Need to get my double-five XKR wheels refinished before fitting new tires and since I've had lots of things powder coated in the past I went down to my guy yesterday afternoon and soon realized there are about a million different silvers to choose from. Has anyone had their wheels done and remembered what color they used? Most common are BMW silver & Porsche silver powder, but the BMW was a bit dark for my taste and the Porsche seemed close but hard to tell. They'll look a million times better when done and on the car, but decisions like this trip me up, I want to get it right the first time. If anyone has any experience refinishing the stock wheels I'd appreciate it.

 

I can't speak to the vintage BMW or Porsche silvers but as far as the modern colors are concerned, you probably can't go wrong with one that has "hyper silver" in its name....

 

Not sure of your location. CAPITAL WHEEL in Los Angeles buys . Sells . repairs and refinishes all wheels to oem standards .I have used them over the years

 

Thank you, unfortunately I'm all the way across the country in PA. I would much prefer to get the wheels painted to OE specs, but its actually a lot more expensive and I'd most likely have to ship them out/back adding to the cost. I stopped by another powder shop this morning and they had a better color selection (different powder suppliers) as well as some hyper finishes. I really like the bright hyper silver, would look good on a black car I think. I was pretty set on having something with metallic in it to mimic the OE finish, but the hyper silver might be the way to go, the wheels would really stand out and probably look better than original.

 

When I did the Apollo wheels on my 2004 a lot of people like the color I used. Details are here.

 

Hi rothwell, I must have looked through your thread 20 times already That looks like chrome with a gloss clear, correct? I do like that, happen to know which powder companies chrome it is? Reason I ask is the chrome between suppliers (Prismatic, Tiger, Columbia, etc.) are very different and they can either come out looking awesome (like yours), or absolutely awful and dull looking. I do love how yours came out and am considering the Prismatic Super Chrome Plus with Gloss Clear.

Do you happen to have any more pictures of your car with the wheels in different lighting?

 

There are a few more in this album too.

The info on the powder is in that thread here. It was actually called Chrome and it did require a clear coat. This powder is used a lot in the production line at my work for parts that are submerged in saltwater so its good stuff.

What I liked about that color was it got away from the original heavy metal flake content that Jag seemed to prefer. With the clear it ended up more pewter-like than chrome.

Damn. Now I am missing this car again.

 

Looks great, I'll have to give that some more consideration.

At this point I'm stuck between and OE style metallic finish with satin clear or the chrome/hyper silver non metallic with gloss clear. I think the chrome/hyper make the wheels stand out, but I also love a freshly refinished OE style wheel. Decisions, decisions...

 

Why powder coat versus paint and clear coat?

 

Simply because it ends up being a lot more expensive and more down time for the car. Down time isn't a huge issue, but the cost would be significantly more expensive. Nobody local will bother painting wheels so the only option is the send them out. In my case it would be roughly $600 or so more expensive for paint including shipping back & forth.

 

Couldn’t a small body shop paint them?

 

Sure they could, but they don't want to strip/prep them. I have a good friend that owns a body shop and he doesn't even want to bother, too much $$$ to be made on insurance jobs. He did say if I take them somewhere to be chemically stripped & blasted he would do it, but I can tell he doesn't want to bother. If it was a wheel I really loved and planned on keeping I would do what it took to get them painted, but that's not the case here. They just look horrible at the moment and are bringing the entire car down with them, anything will be better than the current state of them.

 

Have a look at the color of these and the thread.
Might be something you can do.

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