Need help restoring my HRE's

Ive always used really diluted WB on my polished lip wheels and they've always come out fine ? Plus the way i see it that was only to get all the junk off them then start the polishing. Those wheels are close to dead

my results edited in when i say really diluted it was 1-64


car was used by my careless brother for about a year and obviously never washed them and brakes on a 750i or any bmw are notoriously messy started off in the first picture with just sonax. moved on in the third pic to spritz the 1-64 WB solution , last pic i hosed it off after agitation and clayed
... well it seems the pics loaded backwards so all that in reverse order

 

Good info here, but the wheels the OP posted are etched and beyond cleanable.

 

That's a risk your willing to take, but personally, I wouldn't put that stuff anywhere near a set of wheels that cost over 5K. Especially if the lips aren't clear coated.

 

Contact HRE: http://www.hrewheels.com/contact_us/existing-customers/

High-end rim manufacturers usually provide this service for a price. Plus, it's your safest bet.

 

it even says on the bottle, not safe for bare metal IIRC....................Ive run billet specialties wheels, boyds, budniks etc for half my life, those are 100% raw, barrels, faces etc, and if you maintain them you never need anything other then warm soapy water.

^^^^^ this........ because if you screw it up, you are going to be sending them in anyway.

measure twice, cut once.

 

Couldn’t agree more with your initial suggestion, and this one. Also, if stingray23 does contact HRE, he should have the rim's serial numbers written down to submit to them for reference to assist them in what needs to be accomplished to bring them back to life.

 

Lon from HRE is a member here............

 

If you have access to a decent compressor and have a die grinder, buy a triangular polishing cloth cone from Eastwood, also get their polishing sticks, red rouge, white rouge, etc., and you can polish off all the damage on the raw aluminum, and just carefully polish out the painted faces with compound and polish by hand or a small pad on a PC. I have done this many times and it works. Prepare to get polishing compound and a fair amount of the hard cloth cone felt all over the place, and of course, black product all over, but the result will be stunning.

Another idea - contact a good wheel repair person. These people see damaged painted and raw metal wheels all the time and have to repair and make them look like nothing ever happened, right ? Perhaps if you know one of these guys personally, etc., they might just give you their advice which would have to be spot on, since they do this for a living.

Good luck with this !
Dan F

 

Your better off selling the rims as is then repairing them as you would not get your money back on the repair costs done to the wheels. And most likely no one will guarantee that will can bring them back to the original condition.

 

Probably pretty true. That will be a lot of labor involved; I imagine they need to take the entire wheel apart. Say goodbye to your tires too.

 

Thanks for all the help, guys. I'm gonna give it a shot and see what happens. The reason the wheels turned out like that is because when i originally bought these off a forum member on another site, They were mint, but I had no clue they where bare metal. I initially used an acidic wheel cleaner and was taken back by the result. I had no clue. Now, the wheels seem extra sensitive to the elements. I have protected them with a wheel sealant and did the best I could with them. I'm selling the car and restoring these wheels so I can sell them. I think I can do it. I will have pics after I clean them up. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

 

This are the results of 4 hrs of cleaning. Sonax, various brushes, S.O.S pads and a lot of elbow grease. Tomorrow I will polish with OPT meatl polish.

 

stingray23 -

Wow, the wheels look way improved !! Great job !

Looks like the black wheel faces are supposed to be more of a satin/flat finish? If so, you are doing great.
I would find some old cotton towels that have lots of good nap left, put those bad boys on a bench, put on some nitrile/etc. gloves, and have at the lips and inside with your metal polish. They are going to be like new again soon...

Congrats !
Dan F

 

Thanks Dan! I called HRE before I started and asked to look up the wheel in their data base and he said the centers are powdercoated flat black. In person they look great. Flat, and black,lol. I'm gonna try alittle wax on them tomorrow. Cant wait to see the final results

 

Huge improvement! Keep going! lol

 

If you can take them apart that would be ideal(3-pc) as those bolts are a pain to work around.

 

tell me about it!

 

If the lips are indeed NOT clear coated its best to use rogue bars.

 

rogue bars?

 

Rogue polishing bars and a buffer or powerful drill to use those polishing bars with. They are much like polishing paint. Different color bars have different purposes from cutting to jeweling various metal surfaces.