TheVazha

Hi Guys,

As some of you know I've started a little project with my HRE wheels. I refinished my stock wheels and I really liked the quality so I thought I would try it on the HRE's.

So far the faces are all done. They went through the process and were finished in matte black. Here is one "before" picture and several "after" pictures.

The next step is the lip. I've talked to a dozen or so members and it seems while there are interesting options out there, chrome seems to always end up on top of the list. I guess my question is, what do you guys think I should do with the lips? I'm not a connoisseur of wheels and any advice or direction is appreciated.



BEFORE:



AFTER:

keith954

Gloss black lip

snail45

+1

I love matte faces with gloss lips.

narook

my brother has a set of those same HRE's in gloss black with chrome lips on a black 6 series. That colour combo looks really nice.

FASN8N

Can't beat a chrome lip. I don't mind colored or painted lips, but feel that they get lost next to the black tires. Too much black going on at that point with nothing to give you a focal point. IMO chrome lips provide a nice break between the wheel face, tire, and paint on the body of the car .

MBFLO

i would leave the lips chrome also atleast on the face you can always go another color ... not sure how good the paint will stick to chrome plus if u ever want to clean them will have issues if you dont have enough clear . the paint will scratch off ..

s4treg

You seem like you might be interested in testing the norm. What about silver to match your car or a CF?

novae500

vazha

i have the same HREs and will probably do the same and go with black and leave the lips polished/chrome look. Will DIY and save me some serious $$$ instead of sending it out to be done.

TheVazha

Thanks for all the replies guys. It turns out I have no way to paint the chrome lips with out destroying the original finish. Also, I spoke to a good buddie on the East Coast and he said I'd love the black lip but only for the first week.

The lips are staying chrome! Also, my car is silver and there's something about the chrome lip when the car is clean and waxed that makes it look like a million $.

Last wheels off the assembly line!



novae, you will save over $600. Here locally, everyone uses the excuse that its a 3 piece wheel to bleed you dry. I did the work myself and it took 2.5 days with 5-6 actual hours of labor. Spent less then $50 on supplies. I'm blown away with the results and now I'm looking forward to slapping them on for a test drive!

If anyone has any questions about what I did, please dont hesitate to call me directly!

V
310-600-5044

s4treg

I'm actually curious to see pictures of these stockers you've been raving about. Did i miss that thread?

TheVazha

Bro my pic's suck. The wheels look insane in person, it's the quality of the finish I was overly impressed with. In all honesty, I've seen some disasters of rattle can jobs but if you just go through the routine and actually take time with them they can look amazing...

s4treg

So you just took the stock 18's and painted them black, smoke, other? matte or gloss? Just curious. Getting ready to put some Monarch's on, but would be up for dabbling with the stock rims as well.

I also understand the taking your time, I took about an hour just sanding my front grill, and took 4 days put on 2 coats of primer, sanded it again, 3 coats of paint, and then 3 coats of clear. Just on the grill.

TheVazha

If you are interested, my goal was to refinish my stocks and trade someone who wanted to do theirs. I need a set of plain stockers, let me know..

s4treg

Maybe. The present stocks have snows from the previous owner (fairly new to), so I want to keep those (yeah, I know I can taken them off). I'm also partial to just doing it myself for the fun of it.

I'd still be interested in seeing what you did with those. Don't worry about the quality, have you seen my bad pics of my front lip and rear diffuser mods?!

novae500

Vazha

I noticed in the After pics, the rivets were painted black with the rest of the face. Did you take them out and use paint thinner to get them back to the silver finish and reinstall the 30 rivets?

Looks like i will be tackling this DIY myself instead of sending them out to get done.

TheVazha

^ That's what takes the longest. I covered each one with masking tape. Its a PITA but all worth it when you pop the tape off to reveal a shiny rivet!

MBFLO

i thought u painted the rivets black also .. would look cool if the lips were black
great job preppin .. thats a big deal when doin shyt like this .. they look **** now

TheVazha

Wheels are back on the car, all wrapped in some PS's! Where was I going with this?

Nasty50-Five

Damn, car looks good!

_AMG_

GREAT JOB, The car looks amazing!!!
If you you get bored with the chrome then I would do a gloss black lip.

edmond1129

Look nice...I am going to paint my whole LM to black with a red lip soon

Mantooth

I normally hate a polished lip. However, it just works on a Silver E55.

TheVazha

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kind words!

BenzoBoi

I don't like them....























You should give them to me The wheels came out absolutely terrific homie! x 10000000