bmw bbs 5 spoke split rims
- Thread starter pablo
- Start date
well i had a go at one of the wheels today and im more thanhappy with the result considering what they started out like (photo skills would help). the bolts came undone with ease with the snap on n double hex 8mm and there was no sealant on the face, so it just popped apart with a push from my hand.
after separating the rim i coated the area i wanted to polish with nitromorse paint remover, great product as it comes as a gel so it dosnt run everywhere. it took effect in mins and all the laquer just flacked off.
i then bought an pack of assorted wet and dry paper from halfords, 240, 400,800 and 1200. i worked my way around the rim with each grade, taking 5-10 mins with each. it cleared up any curb marks i had and took all the stain and grain out of the lip.
it took me 1-2 hours hand polishing with autosol metal polish paste and a rag to get them shiney. i then cleaned everything and put it back together.
the wheels now have a genuine polished lip on them that will not bilster. i will have to run some autosol around them once to everyother week (2 mins per wheel) to keep them shiny. im more than happy to do this especially as i picked the wheels up for £250 on ebay!!!!
no pictures of the process, but ill do that on the next wheel. i wish i had taken the pic in sunlight as i cant photograph the lips to well in my house. i assure you its a mirror finish and more pics will follow
before: (not the wheel i refurbed but one of the set - the one i actually did was the worst of all them)
the one i did had blisters like this
AFTER
after separating the rim i coated the area i wanted to polish with nitromorse paint remover, great product as it comes as a gel so it dosnt run everywhere. it took effect in mins and all the laquer just flacked off.
i then bought an pack of assorted wet and dry paper from halfords, 240, 400,800 and 1200. i worked my way around the rim with each grade, taking 5-10 mins with each. it cleared up any curb marks i had and took all the stain and grain out of the lip.
it took me 1-2 hours hand polishing with autosol metal polish paste and a rag to get them shiney. i then cleaned everything and put it back together.
the wheels now have a genuine polished lip on them that will not bilster. i will have to run some autosol around them once to everyother week (2 mins per wheel) to keep them shiny. im more than happy to do this especially as i picked the wheels up for £250 on ebay!!!!
no pictures of the process, but ill do that on the next wheel. i wish i had taken the pic in sunlight as i cant photograph the lips to well in my house. i assure you its a mirror finish and more pics will follow
before: (not the wheel i refurbed but one of the set - the one i actually did was the worst of all them)
the one i did had blisters like this
AFTER
Looks great 
Are you happy about how you put it back together again, are there torque settings or something, don't want your wheel to fall apart on you. I'd be uncertain because of that, but that's just me.
Are you happy about how you put it back together again, are there torque settings or something, don't want your wheel to fall apart on you. I'd be uncertain because of that, but that's just me.
they where not done up that tight to need much leverage to undo in the first place. in fact i maybe did them a little tighter when rebuilding and i used a dab of locktite on each one. ill check all the bolts after 10 miles then 20 etc then 30etc so see how they are. i cant see them falling apart.
No me neither, don't want to worry you unnecessarily. There are so many bolts anyway, that even if a couple came loose, it would make no difference.
Eeeeekkkk - how would that happen? I have a (barely used) torque wrench, might have to check all mine at the weekend.
i went to kent to look at the car (i live in plymouth) car was lovely drove fine etc. set off for the journey. it never occurred to me to check the wheel nuts, how many people do when buying a car? i had to emergency pull over onto the hard shoulder after about 3 hrs of driving. it all happened all at once. car was good as gold until i sold it. just a case of the previous owner or mechanic not doing them up!
if you havnt checked yours...then word of caution. especially if youve had the wheels off recently. i think your ment to check them after 30 miles of driving
if you havnt checked yours...then word of caution. especially if youve had the wheels off recently. i think your ment to check them after 30 miles of driving
srhutch said:pablo said:prehaps they are polished? i got the idea that they were diamond cut from the below images..... even so laquered bare metal is just as bad!
pinched from a for sale thread....
they stripey finish suggested to me diamond cut
ive seen that site before, yes there are two or three examples on there, i might try an email later and see if the split them when refurbing......
I wonder if these have been refurbished already, cant get to my car, but I'm sure the diamond cutting is more pronounced than that.
I wouldnt be surprised if they had been refurbed before - came off my car and there were a few owners before me
all of the cars with wheel in my area have similar issues. the laquer edge is easly broken at a tyre fitters and then the blistering creeps. i havnt ended up with your wheels....i just pinched the picture as i forgot to take pics of mine. the 3 remaining wheels are not half as bad as the one i did yesterday. hope you dont mind
to nayone that fancys doeing the same. ive never done this and its surprisingly easy...has bee so far :?
to nayone that fancys doeing the same. ive never done this and its surprisingly easy...has bee so far :?
WARNING - THIS IS NEARLY AS BORING AS WATCHING PAINT DRY!
here is a quick write up. not teaching anybody to suck eggs.... still two wheels too do!
this wheel took me half the time compared to the last.
time 2 hrs per wheel.
CONDITION BEFORE REFURB
SPLITTING THE RIM:
TOOLS
SOCKET WRENCH AND 8MM DOUBLE HEX DRIVE (also known as triple square 12 point drive - available from snapon tools and ebay amongst others)
AS YOU CAN SEE LITTLE EFFORT IS REQUIRED TO SPLIT THE WHEEL. I AM ONLY USING A SHORT WRENCH.
HERE IS ONE OF THE BOLTS - JUST TO GIVE YOU AN INDICATOR OF SIZE
WITH A 5P FOR SCALE
ALL THAT IS NEEDED IS A VERY SOFT TAP WITH THE HAND TO SPLIT THE CENTRE. THERE IS NO SEALANT
IN NEED OF A CLEAN
NEXT STAGE - OUT WITH SOME PAINT STRIPPER. I USED NITROMORS. VERY GOOD PRODUCT. WORKED IN 5 MINS AND COMES A S A GEL SO APPLICATION IS VERY PRECISE.
PAINT IT ON
NOT TO CLEAR, BUT THE LAQUER HAS NOW BUBBLED UP
AGITATED WITH A BRUSH
LAQUER STRIPPED
NEXT UP - WET AND DRY SANDING. I BOUGHT AN ASSORTMENT PACK FROM HALFORDS IT CONTAINED 240, 400, 800 AND 1200 GRIT . DIPPED IT IN WATER AND SPENT ABOUT 5 MINS PER GRADE. THIS REMOVED THE MACHINE CUT LINES IN THE ALLY, ANY STAINING AND THE 240 MAKES SHORT WORK OF CURBING
I THEN USED AUTOSOL METAL POLISH - TIME 40-50 MINS (PICTURES NOT REQUIRED - BORING ENOUGH AS IT IS.)
RE-ASSEMBLED - I DIDNT 'CHEESE' UP THE BOLTS, BUT I USED A DROP OF LOCKTITE ON EACH BOLT AND DID THEM AS TIGHT AS ONE HAND ON THE WRENCH ALLOWED AND HERE ARE THE RESULTS!!!
here is a quick write up. not teaching anybody to suck eggs.... still two wheels too do!
this wheel took me half the time compared to the last.
time 2 hrs per wheel.
CONDITION BEFORE REFURB
SPLITTING THE RIM:
TOOLS
SOCKET WRENCH AND 8MM DOUBLE HEX DRIVE (also known as triple square 12 point drive - available from snapon tools and ebay amongst others)
AS YOU CAN SEE LITTLE EFFORT IS REQUIRED TO SPLIT THE WHEEL. I AM ONLY USING A SHORT WRENCH.
HERE IS ONE OF THE BOLTS - JUST TO GIVE YOU AN INDICATOR OF SIZE
WITH A 5P FOR SCALE
ALL THAT IS NEEDED IS A VERY SOFT TAP WITH THE HAND TO SPLIT THE CENTRE. THERE IS NO SEALANT
IN NEED OF A CLEAN
NEXT STAGE - OUT WITH SOME PAINT STRIPPER. I USED NITROMORS. VERY GOOD PRODUCT. WORKED IN 5 MINS AND COMES A S A GEL SO APPLICATION IS VERY PRECISE.
PAINT IT ON
NOT TO CLEAR, BUT THE LAQUER HAS NOW BUBBLED UP
AGITATED WITH A BRUSH
LAQUER STRIPPED
NEXT UP - WET AND DRY SANDING. I BOUGHT AN ASSORTMENT PACK FROM HALFORDS IT CONTAINED 240, 400, 800 AND 1200 GRIT . DIPPED IT IN WATER AND SPENT ABOUT 5 MINS PER GRADE. THIS REMOVED THE MACHINE CUT LINES IN THE ALLY, ANY STAINING AND THE 240 MAKES SHORT WORK OF CURBING
I THEN USED AUTOSOL METAL POLISH - TIME 40-50 MINS (PICTURES NOT REQUIRED - BORING ENOUGH AS IT IS.)
RE-ASSEMBLED - I DIDNT 'CHEESE' UP THE BOLTS, BUT I USED A DROP OF LOCKTITE ON EACH BOLT AND DID THEM AS TIGHT AS ONE HAND ON THE WRENCH ALLOWED AND HERE ARE THE RESULTS!!!
Looking good
What will you need to do to them now to keep them looking good, just a regular polish? Will the metal corrode at all?
What will you need to do to them now to keep them looking good, just a regular polish? Will the metal corrode at all?
the ally can tarnish and turn to a whitish haze. on these wheels the lips are a vertical surface and the rain shouldnt lay on the exposed metal. 2 mins around the wheel with autosol once every other week maybe less, just passing a rag, nothing major or fiddly. regular wash a wax of the rims will keep them a1.
i would go as far to say that a big polish may be needed once after winter but again nothing more than 5-10 mins per rim. they are silky smooth now so its just keeping the shine.
many split rims that you see come like this, not all are lacquered or diamond cut.
on my c5 corvette i had fully polished 19x 11 mag rims. inside and out! they took a fair bit longer to clean
i would go as far to say that a big polish may be needed once after winter but again nothing more than 5-10 mins per rim. they are silky smooth now so its just keeping the shine.
many split rims that you see come like this, not all are lacquered or diamond cut.
on my c5 corvette i had fully polished 19x 11 mag rims. inside and out! they took a fair bit longer to clean
Not too bad at all then.pablo said:
Now you need to hurry up and finish the other 2 and get some tyres on so we can see them on the car
PABLO---------the wheels look great! I'm glad they came apart so easily to make the task much easier. I hope you post some pics when you get 'em on the car. There are a couple other choices that are cool too as far as wheel finishing. I've tried them and it just comes down to personal preference.
They all require the prep you did but don't need the polishing step. Instead, you can use a "SCOTCHBRITE" pad to actually put a little bit of a grain back into the finish. This leaves them looking more racey instead of beautiful. Another is to just use a medium or fine steelwool. That gives you a look somewhere between the "SCOTCHBRITE" look and the look you now have. I'm thinking when winter rolls around I might do the "SCOTCHBRITE" thing to my bike wheels. If I don't like the look enough, I'll just finish 'em back like they are now.
I'm glad you decided to do your wheels. I know every time I'm near my bike I always take pride in the way they look and know it's because of my efforts. I know you'll feel the same way about your project.
PICS PLEASE!!!!
They all require the prep you did but don't need the polishing step. Instead, you can use a "SCOTCHBRITE" pad to actually put a little bit of a grain back into the finish. This leaves them looking more racey instead of beautiful. Another is to just use a medium or fine steelwool. That gives you a look somewhere between the "SCOTCHBRITE" look and the look you now have. I'm thinking when winter rolls around I might do the "SCOTCHBRITE" thing to my bike wheels. If I don't like the look enough, I'll just finish 'em back like they are now.
I'm glad you decided to do your wheels. I know every time I'm near my bike I always take pride in the way they look and know it's because of my efforts. I know you'll feel the same way about your project.
PICS PLEASE!!!!
more moneyGood post.
These 108's really are crap! Look great, but not practical.
I noticed last week when cleaning my wheels there is corrosion starting behind one of the spokes on the wheel rim. On holls last week but it's going back to dealers this week for a warranty claim! 8 month old car with 5,500 miles on the clock!! Not good! :thumbsdown:
My BMW MINI's I had before had the same finish on their wheels after 4 years as they did when they were new!!
Now, do I argue for a new set, one replacement wheel or a new set of different wheels (as it's bound to happen again!).
These 108's really are crap! Look great, but not practical.
I noticed last week when cleaning my wheels there is corrosion starting behind one of the spokes on the wheel rim. On holls last week but it's going back to dealers this week for a warranty claim! 8 month old car with 5,500 miles on the clock!! Not good! :thumbsdown:
My BMW MINI's I had before had the same finish on their wheels after 4 years as they did when they were new!!
Now, do I argue for a new set, one replacement wheel or a new set of different wheels (as it's bound to happen again!).