I purchased a set of w123 14" wheel covers off ebay thinking they were the regular chrome (aluminum?) -- turns out they're actually painted tan. Pic attached. I got a great deal on them so instead of returning them or selling them to someone else, I was wondering if I could simply sand the paint off and polish them up. I'm not exactly a grease monkey or anything, but I've got the tools and wanted to see if anyone's had success with this or if I'm better off selling these to someone else. Seems pretty simple but didn't know if I'll just ruin the wheel covers in the process. Thanks!

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You would be better off using paint stripper or brake fluid. I have tried sand paper & it scratches the metal. I was luck that it was to be painted anyway. Its a good use for old brake fluid. When did you last replace (flush) your brake system? You could kill 2 birds with 1 stone !!

Oops I missed that you are new !! Sorry !!
Welcome to the forum, there are many very knowledgeable people here that are more than happy to help you with what ever you need to know about your car.

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1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

Oh yes I agree - chemical stripper and be careful with any abrasive stuff like sand paper. You'll find it very easy to scratch / dull the surface of the shiny bits.

Even the non-coloured "bare metal" versions that I have appear to have some sort of protective clear coat.

In my opinion it would be easier to repaint (in the colour of your choice) than to try and make the bare metal underneath look good. To do this you would need industrial standard polishing kit (not the metal-polish-your-cutlery sort of solution: liquid metal polish and a rag!)

[Welcome to the forum!]

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I know when Chad was making the MB hubcap clocks he used brake cleaner and said it worked very well.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Thanks for the comments and feedback on this! Yes, I'm new to the forum (and new to the w123 world as well). Perhaps it would be best to repaint them in the color that matches my 300d. If I were to do that, is it as simple as removing the existing paint (brake cleaner sounds like a good bet) and then repainting it? Or do I need to mess with prime, top coat, etc.?

Thanks again -- I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions over the next few months.

Yes. The paint will flake off in no time if not done properly. Done right you'll have many many years of nice looking hub caps.

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1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

Thanks -- very helpful!

There is actually a special tool for repainting hub caps - it is a star shaped cover for the centre. They seem to be as rare as hen's teeth and as far as I know are no longer available from Mercedes. Oh and I'm only adding this from an out of interest perspective as I bet it costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars (if you can find one) - so not worth thinking about if you're only going to do four hub caps.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

you could easily make one of those out of fibergass but it wouldn't be worth the effort unless you did regularly.