I am getting ready to DIY the curb rash on my 7. There's a good how-to on the web for the BMW, however, I am having trouble finding the paint (Wurth European Silver Wheel Paint) anywhere in my area. Seems no one else makes it. The Plastikote, Duplicolor etc color does not match our VW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche and BMW wheels. I already bought the putty.
I am getting ready to DIY the curb rash on my 7. There's a good how-to on the web for the BMW, however, I am having trouble finding the paint (Wurth European Silver Wheel Paint) anywhere in my area. Seems no one else makes it. The Plastikote, Duplicolor etc color does not match our VW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche and BMW wheels. I already bought the putty.
Here's the how to:
Any tips welcome. (other than who to call to have it done). I want to do it myself.
By the time you get all the materials together, sand, bond, prep, seal, prime, then paint, it'll be so not worth your time and really can't guarantee color matching. The whee repair guys are great at this. They carry all the popular colors. You will be amazed at the result. I think it's like $100 a wheel.
I have never done a refinish like this, but I did plastidip the wheels of my friends e92 335i last summer and they came out great. The only suggestion I have is that you use playing cards around were the wheel meets the tire. It really makes for a clean edge, they are easy to remove, and it protects the tire from overspray very well because the cards stand up. A few pictures below; one of my friends wheel painted and one I found online of the card method.
Sorry I couldnt ne more of a help, but that's all I got.
Besides, 100 dollars a wheel is more than I paid for the wheels to begin with. Regardless, I'm a staunch DIY'er and have painted wheels before, but these German wheels use a unique shade of silver apparently? I get conflicting information about whether Duplicolor is an acceptable match. Einszett and Wurth are impossible to find in Canada.
Thanks DB70 for the card trick ( get it....."card trick?" lol).... I will actually be using recipe cards for my masking.
I refinish wheels all the time. I have about 10 sets of wheels in the garage at any given point. Its not hard at all if you have ever painted or repaired anything. I would suggest repainting the whole wheel, as it will be hard to get the paint to match exactly.
I now use a gravity feed HVLP steup with my compressor, but before I had a compressor I painted lots of wheel with rattle cans that turned out well. Here are some pictures of a few sets of wheels I've refinished and painted in the past month or so.
My new to me X5 M50i came with a couple of wheels with som minor curb rash. After much deliberation and discussions with myself, I decided to give it a go. These are 20's and as soon as my run flats get closer to replacement, I'm getting 742M's in 22" anyway, so what the Hell I gave it a shot.
I used my pneumatic little sander with 80 grit to start, then 120, and finally 180. The wheels are gloss black and the spots are relatively small (3"-4" long). I used Duplicolor gloss black wheel paint and they came out great. Granted, not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. I just didn't really want to spend that much for a professional job when I'm replacing the wheels within the next year anyway.
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