Refinished my LTW rims!!!

[crc13]

I purchased a car with these on it, but painted black. Uggg, who does that. After many, many hours of sweat and sanding, they are finally finished.

IMG_4537 (1).jpgIMG_1117.jpgIMG_1118.jpg

[JitteryJoe]

I do agree. That black is hideous.

[Moron95M3]

Details??

I have one (rep I'm guessing) that is peeling like a bitch. Would like to refinish it (maybe I can just strip and reclear...but idk).

Thanks! I think they look good! Probably look even better installed and out in the sun


PS - (I need to get a set also...)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bmw-M-Wheel...ZaD4MA&vxp=mtr

[crc13]

Moron95m3, It was a lot of work, but worth it. I used aircraft stripper to get rid of the black paint, about 3 coats of it and visits to the car wash to pressure wash them. Then I sanded with 220, then wet 320, wet 500, wet 800, wet 1000, wet 1200. Then I purchased an aluminum buffing kit from Harbor Freight. Once that was done, I polished them with aluminum polish. They are at a body shop right now getting clear coated. Any questions, let me know! Taping was the worst part, lol. Took over an hour for each wheel.

[dr ed]

Great work! I have a set that needs to be refinished too.

Did your set have curb rash? If so, how did you get rid of it?

[crc13]

I did have curb rash. I just sanded them out with A d a.

[Braymond141]

They are too polished but A+ for trying to get the OEM look on the spokes. It’s possible the clear will cut down on the high polish so maybe they’ll get better.

[carguyspeaks]

Yep. Just did mine too. Taped then cut the curved sections using a scalpel. Tedious work


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[notMpowered]

Agreed with Braymond, they are a bit too polished, but man you did a GREAT job bringing those back to life. These are very hard wheels to make look proper when refinished and you have done a better job than tons of wheel repair shops.

[CblockM3]

Those look great! Way to go, I can't imagine how much work that was.

[AJLM34A]

Moron95m3, It was a lot of work, but worth it. I used aircraft stripper to get rid of the black paint, about 3 coats of it and visits to the car wash to pressure wash them. Then I sanded with 220, then wet 320, wet 500, wet 800, wet 1000, wet 1200. Then I purchased an aluminum buffing kit from Harbor Freight. Once that was done, I polished them with aluminum polish. They are at a body shop right now getting clear coated. Any questions, let me know! Taping was the worst part, lol. Took over an hour for each wheel.

Those look great! And that's a lot of work, I'm sure your hands/fingers were sore after you finished.

[MtekJosh]

Good work! You messaged me on panic asking how I made my black ltws polished again...happy to see you got it done

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[SamGrant951]

Nice job, thats a million times better than they were before - as others stated, bet that was a ton of work!

[crc13]

Thx for the compliments. Do the originals have scratch marks in them?

[notMpowered]

The originals look somewhat machined.

[crc13]

Can you send me a close up of them showing the finish on them? Thx

[Braymond141]

The orignal are cnc diamond cut and then they are hand scotch pad cleaned up before any clear is applied. The cnc cut isn’t done to a brilliant luster. I’ll post pics later.

[crc13]

Any pics braymond?

[SamGrant951]

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Not sure if these will show much but its what I could come up without taking them outside in natural light.

[Moron95M3]

^^Those look terrible.

I'll take them off your hands.

Great pics!!

[crc13]

Thanks for the pics! I can see the surface. Maybe I will scotch pad mine and re clear them.

[AJLM34A]

Maybe I will scotch pad mine and re clear them.

If you scotch pad clearcoat and reclear then you will be back at where you are at now, just with a thicker clear coat.

Post pictures of your wheels in their current state.

[jrkoupe]

nice work........super tedious...

I have the fully painted LTW wheel...........any1 know what color silver it is?....I want to redo them

[notMpowered]

Wurths silver wheel paint is a match.
For those in Canada that can't get Wurths, Mazda sunbeam silver duplicolour is nearly identical. I finished my DS2s with it.
These were curbed 100% of the way around, 1-2mm deep. I have no idea what the fuck the PO was doing with them.
They were winters so I didn't get them perfect, but took them from a 2/10 to an 8/10 for like $80
Untitled by Chris West, on Flickr
Untitled by Chris West, on Flickr