-15+ years ago.

    I considered just having a good wheel place refinish them but prince wheels who specializes in bmw/chrome shadow paint had no interest in refinishing due to their paint removal process which I failed to understand as I wouldn't expect it to hurt/round the edges on the stamping but whatever...

    Example of bad wheel:



    Good wheel:


  2. #2
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    I don't know, but if those are the forged ones, they're the nicest wheels for e36 M3s, good call. I prefer stamped too.

    Are you paying a lot? If there's a good deal to be had I want in! But I'm not as picky, maybe you don't have to pay return shipping and sell them here in the states. Others probably won't care about the extra paint.

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    Yes forged, not a good deal - about $470 a piece. I just wanted brand new

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    wow! Good luck, that is surprising.


    My guess - it's no longer in production anywhere most likely. They had to pull some off a shelf/inventory which are possibly now from a different supplier. They probably source out 100 every so often, when their stock runs low. It's now only a service/replacement part.

    That doesn't mean it should be any lower quality, however, they may have loosened up their prints now that it's been out of production for 10+ years. (Or also reduced quality inspections).

    This is all my speculation - I deal with this sort of stuff often at work.
    Last edited by Moron95M3; 12-03-2014 at 04:33 PM.
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  5. #5
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    RRSperry is offline Senior Moment Member BMW E36 M3 Expert
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    Did you buy them from BMW? If not there is no guarantee they came from the OEM, and are up to BMW standards. If they came from BMW then I am surprised.

    Oh and they are $471 each from Tischer BMW...
    Last edited by RRSperry; 12-05-2014 at 08:50 AM.
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    Too many

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    Have you tried contacting the dealer you bought it from? If you didnt install them already, you might be able to have them order 1 and see if its the overspray or good finish. Id rather have 4 similar wheels than 3 same and 1 different.

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    Thanks guys! MMMGP - yes can't wait to get them mounted and take some decent pictures, poor car will have been on jack stands for months by then. It is giving me time to address/clean up little things here and there.

    They were ordered from ECS Tuning, cost per wheel was $468.52. They came in BMW labeled boxes and are OEM.

    ECS has been great to work with, they sent me labels to send 3 back and are ordering 3 more. They are going to open them and inspect before they drop ship them to me - unfortunately whatever warehouse is stocking them in Germany won't open the box and check them before sending them over to the US.

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    Brand new ltws can still be ordered??? I would love to order a set!

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    Both polished non-stamped and stamped are still available. I wanted a square set and looking at the used market you have to buy two sets, have them refinished $$ so I just decided to buy new...I thought it would be easier that way..haha.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SamGrant951 View Post
    Both polished non-stamped and stamped are still available. I wanted a square set and looking at the used market you have to buy two sets, have them refinished $$ so I just decided to buy new...I thought it would be easier that way..haha.
    Yeah, something to be said about a new square set for sure, especially if everything else on your car is sorted... def not a great deal, but not out of this world either, and you'll have the absolute best results possible. Brand new forged LTW's squared up. Can't beat that. I might be jealous, except, I'm not willing to pony up ~$2k for some new wheels I would curb on my first try for sure.

    Refinishing a used staggered set is probably what I'll end up doing.

    I just picked up 4 orig D1's for $350 with tires, dude lied about condition but they're still worth it. I'm planning on lighting those up, then clean em up and mount a decent set of tires on there for banging around in.

    Although, these racing hart C2's I have are in really good shape, if I redid those with a better center color (silver, gray, Goldish but not where it's tacky) I might be into those a bit more. Wheels are the last thing on my list at this point. I'm trying to figure out how to make 500hp with a centrifugal supercharger.
    Last edited by TorqDorq; 12-08-2014 at 05:09 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SamGrant951 View Post
    I considered just having a good wheel place refinish them but prince wheels who specializes in bmw/chrome shadow paint had no interest in refinishing due to their paint removal process which I failed to understand as I wouldn't expect it to hurt/round the edges on the stamping but whatever...

    Example of bad wheel:



    Good wheel:

    Due to the fact that these were brand new wheels with a problem from the factory, it made little sense for us to get involved in refinishing them. It's hard to say what kind of condition the stamped letters were in underneath the paint finish and if we had media blasted all the paint off only to find that the stamped lettering itself was the problem, then nobody would be happy with the end result and you would no longer have the option to return them.

    Also, if there was actually several layers of paint and clear coat built up that was causing the lettering to look that bad, then the amount of media blasting needed to remove those layers would likely have rounded the edges of the stamped lettering leaving us in the same bad situation. The best option (and one I would have chose if it were my personal wheels) was to send them back like you have.

    Justin
    Prince Wheel Services

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    I ordered brand new polished 24's 3 years ago and they were perfect. My only complaint was rough metal work in between the double spokes.

    I would of sent those back too. But now you have to worry about colors not matching and possibly the same issue again. What were the dates on the 4 wheels? I suspect the better of the 4 was older.

    These are not chrome shadow by the way. I hope that isn't what you were told by Prince Wheel Service. It's a joke how common it is for wheel refinish shops to not know the proper BMW colors (hyper silver being confused as chrome shadow, silvers coming out gray or sparkly, etc).
    Last edited by Braymond141; 12-23-2014 at 02:56 PM.

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    If you want to DIY you could always strip the paint. Sand thoroughly. Prime and paint/clear. Use aircraft stripped in a spray can and just spray it. Wait 30 minutes. Hose off. Paint should bubble and come right off. Repeat till it's down to bare metal.

    If these are in fact brand new from factory then absolutely have them replaced and demand those replacements cost you no more money than you have already paid.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pDubs View Post
    If you want to DIY you could always strip the paint. Sand thoroughly. Prime and paint/clear. Use aircraft stripped in a spray can and just spray it. Wait 30 minutes. Hose off. Paint should bubble and come right off. Repeat till it's down to bare metal.

    If these are in fact brand new from factory then absolutely have them replaced and demand those replacements cost you no more money than you have already paid.
    There's no reason to demand anything. BMW will take care of these issues without hesitation.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pws View Post
    Justin
    Prince Wheel Services
    Got it - makes more sense now - thanks for your response. I still don't actually like the factory silver finish and want a more brilliant/hyper silver. Maybe one day I can talk you into doing it anyways

    I pinged another place that comes highly recommended and they never even responded to (2) of my emails so guess they weren't interested either ha.


    Quote Originally Posted by Braymond141 View Post
    I ordered brand new polished 24's 3 years ago and they were perfect. My only complaint was rough metal work in between the double spokes.

    I would of sent those back too. But now you have to worry about colors not matching and possibly the same issue again. What were the dates on the 4 wheels? I suspect the better of the 4 was older.

    These are not chrome shadow by the way. I hope that isn't what you were told by Prince Wheel Service. It's a joke how common it is for wheel refinish shops to not know the proper BMW colors (hyper silver being confused as chrome shadow, silvers coming out gray or sparkly, etc).
    I never said these were chrome shadow (nor did they) - I said the place (pws) that I asked to refinish specializes in BMW chrome shadow and I was going to have these refinished in a chrome shadow or hyper/brilliant silver rather than the ole boring silver. Sent the 3 bad ones back - 3 new ones showed up and 2 are perfect and 1 very good - all 4 are a perfect match paint wise and look great. BMW/ECS tuning took great care of me in getting this straightened out.

    Quote Originally Posted by pDubs View Post
    If you want to DIY you could always strip the paint. Sand thoroughly. Prime and paint/clear. Use aircraft stripped in a spray can and just spray it. Wait 30 minutes. Hose off. Paint should bubble and come right off. Repeat till it's down to bare metal.

    If these are in fact brand new from factory then absolutely have them replaced and demand those replacements cost you no more money than you have already paid.
    Thanks - but yeah I didnt want to do any DIY on a brand new set of wheels from BMW. The replacements didn't cost me a dime and they took care of shipping both ways. Tires ordered and will be mounted soon.




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    so hawt
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    Its really out of their hands - they just take whatever is sent to them. But no - no real explanation. These 3 came in different packaging however all were BMW original boxes/markings.

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    HMMMMMM.....I just picked up a set of those rims last spring. Paid $200 for the entire set. I was told those were DSI's and NOT LTW's.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SamGrant951 View Post
    Got it - makes more sense now - thanks for your response. I still don't actually like the factory silver finish and want a more brilliant/hyper silver. Maybe one day I can talk you into doing it anyways

    I pinged another place that comes highly recommended and they never even responded to (2) of my emails so guess they weren't interested either ha.




    I never said these were chrome shadow (nor did they) - I said the place (pws) that I asked to refinish specializes in BMW chrome shadow and I was going to have these refinished in a chrome shadow or hyper/brilliant silver rather than the ole boring silver. Sent the 3 bad ones back - 3 new ones showed up and 2 are perfect and 1 very good - all 4 are a perfect match paint wise and look great. BMW/ECS tuning took great care of me in getting this straightened out.



    Thanks - but yeah I didnt want to do any DIY on a brand new set of wheels from BMW. The replacements didn't cost me a dime and they took care of shipping both ways. Tires ordered and will be mounted soon.




    Great wheels, remind me of my old M3



    Quote Originally Posted by flyfishvt View Post
    HMMMMMM.....I just picked up a set of those rims last spring. Paid $200 for the entire set. I was told those were DSI's and NOT LTW's.
    Great score!
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    Jesus those look good.

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    Quote Originally Posted by flyfishvt View Post
    HMMMMMM.....I just picked up a set of those rims last spring. Paid $200 for the entire set. I was told those were DSI's and NOT LTW's.
    Are they real, or are the replicas with only "MOTORSPORT" written on them?

  25. #25
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    Tires tomorrow, S-04 PP.

    Just trying something using a cloisonne enamel roundel, I kinda like it. Would never put the badges on an E36 but center caps maybe...


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