Wheel polishing advice needed

[tgrandahl]

So i recently took my car out from storage and spent some time kicking my own ass after seeing my wheels and killing two optima batteries. I think i made it through the battery situation now but the lip on my wheels need some love.

I should have cleaned and waxed them before i left it but was in a rush home for Christmas.

This is a picture of the wheel on the car when i took it out, pretty bad.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/2668175457_205ed7b41b.jpg?v=0
So tried some wheel cleaner and then pressure washed the hell out of it, the black powder coat cleaned fine but the lip just wont budge.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2668176777_a0e3937a81.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/2668998356_64e8b8fb2b.jpg?v=0
On closer in inspection of the corrosion it looks as if the lip was not polished to begin with, the lip looks to be coated itself, the coating is what looks to be damaged and peeling off.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3238/2668998472_4b6c7d3c51.jpg?v=0

So my question is how should i go about polishing these,
-will this coating come right off while polishing?
-can i damage the powder coating from polishing?
-should i use an abrasive to get down to the aluminum and then work with a wheel polishing kit?

[Tiger]

Yep... look like the fake polish is peeling off. The real main question is what your wheel is really made out of... not all wheels can be polished... it has to be high quality metal wheel.

Tape off your centers to prevent damage to the black powdercoatings... tape along the entire circle where polish ends and them tape a cardboard to the center to protect the rest of the wheel.

At this point, you can't do worse... so try sanding one small section to see how much you can get off and then try polishing it with the wheel polishing kit. If you can polish it, then go for the rest of the wheels.

It is poor workmanship that makes it crack like that.

[CO540RICK]

I recommend using paint stripper to remove the coating. Have seen it done on motorcycles and the tape will protect the black paint and won't harm the rubber.

[tgrandahl]

At this point, you can't do worse... so try sanding one small section to see how much you can get off and then try polishing it with the wheel polishing kit. If you can polish it, then go for the rest of the wheels.

yeah thats true, ill try a spot and see how it works out, i have hope for them and i'm gonna try what i can. If it doesn't work out ill just get the whole thing re power coated silver like a stock style #42

[BMWCCA1]

Don't feel too bad. Even BMW OE wheels do this. That's how I got these so cheap:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c378/BMWCCA1/DSC_0550.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c378/BMWCCA1/DSC_0551.jpg

I'm still trying to figure out how to attack it.

[gmannino]

Here ya guys go. This can by applied to fix your problems.

http://www.sg-motorsports.com/Wheel%20repair.htm

[tgrandahl]

well i just hit the lip with some 220grit sand paper and it comes off so easily i don't think paint stripper justifies the mess. The surface underneath looks like it wants to be shiny so i'm keeping my hopes up.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3264/2669080073_f2903b74c1.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/2669078935_19143ca987.jpg?v=0

That link on the amg wheel repair looks good and i do have some rash as well.

i am wondering what type of a sanding disc i could use on my lip, how would a small disk on a die grinder like shown in that link work with the curvature of the wheel inside it?

can waxing your wheels protect them enough from corrosion with out a clear coat?

can anybody recommend a certain aluminum polishing compound, how big of a difference is there between compounds and the clay bar stuff and liquid?

I am not going to get a chance to take a shot at this until i get back from vacation this coming weekend but if i have to order anything i would like to do it now.

[bimmerred535i]

sorry to be off topic but what brand of lights do you have on your e34, ive been looking to replace mine because of their inability to produce light on the low beams. But everyones aftermarket lights that i see are cheap looking EXCEPT yours..thanks

[tgrandahl]

sorry to be off topic but what brand of lights do you have on your e34, ive been looking to replace mine because of their inability to produce light on the low beams. But everyones aftermarket lights that i see are cheap looking EXCEPT yours..thanks

Hmm brand is a tough one, i got them off the bay about two years ago now when i painted the car so i cant pull up the listing or even find an email. I was pretty picky about them being as stock and clean looking as possible, and no ccfl halos.

There still look to be some similar ones on the bay but i cant guarantue there the same, i think the halogen halos are the best indicator.

http://www.umnitza.com/albums/album15/IMG_1082ab.sized.jpg

[Jon K]

Its machine polished with a clear coat.

If you want, since the finish is bad already. You can try and apply aircraft remover to the lip and strip the clear off. I had similar looking clear and when stripped it was AMAZING the polished lip under neath! However, it will take the paint off the black part. So mask that VERY VERY VERY well if you do this. Those need to be refinished either way.

If you strip the clear off (chemically... it bubbles off in no time), it will look so clean. Then you can re-apply clear if you wish

[Jon K]

Ugh dude you ruined it - just saw you took sand paper to it. That was the worst thing you could have done :( You will now need to polish that wheel again - unfortunately it looks like a Rondell 58 and those are machine polished lips, so they have lines in the polishing... if you hand polish it'll be smooth and not match the other wheels. You should have used aircraft remover to pull the clear off.


Here is a part I polished with a dremel rotary and mothers aluminum polish. Takes HOURS. If you are going to polish the lips you're going to have to mask that paint line... and get used to hand polishing the lips every week or clear coating them.

http://blowneuroz.com/525/Progress/spikeofdoom2.jpg

http://blowneuroz.com/525/Progress/spikeofdoom3.jpg

[tgrandahl]

Ugh dude you ruined it - just saw you took sand paper to it. That was the worst thing you could have done :( You will now need to polish that wheel again - unfortunately it looks like a Rondell 58 and those are machine polished lips, so they have lines in the polishing... if you hand polish it'll be smooth and not match the other wheels. You should have used aircraft remover to pull the clear off.


Here is a part I polished with a dremel rotary and mothers aluminum polish. Takes HOURS. If you are going to polish the lips you're going to have to mask that paint line... and get used to hand polishing the lips every week or clear coating them.

damn i should have known that was coming, i have some aircraft stripper around too ill try it on one wheel and see how it looks vs. the hand polished one. I don't know if it will be enough to justify buying a new wheel. They are roundell 58's.

Are we talking mainly a difference in labor to hand polish? i jumped on the sandpaper because i didn't want to risk making a mess of the powder coat with the stripper but ill give it a careful try on one wheel.

That needle looks amazing, when you say hand polish does that mean that a corded drill is a bad idea in this case or it will just be more work than paint stripper and shazzam.

[Tiger]

It can always be repolished... don't worry. I had a set that was chromed... yes chromed... and the wheel shop was able to bring back the polish after stripping the chrome, copper, and nickel coatings off.

[Booster]

Choose your clearcoat removal steps.
........Aerosol Aircraft stripper with a masked center is fastest.

Sand the abraised grain out with a linear grit wet and dry sand paper....meaning, if the current scratches look like a 180# scratch, use 80# to start.

Lower the grit in increments until you acheive desired results ot get to 2500# grit.

You can use any method after this to polish ...drill and side buff cotton wheel with rouge.......by hand ( if your strong)....or with a professional flexshaft hand piece and cable ( 2HP motor).

Or just pay a pro and move on.;)
Cheers,Vinny

[RallyD]

send them out.
probably get all 4 lips done for $200

screw the clearcoat, just keep up on them with some mothers mag& alum polish

sanded :(
220 :( :(