I purchased a couple of touch up kits from this outfit in the U.K. but have not tried them yet.The Scratch Doctor

 

Professional refinishers can make those wheels look brand new...for about $80 per wheel. There's several good YouTube videos as well if you want to do it yourself but it seems there's a good bit of art to it when they have significant curb rash (requires grinding, etc.).

That silver dupli-color engine enamel (http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r12...orums/r129-sl-class/1472259-what-did-you-do-your-roadster-534.html#post13686313) that I used this week to paint my MB engine logo is a very good match. I have a set of wheel lug bolts that I plan to refinish with that as well. You might color a lug bolt to check the color, I think you'll be surprised at the match.

 

For my '98 SL500 I had the wheels from my '93 SL500 refurbished (repaired /filled) then powder coated.
I then I sprayed them with a very durable silver wheel paint...... they look better than OEM :grin

 

If you're concerned about a match with the original paint, do use anything but the Würth Silver Wheel paint. Nothing else I've found is even close.

Powder coating would be nice, but I would want to see a sample of the color to make sure it matches. Powders are available in an amazing array, and it's certainly possible that they could get very close, if not an exact match.

Given the choice between spray and powder coating, I would want powder coating for the durability.

If you want gloss when it's done, use Minwax Spray Spar Varnish in glossy. I have done a number of wheels using the Würth paint and nothing has been more durable as a clear topcoat as the Minwax Spar Varnish.

I refinished a set of bundts and sold them to a friend of Marshall Booth's who lived in Cleveland, OH. He sent me pictures of them three years after and hey were still looking good.

Dan

 

Thanks everyone for the quick responses - might try to retouch them and if that doesn't look too good have them refinished. The wheel refinishers in town want $175 (powdercoating) and $200 (paint) per wheel although the MB dealer in town, when taking in trade-ins that need wheel attention - use a guy that refinishes them on the car for $100.wheel.

Don't know how he does that.

Thanks again!

 

Surprised powder coating is cheaper, that the way I would go and if it is less money it is a no brainier IMO. As LWB250 said they have many shades of powder coating available so I am sure you can at worst case scenario come very close to the current color.

 

I did my sons 300E original wheels all 4 for $30 ,wet sanded,paint and then a clear,that was 2 years ago,still look very nice,they call me El Cheapo!

 

More information would help Bill....

It really depend how bad your wheels look......

How many wheels need to be done....??

Are the wheels just minor paint chip.....??

Are the wheels oxidation or corrosion....??

How bad is the curb rush.....??

Pictures would help to give you the best advice....

IMHO if it just minor paint chip & minor curb rash, I would fix it myself by touch up paint & some fine sand paper to sand down the minor curb rush since your wheels lip is polish.....

 

Hi Tony - yep just a minor chip and minor curb rash - I will see about touching it up myself first -

Thanks for the replies, everyone

Bill

 

If your good with a spray gun, and want to spend the time, you can get exact match paint from most any shop that sell auto paint.

However, given the price of paint today, and the time it takes, especially for any scratches, I'd just go with the local wheel refinishers.

I'm going to have the E420 wheels done, as others have mentioned, around $80/wheel for a mobile refinisher to come to your house and do the wheels.

amazing what they can do for curb rash.

 

For those of you that are unaware. A few days ago I had came across same AMG Monoblock series 1, 18" staggered wheels for sale. I bought the entire set for $125.00. Theses were the correct AMG wheels for the R129 SL with Et23 and ET25 all with the correct numbers. Well anyway the outer lips were deeply scared and a couple of the rims were slightly bent. I gave them to a shop here in Ct. They straighten the wheels, welded in the deep gouges, machined the surface, polished the outer edges, painted the center, clear coated just the painted center. I asked not put clear coat on the outer lips, just polish. All for $125 per wheel. The outer lips look like a deep blue chrome when highly polished. They look amazing as I had no idea that the welded areas would blend in and look exactly like the rest of the outer lips.

 

Pictures please...I'm sure I'm not the only one who's jealous :angel

 

I think it's waaaaaaaay too much.

 

Ok I'll play along. Show me a set of 18s of comparable quality, that have the correct offset for the R129 that you would be able to buy for $625 or less.

 

I found this. But, I'm not sure if it's real AMG or if the offset is correct for R129. 2001 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG aluminum-18x8-wheel-rim-65239

 

Those are most likely the incorrect offset and would need spacers, probably in the 40-44 range and the listing says replica AMG. Also they are 8" wide whereas cartlwo has a staggered 8.5" and 9.5".


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My wheels cost 40Euros each for powder coating and two cans of silver spray paint, and one larger can of clear lacquer for another 18Euros.

If you go for this sort wheel refurbishment, be sure to fit tyres that have the extra band of thick rubber next to the rim to protect the wheels against any kerb damage!

 

Umm ok, I have no idea how you read envy into that quote. They may not be worth it to you because you simply don't like them and that would go for almost anything, but however you may feel about them they do have their value and it's what the market dictates at any given time. Right now they do have a value superior to what you feel they are worth and IMO if you can't point me anywhere to buy them cheaper, that is their value or more at this given time. Not once did I say anything about envy, I simply was asking you to show me a comparable set for less money but if you read envy into that so be it. This is getting way off topic so I'll stop going back and forth with you.

 

Well guys after checking auto parts stores trying to find a standard paint stick (Dupli-Color in the US), going to the dealer who also after a hard search found nothing (although they do offer a paint code for a new AMG wheel that is dark gray) - they suggested going up the street to the professional auto paint store.

There they gave me several pages of PPG color swatches in silver-gray and I think I picked a reasonably good match - we will see tomorrow but for $14 for a custom made little bottle with brush applicator it seems pretty cost effective.

 

Don't forget the before and after pic's!

 

Will do John whether it looks good or not :smile

It's only one little chip from the original owner insisting that they be steam cleaned. I'll take the before picture tomorrow and then show you with the paint after it's dried. I'll hope for the best :smile

Bill

 

"Hi" Bill.....

Good luck with your project...:smile...

Here some tips for repair minor curb rash....^^^....:smile.

This also worth a try.....^^^...:wink...

 

Well, here are the preliminary results. I wanted to put the first coat of paint on last night so the "before" shot is with flash - nothinkg really bad - just a spot where I assume the pressure washer knocked the paint off. The paint seems just a tad darker - but the last picture is with the door up and the overall wheel - you can hardly tell where the area was.

Thanks for the tips Tony. I was thinking of slowly adding new wheels for sale (ad man has one - for about $600 I would have "new" old wheels but eventually small rocks would get to those too.

Later on I might get one of those mobil repair guys although locally they want $100 and up per wheel.

BTW if the wheel had a flat surface (some do) the paint guy said that they could put something on it that would measure it and give an almost perfect match. As it was I did my best with about 3 pages of silver shades and picked what I thought was the best. I'm sure there was even a batter match on those pages but I am an amateur :wink

 

Bottom pic looks good,but only way to make them look new is wet sanding the entire wheel,primer,paint,clear coat, about 2 hours per wheel for a good job,and on a hot dry day is best! there is a German brand spray paint thats supposed to be like factory finish,but Expensive!!! I went the cheap route and just got off the shelf wheel paint and clear at Lowe's, thing you have to do is find metallic with smallest amount of flake in it. I did the cheap route on my sons 300E,but SL I would spend the money for Wurth.

Wurth German Alloy Silver Wheel Lacquer

 

Look great Bill.....

I bet from a 3 feet distance you can't tell....

I see a lot, I mean a lot of wheels worst than your.....

Give yourself a pat on the back......

Well done.....:smile