pmkalby

Hi everybody. Yeah, first post. I've been lurking since I bought a new to me 2010 E-550 recently.

I have a haze on my wheels, towards the hub. It won't polish off. The wheels feel clear coated, and it's like this is under the clear coat.

I've tried a few different polishes with no help- I don't want to overdo it. Is this something anyone else has seen?

Any help would be appreciated.

Photos show with and without flash- with flash makes it look like surface abrasion but it's not. It's smooth as the proverbial baby's butt. And getting smoother as I try to polish it off in vain.

pmkalby

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pmkalby

Sorry I couldn't get all photos attached from my iPad with one post... Had to do one at a time.

pmkalby

I've used clear coat polish by hand, paste polish with a felt ball on a drill motor, and red rubbing compound.... No change other than the clear coat surface getting slicker.

KEY08

These are painted wheels with clear as with the majority of factory wheels. You may need to have the whole wheel refinished as it appears the paint and clear have separated due to moisture or some other contaminant. You can continue to polish and will not achieve any resultant change in appearance.

pmkalby

Thanks. I was sort of afraid of that. good news is I have warranty. ����

KEY08

Good deal. Not sure where you live, but in the snow belt the salt spray often works its way under the clear and clouds the wheel finish just like your images.

pmkalby

I'm in WA state where they don't salt roads, and the warranty excludes paint and finish items...

But I always thought chrome would look nice. Gonna see if I can find a good exchange chromed set.

belarus27

instead of getting a whole new set ( unless you got $ and you really want something new) you can go on ebay and just get a used wheel , which would be way cheaper than a new set , and it would a lil more than repainting your current wheel. and you can keep this one as a spare )

pmkalby

I like that idea, but all 4 wheels are afflicted...

I might look at aftermarket shiny stuff and use these imperfect ones for winter or something.

Reality is I probably will let it lie for a while-- when the light isn't just so (like the flash) it's much less noticeable. Will see how much it bothers me. The car is otherwise like it was driven on Sundays by an owner in white gloves, and just after delivery the dealer put a battery in it for me. New tires, CPO warranty, etc etc. It was a good deal and the dealer has been awesome so I'm not going to fret too much about what we thought was something that would polish out. I saw it the rainy day I bought the car, just thought it was something minor.

belarus27

ahhh all 4 , then its a different story , i thought only one lol
well another option is to plasti dip them (if you have time and ability to do it) 50 bucks will do the job for you.
and i think it is the last cheap and easy option. let us know whats up later
p.s. you can also get them powdercoated for about 400$ depends.
...out of ideas now

pmkalby

I would think a wheel repair guy or body shop could sand the clear off the flats and re-clear them for under $500.

Not sure I want plasti dip silver, but some of the "chrome like" powder coat might not be too bad....

I'm thinking goofy ideas now like if it's just moisture trapped maybe a heat gun.... Naw. That would be too lucky... But I might try it. :-)

Airmousam

Looks like the previous owner may have used the wrong cleaner, etching the finish. Good luck

pmkalby

Yeah it looks like that in pics but it's actually under the clear.

One wheel repair guy says might be previous repair, odd/unlikely to me that all 4 would have been repaired.

I think it's as mentioned- moisture under clear coat, resulting corrosion on the machined aluminum.

cookie7

I bought my 350 CPO and the wheels had been refinished by the dealer I assume,within a month they were peeling, so much in fact they offered me another set off of another CPO on the lot AMG to boot,but alas they too have been re- done and flaky as a biscuit The dealer told me finish on wheels isn't covered under warranty ....really we have a 07 Mini and a 01 Chevy pickup with better looking wheels guess I'm gonna lightly sand mine and try the VHT wheel paint and clear from O,Reilly auto parts.Had good luck with VHT paint in the past.. Good luck with your quality M/B wheels thought I was just having my usual luck guess not

Peachy

Maybe that's why when I bought my car last year the wheels were literally spray painted with metallic silver paint. They didn't even bother taking off the tires, some of the spray hit the caliper and the sidewalls of the tires. I ended up changing to aftermarket rims in like three weeks anyway since I never planned on running stock in the first place. But yeah, that's some shoddy quality.