taking apart BBS style 5's...

[MATT0404]

Glad to see they turned out well! And no cracking!

[Jason5driver]

FmZip!
That is some amazing pictures of the torque sequences!
Love it!
Thanks!
Wheels look great!

[fmzip]

I think I figured out why Lunkers clearcoat may have cracked while tightening the bolts. I will take a picture of what I am trying to describe below tomorrow.

You really need to wack the center piece back into the barrel first to ensure it's well seated. If you don't make sure the center piece is flush against the backside of the barrel before tightening the bolts, you're likely to fracture the clear coat. If you don't torque them down evenly and gradually, that's likely a no-no as well!

Thanks for the compliments guys....couldn't have done it without the help of the forums!

Matt, where are the pics of yours??

[LBCD]

Great job!

[MATT0404]

I think I figured out why Lunkers clearcoat may have cracked while tightening the bolts. I will take a picture of what I am trying to describe below tomorrow.

You really need to wack the center piece back into the barrel first to ensure it's well seated. If you don't make sure the center piece is flush against the backside of the barrel before tightening the bolts, you're likely to fracture the clear coat. If you don't torque them down evenly and gradually, that's likely a no-no as well!

Thanks for the compliments guys....couldn't have done it without the help of the forums!

Matt, where are the pics of yours??

Good insight on the fully seating the centers before tightening.

Sorry, I've been slacking on the pics. Here's a quick one that I snapped with my phone the other day:



Still have to pick up some centers. The lips of mine have been polished, but the centers were not removed, so the bolt area still needs work. I don't think I'm going to have time to remove the centers, polish them, and have them clear'd prior to winter (since it snowed here last week). My plan is to keep them wheel wax'd, clean frequently and do a full refinish next off-season.

[fmzip]

Nice and shiny Matt!

Can't wait to put my other three together tomorrow. These are going to be some pretty hot wheels for snow tires!

[MATT0404]

Nice and shiny Matt!

Can't wait to put my other three together tomorrow. These are going to be some pretty hot wheels for snow tires!

Thanks!

I get that all the time. "You're going to use those as winter wheels?" They are definitely some great looking wheels, though. For the price you can pick them up for, they're really hard to beat.

[LBCD]

WoW!!!

Matt those lips are nice! A friend of mine who restores old cars swears by this aluminum sealer!

http://www.zoopseal.com/

[Jason5driver]

Good insight on the fully seating the centers before tightening.

Sorry, I've been slacking on the pics. Here's a quick one that I snapped with my phone the other day:



Still have to pick up some centers. The lips of mine have been polished, but the centers were not removed, so the bolt area still needs work. I don't think I'm going to have time to remove the centers, polish them, and have them clear'd prior to winter (since it snowed here last week). My plan is to keep them wheel wax'd, clean frequently and do a full refinish next off-season.

I would really like to see pull off not rusting the wheels through winter without clear coating those wheels, but by only waxing them!

How did you re-do the wheels?
I am assuming you taped off the centers, the stripped, sanded, then polished the barrels?

I guess that is one way to insure that the bolts will not rust or crack the clear coat....

Thanks!

WoW!!!

Matt those lips are nice! A friend of mine who restores old cars swears by this aluminum sealer!

http://www.zoopseal.com/

Very interesting!
I will have to check on the pricing.
Seems like according to the website, there is no need for any powder coating?
If so, that would save a lot of time and money.
Just strip, sand, polish, apply this ZoopSeal with some cadium plated bolts, and you are good to go....????

Thanks!
Jason

Got them back from the powder coater, pressed in all the bolts................

And no fractures to the powdercoat as expected!



Then to putting it back together. I thought I'd mark the center piece with a torque sequence to make thing easier



I made sure that I gave the center piece a good wack so it fit snug against the barrel before tightening any bolts. Once that was done, I put loctite on all the bolts and put all the nuts on hand tight.

Then I started my torque sequence with a ratchet, just snugging them up a little more. Then I started the sequence over, tightening about three turns with the ratchet. Then once again, another three turns. Then a final sequence at 28 ft lbs with a torque wrench. Then the moment of truth, I flipped it back over to see if any of the clear coat fractured and..............................................




































PERFECTION!!!

FM-
I noticed that your bolts did not come out that shiney....
Is that what you wanted?
Were your cadium plated?

I think Pete's bolts were chromed, so his bolts really popped...

Thanks!
Jason

[MATT0404]

WoW!!!

Matt those lips are nice! A friend of mine who restores old cars swears by this aluminum sealer!

http://www.zoopseal.com/

Thanks, that's a good find! I'm going to buy some and give it a try. It's probably my best bet at this time. I'll keep you guys updated.

I would really like to see pull off not rusting the wheels through winter without clear coating those wheels, but by only waxing them!

How did you re-do the wheels?
I am assuming you taped off the centers, the stripped, sanded, then polished the barrels?

I guess that is one way to insure that the bolts will not rust or crack the clear coat....

Thanks!

I purchased my set from a member on here already polished. They look fantastic and are VERY shiny. Like I said, I'm going to try the Zoop Seal this season and hope for the best.

[lunker325]

[QUOTE=fmzip;17723919]I think I figured out why Lunkers clearcoat may have cracked while tightening the bolts. I will take a picture of what I am trying to describe below tomorrow.

You really need to wack the center piece back into the barrel first to ensure it's well seated. If you don't make sure the center piece is flush against the backside of the barrel before tightening the bolts, you're likely to fracture the clear coat. If you don't torque them down evenly and gradually, that's likely a no-no as well!

Thanks for the compliments guys....couldn't have done it without the help of the forums!

QUOTE]

Nice work, wheels look good! It is a lot of effort and time! I am subscribed to this thread and have been following your progress through email updates. I sold that car and the wheels, and am glad to put those bastards behind me! I tore those down and reassembled at least 3 times.

Just to clarify, I did make sure that the face was fully seated into the barrel before torquing any of the bolts. I even went so far as to sand and clean both the front of the face and the underside of the barrel where they met so that they would be as true and tight as possible. I made sure that the bolts were fully seated into the barrel before tightening them so that there would not be any additional stress put onto the bolt by having to pull it into the barrel. I also did the same thing as you did, hand tightened the bolts, then tightened them a little more with a wrench in the same sequence as you would for the final torque, and then did the final torque.

I think mine cracked because of a combination of things. First I went with a cheap powder coater. Big mistake. I know he was low on cash, and probably went cheap on me by skimping on the actual amount of powder shot onto the wheel, probably did not bake it correctly, and skimped on the prep work too. From what I understand, powder coat should not be brittle like mine was.

Lesson I learned is that wheels take ALOT of abuse from the elements, and its worth the extra money to make sure they are refinished properly.

[fmzip]

I noticed that your bolts did not come out that shiney....
Is that what you wanted?
Were your cadium plated?

I think Pete's bolts were chromed, so his bolts really popped...

Thanks!
Jason

Yes, I didn't want the bolts too shiney which is why I tried the cadmium plating route. It was between nickel and cad for me. If I were to do it again, I'd go nickel. The nickel would withstand the heat of powdercoating and the bolts would be brighter, similar to chrome but not as shiney.

All finished! No cracking to the clear powder coat, the stuff is rock solid!

[fmzip]

update after rinsing a month's worth of salt off them, they are still perfect:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachm...4&d=1262890143

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachm...3&d=1262890143

[deathwarden5]

So it only took about 7 or 8 months, but they are back together.

I didn't get to strip/clean the tops of the bolts like I wanted, just the threads. I just have to touch up the outer edge/lip, as being moved around the basement for several months have put a few blemishes in it.

I had to get it back together tonight, cause I bent a rim, so I needed this one functional.

[5seriesguy]

Lol this thread was made in 2008.

[psa]

Wait, there is more.....

Was wondering if anyone has ever sanded smooth the center material when they did a refinish job on Style 5's..?...I'm talking about all the raised and uneven surfaces around the lug nuts and center hole. I love the look of Style 5's without the center cap but would love to see all that material smoothed out....

[Petes540i6]

Was wondering if anyone has ever sanded smooth the center material when they did a refinish job on Style 5's..?...I'm talking about all the raised and uneven surfaces around the lug nuts and center hole. I love the look of Style 5's without the center cap but would love to see all that material smoothed out....

I have never seen that. You'd be the first. Go for it!

[kingjames]

where can i get new center caps for style 19s?
going to pick up a set and refinish them. thanks for all of the insight

[fmzip]

^^^^^^^^^^^dealership

BMW PN 36131182309

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...16&hg=36&fg=15

www.getbmwparts.com $18.60 each

[ivari]

Two years ago I had my bolts zinc plated. For now, they had gone quite ugly. So this time had them chrome plated. We´ll see, how long they will last.




Also had a chance to sand down and polish the lips. Started with P80 and finished with P3000 paper. The results are quite good.

[FredRC]

Is it possible to mount the center on the upper side of the barrel ?

Not inverting its position, just placing it on top of the barrel instead of behind it ?

Can it be done safely ?

So it would look kinda like this :

[fmzip]

nice job Ivari!

Did you have the barrels powercoated or are you running them bare??

Thinking of refinishing a set of style 42's, thinking of better ways than powdercoating the barrels...chrome plating the barrels??

[rayztoy]

Good thread, back from the dead. Lets update...

[oli]

I am having some oxidation on my barrels and I didn't want to polish the barrels, because I would have to take the wheels down and clean the barrels every 2 or weeks or so. Clear coat (potential future oxidation) or spend $$ for powder coating are not an option.
I don't know what will happen if I don't address the oxidation on the barrels.
My only thought on protecting the barrels so I am not into a ball and chain arrangement with the wheels is to Opti-Coat them.

[fmzip]

If you don't address the oxidation it will simply get worse. Once it starts, it's like cancer. It won't stop if you simply cover it up.

The wheels need chemo my friend or let them slowly die from natural causes