DIY Wheel Refinishing - BBS Style 5s

[XkokidureX]

Wow man, what a nice write up. My Style 24 need this!

[mk3f.t.w.]

nice write up. i enjoyed the step by step and the specs

[Wu! Wraps]

jledford94: mine are powdercoated and the center caps are painted to match the powder (since the centers are plastic). YES! they are tight as hell once on, i haven't messed with it yet, but i'm planning on bending the metal ring a bit more to see if it will get a lil bit looser on the plastic tabs. i'm assuming this will work fine. if that doesn't go well, maybe filing down the plastic tabs on the center caps where it clips into the wheel or filing down the powdercoat on that area will work too...

side note:

so my buddy at a shop is re-assembling my style 5's. ran into a problem, most of the spined bolts will go in, and he starts torquing them down and the spines get stripped and start spinning.... thus not being able to tighten them... he then tried to press/hammer them in real snug and then proceed to tighten them and same thing... has this happened to anyone else?... maybe my bolts are just completely shot?...

i went ahead and just ordered the style 5 rebuild kits u see on ebay, the alen key flat dome bolt head NON-spined with a 13mm nut on the back. was like $250shipped for 5 wheels worth.

[jledford94]

sorry to revive an old thread but how do you get the center caps out without scratching the new paint?? i am rolling my fenders soon and i have to remove my wheels but the only way i know how is to pry them off with a screw driver but it gouges the piant... pleaseeee help i need them off.

[jledford94]

Sorry to revive an old thread...
but how you remove the center caps without messing up the new paint? the only way i know how to get the center caps back out is the pry them off with a screw driver, but it gouges the paint. theres got to be a better way right????? i need to know fast i am rolling my fenders soon and need my wheels off but i dont want to mess them up

[NathanHeeney]

I followed this tutorial for painting my faces but I polished my lips and I put my bolts in Coca Cola. Great write up!

[Wu! Wraps]

update:

got my bbs replica resin decals, looks pretty good!

[Wu! Wraps]

update:

so got the wheels back from powder coating. came out great! dropped off the 5 barrels at the metal polishers to get the lips done. still need to get someone to paint match the centers with the powder the shop gave me, put them back together, & find some tires for them! coming along nicely!

[Wu! Wraps]

bmw style 5's bbs rc090 17x8 et 20

sup sup, so this is a lil project of my own. picked these up mid week and have torn them apart & stripped all the clearcoat off 4 out of 5 rims. the 5th one i can't get the bolts out for the life of me!... all hardware has been soaked in vinegar for a day and cleaned up today. needs another soaking or some time with a steal cloth. plan is to get the lips polished and centers will be a dark gray/ dark gray hardware/ dark gray inner barrels... these will be going on my 1991 bmw 325i convertible (e30).

update:
got the 5th rim taken apart and dropped all wheels off at perfection powder coating in puyallup wa 2538750010. cost for powdercoating all 5 inner hoops, 5 faces, and 170 bolt heads in a dark gray color with tax was $595.00. powdering the 170 bolt heads was $46.00 with tax by itself!... well see how it all comes out!

also found a machine shop Proflections Metal Polishing 2537356111 in Auburn Wa that is gonna polish all the outer lips once back from powdercoater for $65per wheel so, $355 with tax.

next will be ordering some caps, bbs decals, nice metall valve stems & bbs valve caps & lastly tires....

[staystetti]

You probably need to strip the clear off of your bolts as well. Mine had a ton on them.

[Take2]

Place a punch in the indent of the back of the bolt. Hit punch with hammer to remove. Place bolt into a drill, spin to polish bolt.

That method takes for ever just FYI

[BeemerBuyer]

Thanks for the compliments everyone! I appreciate it.

Place a punch in the indent of the back of the bolt. Hit punch with hammer to remove. Place bolt into a drill, spin to polish bolt.

This is great advice!

[roof_rack]

I just did this starting at 400 wet, 1000 wet, and then 2000 wet. I would not recommend any lower grit than 400 wet unless you have some serious abrasion like on the OP's wheels...cuts the aluminum way to deep, and it is alot of work to get it back to a smooth finish.

Here are mine, Stripper, 400 wet, 1000 wet, 2000 wet, No.7 Polishing Compound... tada!

Also, the stripper i used worked much much better than the Jasco...took everything off in one coat. I'll go downstairs and check the brand on that for you guys.




This is hand polishing ONLY, no wheel used here.

[Vodadubz]

As simple as that. Thanks mate!

[Dangerwillrbnsn]

Place a punch in the indent of the back of the bolt. Hit punch with hammer to remove. Place bolt into a drill, spin to polish bolt.