I'm sending in my HRE's to be refinished tomorrow as they came from the factory w/a few cosmetic errors(dont ask me why). So I need your UNBIASED help. Should I just have them chromed anyways? I guess I'm kinda used to having chrome rims so I figure I should just chrome them. What do you guys think? Dont answer w/a "too ghetto" response 'cuz I'm not looking for that. I just need your input if it chrome would compliment the rest of the car. Or does the non chrome look compliment the car better. Thanx guys as you guys always pull me out of a jam

 

My own opinion:

Silver car does NOT look good with chrome wheels.

 

Awesome Car
I think your Car would look Hot with Silver or Chrome. I think Chrome overall is not as hype as it was in the past and more Silver/Brushed look Wheels are in. If you choose to go with Chrome I think it would not look bad at all. Every White Car I have seen with chrome wheels always looked good.

 

Go With The Polished look !
Then You Dont have to deal with Leaking/peeling/Problems
as well as Replate when you curb them next time!
With Polished rims you repolish them ...

 

Chrome all the way.

 

LOL i didnt realize that LorinserCClass was you Enri. I just thought it kinda sounded like my name and wondered who is that guy. Hahaha. Anyways, I got full polished for my new wheels... HEHE.

 

everyone ... his car is white, not silver enri nice new name..hahaha.... i think that chrome is a no no...but POLISH is nice....white and polish....just my 2 cents

 

Ha ha! Yeah I felt like I needed a fresh start! New sig new name... lol No just wanted to "personalize" my screen name to my car. Now that I think of that it does sound like your screen name huh Brabuscclass? Well the polish look is cool but there is a lot of maintanence w/that...I honestly dont got the time to wash my own car let alone polish the rims every few weeks. I was thinking about chrome because when I took my car to the audio shop we were noticing that my car has a lot of chrome trimmings on it. And then the bixenons casing has this cool shiny casing to it. Then we looked at my wheels and it seemed like it just DIDNT match the car at all. Maybe I wasnt thinking properly I dont know. But it SEEMS like the best thing to do is just chrome them...

 

Besides looking chintzy, aftermarket chrome on wheels can damage their structural integrity (depending upon how it's applied). Chromed wheels are FAR more prone to cracking and catastrophic failure than regular alloy wheels.

If you MUST have chrome wheels, buy some that are chromed by the manufacturer and that are TÜV approved (meaning made in Germany, or approved for sale there). That would guarantee that the chance of wheel failure is no higher than it would be for a standard wheel.

 

you know what would look nice on your car? 19" LDR's in chrome..

 

As much as your wheels look great the way they are, now that i am kinda into shows i would chrome them. They will not look ghetto at all. The only ghetto chrome rims are ones that are chrome with an almost flat face and no spokes. You have spokes, and besides, there HRE!!! they cant be ghetto! Chrome them!

 

Besides possible structural damage, chrome wheels almost always detract from the image of the car as whole. They tend to put the focus entirely on the wheels and take away from the rest of the car. If you are truly interested in having a look that flows from front to back, go with the polished rims. Don't ruin your HREs.

 

Bull****.

Chrome is an electroplated metal finish..nothing more. What you're refering to is improper metal polishing PRIOR to chroming...if its done by a hack he can mess up the wheel balance or grind away metal that's structural. Good chroming also depends on good castings, and extremely clean parts....hidden porosity can ruin the best prep efforts- but if you have forged wheels, porosity shouldn't be a problem. Dirt and grime left after polishing will lead to peeling, pits, blistering or yellow chrome- none of which are appealing.

Get the chrome...its gads easier to keep clean. Or powdercoat them. Never again will I have brushed and/or cleared aluminum wheels- they never last. And my hands don't enjoy spending all Saturday polishing non coated aluminum anymore. I did that back on my Opel GT every weekend. Looked nice for about 4 days or until a good rain.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Outland
[B]Bull****.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
What about the MERCEDES Service Information Ref MBNA 40/18

To ALL Mercedes-Benz Passenger dealers

date April 1991

Subject ALL Models
Chrome plating of MB alloy wheels

Chrome Plating is NOT recommended

The Reason that Mercedes Does NOT recommed chrome plating is as follows

When Chrome plating a MB alloy Wheel,The Wheel MUST first be anodized (Copper plated). The Difference in EMF (Electro-Motive Force) Values between copper and aluminun results in electrolytic corrosion with aluminum being the sacrificial metal. This WILL result in WEAKENING of the base metals well as Poor Adhesion of the subsequent plating,and thereby premature flaking of the chrome finish.Wheels of light alloy with their porous surface, are even more susceptible to this condition

 

Ouch!

 

Gosh.

That was a little rude, don't you think?

The posting above by Mark Cummins says it all. Perhaps you should take the issue up with Mercedes-Benz, since you're right and they're wrong

 

Hey half the Mercedes in California have Chrome wheels, and supposedly we have bad roads. Attorneys would be having a field day if all those wheels were going bad. Every MB dealer is selling chromed rims, 200 MPH Mercedes Benzes with chromed rims might eventually have problems. But so long as we have 75 MPH speed limits we should be OK.

So lets just keep this thread to : will the HRE wheels look good chromed?

I was at Brabus today, a Black C3.8 with chromed 18 inch rims looked great. Greatly enhanced the look of the car.

My personal opinion is HREs should be polished and not chromed. Bottom line only one opinion counts, his.

 

HRE's? Chrome them, except the lip. Leave that polished. Mine [540 standard] are chrome on a silver car, and the only thing I hated before was brake dust [now I have Porterfields].

 

Not trying to be rude. Sorry if it came off that way.

 

HRE does not call there chrome "chrome", they call it full polish. Just sounds confusing since some people here say polished not chrome.

 

Disclaimer: What I share here is only specific to the factory Mercedes Benz wheels, based on third party information.

The factory disapproves of chroming due to the raw material used in manufacturing factory-specified wheels. There is truth and falseness in the statements herein.

Technology has greatly improved over the last 10 years and because of the consumer demand, chroming became an integral part of product offerings, including Mercedes Benz. That demand has changed how things are made, and chrome wheels from the factory became a factory option from Mercedes Benz.

However, the strength and durability of the final product still greatly depends on material sources. As a matter of fact, about a year ago (in 2002), AMG switched wheel manufacturing plants in Europe, hence factory-chromed wheels became almost impossible to get (ref: Tirerack Wholesale Information) once again, because of the raw materials that factory uses to produce wheels for AMG.

The other obvious option is to get them chromed by a third party. Being in the business, I've seen one or two "third party" Mercedes Benz chrome wheels fail (structural integrity), and I'd rather not elaborate on that.

Therefore, my recommedation is to purchase your chrome wheels from your Dealer because they will carry the full factory warranty which is 4 years/50k miles for the wheels as well. At least this is what our local dealer tells me.

 

No problem; I'm sorry my reply (above) was sarcastic.

Time for a group hug, eh?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MARK CUMMINS
[B]
I know what you are refering to...but...

Every modern aluminum plating operation that Ive visited employs a zincate and nickel strike prior to the copper layer being applied. The copper and aluminum never touch.

 

Are you serious? a few years ago brabus swore that they would never have their rims chromed. I read it in an issue of european car magazine.. oh well i guess times change and chrome rims are very popular especially in Socal.

 

Down with the chromes. To me, chromed wheels just look cheap. Leave it as is. When people see the two tone difference it'll stand out as being expensive and gorgeous wheels.