Hi guys, ive recently bought new rims for my 1 series. They were cheap but in pretty bad condition. One of the rims are in very good confition and i love the way they look. The polished diamond cut look. It seems as if the top layer of the rims have degraded over time in areas giving a plasticy look in areas. I want to completely refurb the surface of all rims. Has anyone any advice or done this.before? I was thinking fine grit sand paper, a drill polishing kit and maybe some wax or polish? Any tips or advice would be massively appreciated?
Thanks,
J.
Hi
Machined or Diamond Cut & lacquer is a popular way of finishing wheels after manufacture. The quality of the lacquer varies and OEM wheels do use a high quality one. However, over time, small stone chips and road debris will hit the surface of the lacquer and eventually, one will pierce through and that will allow moisture in which gives that spidery/milky look of deterioration. Quality wheel refurbishers will use chemical strip solutions to quickly remove all the lacquer. The wheels can then be fully treated and then diamond cut and then re-lacquered and given back to you. In wetter climates, like right here in the UK, it's only a matter of time and roughly speaking, say 12-18 months or so (possibly less, possibly more) and you'll find the same deterioration. You can only diamond cut wheels perhaps a max of 2 times as each time a layer of metal is removed, do it more times and the strength of the wheel is compromised too far.
If you are thinking to manually remove the lacquer by hand/DIY, you'll need some strong chemicals to remove it and it'll be a messy, time consuming and annoying job. Very strong chemicals to strip the lacquer aren't available to the general public so you'll need to use ones that are and of course they're much weaker meaning the job will take much, much longer. Whilst you are doing that, you'll damage the diamond cut 'grooves' on the metal surface of the wheel meaning to get it back you'll need to diamond cut and that can only be done 2 times as I mention above.
Have you purchased good quality wheels for your car? or have you purchased 'replica' type wheels? if replica, I'd personally say they're not worth the effort/time/money to refurbish. If they're decent quality/OEM level quality wheels, then it is worth spending money on them to be refurbished by a reputable specialist who'll have them turned around to you within a few days and will be a full refinish.
Another alternative is to have the wheels fully stripped and prepped and not apply the lacquer. Not many owners think of this nor do many enthusiasts either! - However, on one set in my collection of wheels, this is exactly what I did for the 'lip' of each wheel. The plus side means in 12 or so months I won't have the deteriorating lacquer again and the look was fantastic! the downside is that every 2-3 days, they need a polish with metal polish, which can be a pain however, would only take perhaps 5 mins max on each wheel. I also didn't apply any wheel sealer products and I do know that if I had done so, I'd have had much less upkeep and just a quick wash and wipe down would have them looking great again. I'll be doing that on another set in my collection in the future. These pictures show what Diamond Cut/Machines with NO lacquer looks like;
On the car
These are a set of genuine Hartge Classic wheels, 19 inch sizing and with the deep lip style for their design. The centres are powder coated. As you can see, I only had the lips diamond cut.
I did the same refurbishment to another one of my Hartge sets, these are Nova 5 in 19 inch sizing again but I had the lips hand mirror polished. The centres were painted. Here's what those look like;
Before;
After;
At the time of this picture, I had 3 sets of genuine Hartge's all in 19 inch flavour and I still have them all including one more set but in 20 inch. I have 5 other sets of wheels none of which will be diamond cut/machined and I'm evaluating what kind of finish to go for on them all!
Original finish on all these Hartge wheels was diamond cut/machined and lacquer. I didn't/don't fancy having to refinish every year or so!
Cheers, Dennis!
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