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[BOOF-M3]

I have OEM 359 wheels that were powder coated by a previous owner. The clear coat has worn away in areas and is peeling. My question is if I decide to not have them re-powder coated, can I just remove the old coating and have the wheels taken back down to the stock silver? Is anyone aware of a DIY for removing wheel coatings?

[shimmy23]

the oem finish was stripped to apply the powdercoaing that is currently on the wheels. if you remove the peeling powdercoating it will be bare metal underneath

you will need to chemically strip the powdercoating and have it recoated

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by shimmy23

the oem finish was stripped to apply the powdercoaing that is currently on the wheels. if you remove the peeling powdercoating it will be bare metal underneath

you will need to chemically strip the powdercoating and have it recoated

Thank you for the response Shimmy. On one rim the powder coat is cut out. On another rim it's only the clear coat. Two rims appear fine. Is it possible to just get the one wheel powder coated, another clear coated and leave the two that are issue free? Or will it be a matching issue and the wheels will be of a different tint?
Also, I have CF side mirrors. The clear coat has peeled off of half of one of the mirrors. I did speak to my paint guy but he didn't have any experience with clear coating over CF covers. He was worried about doing any type of sanding on the mirror and affecting the CF pattern. Any ideas on the wheels and mirror? Thank you.

[shimmy23]

Originally Posted by BOOF-M3

Thank you for the response Shimmy. On one rim the powder coat is cut out. On another rim it's only the clear coat. Two rims appear fine. Is it possible to just get the one wheel powder coated, another clear coated and leave the two that are issue free? Or will it be a matching issue and the wheels will be of a different tint?
Also, I have CF side mirrors. The clear coat has peeled off of half of one of the mirrors. I did speak to my paint guy but he didn't have any experience with clear coating over CF covers. He was worried about doing any type of sanding on the mirror and affecting the CF pattern. Any ideas on the wheels and mirror? Thank you.

Most likely you'll have a matching issue. Its best to just have the entire set refinished. A little inconvenient, but the best results.

Can you feel the weave on the mirror, or is the epoxy still in good shape and just the clear is peeling? If the latter, then you could use a scotchbrite pad and rub where the peeling area meets good clear. Do that very carefully. Then re-clear the entire mirror with a few coats.

[roastbeef]

i'm no coating expert, but if two of those wheels are going like that- the rest will soon follow. take them to a quality wheel refinisher.
i think you're better off just buying new mirrors than investing money into them.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by BOOF-M3

I have OEM 359 wheels that were powder coated by a previous owner. The clear coat has worn away in areas and is peeling. My question is if I decide to not have them re-powder coated, can I just remove the old coating and have the wheels taken back down to the stock silver? Is anyone aware of a DIY for removing wheel coatings?

Any reputable shop isn't going to try and coat on top of someone else's shitty work. To do it right, they'll strip the wheel down and redo the whole thing.

Be aware that the factory ZCP wheels are not silver, they are hypersilver. If you have them refinished in silver, they will not look the same. Hypersilver requires a multi-layer process. My wheel refinishing shop warned me about this and said it's why they recommend having both wheels on the same side of the car refinished at the same time -- replicating the OEM hypersilver is difficult.

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by shimmy23

Most likely you'll have a matching issue. Its best to just have the entire set refinished. A little inconvenient, but the best results.

Can you feel the weave on the mirror, or is the epoxy still in good shape and just the clear is peeling? If the latter, then you could use a scotchbrite pad and rub where the peeling area meets good clear. Do that very carefully. Then re-clear the entire mirror with a few coats.

Without question will have the entire set of wheels redone.

For the mirror only the clear coat is peeling. Yea my paint guy was a little worried about the weave in the event that he scratches through while only trying to eliminate the pealing clear coat. I believe you are correct, it can be done. Thank you Shimmy.

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

i'm no coating expert, but if two of those wheels are going like that- the rest will soon follow. take them to a quality wheel refinisher.
i think you're better off just buying new mirrors than investing money into them.

Good point on the wheels, will be doing them all.

One mirror is perfect. The other it's only the clear coat peeling, the CF underneath is perfect also. The only problem is I'm seeing different pricing for the mirror caps. I don't know if this is a $140 set or a $300 set. Would rather spend a few dollars having the one side redone if possible. As opposed to paying $150 for one CF mirror cap.

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by dparm

Any reputable shop isn't going to try and coat on top of someone else's shitty work. To do it right, they'll strip the wheel down and redo the whole thing.

Be aware that the factory ZCP wheels are not silver, they are hypersilver. If you have them refinished in silver, they will not look the same. Hypersilver requires a multi-layer process. My wheel refinishing shop warned me about this and said it's why they recommend having both wheels on the same side of the car refinished at the same time -- replicating the OEM hypersilver is difficult.

Definitely having them powder coated again as it would seem the option of bringing them to OEM quality may be beyond what I would care to spend on the wheels and we do like the black/smokey wheels with Mineral White

[su_root]

Also once the wheels are re powder coated be careful with the wheel cleaning products you use as some can affect the finish and stain it...ask me how i know

[dparm]

Originally Posted by su_root

Also once the wheels are re powder coated be careful with the wheel cleaning products you use as some can affect the finish and stain it...ask me how i know

What did you use? After two of my ZCP wheels were redone, I kept using the same stuff I always had (Sonax), but I also used regular car wash soap and Iron-X without any problems. Powdercoating is quite resilient but it isn't impenetrable.

Sounds like your powdercoater did a crappy job or you used a really harsh solvent.

[su_root]

Purple Power

that was before i discovered the ironX stuff and good quality cleaners o

[UPSROD]

Originally Posted by BOOF-M3

Good point on the wheels, will be doing them all.

One mirror is perfect. The other it's only the clear coat peeling, the CF underneath is perfect also. The only problem is I'm seeing different pricing for the mirror caps. I don't know if this is a $140 set or a $300 set. Would rather spend a few dollars having the one side redone if possible. As opposed to paying $150 for one CF mirror cap.

You might try removing the bad mirror cap and see who made it if it is labeled inside...OEM BMW will be.

[BOOF-M3]

Originally Posted by UPSROD

You might try removing the bad mirror cap and see who made it if it is labeled inside...OEM BMW will be.

Probably going to be OEM, original owner did not mess around. Everything he did was OEM or good quality such as Gintani X-Pipe and BPM tune. Will check later, thanks for heads up UPSROD.

[BOOF-M3]

Not sure why I didn't finish this thread off with a final outcome. I found a local powder coating shop https://www.abpowdercoating.net/. These guys were professional and did exactly what they said they would do. Once I dropped off the wheels they took them to a local tire shop and had the tires and TPMS removed. They then stripped off the old powder coating and redid them in a smoked finish similar to what they had been. Tires and TPMS were then put back on and balanced. Total cost was $300 ($75 per wheel) and add $50 for the tire shop. What a great experience and the wheels came out perfect.

For the CF mirror cap I went to a local paint and body shop. I had some peeling/bubbling on my CF gloss side markers also. Total charge to re clear coat the one OEM mirror cap and the two side markers $50. All came out perfect. There is no way to tell that either have been redone. I'll add some photos later today.

[jv92red]

Pics? I have some comp wheels waiting to be fixed up and need them refinished as well so trying to decide myself which route to take (color/process, paint or powder coat). Curious how yours look now and which color you went with, you mentioned you powder coated them "smoked finish" specifically which color code or special finish? I thought powder coating wasn't able to replicate a multi stage paint process in order to match the OEM wheel look/'depth' that a multi step paint job would require.