Tip: Can polished aluminum rims be painted?

Many people are familiar with the problem that front-polished or completely polished/high-sheen aluminum rims look ugly over time. Drivers of vehicles from Mercedes-Benz or BMW can sometimes sing a song about it. Good examples from BMW are the 18-inch aluminum wheels from the E39 M5 (Styling 65), but also from the E63 M6 (Styling 167) and, most recently, the aluminum wheel (Individual 759i) from the G30 M550i. The vehicles mentioned were already in our editorial (also private) possession and on the corresponding rims there were sometimes severe problems that the clear coat (usually it is a powder coating) on the rim came off over time. The causes can be varied and range from stone chips and jostling to quality problems (Clear coat is infiltrated by air as it ages) to look for. But that's not the point here. The question is, can such a rim simply be painted over?

Painting is usually always possible!

Basically you can say: JA. Of course, the loosened clear coat has to be removed beforehand, or at least a transition has to be sanded at the damaged areas. It is important to ensure that no significant material is removed from the rim, but only to remove the clear coat at most. Once this has happened, the rim can be removed in a conventional manner (Primer, base coat, clear coat) can be painted in colour. Of course, the usual work steps with regard to sanding must be carried out beforehand. Alternatively, the damaged rim can also be replaced repaired will (see video below). If only the clear coat comes off, then in any case, if it is damaged by a curb, then it should not be deeper than a millimeter be. This is the only way to ensure that not too much material is removed during processing (wacky) and the rim will continue to have the necessary strength and can therefore officially continue to be used on public roads. Attention: The 1mm rule is NOT a general rule. Each manufacturer currently regulates this for itself. So you should definitely advance Contact the manufacturer of the rims and ask whether such repairs are approved.

conventional filling and painting

Is the scratch no deeper than a millimeter and if it is repaired with spatulas and the rim is then painted in color, then normally there is no need to ask the manufacturer. And if the rim is polished or high-gloss sealed and not further treated, then you can of course also paint it over afterwards. For example by means of a special powder coating, clear coat (there is a special clear coat that sticks to bare aluminum) or maybe with a 1K PlasticPrimer. However, you have to consider that a little bit of the degree of gloss is always lost in this case. And there is no ultimate guarantee that the coating will actually survive all conditions, including any high-pressure cleaning in the car wash.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it!

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