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DIY Wheel refurb

Alloy wheels and tyre discussion
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obewan
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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by obewan » Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:44 pm

Ole gits rule wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:16 pm That looks like a cracking job - there's a retirement business there if you need it :rofl:
:thumbsup: Need to up my output I think to make it worthwhile :wink:
The going rate locally is about £50/wheel. Not sure how they do it for that, going on the hours I put in
E89 2.0 SDrive MSport
Honda CB500F.
Gone but not forgotten E85 2.0 MSport

Pondrew
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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by Pondrew » Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:47 pm

obewan wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:44 pm The going rate locally is about £50/wheel. Not sure how they do it for that, going on the hours I put in
They get small children, chained to benches, with no ventilation, to do them and pay them in Haribos.
Hang on, nope, I'm confusing them with P&O ferries :D
All good things come to those who wait. I'm really impatient which explains a lot.

F31 320i. Good car.
E89 20i Now fully dried
Z3 'free litre'. Project and a half. Complicated!
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Tatty old R56 Mini Cooper. Money pit!

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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by Ole gits rule » Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:50 pm

obewan wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:44 pm
Ole gits rule wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:16 pm That looks like a cracking job - there's a retirement business there if you need it :rofl:
:thumbsup: Need to up my output I think to make it worthwhile :wink:
The going rate locally is about £50/wheel. Not sure how they do it for that, going on the hours I put in
£50 thats cheap - going rate is £70 to £80 per wheel where I am and they use a load of machines to do the work
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Ole gits rule
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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by Ole gits rule » Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:51 pm

Pondrew wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:47 pm
obewan wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:44 pm The going rate locally is about £50/wheel. Not sure how they do it for that, going on the hours I put in
They get small children, chained to benches, with no ventilation, to do them and pay them in Haribos.
Hang on, nope, I'm confusing them with P&O ferries :D
They wont use haribos, far too expensive, be some cheap brand at about £1.81 a tonne
M4 Vert in Yas Marina Blue
2011 23i M Sport Highline in Alpine White with Smart Top installed - Gone but not forgotten.

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MikeyH
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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by MikeyH » Tue Mar 29, 2022 10:56 pm

Pondrew wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:00 pm
obewan wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 8:54 pm Cheers MikeyH - my wife's fed up of me mentioning it :rofl:
Women eh? When I do mine and tell the wife how much money I saved us, she will say "I hope so cos it's taken you long enough". :headbang:
That’s exactly what mine would say, no pleasing them sometimes :rofl:
Now, Sterling grey Z4 2.2 with cup holders, stubby aerial and sport seats. Roadsters ‘cause they’re great with the roof down.
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Colin_E
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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by Colin_E » Wed Mar 30, 2022 6:07 pm

I did something similar a year or so back - but on a very small scale as just a short section of rim on one wheel got lightly grazed, and it seemed too small a blemish to justify a full refurb. As Pondrew says, I decided a DIY approach was a risk worth taking as if anything went wrong, i'd just splash the cash and get the full refurb instead.
One trick I picked up (from somewhere online no doubt) was to deflate the tyre and tuck old playing cards between tyre and rim for masking purposes if you need to spray very close to the rim . Even deflated its quite difficult to jam them in but worth taking time to do.

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obewan
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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by obewan » Wed Mar 30, 2022 7:56 pm

Colin_E wrote: Wed Mar 30, 2022 6:07 pm I did something similar a year or so back - but on a very small scale as just a short section of rim on one wheel got lightly grazed, and it seemed too small a blemish to justify a full refurb. As Pondrew says, I decided a DIY approach was a risk worth taking as if anything went wrong, i'd just splash the cash and get the full refurb instead.
One trick I picked up (from somewhere online no doubt) was to deflate the tyre and tuck old playing cards between tyre and rim for masking purposes if you need to spray very close to the rim . Even deflated its quite difficult to jam them in but worth taking time to do.
Yeah, I used the same trick (worked a treat) but used 5x3" index cards. I must admit though it was a doddle to fit them.
I'm just wondering if I've been lucky with the rim protector tyre profile. Pondrew was also saying he was struggling to get to the rim edge.
As you can make out from the pics below mine is quite exposed
Attachments
cards.jpg
cards.jpg (115.3 KiB) Viewed 1125 times
Rim.jpg
Rim.jpg (108.91 KiB) Viewed 1125 times
E89 2.0 SDrive MSport
Honda CB500F.
Gone but not forgotten E85 2.0 MSport

Special Kay
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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by Special Kay » Tue Jun 07, 2022 7:28 pm

Hey Obewan, how are your refurbed wheels holding up to a few months of grime, brake dust and dare I say it scratches or scrapes?

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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by obewan » Tue Jun 07, 2022 9:59 pm

Hi Special Kay

They still look great :thumbsup:, no scrapes or scratches - touch wood :wink:
Brake dust washes off easily. However, I did put a coat of Auto Glym Super Resin Polish and Extra Gloss Protection (paint sealant) on them before fitting back on the car, so that may have helped.

Did you have a go yourself in the end?
E89 2.0 SDrive MSport
Honda CB500F.
Gone but not forgotten E85 2.0 MSport

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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by Special Kay » Tue Jun 07, 2022 10:56 pm

That's great to hear. I'm glad they're holding up so well :thumbsup:

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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by Pondrew » Wed Mar 22, 2023 12:10 am

Almost a year on from obewan's thread, I finally got around to doing my 326s at the weekend. Thanks to him for the idea.

Took a while, as three of four of my wheels were pretty chewed up on the outer rims (from before we bought the car). I had to grind some bits of alloy back as some of the scuffs had ripped the metal upwards and outwards. I used a Dremel rotary for this.
I had real trouble getting filler (and sanding it) on the outer rim edges with the tyres on. It took me three days to do all four wheels. partly due to the weather being a bit cold so the paint and lacquer took an age to dry.
I didn't use primer, I sanded each wheel completely with 320 grit wet & dry (wet), then filled with Isopon wheel filler, sanded, 2 coats of paint then 2 coats of clear lacquer.
I got everything from Halfords; paint was their own BMW Titanium silver. Cost about £50 for everything, plus £8.99 for a new set of wheel centres and //M badges off the 'Bay.
I will post a picture when it's dry outside!
I just hope the finish lasts!.
All good things come to those who wait. I'm really impatient which explains a lot.

F31 320i. Good car.
E89 20i Now fully dried
Z3 'free litre'. Project and a half. Complicated!
Mazda3 sold
Tatty old R56 Mini Cooper. Money pit!

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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by Zedebee » Wed Mar 22, 2023 12:17 am

Pondrew wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 12:10 am Almost a year on from obewan's thread, I finally got around to doing my 326s at the weekend. Thanks to him for the idea.

Took a while, as three of four of my wheels were pretty chewed up on the outer rims (from before we bought the car). I had real trouble getting filler (and sanding it) on the outer rim edges with the tyres on. It took me three days to do all four wheels. partly due to the weather being a bit cold so the paint and lacquer took an age to dry.
I didn't use primer, I sanded each wheel completely with 320 grit wet & dry (wet), then filled with Isopon wheel filler, sanded, 2 coats of paint then 2 coats of clear lacquer.
I got everything from Halfords; paint was their own BMW Titanium silver. Cost about £50 for everything, plus £8.99 for a new set of wheel centres and //M badges off the 'Bay.
I will post a picture when it's dry outside!
I just hope the finish lasts!.
I hope you don’t end up regretting not using primer, I’m not sure how well paint is going to stick to bare aluminium. Still, it was good practise for next time :D
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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by Pondrew » Wed Mar 22, 2023 12:22 am

Zedebee wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 12:17 am I’m not sure how well paint is going to stick to bare aluminium.
I only sanded back the lacquer and 'keyed' the original paint. I hope to God it is OK, as I ain't doing it again. My fingers are red raw from all the wet sanding. :(
All good things come to those who wait. I'm really impatient which explains a lot.

F31 320i. Good car.
E89 20i Now fully dried
Z3 'free litre'. Project and a half. Complicated!
Mazda3 sold
Tatty old R56 Mini Cooper. Money pit!

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obewan
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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by obewan » Wed Mar 22, 2023 9:59 am

Nice one Pondrew, glad to hear you got around to it.

Mine are still looking good a year on, chuffed to bits :thumbsup:
E89 2.0 SDrive MSport
Honda CB500F.
Gone but not forgotten E85 2.0 MSport

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DIY Wheel refurb

Post by inkey$ » Wed Mar 22, 2023 10:11 am

Looking really good, OP.
Which YouTube how-to did you follow?
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