E90Post
 


 
BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > DIY Guides > DIY - Polished Lip? Curb Rash? (Part 1: Fix/Repair)



Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      09-14-2012, 01:02 AM   #1
Delusive
Lieutenant Colonel
Delusive's Avatar
United_States
131
Rep
1,598
Posts

Drives: Bagged E92
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Bay Area, CA

iTrader: (9)

DIY - Polished Lip? Curb Rash? (Part 1: Fix/Repair)

Note:
This will only work if your wheels have a Polished Aluminum Lip.

Please attempt this repair at your own risk as I will not be held accountable if your wheels come out more damaged then they were originally. But here is a quick and easy way to fix your curbed wheels.

Story:
I got these rims the same day I bought my car at a local wheel dealer not far from the dealership they were selling my car. But when I looked around their shop I found a set of used 19" DPE SL5 with tires on it already, but from the looks of it the previous owner didn't take good care of them because it had crazy curb rash all over it. I thought to myself, maybe I can get them fixed by a professional one day.

This was six months ago from this very date of my post, so here I am now disappointed with the look of my rims and ashamed to take my car to car shows. I did a little research and called some wheel repair shops to get a quote how much it would cost to repair my rims and it was ranging from $100-300 each wheel depending how bad it was. In my situation that time I didn't have that kind of money to spend for the repair when I could save that money for maintenance or future mods. So I took this into my own hands with little to no experience and made this a project to get all the curb rash off my rims.

This repair took me 30 minutes to 2 hours each wheel, I did the repair while the wheels were on the car so you can decide on what to do. They came out pretty nice and at least the lip was smooth again, but if you were to put your face about 6-8 inches away you can notice where I did the repair.



Needed:
1. Wheels that have Aluminum Polished Lips
2. Safety Gear - Protect your eyes because alot of aluminum particles will be flying at your face.
3. Dremel Tool - Need to have one with variable speed settings.
4. Dremel Accessory Kit 709-01 - Good to have but all you really need are:
- #952 Cone Shaped Aluminum Oxide Grinding Stone
- #413 Sanding Discs 240 Grit
5. Steel Wool - Super Fine Grade #0000
6. Sand Paper - 400, 1500, 2000 Grit (4x4 sheet will do, depending on how big your curb rash is)
7. Aluminum Wheel Polish - I used Turtle, but you can use Meguiar's or Mothers.
8. Microfiber Clothes - Any will do, even the cheap ones.
9. Power Cone - Does wonders when polishing your lips (Not shown in the picture)



Let's get this project started!



Step 1:
Find the damage on the wheel





Step 2:
Grind, round, smooth!

- Dremel was used on the lowest settings which was 5000RPM
- Take the first dremel attachment #952 Cone Shaped Grinding Stone

Grind down the damaged area till it looks smooth, it doesn't have to be completely smooth just rounded out.

- Take the second dremel attachment #413 Sand Discs 240 Grit

Now sand down the damaged area, round it out more and make it smooth to the touch.





Step 3:
Detailing

- Take your sanding paper and start sanding the area where the damage was previously by hand with the 400 first, 1500 second, then 2000 last. Keep sanding till your happy with the outcome.
- When your satisfied, take the steel wool and hit it by rubbing back and forth on the damage area till it starts to shine.





Step 4:
Polish & Buff

- Take your microfiber and polishing compound and start polishing, you can either do it by hand or use the power cone.
- If you have a power cone then put some of your polishing compound on the wheel and start buffing it out till the shine is mirror like.





Result:
I could of done better but it came out pretty nice, at least it's a sight for sore eyes now and I saved a couple of hundred bucks . Now this isn't the end because this is only part one of this project, there will be a part two which will hopefully make the rims look like it was never curbed.



Outcome:
You be the judge! (Outcome picture will be retaken because I didn't polish it enough)


Last edited by Delusive; 03-14-2013 at 01:43 AM..
Appreciate 1
Indyeah141.00
      09-26-2012, 11:17 AM   #2
Antonio1988
Captain
Antonio1988's Avatar
47
Rep
719
Posts

Drives: 2012 BMW E92 M3
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Miami

iTrader: (0)

Not bad, def props to you for having the cojones to give it a run. Just make sure to polish it up a bit more
Appreciate 0
      09-27-2012, 12:25 AM   #3
Delusive
Lieutenant Colonel
Delusive's Avatar
United_States
131
Rep
1,598
Posts

Drives: Bagged E92
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Bay Area, CA

iTrader: (9)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Antonio1988 View Post
Not bad, def props to you for having the cojones to give it a run. Just make sure to polish it up a bit more
Thanks and I half assed it when it came to polishing because no sleep equal not enough energy.

I rather have a sight for sore eyes than seeing the curb rash plus i'm rebarreling my rims so I didn't really care if I messed up.
Appreciate 0
      09-30-2012, 09:27 PM   #4
USCTROJANSFIGHTON
Second Lieutenant
USCTROJANSFIGHTON's Avatar
United_States
23
Rep
217
Posts

Drives: Car. Vrooom.
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: San Diego,VEGAS,IRVINE,LA,MOON

iTrader: (1)

great DYI! Will come in handy in the future
Appreciate 0
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:01 AM.




e90post
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST