Wheel refinishing in Bay Area

[RustD0ntSle3p]

Do you all have recommendations for a reputable wheel refinishing shop in the bay area? The OEM Competition wheels my E46 M3 came with are weathered and could use a good bit of touching up. Also have a set of 359Ms with one that is slightly bent but holds air.

Quotes I have gotten thus far range about $130-150 for the straightening of the bent wheel and $120/wheel for the general refinishing.

I have never gotten any wheels refinished. Is there anything I should know ahead of time when polling shops? I imagine the process is mostly the same with any OEM cast alloys, European or not but I dunno.

[adr_M3]

I've seen the topic of getting 163M wheels refinished come up before and unfortunately it seems that there are few shops if any that are able to match the original hyper silver finish:

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/78703-zcp-csl-wheel-paint-code

It probably goes without saying but I would see if any have done 163Ms before and how close they can get to the OEM finish. I made the mistake of not asking when I had my Style 67s refinished and they came out looking nothing like the original chrome shadow. I grew to hate them so much that I swapped them out for a new set of 163Ms.

[ljmartyre]

I had my 997.2 GT3 wheels refinished in BBS Motorsport Silver by a shop in LA. Apparently only a few shops in CA have access to the “official” BBS colors. I can’t speak to the validity of that statement but it’s the closest thing I’ve seen to that of the ZCP/163M wheels.

I also had my 993 C2S wheels refinished in Porsche 9A1 which is an excellent alternative and more widely available. But it’s just a more typical bright silver.

No matter what anyone says or claims, do not powder coat. You will never get the luster of the OE finish if they aren’t painted.

[Slideways]

Keith in the East Bay does great work. Here is his Yelp page - https://www.yelp.com/biz/alloy-wheel...s-pleasanton-2

[adr_M3]

I had my 997.2 GT3 wheels refinished in BBS Motorsport Silver by a shop in LA. Apparently only a few shops in CA have access to the “official” BBS colors. I can’t speak to the validity of that statement but it’s the closest thing I’ve seen to that of the ZCP/163M wheels.

I also had my 993 C2S wheels refinished in Porsche 9A1 which is an excellent alternative and more widely available. But it’s just a more typical bright silver.

No matter what anyone says or claims, do not powder coat. You will never get the luster of the OE finish if they aren’t painted.

Cannot agree more with this, do not powder coat. That was my fatal error with my Style 67s.

[9kracing]

It's been years, but I've used these guys multiple times. They have refinished a few sets of wheels for me, and always done a great job. They've pulled out bends, and straightened wonky wheels.

Give Justin a call.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/pacific-rims-pittsburg-2

[E46fanatics…]

Yeah I has some other bbs wheels powder coated but I liked the original paint better.

[RustD0ntSle3p]

Thanks guys. I had a feeling it would not be as easy as I would hope, a la pop down to the nearest seemingly reputable local shop and have them get me a like-new set for the same price the average person would pay to have Evo/GT500/whatever other non-German sports car wheels redone.

Appreciate the references, sounds like I've got more research ahead of me.

I am thinking my fallback will be to just send off one or two of the less "Fancy" wheels I have laying around, that I'm not as worried about to a local shop, to test the waters, so to speak. See how they come out. And ask them point blank how they would go about paint matching OEM M3 wheels. Bet I can probably get all I need to know from how they answer that question...