I usually take great care in avoiding scratches to the rims. But I find with the M3 SR+, is very easy to scratch it up. I dread hearing that metal to concrete scratching sound. I get goose bumps just writing about it. After a month of driving a new car...it happened. Oh...the misery of it all. I rather get ten lashes on my back. The cover are not expensive to replace, but the rims are pricey, and you know, it can happen again... Just one slip up or slight misjudgment.
True, you can get some pro to fix it, but then you get the hassle of making an appointment, driving it down...etc etc... and yes, I am down right frugal. For most part, unless your rims were horribly damaged, most damages can literally be sanded out. I just used various grades of sand paper... starting with 400, 600, then 1500, 2000 or so. Wet sanding. Sand down all the rough edges, sand away the paint, bits of metal as well. Yes, initially, it is nerve racking if you haven't done it before. Luckily for me, the scratches wasn't deep. The cover was not damaged. I could have converted a power tool to a sander if I wanted it to, but it was a narrow area and not too deep. It was about 30mins of sanding. Not hard, just sort of try to "stay in the line". You can tape off areas you don't want sanded, but up to you. The next part is picking the paint. Yes, I went to the notorious T*& B*@ website...in my neck of the woods, it is an option. But the paint and sand paper kit that I got, were literally several pieces of crap. The paint was runny, and uneven. Luckily, I tried it out on a stapler... Finally, I used what I saw on Youtube (i take no credit for it). Refer to my photo. Great product, it comes with a pen, a brush applicator, and the bottom end is another section with a brush...clear coat. So you get paint and clear coat in one product. Paint colour was an awesome match. As it dries, the colour becomes almost identical. I think I did about three coats of paint, then one clear coat. Its cheap. Mind you, if you are not living in the same country, shipping paint may be difficult. So check. The end product, while not perfect, I would say 90% better. It is only noticeable if you walk up to examine it. End to end, took about 90 mins... Takes time for paint to dry.
True, you can get some pro to fix it, but then you get the hassle of making an appointment, driving it down...etc etc... and yes, I am down right frugal. For most part, unless your rims were horribly damaged, most damages can literally be sanded out. I just used various grades of sand paper... starting with 400, 600, then 1500, 2000 or so. Wet sanding. Sand down all the rough edges, sand away the paint, bits of metal as well. Yes, initially, it is nerve racking if you haven't done it before. Luckily for me, the scratches wasn't deep. The cover was not damaged. I could have converted a power tool to a sander if I wanted it to, but it was a narrow area and not too deep. It was about 30mins of sanding. Not hard, just sort of try to "stay in the line". You can tape off areas you don't want sanded, but up to you. The next part is picking the paint. Yes, I went to the notorious T*& B*@ website...in my neck of the woods, it is an option. But the paint and sand paper kit that I got, were literally several pieces of crap. The paint was runny, and uneven. Luckily, I tried it out on a stapler... Finally, I used what I saw on Youtube (i take no credit for it). Refer to my photo. Great product, it comes with a pen, a brush applicator, and the bottom end is another section with a brush...clear coat. So you get paint and clear coat in one product. Paint colour was an awesome match. As it dries, the colour becomes almost identical. I think I did about three coats of paint, then one clear coat. Its cheap. Mind you, if you are not living in the same country, shipping paint may be difficult. So check. The end product, while not perfect, I would say 90% better. It is only noticeable if you walk up to examine it. End to end, took about 90 mins... Takes time for paint to dry.
