I have a set of Lorinser RS-90 rims on my 91 560SEC.
One of the rims is beginning to flake off large parts of it's chrome, the other three are in VG condition.
What to do ?

Some have told me that re-chroming weakens the metal, and to replace the bad one with a new chrome rim. ($400 + or -)

But several locals have suggested having all four rims polished by a wheel shop, which they assure me will be 80-90% as bright as chrome, but allows scuff marks, etc. to be simply buffed out. I went by the shop to see his work, and the rims he had polished looked pretty darn good. Don't know how they will look after 5k or 10k, though.

Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated !

Thanks.

I got the same wheels. Well.... rater had them.
I bent one pretty bad and one more of them is crucked.
The price on a new chrome one (I was trying to get two) is $670 !!! But you can't even get them becouse they not made anymore. So what you have is a set of 4 ireplaceable wheels
If mine where repairable (they said its a 50/50 chance) I would defenately polish them or paint them instead of chroming. If you do the search on this site, you find out that chrome is very good for a couple of years (looks, durability of surface) but than you run into problems. Flaking and corrosion on the inside lipp is the most frequent ones. My wheels are leaking air where the ruber meets the rim. Also refinishing of the wheels in chrome will cost you much more than other finishes.
What ever you do, be careful with them. They are very good loking wheels and you can not buy new ones now.
( I am geting painted 17" Intra Signums this week and puting Lorinsers away for better times)

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Dmitry
90' 300CE
17" Intra Signums
Brulen mufler
Euro Headlights/Clear Blinkers
White gouges (made my own)

OK so you have one bad wheel and need it repaired, There are many shops that 'dip' the wheels so a new set is not necessary. But you can not polish it as is, because it needs to be stripped first. This is a chemical bath treatment to remove all that extra metal added.
The proper method to chrome a wheel is zinc plating because the next steps won't adhere to aluminum.
So the plating steps are zinc, polish, copper, nickel and chrome. Short cut methods eliminate the nickel which is what many bumper repair shops do and you can see it as grain or sanding marks in the finish.

Polished wheels are a pain to keep up. Dog urine will stain it as will caustic soap solutions like a car wash use. The best way to keep up polished wheels is to use vaseline rubbed into the porosity of the wheel or use a liquid wax that also fills it. You can't see the porosity but the discoloring acids will and then you have to start all over with buffing.

Another method which stands up well now is to strip them all of their chrome and have them powder-coated. This is less expensive and is very durable; won't chip, flake, stain or be bothered by urine etc. TireRack also has wheels with a super finish called Techchrome.

Just some ideas for you and other readers.

TobiasMB
4 MBs

hello guys. How is everybody.My question is can you clearcoat polished wheels.The paint would preserve the polished look.If so that would be the best wh\ay to go wouldn't it?

you probably could clear coat them, but I wouldn't expect it to last very long with brake dust/heat from the brakes. Not to mention some cleaners could harm the finish.

My jeep had alloy wheels, 89 jeep cherokee laredo. The wheels looked silver but were actually bare metal covered in a clear shield, probably a clear coat. When I got the car in 94 the wheels looked very good but had small signs of fading in the clear coat, which later turned out to be places where the clearcoat had seperated from the metal wheel. And even later on, these parts started to finally open up and chip away leaving an uneven surface ont he wheels, not to mention the wheel colors were different from bare metal to the clear coating.

I would definately look into an alternative to polished wheels. I personally like the powder coated or painted wheels. At least with painted wheels you can probably use wax on them if you want to help protect the finish.

Personally love the look of chrome on a black car, but hate the hassles.

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon