Refinishing Wheels - Shadow Chrome

^ Shadow Chrome

Curious as to whether or not anyone here knows how to apply the shadow chrome finish, or satin silver finish, similar to the finishes that BMW is using for the above M5 wheels, or the OEM 350Z wheels, stuff like that.

So far, it appears finishes like this cannot be applied via powdercoating. Painters have told me they cannot replicate that finish, but I dont accept that. I've seen mobile repair guys air brush that type of finish and I believe they use 3-step (black base, blended silver top coat, then clear). Anyone have any ideas?

I know super pricey Alsa Corp offers a system for spray on chrome and it can be blended with black clear, but curious if there are any other alternatives for achieving such a finish.

Thanks guys


^ Satin silver

[blingbling]

I second this post! I would like to know as I am looking to do this too

[Om1kron]

If you want the wheels painted, hit up richard rabe. He's a fucking paint genius and can probably get the color right for you.

Otherwise if you want that black chrome you can hit up dippedparts.com

[lflkajfj12123]

That looks just like unpolished chrome

calchrome.com would be your best best imo

[Fred Allen Burge]

I think you're on the right track with the black base and silver on top route. I've seen RX8 wheels with this finish and you could tell from the back side that they had a black base coat.

[KiLLeR2001]

Typical newbie question by a typical newbie poster. It seems like all these young 240 owners only care about the color of their rims. Well guess what? NO ONE CARES. Oh and another thing, you probably have cheap eBay headlights made from Bangkok. Stupid.

Want some advice? Stop posting. Yeah you heard me, there's enough wasted bandwidth on these forums as it is, and we especially don't appreciate you wasting it with some douchey ass BMW rims.
[/mike-style-post]

Am I doing it right?

[kalypso123]

why not find black metal paint......

or get 5 x 114.3 to 5 x 120
wheel adapters and rock the m5 wheels instead!

[usdm180sx]

Originally Posted by KiLLeR2001

Typical newbie question by a typical newbie poster. It seems like all these young 240 owners only care about the color of their rims. Well guess what? NO ONE CARES. Oh and another thing, you probably have cheap eBay headlights made from Bangkok. Stupid.

Want some advice? Stop posting. Yeah you heard me, there's enough wasted bandwidth on these forums as it is, and we especially don't appreciate you wasting it with some douchey ass BMW rims.
[/mike-style-post]

Am I doing it right?

Haha are u fucking serious? You're flaming on the hid guru himself who's as old skool as I am. His led conversions cost more than most cars on here lol

[s13 loverr]

I think I read somewhere its actually a lacquer? So it's just applied on top of of black and silver mix of paint. You could just look on the bmw forums. I was looking at this stuff for a bit but realized it is just about the most expensive paint/lacquer? you can get. I'm still not completely sure on this but look on the bmw forums and you will probably find something.

jut found a link saying it was a lacquer

BMW Shadow Chrome paint 5Liters - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum

[specialk2003]

I'm sure if you contact a wheel repair shop near you, they can replicate the finish.

[KiLLeR2001]

Originally Posted by usdm180sx

Haha are u fucking serious? You're flaming on the hid guru himself who's as old skool as I am. His led conversions cost more than most cars on here lol

Silly usdm180sx. I know it's early so go grab a cup of coffee then read my post again.

^ he was joking. hehe but the joke wasnt even close. i do a much better job of talking shit than that. but hey, just like when a good product is copied... IM FLATTERED.

[usdm180sx]

Haha I should have known since u asked if u were doing it right
Hi Mike

Originally Posted by Fred Allen Burge

I think you're on the right track with the black base and silver on top route. I've seen RX8 wheels with this finish and you could tell from the back side that they had a black base coat.

i agree

i have already found discussions regarding the black base, silver top coat, then clearcoat

however, people have said that BMW powdercoats the wheel black, then shoots silver, then powdercoats the clear

difficult problem in this is adhering to the powdercoat. i powdercoated numerous calipers and recently, had a hell of a time adhering my "brembo" logo which was sprayed through a stencil - the paint has a hard time bonding to the plastic powdercoat, even with adhesion promoter.

but, i think if the silver is then clearcoated with a powdercoated clear, then it seals in the silver.. no chance of delamination.

i guess this is why calipers are painted, much easier to paint, no cleanup around the threads, and "good enough" results

its science i tell ya

[ZilviaKid]

Originally Posted by ixfxi

i agree

i have already found discussions regarding the black base, silver top coat, then clearcoat

however, people have said that BMW powdercoats the wheel black, then shoots silver, then powdercoats the clear

difficult problem in this is adhering to the powdercoat. i powdercoated numerous calipers and recently, had a hell of a time adhering my "brembo" logo which was sprayed through a stencil - the paint has a hard time bonding to the plastic powdercoat, even with adhesion promoter.

but, i think if the silver is then clearcoated with a powdercoated clear, then it seals in the silver.. no chance of delamination.

i guess this is why calipers are painted, much easier to paint, no cleanup around the threads, and "good enough" results

its science i tell ya

off topic, but when i used to work at porsche, we had brembo stickers that we would apply onto the calipers instead of painting it on with a stencil. it made life a lot easier. the glue would adhere to the caliper so there wasnt any way for it to come off.

[kalypso123]

m5 wheels are sick

[roadwarrior240]

Ive seen aerosol shadow chrome paint at O reillys once. I think its a 3 step thing like the caliper paint. ive been meaning to try and see how it would look on the reverse steelies i have on my mustang.