Refurbish or replace alloy?

PiKe · 30 Sep 2020 at 16:57

I have diamond cut wheels that have issues with corrosion on one of the wheels under the lacquer

To get it refurbished locally (on a cnc) it'll cost me £120

On ebay I can buy a refurbished wheel (which states its had one weld) thats straight and true for £120.

What should I do? Stick with my known good wheel and get it refurbished, or potentially save money by getting the one off ebay and selling my other wheel on?

Nasher · 30 Sep 2020 at 17:23

I made the mistake of buying "refurbished" alloys from a company called PX wheels...

They turned up and they were about as round as an egg and impossible to balance.

Dominic-Toretto · 30 Sep 2020 at 17:49

What wheel is it?

Why not have all four powder coated. Diamond cut wheels are crap and corrosion is always a issue. Should be able to have all 4 refurbished for 200 ish.

PiKe · 30 Sep 2020 at 17:57

Squidward said:
What wheel is it?

Why not have all four powder coated. Diamond cut wheels are crap and corrosion is always a issue. Should be able to have all 4 refurbished for 200 ish.

They look crap all one colour, I'd want the inners to stay black which none of the places said they will do. They're Drenalic Renault wheels.

paradigm · 30 Sep 2020 at 18:28

A refurbished diamond cut will likely re-corrode quicker than the original. Also the process of lathing them back will mean it'll also no longer match the other three.

I resided myself to just buying a new alloy when I had a scuff on one of mine on the S3.

If the ones on the 440i ever need doing they’ll be getting powder coated a single colour.

[TW]Fox · 30 Sep 2020 at 18:33

PiKe said:
They look crap all one colour, I'd want the inners to stay black

I bet they won't look as crap as they do with black inners to be fair

PiKe · 30 Sep 2020 at 19:58

[TW]Fox said:
I bet they won't look as crap as they do with black inners to be fair

I like them

stoofa · 1 Oct 2020 at 09:17

I've got Diamond Cut on my Octy vRS and I've got slight scuffs on both offside wheels. I've done very basic remedial work - cleaned up and applied some lacquer, but I know they will only get worse.
Refurb is around £120, new is around £260.
In all honesty I'm seriously considering having all 4 powder-coated in Anthracite for around £200.
If I get any future damage then they can hopefully be Smart repaired etc.

Only thing stopping me really is a time when I can be without the car - I don't have 4 spare wheels and we're a one-car family.

200sols · 1 Oct 2020 at 09:21

I wouldn't buy diamond wheels again. Bloody nightmare, even the slightest scuff and the lacquer starts peeling off, salt and grime gets underneath even the slightest of chips and the corrosion begins they look good but not worth the hassle.

PiKe · 1 Oct 2020 at 10:27

Why can't they do two tone allows in powder coat? Everywhere that I've asked says it needs to be a solid colour.

paradigm · 1 Oct 2020 at 10:51

PiKe said:
Why can't they do two tone allows in powder coat? Everywhere that I've asked says it needs to be a solid colour.

Well, because the way powder coating works I guess. Shot blast the wheel back to bare metal, connect the wheel up to a charge, spray the opposite charge dry paint (powder) onto the wheel, attracted by the opposing electrical charge, bake.

If you were using actual paint then you could mask off and paint each section separately, but I can't see how it would work with powder coating, I guess it might be technically possible, but I've never seen it done.

PiKe · 1 Oct 2020 at 10:53

paradigm said:
Well, because the way powder coating works I guess. Shot blast the wheel back to bare metal, connect the wheel up to a charge, spray the opposite charge dry paint (powder) onto the wheel, attracted by the opposing electrical charge, bake.

If you were using actual paint then you could mask off and paint each section separately, but I can't see how it would work with powder coating, I guess it might be technically possible, but I've never seen it done.

OK that makes sense.