gonna paint my rims - what colour?

[itaplikeabiatch]

going to get my rims painted, looking at black or gun metal grey.

anyone have any links to any pics?

i've seen the tech-art and HRE rims in black and they are sensational.

thanks.

[Tomson]

Doing the same with my standard RS4 rims, I take the split rims off for winter after the last set got punished.....

I have called wicked wheels www.wickedwheels.co.uk, but without response so far. I have heard that just getting them sprayed will last about a week - so I might investigate a 'tyres off', powder coating session. I was going to go for the same colour as the standard Audi centres i.e. Gunmetal grey ish...

Will keep you posted on what I decide and how I decide to do it.

[Mik]

Wicked Wheels are pretty good IMHO. They have done my RS4 reps a few times. You need to go to their facility in Crawley for powder coating which will look like the original almost, however they can come to your house for the normal repaint which is pretty good too for the money.

Mik

[Doug_S2]

Mik - having your reps done a few times worries me - are the same wheels getting reconnd? Do they repaint and lacquer the inside of the wheel - as that is where mine is getting abuse from brake dust.

[Mik]

Yes not ideal.....I usually wait 12 months or so before I call them again as the paint needs to harden properly otherwise it might bubble up when they get resprayed - even when they bake them. I think they do paint them on the inside, although not with the same finish obviously. Think its very good quality work....worth giving them a call IMO.

These wheels are very easy to curb and it doesnt take long before they look terrible.

Cheers

Mik

Mik - having your reps done a few times worries me - are the same wheels getting reconnd? Do they repaint and lacquer the inside of the wheel - as that is where mine is getting abuse from brake dust.

[itaplikeabiatch]

so what is the difference between powder coating and spraying?

it will be a total job ie taking tyres off, etc
i don't want it peeling or looking cheap.

[Tomson]

Right, I am having a real problem getting in touch with my local wicked-wheels chap. Always going to answer phone etc etc. Was thinking about having a go myself....... Is this ridiculous?

I think it would go something like this,
Give wheels a proper clean
Let air out of tyres to enable enough room to sneak masking tape between rim and tyre.
Mask-up tyres, and back of wheel.
Flat back paint allready on the wheel
Repair damage via either sanding back on rim edge or filling any larger lumps.
Quick wipe with a tack cloth
Spray with primer, probably a filler primer to cover any missed holes etc
Quick flash back with very fine wet and dry again - reapeat if require.
Spray with colour of choice,
Flash back again - repeat if required
Laquer, cut and polish.

What do we think £30.00 in materials - a couple of sundays ?????

[K2]

If you are going to that trouble you may as well get the tyre removed to do the job.
There is a bloke in worcester that does all of the wheels for listers, and does a very good job too.
Each wheel is shot blasted repaired if necessary painted and put in the oven. Painted to OE spec or colour of your choice
Results are top notch, and the last time i checked was charging about £60.00 per corner.
Nick Cambell
Wheelright
Unit 5
Mobile Estates
Gregory Mill Steet Worcester WR3 8BS
t:01905 617733

[bakerdcb]

Results are top notch, and the last time i checked was charging about £60.00 per corner.
Nick Cambell
Wheelright
Unit 5
Mobile Estates
Gregory Mill Steet Worcester WR3 8BS
t:01905 617733

I've never used him but I too have heard that he's very good. I wouldn't trust myself not to mess it up, at least with the first couple of goes until I got the hang of it. Worth it just for the saving of time in my book.

[Tomson]

Cheers boys, will give him a buzz and report back...

[Doc]

...and while you are at it you should take a look at Pristine Wheels, Milton Keynes (HQ)...they have agents around the UK who you can deliver your wheels to and then collect then after say 3-5 days. Simply put they are excellent and perform a complete refurbishment much like K2 mentioned above for that supplier

Pristine Alloy Wheel Refurbishers Limited
Newport Road
Woburn Sands
Milton Keynes
MK17 8UD


Good Luck

[Tomson]

Well Gents - after what seemed like an age - the weather turning and the split rims beginning to show signs of weather punishment again !!!! ( I should of just left them on again and got BBS to replace them under warranty again, mmmm new 19" 3 piece BBS split rims every 10 months)

Here are my winter rims
[img]modules/pnCPG/Coppermine/albums/userpics/11036/rs246_norm_winter%20wheels%202.jpg[/img]

and here...
[img]modules/pnCPG/Coppermine/albums/userpics/11036/rs246_norm_Winter%20Wheels%201.jpg[/img]

Apologies for the quality of the pictures, taken with camera phone about 5 minutes ago. I tralled the 'spa' town looking for some decent Graphitti yesterday after putting the wheels on and cleaning car. I wanted an 'urban' shot be failed horribly and the car got dirtier and dirtier - so gave up.

Anyway I used Wheelright in Worcester (£45.00 a corner).

Would I recomend him? Yes & No. Turn around was meant to be 4 days it was over 5 weeks. This was due to his family being ill and in and out of hospital, which is fair enough. But everytime I rang I was told they would be finished in a couple of days, until in the end I told him I was coming to get them and then they were suddenly done. Also, I was doing all the chasing he never rang once.

The quality?, the face of each wheel is pretty good, only a couple of small sags in the laquer, although the inside is rubbish. Sprayed over old weight foam and clearly did not shot blast the inside - which makes you wonder if he did the outside? I shall report back on how long they last.

Still for £45.00 per rim I suppose it's a struggle to complain and tyres had clearly been on off each rim.

Anyhow, Nick does not have the facilities to balance the rims, sol loaded them in the van (cheers again Martyn - flew through MOT last week) and got them balanced back at home.

Now this is the pisser !!! 3 out of the 4 rims are buckled and one of them worse than the others. I know JonP got through 26 wheels when he had the ca, I also got the impression that I was on hard rims. Of course the road in 'the spa town' are fecking rubbish so they might have even buckled the hard rims. ANyway I must find out if I have hard or soft rims.

Anyway the good news is I bunged the woprse rim on the rear and spent plenty of time test driving yesterday and no shakes as far as I can tell so far...

So boys and girls, in summary. Check your rims if before you get the refurbished. If you just want some winter rims to stop your normal wheels feeling winter pain - Nick at wheelright is a good option. However, if you are refurbing your normal wheels - or want something super special I have not heard anything bad about pristine.

[K2]

Nice one, the colour is just purfect I think for your motor.

[boris]

Good timing on this subjetc for me too - just about to get my wheels refurbed. Live in Northants so Milton Keynes is fairly local. Anyone know anywhere else nearby ?
I have wondered about getting them done in a different colour too - maybe charcoal / gunmetal grey .... Anyone had them done like that before?
Does the colour wear off quicker showing the original colour through ?
Is this likely to increase / decrease the residual value ?

I also found a couple of weeks ago that one of my wheels is slightly buckled ! --- arrghh. Doesnt seem to be a problem, but like many others I guess I am a bit confused about all this soft / hard / replcement from Audi wheel malarky. Any (simple ?!?) answers on that one ?

ta very much.

[bobjebb]

bent wheels - providing it's a softee, serial number will end in 'T' - just call your dealer and TELL them that you need to order in a soft wheel for your RS4. They shouldn't ask any questions - if they do, just show them this:

http://www.rs246.com/index.php?name=PNp ... c&start=15