E36 M3 wheel value

[Boobonman]

Quick question, I have just parted with £100 for a set of 4x genuine E36 M3 wheels, (The common ones, eg not the contours or the sunflower ones) with tyres, that are badly in need of a refurb. I can't afford to pay for a refurb at the mo, so was going to just rub them down and paint them black for the meantime. Will this decimate the value if I want to sell them on? I'm assuming they would have to be completely rubbed down to the base for a proper refurb anyway so my painting shouldn't do any harm. Any thoughts?

[S3_Graham]

if they are genuine then i cant see you loosing money.

i just sold some tatty but useable sunflowers for £200 but have seen them go for loads more on ebay!

[stegt4]

Most alloys are a *real* pita to refurb yourself. There is a mobile refurber around my area, he did my 17" MCS alloys in dark silver for £30 per wheel, done and finished in one morning whilst i was at work!
Why bother, you will need massive amount of time and effort, to say nothing of the £60 or £70 you will spend on wet and dry paper, primer, topcoat and laquer.

[Y282]

i paid 500 quid about 18 months ago for a set of genuine staggered sunflowers that had been recon'ed and powdercoated with tyres that were half worn.

hope this helps.

[Boobonman]

stegt4 said:

Most alloys are a *real* pita to refurb yourself. There is a mobile refurber around my area, he did my 17" MCS alloys in dark silver for £30 per wheel, done and finished in one morning whilst i was at work!
Why bother, you will need massive amount of time and effort, to say nothing of the £60 or £70 you will spend on wet and dry paper, primer, topcoat and laquer.

Boobonman said:

I can't afford to pay for a refurb at the mo, so was going to just rub them down and paint them black for the meantime.

[4rephill]

You're not going to hurt the value of them if they need a refurb anyway and If they only cost you £100 pounds, how much could you lose?, nothing really as you'd still get at least £100 pounds for them after you've painted them.


(BTW, I can understand the difference between spending £60 on paint and wet and dry paper and spending £200+ to have all four wheels done professionally, when money's tight you have to make do where you can, been there, done that! ).

[clabcon]

Boobonman said:

Quick question, I have just parted with £100 for a set of 4x genuine E36 M3 wheels, (The common ones, eg not the contours or the sunflower ones) with tyres, that are badly in need of a refurb. I can't afford to pay for a refurb at the mo, so was going to just rub them down and paint them black for the meantime. Will this decimate the value if I want to sell them on? I'm assuming they would have to be completely rubbed down to the base for a proper refurb anyway so my painting shouldn't do any harm. Any thoughts?

IMHO, if you're going to keep the car/wheels long term then it would be worth sending them for a diamond cut refurb at Lepsons. If they're genuine the part number will be stamped on the back of some of the spokes and they will be 7.5J at the front and 8.5J at the rear. This is what a complete refurb involves in a nutshell: http://www.lepsons.com/process.phtml

[4rephill]

clabcon said:

IMHO, if you're going to keep the car/wheels long term then it would be worth sending them for a diamond cut refurb at Lepsons.....

But as the OP has already stated:

Boobonman said:

. I can't afford to pay for a refurb at the mo....

So unless Lepsons can offer to do a refurb on all four wheels for the same price as the OP can afford to pay to spray up the wheels himself (circa £50~60), then it's not really a viable option.

[clabcon]

4rephill said:

clabcon said:

IMHO, if you're going to keep the car/wheels long term then it would be worth sending them for a diamond cut refurb at Lepsons.....

But as the OP has already stated:

Boobonman said:

. I can't afford to pay for a refurb at the mo....

So unless Lepsons can offer to do a refurb on all four wheels for the same price as the OP can afford to pay to spray up the wheels himself (circa £50~60), then it's not really a viable option.

IMHO you should not have an E36 M3 if your max budget is less than what it would cost to fill the car with a decent fully synthetic oil!

[4rephill]

clabcon said:

IMHO you should not have an E36 M3 if your max budget is less than what it would cost to fill the car with a decent fully synthetic oil!

So where does the OP say he has an M3? , all he's said is that he's managed to acquire a set of M3 wheels!.


Sometimes life deals you a st hand and you have to deal with it as best you can. Does that mean you should instantly have to sell your car?. Maybe, if it's the only possible solution to your problems, but not always.

You might have recently paid out for the coming years insurance, road tax and MOT and have just had the car serviced when a financial disaster strikes (such as losing your job or having to work a 3 day week). In this case, providing nothing goes wrong with your car, the only thing you'll have to pay any extra for is the fuel to run it. This is the exact same case if you drive a 318i or an M3, it's just that the M3 will use more fuel.

It's very easy to judge others without all the relevant facts but that doesn't mean your judgement will be correct!.