RAudi Driver

Just returned from the anodizer and my wheels suffered some rinsing fluid runs. It was very minor but they are going to redo them and plug the holes where the fluid ran from.

Anyways, I took a set of E88's and chemical stripped them. I then had them aluminum oxide blasted for a textured finish, like the magnesium wheel look. The next step was to Brite Dip them for a little sparkle off the textured facets that the blasting created. Final step was placing them in the anodize bath. Here is the results. I will have them back on the car next Tuesday.




You can see in this picture where the cleaning fluid ran out of the center cap screw holes and bleached out the finish. Other than that, they look amazing!

trophy

That is amazing..... Do you know the exact color they used? I want my wheels that color.

You must post pics of them on the car when done..

RAudi Driver

Steven, it's just called gold. Color change happens depending on the amount of bath time. We are learning as we go with these wheels.

They have to be laid in the tank flat to prevent any air pockets in the spoke cutaways. As you can see, the run was from cleaning fluid remaining in the center cap screw holes. The wheels are going in for a re-do and this time the screw holes are being plugged up. Also remember that there are holes on the backside of the wheel, aka mounting surface. Those did not turn gold as air was trapped in them during the bath. You could always place the bath straight up and then lay them flat once in the bath, which would probably expel the air from those holes. I did not want to take that chance, color uniformity issues, and it doesn't matter as those holes are never seen.

I'll get the bath time for you on Tuesday, when I return to pick them up. In the meantime, all 4 centers should also be at the same depth on the bath to maintain uniformity.

They look amazing in the sun with the brite dip. The gold sparkles off the facets from the new texture finish.

Mark in Baltimore

The original Fikse recommended using Simple Green to clean and Wenol red to polish. I have a set of anodized, "race satin" FM-10's from the new Fikse and assume that the same method applies.

I'm not a huge fan of gold wheels, but those rims look simply stunning and photograph better than any gold wheels I've ever seen. That finish looks worthy of a NASA rocket motor. Well done.

hoggel

Wow that's a bright finish!

You must mean aluminum oxide. Be sure your shop does not use recycled aluminum oxide to etch the wheels. Some reuse their media and that is acceptable for non-critical parts. Impurities blasted onto the wheel can cause surface stresses that can lead to cracks. They probably know more about it than I do but it's worth asking.

RAudi Driver

^^Well, it's a little late for that. I'm sure it's fine as I saw the wheels after the blast and they looked immaculate and yes, I do mean oxide but I don't think anyone will deduce any other meaning from that typo.

hoggel

I didn't intend to be after-the-fact critical. I thought you said there was going to be a re-do. It will be be even more critical to use pure media on a re-do because it will be etching the aluminum oxide layer from the anodization with aluminum oxide blast media.

I asked about the ozide because I had never heard of it. Thought it might be a brand name of something new but didn't find anything with a quick web search.

I'm looking forward to seeing pics of the finished wheels on your car.

trophy

Thanks for the info.... Looking forward to some more details and pics on your car. Thanks.

RAudi Driver

lol, cool! Anyways, for the re-do, all they do is re-dip the wheels in some cleaning solution to strip off the color and then another bath. No more blasting necessary. From my understanding, it's that same solution that leaked out of the center cap screw holes. My anodizer said, it's a really easy process at this point.

V

RAudi Driver, those wheels look great! .

I thought the gold BBS e88s were anodized from BBS when you buy them new? Or is it some kind of gold paint? Let me know when you know more, it looks very promising thus far .

RAudi Driver

BBS E88's come painted from the factory. Eric at BBS Motorsports tells me that when customers need a refinish on their wheels he uses a local guy who has painstakingly worked on getting the gold paint perfect. I spoke to Eric about anodizing and he said it was safe for the wheels and that it could be done so I proceeded to have the silver paint chemically stripped and then blasted for a textured finish.

I'm loving the look of the centers and my only concern is if they will hold up to the heat from track duty. However, it really doesn't matter as it's only about $40 per wheel to have anodized.

V

RAudi Driver, I think you are making the right move. I'm not being negative, I'm just trying to understand as I thought the BBS gold wheels were anodized from factory.

One has to wonder if anodizing is both cheaper, more durable, requires less labor hours and also looks better, why does BBS paint their wheels instead of anodizing them?

I've heard also that the surface can be discolored by sunlight (UV), so maybe that's why they don't do it?

It's the same thing with ceramic coating exhausts; Everyone thinks it's a great idea and how it can increase power etc., yet none of the German race teams and tuners like RS-Tuning does this. One has to wonder why?

trophy

Ok, you have had a day, where are the pics of the wheels on your car

I keep looking at this thread and the pics of the wheels, I just cannot get over how good they look.

RAudi Driver

Hi Steven, sorry about the wait. But figure that it's killing me more than it's killing you. Anyways, I managed to squeeze some time today to ****** them up. There's good news and bad news. The bad news is that they didn't come out as bright as the first dip. The good news is that they still look great and uniform from wheel to wheel.

The reassembly process begins:

trophy

No worries.

They are spectacular!!! You just help me make a decision for my car....

Post the pics when they are on the car, I bet you cannot wait...