Powder coating 20" my forged AMG wheels - is it safe?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2021
Posts: 26
Likes: 4
From: Canada
2019 E63 Wagon
Powder coating my 20" forged AMG wheels - is it safe?
I have a 2020 E63 wagon on which I did a chrome delete. I'd like to have my 20" chrome forged wheels in black as well (via powder coat since I live in Canada and paint will come off in 2 months).
I found a very reputable place that can do the job; they'd powder coat the rim, machine the AMG part and the lip. What they mentioned to me however is that by machining the lip, the spokes would stick out a tiny bit from the lip since the lip has to be grind down during the machining process.
I have no intentions of taking the car to the track but the roads in Canada are a mess and am afraid of breaking a rim. I'm less concerned about the aesthetics since they said it would be equivalent of a 2 strands of hair.
Any thoughts from any members? I've seen a few posts about powder coating these specific rims; some say go for it others say it's a bad idea. But I haven't seen anything about risks due to machining / spokes not being flush with the lip.
Any help appreciated!
I found a very reputable place that can do the job; they'd powder coat the rim, machine the AMG part and the lip. What they mentioned to me however is that by machining the lip, the spokes would stick out a tiny bit from the lip since the lip has to be grind down during the machining process.
I have no intentions of taking the car to the track but the roads in Canada are a mess and am afraid of breaking a rim. I'm less concerned about the aesthetics since they said it would be equivalent of a 2 strands of hair.
Any thoughts from any members? I've seen a few posts about powder coating these specific rims; some say go for it others say it's a bad idea. But I haven't seen anything about risks due to machining / spokes not being flush with the lip.
Any help appreciated!
Last edited by E63sCAD; Apr 8, 2022 at 06:17 AM. Reason: The words in my title were not in the correct order
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2014
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From: IL
19 E63s, 23 M3 compX, B9 SQ5
The heat treatment process of powder coating will detrimentally affect a forged wheel metal structure there is no way around that. It can weaken the structure and composition of the aluminum however if you have no plans to track the car you're probably going to be safe. I've powder-coated cast wheels, flow form forged wheels, and fully forged wheels before with no problems doing many years of spirited street driving etc. I've never tracked my cars.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2021
Posts: 26
Likes: 4
From: Canada
2019 E63 Wagon
The heat treatment process of powder coating will detrimentally affect a forged wheel metal structure there is no way around that. It can weaken the structure and composition of the aluminum however if you have no plans to track the car you're probably going to be safe. I've powder-coated cast wheels, flow form forged wheels, and fully forged wheels before with no problems doing many years of spirited street driving etc. I've never tracked my cars.
The integrity part worries me less than machining the lip. Essentially, since the spokes are flush to the lip, any machining of the lip means the spokes will not be totally flush with the (they'll stick out "the width of a few hair"). I'm concerned that this might look bad and also that it could be dangerous.
