Is the wheel painted or powder coated? Mine has some scratches on them from the last tire change and I'd like to re-finish them back to stock specs.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

This thread died in this sub-forum...Perhaps someone might still be able to answer my question?

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

They are painted. I was able to purchase the special paint from a place called Classic Motoring Accessories. I believe the paint manufacture is called something like Wurth.

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To see my 129 parts for sale visit:
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Mercedes-SL-Store
John Roncallo

Thanks

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Yes, Wurth silver wheel paint is the exact same color used on the original wheel.

However, I bought "Dupli Color" silver wheel paint (along with a can of clear) and my W126 wheels looked EXACTLY the same as new ones when I was done. I used oven cleaner and 3m pads to scrub off the flaky clearcoat, then put on 2 coats of paint and 3 coats of clear.

I used them 3 winters after that and they still looked perfect. And that was harsh Canadian winters where I rarely washed the salt off the wheels!

Give it a shot if you can't find the Wurth stuff. Besides, one can of each was enough and both cans cost under $10!

I may still have the can somewhere if you need the exact color #, but I recall that DupliColor only made 2 colors of "wheel paint" and the other was like a charcoal grey.

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'83 300SD 207,000 mi SOLD
'87 560SL 163,000km (101k mi) SOLD
'86 300SDL 356,000km (220k mi) SOLD
'92 500SEL 250,000km (155k mi) SOLD
'90 300SL 140,000km (87k mi) SOLD
'01 S430 260,000km (161k mi)
'03 SL500 149,000km (92k mi)
'07 GL320 CDI 183,000km (113k mi)

I finally found out why Wurth products are so hard to find, at least in Canada. Here, they sell through mobile 'agents' (salesmen) who take orders 'on account', like the Snap-On truck that goes from garage to garage. All I had to do was contact the salesman, who dropped by one day and filled out an account application and browsed through the catalog with me. About 2 weeks later, my order arrived UPS, charged to my Visa. An alternative was to contact the company rep. at their head office and do the account set-up and order by phone. For occasional orders, check with the local garages and body shops and see if they are set up with Wurth. They might place your order with the next one they have for a nominal extra charge.
FWIW, I bought 2 600ml spray-bomb cans of Aluminum base (#893.339006, $24.95ea), and 2 400ml cans of clear-coat laquer (#893.351930, $19.95ea). Check my thread posted awhile ago which has a link to my Toyota wheel refinishing project and you can see the results. Does sandblasting harm alloy rims? I'm not 'sold' anymore on their stuff though, as I do think the price is way too high for what is now a more competitive marketplace for wheel finishing products.

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1986 560SL
2002 Toyota Camry
1993 Lexus