[CarJunkie]

I have a chip or two on each black wheel, seem to notice a new one every couple months. Fortunately the black is easy to touch up, just haven't gotten to it yet. They are very visible due to the white under layer.

[SilverM2_CS]

I used Chrysler Light Champagne Metallic to repair my scratched in the barrel. Came out pretty well.

[mfarrzhp]

I have a couple very small dings on my wheels from rocks, but nothing that took the paint off yet.

4,500 miles. Not sure if running PSS tires has helped me avoid anything major.

[mikeyymonster]

Originally Posted by CarJunkie

I have a chip or two on each black wheel, seem to notice a new one every couple months. Fortunately the black is easy to touch up, just haven't gotten to it yet. They are very visible due to the white under layer.

Let me know what you use to touch up!

[aka_m8rty]

I 2nd that, would be interested to repair a few chips on my gold wheels.

[medphysdave]

Bumping this up. Curbed a rear wheel. Short story is that the curbing is easy to fix. No one wants to touch matching the color. I'm being told that the whole wheel would need to be stripped and redone, but then that wheel would likely not match the others.

My thought is that a close match would be better than leaving exposed curbing, but it's not a super obvious where the curbing is located. I still believe their must be a solution that doesn't include buying a new wheel. At this rate it would have made sense to buy the BMW wheel insurance. My next step is to see what the local bmw dealership's in house wheel guy says.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by medphysdave

Bumping this up. Curbed a rear wheel. Short story is that the curbing is easy to fix. No one wants to touch matching the color. I'm being told that the whole wheel would need to be stripped and redone, but then that wheel would likely not match the others.

My thought is that a close match would be better than leaving exposed curbing, but it's not a super obvious where the curbing is located. I still believe their must be a solution that doesn't include buying a new wheel. At this rate it would have made sense to buy the BMW wheel insurance. My next step is to see what the local bmw dealership's in house wheel guy says.

For someone who airbrushes properly it honestly shouldn't be that hard. Just painting the wheel a semi-gloss silver, then clear gold over the top. The problem is finding the colors, and someone with the skill, which are both quite nearly impossible.

Keep in mind that SAI can't even match the finish themselves, evidenced by buying a single new wheel here or there and finding them to be very mis-matched, which is why they make them in huge batches.

If someone had been found to be able to match this paint correctly the BMW board would know about it for sure.

[medphysdave]

I've reached out to BMW to float the idea of a factory swap of wheels for a fee. BMW sends the dealership a refreshed wheel. We send damaged wheel back to bme for repair. Eventually the repaired wheels are used for customer swaps. Last thing I want is to collect a 763m wheel because I have to buy a new one each time one is curbed.

[chris719]

I can’t believe they aren’t able to supply a paint code. The E39 M5 Chrome Shadow paint was like this and they eventually revealed the code and the Italian supplier. It’s one reason why I would get black 763M and repaint them because I would rather not deal with this situation. All of Porsche’s satin wheel finishes can be found in the Glasurit catalog so BMW needs to step up their game and provide paint codes or formulations for the critical parts. Eventually a decent sprayer can get it right, but they have to be spraying the same stuff or very very close.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by chris719

I can't believe they aren't able to supply a paint code. The E39 M5 Chrome Shadow paint was like this and they eventually revealed the code and the Italian supplier. It's one reason why I would get black 763M and repaint them because I would rather not deal with this situation. All of Porsche's satin wheel finishes can be found in the Glasurit catalog so BMW needs to step up their game and provide paint codes or formulations for the critical parts. Eventually a decent sprayer can get it right, but they have to be spraying the same stuff or very very close.

In this case it would be 3 codes to get it right, and the gold coat would need to be "eyeballed" because it's such that the more coats you add the darker it gets. Even the direction of spray affects it. I have a couple of pix I'll post in a bit, but the idea is that the codes won't really give us what we need. It's unfortunate (in some ways) that BMW chose this type of finish, but it's a perfectly German thing to do.

[medphysdave]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

In this case it would be 3 codes to get it right, and the gold coat would need to be "eyeballed" because it's such that the more coats you add the darker it gets. Even the direction of spray affects it. I have a couple of pix I'll post in a bit, but the idea is that the codes won't really give us what we need. It's unfortunate (in some ways) that BMW chose this type of finish, but it's a perfectly German thing to do.

I agree with the wheel repair folks that a perfect match will be near impossible. However, BMW should give us the option to get a reasonable touchup match. Let's face it. A poor gold match is probably better than leaving it bare metal. The wheel repair folks don't want to do their normal repair because it doubles the size of the impacted area. I'm thinking about getting them to deburr the impact area the best they can and approximate a gold that is close enough.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by medphysdave

I agree with the wheel repair folks that a perfect match will be near impossible. However, BMW should give us the option to get a reasonable touchup match.

They literally can't because there is no touch-up paint that exists to get the same finish. If they sold people the exact gold paint they used they'd have everyone mad that it didn't match, and that's precisely because the wheel is painted a satin silver first, which then shines through the gold because it's a clear type of color. Simply painting the gold on would not even come close to matching. And worst of all they then add a pearl clear to it, which I don't think is critical from 2 feet away, but stepping back from it you'd see the difference for sure.

Notice the color difference in the first and second pictures I've included. It's the same color, but the first wheel has much more gold on it (it's not just the lighting). If you could view these wheels side by side new you'd see that none of them match unless they were made from the same batch. Even SAI's MATTE BLACK doesn't match!

And the last picture illustrates the satin silver base that doesn't even get sprayed in some cases because it's in the corner. This shows how it's not just the color, but the specific angle of the spray that dictates how dark/light the wheel will appear when finished (how much silver is showing through the painted areas, and how much silver is left in the corners).

They just have no choice sir.

[medphysdave]

Wow, so even getting a new wheel could look a little off compared to the current set on the car.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

In this case it would be 3 codes to get it right, and the gold coat would need to be "eyeballed" because it's such that the more coats you add the darker it gets. Even the direction of spray affects it. I have a couple of pix I'll post in a bit, but the idea is that the codes won't really give us what we need. It's unfortunate (in some ways) that BMW chose this type of finish, but it's a perfectly German thing to do.

Chrome Shadow was similar thing but black base, so are many other hypersilvers. They should just provide the codes and let the painter figure it out. BBS also refuses to give their paint codes out I think? Maybe it’s the vendor.

[medphysdave]

My dealership has a person that believes they can get it 90%. Based on what has been posted here I think that's the best anyone could hope for. It is clearly an approach of much more art than science. Also how much prep/testing the artist is willing to do prior to the repair. I'm not looking for perfect because it's a DD. Good enough that it's difficult to spot from 5ft is fine. Going through the dealership gives me a little recourse if it turns out poorly, and I get a loaner while it's in for repair.

$250 for the repair. I'd normally wait for a little more damage, but I'm super curious to know what to expect. 4 repairs = brand new wheel.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by chris719

Chrome Shadow was similar thing but black base, so are many other hypersilvers. They should just provide the codes and let the painter figure it out. BBS also refuses to give their paint codes out I think? Maybe it’s the vendor.

Yes, exactly. Lotus has the same thing, they call it High-Power Silver. It's a dark metallic base.

I do think that BMW has taken it a step further with the Frozen Gold though. I think Chrome Shadow and High-Power Silver are both nearly solid once finished, but FG isn't at all. It's the silver polishing that sets it apart, then the semi-matte clear final stage too.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Yes, exactly. Lotus has the same thing, they call it High-Power Silver. It's a dark metallic base.

I do think that BMW has taken it a step further with the Frozen Gold though. I think Chrome Shadow and High-Power Silver are both nearly solid once finished, but FG isn't at all. It's the silver polishing that sets it apart, then the semi-matte clear final stage too.

Yeah there is more complexity here, if you believe the polishing bit. The satin clear isn't too uncommon these days though. Many shops are familiar with Porsche's Platinum Satin and other frozen paints. Certainly not easy but I wish they would let someone try. The inability to refinish the wheel makes it a non-starter for me.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by chris719

Yeah there is more complexity here, if you believe the polishing bit. The satin clear isn't too uncommon these days though. Many shops are familiar with Porsche's Platinum Satin and other frozen paints. Certainly not easy but I wish they would let someone try. The inability to refinish the wheel makes it a non-starter for me.

I'm inclined not to believe the polishing bit, honestly, but looking at all the pictures I've collected, it indeed does look polished.

The reason I don't want to believe it is that I have quite a bit of experience with painting, and one of the things required is either scratches, or orange-peel, or special primer or something on the surface for the paint to stick to. It's super difficult to get paint to stick to a polished surface. Then again, SAI is a huge wheel company, so I guess they found a way.

When these wheels first came out *I believe* there were darker versions, and less gold versions. If I could get the super light gold version I'd get them, but I think they are long gone.

[medphysdave]

Wheel repair completed. In average lighting I think I was able to identify the repair when shining my phone flashlight on the wheel but not sure. I'd say that's a win. I think I noticed a change in gold metal flake in the repairs area. Very subtle. It could look different in direct sunlight. I think I'd wait for a few more blemishes next time before forking over $250, but I was curious. They did a great job

[6CylindersEveryDay]

^ For science! Thanks for proving that it can be done 👍

[///MPECABL]

I just my first major imperfection show up on my jet black CS front wheel. It's on the driver's side so I stare at it endlessly. I am now between taking the wheels off (getting some Apex VS5-RS's in the new 20" group buy) to run while I own the car and either replace it the one front wheel or refinishing it and having them ready to go back on… Other option is just replacing the driver's wheel and then keeping it going as is. I also do have the notorious caliper wheel scratch in the inner barrel on both front wheels that I'd love to fix at some point, but know it's inevitable.

Hard to pass up getting 2 new front wheels (about $950 each) for eventual install but the Apex 20" group buy could put a new set of 5-RS wheels at $3200 shipped, which is compelling as they are still just a hair lighter than even the 763M's!

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by ///MPECABL

I also do have the notorious caliper wheel scratch in the inner barrel on both front wheels that I'd love to fix at some point, but know it's inevitable.

To fix these scratches is futility at its finest. Don't bother.