[rhenier99]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of restoring my car's paint and want to restore the rims after the paint's done. I can't decide if I should stick with the rims I have now and just restore them, paint them a different colour like black or just get new rims entirely.

The rims are 17" and my setup is 225/50R17 on all 4.

I've never liked the look of black wheels on the blue colour so I don't think I'll be going that route. I don't hate the look of my current wheels at all but they're not as good as the OEM rims and in bad shape and need refurbishment... I have no idea what rims they are they're definitely not BMW oem so would like to get some thoughts on them, I'm pretty dumb when it comes to this so any insight or opinions would be appreciated.

[Billfitz]

Painted wheels can be re-painted, polished rims can be re-polished. Either option is far less expensive than buying new wheels.

[Oksamit78]

Originally Posted by rhenier99

...I don't hate the look of my current wheels at all but they're not as good as the OEM rims and in bad shape and need refurbishment...

Knowing that these are aftermarket wheels, the refurbishment will cost on par to the price tag of these new, in my experience.

I agree with Billfitz. However, this is true when compared to pricing of OEM or reputable 3d party (BBS, Apex, etc) rims. The no name brand rims cost far more less, especially used. But the quality is proportionally lower too.

Rims' selection is pure personal taste.

Gold rims look really good on blue cars, but it is a "Subaru look", imho, and I won't do that to my car which is the same color as yours. Personally, I like a gunmetal /polished look like 598Ms that I have:

[LA430]

Dark matte bronze looks less Subaru-ish.

[Billfitz]

Yeah, they're more Honda-ish.

It's all a matter of personal taste of course, but IMO attention getting colors on wheels is gilding the lily.

[rhenier99]

Originally Posted by Oksamit78

Knowing that these are aftermarket wheels, the refurbishment will cost on par to the price tag of these new, in my experience.

I agree with Billfitz. However, this is true when compared to pricing of OEM or reputable 3d party (BBS, Apex, etc) rims. The no name brand rims cost far more less, especially used. But the quality is proportionally lower too.

Rims' selection is pure personal taste.

Gold rims look really good on blue cars, but it is a "Subaru look", imho, and I won't do that to my car which is the same color as yours. Personally, I like a gunmetal /polished look like my 598Ms I have:

That looks really good indeed gold is great on blue but can't bring myself to do it. I've been wanting to go the gunmetal/grey look I think it looks great, but not sure that would look good on my wheels and unfortunately replacing them would be much more expensive as I would not go 17" again, I'd like to get 18" or 19" ones which means I'll also need new tires (I think).

[Billfitz]

Gold is only for pimps and dealers.

Think twice on the larger rims. They result in less rubber and air, both of which absorb shock. Aluminum doesn't. I doubt you have to deal with spring potholes, but I do, and knowing larger rims with lower profile tires are more easily damaged by them I went with 17s. If you have very good roads bigger rims are OK, but if not you may regret them. When I took delivery of my car the salesman tried to talk me into wheel and rim insurance. He even had a bent rim in his office as his sales tool. It was a 20. I passed, on the big rims and the insurance.