Paint or Powder Coat

Poll Poll Paint Or Powder Coat

  • Get wheels resprayed

    Votes: 7 58.3%

  • Get wheels powder coated

    Votes: 5 41.7%
  • Total voters
    12
  • Poll closed .
R

RichardG

Senior member
 An Englishman Abroad.
When giving the car a quick once on Saturday before the NE meet, I noticed several scratches within the paintwork on my wheels so I was considering getting them repainted, then after clumserly crunching them on the narrow bridge on the run (spending to much time in LH drive cars on the wrong side road, my excuse and I'm sticking to it) the decision is now somewhat more of a necessity, but do I get them resprayed arguably a better finish but liable to scratch again or go for powder coating which is a bit more durable.

Your thoughts please.

On the subject of the NE meet, some cracking photo's you have just posted Ruud_2002
 
thanks for the comment! :thumbsup:

i would go powder coat. i had the middles of my 108's done and it is a good finish and more durable, especially in the back where stones can bounce around and cause damage.

what finish were you thinking of? custom or just as they are?
 
Have no real knowledge on this other than comments on this Forum which suggest powder coating gives a much more durable finish. Various Web searches also suggest the same.
 
After seeing daveg's Elips I'd be going to Lepsons, they only paint but the finish is amazing! I recommended them to a friend who got his M wheels done by them:
"Hey, got the wheels back from Lepsons last week. OMG! They have done a FANTASTIC job on them. I'm v.v.v impressed!"

Which tyres are you running and how far are you off replacing? The rim protector on the Eagle F1s is very good... and they grip pretty damn well in the wet and dry :thumbsup:

Paint + Eagles :wink:
 
thought i would just add. mine are powder coated black with a chrome finish spray over the top. if you take a look at my how to - http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15605&p=234947#p234947 there are a couple of close-up photos of them finished
 
Looking at Lepsons to get my 108s refurbed later this year heard lots of good things about them.

Voted paint as i was told with powder coat if you kerb a rim they have to re do the whole wheel unlike with paint they can blend it in but thats just what i have been told
 
Paint everytime. Powder coating is a durable, but fairly crude surface and finish. Much rather have them done again if they chip or corrode and enjoy them.
 
Price - probably much and such the same depending on where you are in the country and where you go.

These are powder-coated wheels, close up you can see the surface finish is lumpy, but I can live with that. To the touch they feel much smoother than they look, the finish is a bit like orange peel.

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PGHZ4 said:
what's the price difference between the two?
Click to expand...

Just for your comparison Lepsons (painted) is approx £55+VAT for standard silver or £65+VAT for shadow chrome like I had mine. Thats on 18"

Just got my cheque from Kwik-Fit for £165 for the rears they damaged - took a while but got there in the end :roll:
 
Well I'm off to The Wheel Specialist Co in Glasgow tomorrow (I want them doing before I go off on my travels again) having spoken to them I hope they can give me the finish I'm looking for, I was told that they would powder coat the wheel as a base coat and then spray over it, this should hopefully give me the best of both worlds, I have 19 different finishes to choose from but want something as close to the original colour as possible.

I did look at the spraying option with a local company the finish was fine but I just had it in the back of mind that in another I'd be there again next year getting them redone because of stones etc. on the road scratching the paint as has already happened.

I'll take a couple of before & after pic's so you can see how clumsy I was (but looking at the photo of Ruud_2002 going through the same bit he looks to pretty close to doing what I did so I guess it was just my turn to be unlucky) and how good/bad the final finish is.
 
I'm somewhat surprised at the comments on powder coat finish.
I have no personal experience, but had previously thought the PC finish was a superior one.
Is it possible that there are some powder coaters that are less talented than others?
I know that's definitely the case with spray paint.

I'm curious what method is used on the OE wheels?
 
RichardG said:
Well I'm off to The Wheel Specialist Co in Glasgow tomorrow
Click to expand...
I'd be interested to hear back from your experiences of them - standard of finish, costs, etc. Not that I need any of my own wheels done at the moment, but the wife's wheels are (typically) kerbed very badly. She's not too fussed about having them tidied up as, in her words, she'll "just kerb them again", but it'd be good to know for future...
 
RichardG said:
Well I'm off to The Wheel Specialist Co in Glasgow tomorrow
Click to expand...

X2, I was browsing their website and had shortlisted them as a contender for when i go to get mine refurbed. i noticed in the discounts thread that there was a discount code for the company but when i entered it on the website it came back as invalid. i will probably ask them if we can still use it if / when i go to get them done.
 
I had read somewhere - (but i cant find the link now) That power coating weakens the wheels too.

A few members with S2K had their wheels shatter on a race track due to the heat treatment used in the powder coating weakening the alloy.. arguably they may have shattered even if they were not powder coated - but never heard of stock S2K wheels breaking.
 
Got the wheels done, got there at 08:30 and left just before 16:00, very nearly got a Black Chrome (Black Powder coat with a silver paint sprayed over the front face) finish but ended up with the Hi Silver Finish, I am happy with the service they offered, however on very close examine I have noticed a couple of areas that I not 100% happy with (on the very edge of the rim), they guarantee their finish for 1 year against defects and blemishes (not caused by kerbing) so I will get back in contact with them and see how easy it is to get them redone at there expense this time, but not for a few month's as I don't have the time between now and going away.

I am pretty confident that if I had another car with alloys and wanted them cleaning up to sell the car or just to tidy it up I would use them, come to think of it I might even get them to do my Bike wheels.

The wheels got pretty dirty driving home in the murk and gloom so I will post some pics once I've had a chance to clean them.
 
I used the Wheel specialist in Manchester to do the flash chrome finish on my M wheels. Very good finish and can't say it's really any lumpier than OEM.
 
For those of you who have powder coated wheels. Does the powder coating extend down into the bolt recess and cover the seats? Any problems with coating chips/cracks in this area? thanks
 
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