Re-diamond cutting wheels
Discussion
peterperkins said:
Re diamond cut wheels look great for a few months then water gets under the lacquer, corrosion starts and it's goodnight.
This was certainly true of the old way of lacquering wheels. They'd simply spray standard lacquer over the bare metal, one chip and moisture gets underneath and you get the typical peel or white tarnish. I had some Mercedes wheels refurbished and wanted them re-cut. Many places now offer powder coated lacquer which is touted as lasting as long as standard powder coating. Seemingly working well on my S Class.
These are the wheels in question:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363704820018
I appreciate they're nothing that special, but I do think they look better like that than the plain resprayed ones I've seen. I could just buy the above; they look in pretty good condition.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363704820018
I appreciate they're nothing that special, but I do think they look better like that than the plain resprayed ones I've seen. I could just buy the above; they look in pretty good condition.
Alex_225 said:
This was certainly true of the old way of lacquering wheels. They'd simply spray standard lacquer over the bare metal, one chip and moisture gets underneath and you get the typical peel or white tarnish.
I had some Mercedes wheels refurbished and wanted them re-cut. Many places now offer powder coated lacquer which is touted as lasting as long as standard powder coating. Seemingly working well on my S Class.
Do they still look good? I had mine redone 9 months ago, diamond cut with powder clear coat, they look like this : -I had some Mercedes wheels refurbished and wanted them re-cut. Many places now offer powder coated lacquer which is touted as lasting as long as standard powder coating. Seemingly working well on my S Class.
For £500 I was expecting them to last at least as long as the factory finish (10 years!).
I'm now looking at getting them done in one of these : -
https://www.powderfx.co.uk/product/mirror-chrome/
https://www.powderfx.co.uk/product/wheel-silver/
Thoughts? Either the whole wheel or the face in the chrome and the rest in something else. ST220 wheel : -
I wanted to keep it factory but 9 months and the process can only be done twice! Then the wheels aren't even available any more....
Muddle238 said:
The diamond cut face is basically where a small layer of metal has been machined away on a lathe, to create a "polished" look that contrasts with the painted sections. The whole wheel is then lacquered to "protect" the diamond finish, but in reality, the smallest stone chip from the smallest little bit of grit is enough to allow water in and you'll see through the clear lacquer where the water is corroding the alloy. I've yet to see a diamond cut wheel on a road car that isn't displaying some form of corrosion.
Many wheel refurb places won't offer a warranty on a refurbished diamond cut wheel, purely due to the total lack of durability of the finish. If even the wheel refurb places don't expect a freshly re-cut wheel to look any good within 12 months, I don't know who does. A fully painted finish will give a far superior finish for far longer, will be more durable and is also significantly cheaper than a re-cutting diamond cut wheels.
Mine are perfect after 2 years and 24000 miles. Many wheel refurb places won't offer a warranty on a refurbished diamond cut wheel, purely due to the total lack of durability of the finish. If even the wheel refurb places don't expect a freshly re-cut wheel to look any good within 12 months, I don't know who does. A fully painted finish will give a far superior finish for far longer, will be more durable and is also significantly cheaper than a re-cutting diamond cut wheels.
The trick is to take them off before the first gritters come out in Autumn.
ChocolateFrog said:
Mine are perfect after 2 years and 24000 miles.
The trick is to take them off before the first gritters come out in Autumn.
And never put them back on except when the car is in some kind of display.The trick is to take them off before the first gritters come out in Autumn.
Fact that they can’t cope with road salt proves this wheel finish is a key part of evidence of endemic societal idiocy.
I’ve just had my diamond cut Porsche Sport Techno wheels coated in Porsche OB5 Platinum, gloss finish. Far better.
My wife’s Golf GTI wheels are in need of a refinish soon; I think shadow chrome or just plain old silver will do nicely.
Muddle238 said:
The diamond cut face is basically where a small layer of metal has been machined away on a lathe, to create a "polished" look that contrasts with the painted sections. The whole wheel is then lacquered to "protect" the diamond finish, but in reality, the smallest stone chip from the smallest little bit of grit is enough to allow water in and you'll see through the clear lacquer where the water is corroding the alloy. I've yet to see a diamond cut wheel on a road car that isn't displaying some form of corrosion.
Many wheel refurb places won't offer a warranty on a refurbished diamond cut wheel, purely due to the total lack of durability of the finish. If even the wheel refurb places don't expect a freshly re-cut wheel to look any good within 12 months, I don't know who does. A fully painted finish will give a far superior finish for far longer, will be more durable and is also significantly cheaper than a re-cutting diamond cut wheels.
This. The wheels on my CLS were all refurbed by the dealer 2 yrs ago when I got it, and despite me babying them, washing the salt off regularly and never using acid-based cleaners they've all started to go again.Many wheel refurb places won't offer a warranty on a refurbished diamond cut wheel, purely due to the total lack of durability of the finish. If even the wheel refurb places don't expect a freshly re-cut wheel to look any good within 12 months, I don't know who does. A fully painted finish will give a far superior finish for far longer, will be more durable and is also significantly cheaper than a re-cutting diamond cut wheels.
At some point I plan to get them redone, but next time I will get them painted... there are some nice paint finishes that look near as dammit the same but are considerably longer-lasting not to mention cheaper than the diamond-cut.
They do look great though, before they start to corrode!
ChocolateFrog said:
On the example above was there a radius to the edge of the spoke before they recut it?
The edge looks very sharp, I think its virtually impossible to get any finish to adhere to a corner that severe.
I've always thought the same but rarely see it mentioned. Actually you're the first! The edge looks very sharp, I think its virtually impossible to get any finish to adhere to a corner that severe.
If (probably when) mine's need done, I'll carefully chamfer all the sharp edges. Actually, I'll probably take them off the car and replace with 10 (double five) spoked painted versions and save myself the hassle. Additional advantages of being able to access the barrels and calipers for cleaning.
The offending article.
Much better.
I’m not sure how BMW do theirs but my company 320D has now done almost 140000 miles, doesn’t get pampered, has seen 4 winters and many many quarries. It has been cleaned both by me and the hand car washers and whilst not the prettiest style, the wheels are still almost perfect. It goes to show that diamond cuts can last.
However in contrast, I took the wheels off my Disco at a year old and kept them in the shed , when I got them out, they had the dreaded white worm, I was gutted.![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/NQGvoPFy.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/NQGvoPFy" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/t/NQGvoPFy.jpg)
However in contrast, I took the wheels off my Disco at a year old and kept them in the shed , when I got them out, they had the dreaded white worm, I was gutted.
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