DIY: Revamping badly curbed wheels doityourself

[S85FTW]

Hey Everyone, I figured I would take some time to post my recent undertaking of an unexpected project. A family member recently replaced their wheels with a new set because he could not cost justify having them refinished. So I landed a set of staggered 19" BMW Style 95s for free! These will either be a knockaround setup or a winter setup. It all depends on how they will look on the M.

Since 3 out of 4 wheels were pretty much curbed all the way around and pretty deep, I had some sanding to do. This wasnt as bad as I thought. Just to give you an idea of what I was dealing with, this was a shot of the LEAST curbed wheel.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/85EA44B2-B271-4A20-9BB7-A2D9ECBD572B-2089-0000017A7F6D8B6B.jpg

I just utilized some 60 grit sandpaper to get the curbed parts as smooth as I could. Dont be afraid if you dont get them like new, that is what the epoxy is for.

Then I hit the whole wheel with 120 grit sandpaper. These wheels are pretty easy to get to all around, but for wheels with tight spokes I recommend a Dremmel to get in the tight spaces.

This was the sandpaper I used since I had it lying around.
http://mdm.boschwebservices.com/files/r36347v15.jpg

Next up the epoxy, I just took some old business cards lying around, spread the liquid metal on it and gently went around the wheel 3 times to fill all of the gaps and nicks from the curb damage. This was the epoxy I used.
http://www.amtra.pl/var/images/1906/en/2341/main.jpeg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/852B8E97-5D82-471D-AB7E-5012C4E7F346-1371-000000BD6C1651F0.jpg
After applying the epoxy to fill the gashes created by curbage, I hit the lip one more time with 120 grit to get a flat even surface. This epoxy dries quickly so I gave it 4 hours just to be safe.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/BCD4FBA8-B524-456B-B1EB-F816FF124892-1371-000000BD70E66901.jpg
Next paint/primer. I decided to kill two birds with one stone since I am painting the wheels a glossy white. I went to walmart and picked up three cans of Krylon white dual paint/primer. Pic below.http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR22_0L3OZhZkvH_9SIqlK-wDTGEb93_zz-az4ix8er9Z5G7CK34Q&t=1

After letting each wheel dry for 24 hours, I hit the wheel again with 1000grit sandpaper to get all the little imperfections out. If you do not wait long enough, the primer will still be gummy and will peel when you hit it with sandpaper.

Today I applied the first layer of clear coat on 2 of the 4 wheels and here are pics below. I will post pics and update the original post as I complete all 4 and mount them.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/602B3503-712F-4A76-A192-035A6B4970BE-2089-0000017A8456A513.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/C3E902DE-80D1-4562-A9F0-6D622A68DF8A-2089-0000017A88C84AB3.jpg

Second and third (final layer) of clear coat applied to wheels 1 and 2. Very happy with the end result! Will begin on wheels 3 and 4 tomorrow.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/90D69F1C-B542-43C1-9464-F26DF81B808E-3030-000001D486700EB6.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/A73D3EF0-A028-4A9F-BEDF-4E1A181DAD37-3030-000001D48B7874AA.jpg

UPDATE*** 8/31- Did not have a ton of time to get work done on these wheels bc I had to utilize my lunch break time to get new tires mounted on the M. I was able to complete one wheel. It is the wheel I snapped a pic of. To my delight, after sanding all of the curb age came out. No need for epoxy this time! So I got to work sanding with just 120 grit. Below is a halfway shot to show progress. I sanded to evenness not to look. When wheels become years old some primer and paint begin to lift from the bare metal. Also I want to note that it appears BMW doesn't use a ton of paint on their wheels. It looks like one coat bc of how quickly you can sand to bare metal. Left side sanded to bare metal/primer, right side untouched except for the lip.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/35675CD5-E8E1-4558-90D8-6B5250B5FA78-4081-000002790F566D47.jpg
Once I finished sanded I wiped down the wheel with moist microfiber to clean the excess sand paper and dirt. Also followed up with a detail brush for tight spots. Here is the wheel after sanding is complete.
Flash makes it look shinier than it is. Just all bare metal/primer.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/FDFEA123-15FD-493A-9D2A-83967147CDAA-4081-0000027913D9F83A.jpg
After that's done an dry I hit it with its first coat of paint/primer. Letting it dry until tomorrow. Final wheel will definitely need epoxy so I will update this with that step as well. That will most likely be during the week though.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/E79FF202-31D7-462F-9214-2DFF954E1FF8-4081-0000027917860D68.jpg

This was my first time fixing curbed wheels and I have to admit as I started sanding I thought to myself oh my God what have I done to these poor wheels. But I must admit they do look leaps and bounds better than when I got them.

Enjoy!

[danewilson77]

Nice job.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[S85FTW]

Nice job.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

Thanks sir!

[M3TA5IN]

Awesome man!!!

I freaking love style 95s too. I almost put some on the e90.


Sent from my fancy city machine.

[Oli77]

Did you sand after the epoxy step?

[danewilson77]

Did you sand after the epoxy step?

Gonna say "of course".

[S85FTW]

Did you sand after the epoxy step?

Yes, with 120 grit again after epoxying. Will modify original post.

[johnrando]

Nice work!

[echo46]

How many coats of primer and color before clear.

[ryankokesh]

That's awesome! I never knew how to do that...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[danewilson77]

The only concern I have with this method is longevity.

[JupiterBMW]

Work looks great, well done, although, I'm not a fan of white... Very 90s looking to me. I too would be concerned with the longevity of this repair, especially going to get tires mounted by some retard working in a tire shop...

But again, the work looks awesome. I'd be interested in seeing more pics of the actual repair process as I'd be tempted to do this to my ZHP rims.

[S85FTW]

Thanks guys! 3 coats of paint and primer on each wheel. I did not want to go black bc that IMO is very 90s. Wanted to do something different than the standard silver. I dont really care about longevity as these will be seasonal tires. But FWIW guys, I had the oem paint chipping on these, my CSL rep wheels and my style 5s from crappy mechanics installing tires.

I will try to take pics of the repair process from the last two wheels as I am starting on them today.

[JupiterBMW]

Thanks guys! 3 coats of paint and primer on each wheel. I did not want to go black bc that IMO is very 90s. Wanted to do something different than the standard silver. I dont really care about longevity as these will be seasonal tires. But FWIW guys, I had the oem paint chipping on these, my CSL rep wheels and my style 5s from crappy mechanics installing tires.

I will try to take pics of the repair process from the last two wheels as I am starting on them today.

Word, sounds good. And yeah, I have to be honest, if a tire installer chipped OEM paint when putting on tires, I'd be having them pay to get the wheels refinished professionally. I worked at a tire shop back in the day... There is no reason for tire installation to chip paint..

[Nomar06]

Nice work.....need to do this to my 135s sometime.

[S85FTW]

Original post updated.

[S85FTW]

original post now complete and updated with the epoxy process/pics

[328ioc]

Looks awesome.

Also, how did the wheel on your M turn out?

[S85FTW]

Didn't come out perfect but looks a ton better. I am going to have to take the wheels off of the car to get them to look right. Will probably do it this week.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/85E7DD1D-FD59-4016-9AA2-7399AA988292-1371-000000BFF82087B6.jpg

[328ioc]

Still looks damn good in comparison to the before.

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[UdubBadger]

nice

there are some good DIY's out there too. I have had my fair share of needing this done and taken it to a pro for like $75 a wheel. Basically they do the same thing, sand, use liquid filler if needed, sand again, paint, clear.

The difference I noticed is in the paint. They ALWAYS (and have told me to do the same) use the duplicolor wheel paint because it not only matches OEM wheel colors but its a little tougher. They say no need to prime since you are sanding but do a good 3-4 layers of light coverage on just the f-d up areas. Obviously S85 was changing the color of the wheels so thats different but for touch up of OEM wheels I am told thats the way to go.

I need to figure out my winter tire situation and then I'm gonna refinish my 135's - might plasti dip um, might paint um grey like my VB3's or might just touch um up and leave OEM silver.

[S85FTW]

nice

there are some good DIY's out there too. I have had my fair share of needing this done and taken it to a pro for like $75 a wheel. Basically they do the same thing, sand, use liquid filler if needed, sand again, paint, clear.

The difference I noticed is in the paint. They ALWAYS (and have told me to do the same) use the duplicolor wheel paint because it not only matches OEM wheel colors but its a little tougher. They say no need to prime since you are sanding but do a good 3-4 layers of light coverage on just the f-d up areas. Obviously S85 was changing the color of the wheels so thats different but for touch up of OEM wheels I am told thats the way to go.

I need to figure out my winter tire situation and then I'm gonna refinish my 135's - might plasti dip um, might paint um grey like my VB3's or might just touch um up and leave OEM silver.

You are 100% right on this. I used duplicor wheel paint for my M wheels. For these wheels I used all purpose heat resistant paint/primer.

Wetsanding was completed today on 3/4 wheels.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/FCF7CC36-DBD3-4163-ADEE-F80E48D525DB-5019-000003BBCB316FCE.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/krisgt30/6C90D31E-7E36-4CA1-958B-2D58FE5B46D7-5019-000003BBC5F5ED14.jpg