Some of you may remember that I posted that my wife wants the wheels chromed on our (my) new GLK.

This weekend she mentioned that she might like black instead. I like the original 20" wheels so I would probably get them powder coated; maybe combined with a chrome center cap and lug nuts.

Have any of you done anything like this?

Do any of you have a black GLK with black wheels?

Pics and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

I think it would look good.

 

As you see am I lost when working with Photoshop, however that not being the issue in question. Hope our "corrected" GLK at least will give you two an idea.

 

I put black racing wheels on my black RX-7, and it looked nice up close, but from a distance it looked like a black hole.

Also, black wheels can tend to look a bit like the plain steel wheels that are under the hub caps on some cars.

For me personally, I think they need a bit of chrome or something to make them pop visually. A black center section and chrome rim halves look nice. If they have a chrome or other silver stripe on the bead area they could also work. Or maybe if the spokes have a polished detail. I personally think they need a little contract to make the black ones look nice.

I am attaching a pic of my other car - it looked ok up close, but the wheels were ultra-lightweight and purely functional, and needed something. The gold-colored bolts hold the rim halves to the center section and are a couple of inches away from the bead, but they made the tires look very tall since people tended to perceive the bolts as the edge of the wheel where the tire starts.

 

No offense, but an MB is an MB and a RX7 is an RX7. I do agree with you that from a distance they will look like a black hole. For trucks I don't really think it's a problem. For cars, as long as you have some nice brakes, the contrast looks good. Maybe the OP might want to paint his calipers.

 

Absolutely none taken.

The brakes on mine are gold-colored Brembo 8-piston calipers on 14.75" rotors, but they didn't show through that wheel. Pics of new wheels:

 

8 pot? They look kind of small, probably the wheel...I see what your saying though...Probably because the wheels on the RX7 are meant for racing. You need something with more space in between the spokes. This is the wheel I'm going with this winter. Forgestar F14's in Piano Black.

 

The wheels are huge - the rotor is almost 15" as a point of reference. When I was installing the brakes, I thought the calipers looked like they were meant for a semi tractor-trailer rig.

The wheels you are looking at are very nice!

 

Looks good man. One of the best experiences I had driving was in an RX7 TT....

 

Some great thoughts here; GLKKa2H, that photo is terrific!

I am considering doing the brakes as well (I am thinking red). Brembo calipers would be cool but they are a bit spendy, especially since all I really want them for is the looks.

The "black hole" thought did occur to me (not those words, but the concept).

I also don't want to look like I'm trying to bring back the monochomatic look of the '80s.

Damn, I thought once I got the car the hard part would be over with!

 

lol, getting the car is just the beginning....

 

[quote=rmfnla;4226934]Some great thoughts here; GLKKa2H, that photo is terrific![quote]

You're welcome - and I double what dynomiteo5 wrote. However were we lucky when "building" the car, no wishes - yet But on second thoughts is Chistmas soon coming up

 

here's a black glk w/ black gianelles. also, member glk4matic also has a silver glk with the factory 20's black...

 

Looks great, but I'm afraid it's too apples and oranges.

Those bad boys have the silver rim that really breaks up the Darth Vader look I'm trying to avoid.

If I get my 20 inchers powder coated they won't have that feature.

I'm beginning to lean back towards chrome...


I wonder if it's too late to get my old car back..? (KIDDING!)

 

Post a pic of your GLK and I will photoshop the wheels. Some pics of the Brabus GLK I came across..

 

Sheesh; if I had a V-12 I wouldn't care if the wheels were pink!

Pics soon, I promise.

 

Can I say something and maybe someone can confirm.

I have had EVERY wheel possible color wise.

Black disappears on the car. Let me explain... When you look in a pic many times with an all black wheel or even a black wheel with a chrome or polished lip its hard to see the spokes. You really cant tell what they look like till you are up on them.

Here is a pic of my old 300C with 3 piece HIGH END Vellano wheels. Need less to say after getting them I sold them in a week.

 

Agreed.

Part of the reason for this is the contrast between the car color (especially silver, white, or other light color) or the background in the photo vs. the black wheels.

A camera will meter on one or more spots in the frame and expose the shot accordingly. If it metered on the car body, white building in the background, or similar, then the frame will be exposed for mostly light colors and the wheels will look even darker.

If the camera meters on the black wheels or a dark background, the light body color will appear washed out.

Even the most sophisticated cameras with many metering points don't usually do a good job at picking a compromise even if it is metering on both light and dark spots.

This is one of the reasons that some like black wheels on a black car better than on a light colored one - the camera (and eye) don't have the huge contrast problem.

Another complicating factor is the time of day when the photo is taken. Around noon, the sun is directly overhead, putting the black wheels in shadow (and making it hard to see the calipers as others have mentioned). You can see this in the pic of my '7, and to some extent in the image just above from ml3504me.

Some things to do to improve these sorts of photos:

- Wait until just before dusk, or just after sun up, (this is called the golden hour as in addition to giving things a slight warm tint, it is "golden" for taking photos).

- Those times also will give much better shadow angles and if the car is parked right will have the sun shining on the wheels as opposed to directly above the wheels at noon).

- Use fill flash. By setting the camera to flash even if it is light enough out, you will light up the wheels.

- Use a reflector in much the same way. These are the big reflective boards you see the photographer's assistants using on photo shoots to put more natural light on the model or object being photographed. You don't need a pro relfector; your silver windshield / dashboard reflector / protector will work, or even a large piece of white cardboard will help.

- Shoot on a cloudy but still bright day. The clouds will help disperse the light and lessen the shadow issue.

- Park the car in the shade to limit the glare and have more even light.

- Use a circular polarizer (on an SLR, and I have even manually held the polarizer in front of a P&S lens with great results)

- Park the car / angle it to best capture the light

 

Sound like you have some experience

 

I found a pic of the black wheels on my '7 with fill flash (flash set to go off even with enough light). Compare this to the other shot I posted a while back (above). Much better in the photo, but the car still looked too dark overall unless you were this close to it.

 

That was a great write up...

I can give you one other option instead of trying all that?

LOL

DONT BUY BLACK WHEELS... Try grey

 

Exactly what I did after I sold the black wheels.

This shot is also around noon, but you can still see the non-black wheels:

 

Yah me too lol

 

Those look great on the car!

 

+1, or gunmetal