Refurbished Mk3 VR6 BBS Wheels - Pics

**greens_tuf** · 24-02-2009, 08:17 PM

Hey Guys,

After about a year of searching for a set of good second hand Simmons or BBS wheels for the VR6, I say second hand because either of these would set you back approx. $650 per wheel new, without tyres. I decided to get my stock wheels repaired - machined the lips and fixed the buckles (two were not visible to the naked eye, one was visible). The wheels were then sent off to the powder coaters to be sand blasted and powder coated and baked.

Wheel repairs: Circle Track Wheels, Seven Hills.
Powder coaters: Precision Coating, Seven Hills.

Wheel repair costs: $40 to machine the lip only, $95 to fix any buckle and machine the lip.
Powder coating: $110 per wheel, Sand blasted and powder coated.

Colour: Dulux Powders - Precious Silver Pearl

Verdict: Overall I am pleased with the result. The wheel repairs were excellent although it doesn't give a person much confidence when you are told that if you want your wheels to look like new you will have to buy new wheels... I was told this directly (by the wheel repairer) and I got the same vibe from other wheel repair places...
I am very happy with the result of the powder coating. My only complaint is that the finish on one of the wheels was not as smooth as the others. This is only visible when you get up close and touch it, otherwise I would say the workmanship on the other 3 wheels is close to perfect, if not perfect.

I was quoted prices of $150 upwards to have my wheels repainted in 2Pack paint. While this would have resulted in a better colour match it would have cost me $200 extra and up. I also could not get any guarantees that the wheels would come up perfect because the wheels have a busy design.

I was also told by painters that the powder coating would have a better finish, be more durable, and hardwearing against stone chips compared to the 2Pack paint.

I will say that the only downside to the powder coating is that the colour is not the same as original, but I actually wanted a darker silver, closer to a gun metal grey actually (just to be a little different). One thing I will note, depending on the angle and amount of light the wheels will tend to look a little more grey than silver but in the light they look great.

One last good point about powder coating, with powder coating the whole wheel is done, wheel repairers would only be painting the face for the prices above, and that isn't going back to bare metal. The part of the wheel where the tyre goes on was only sprayed lightly to avoid problems when fitting the tyres.

I got the new Gold BBS center caps, as well as a new set of the original center caps. The gold caps go with my gold number plates
(VR06VW).

I will be fitting Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalins 205/50/R15 in the coming weeks and then I will post some pics when they are on the car.

Let the pics speak for themselves; comments are welcome, although I would prefer people with nasty comments to keep them to themselves.

P.S. There is a black mark on the edge of one of the wheels in the pics, this is from the tyre that it is resting on and not an imperfection.

Cheers,
Mark

**Golf Houso** · 24-02-2009, 08:28 PM

They look great mate, interesting to see how they turned out a bit darker than the originals, gold BBS caps are tops to...

**VR6child** · 24-02-2009, 08:54 PM

Nice write up I like these as a stock wheel. What is the actual model, I think I read rz or something somewhere.

**Mrk_Mickey** · 24-02-2009, 09:38 PM

Not bad at all!

I would have loved to see them sparkle a bit with some metallics but nevertheless they look great

**KI11Z** · 25-02-2009, 07:08 AM

mmmmm, such a nice wheel arent they! its a damb shame they're a measly 15" tall

i like mickey's idea of a metalic silver to be honest

**greens_tuf** · 25-02-2009, 07:28 AM

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies, the paint is metallic, look at the close up pics. It might look like the paint texture but it is actually the metallic reflecting.

**rayray086** · 25-02-2009, 11:28 AM

Looks great. I went to Circle Track to ask about steel wheel widening too - didn't really like their attitude and service so I went elsewhere.

Did you take the wheels elsewhere for powdercoating or did you have Circle Track outsource it for you?

**greens_tuf** · 25-02-2009, 12:03 PM

I took the wheels to Precision Coating for powder coating myself. The guy at circle track was a nice guy, and very helpful, and gave me some good advice. He had no negative comments about powder coating, he even said that it would be more durable than the 2 Pack finish.

But I must say that I did get some attitude from other wheel repairers, one said that powder coating was the "cheap alternative" and then didn't want to really deal with me. You would think that I was asking to have the work done for free lol. People act like they don't want the work, and it annoys me....

Anyway, the guys at Precision Coating were great to deal with. The results speak for themselves...