[John2kx]

I "polished" my 2.0 liter alloys a few months back. Mine were as delivered from factory (no paint) but had their share of scratches, curb rash and a very dull finish.

I'd suggest you read the tech articles here on Pelican. There are at least two excellent articles on refinishing your wheels. As stated in the articles, it is time consuming and allot of work.

After spending about 15-20 hours on each of my wheels, I turned them over to a professional metal polisher. My efforts paid off in that they looked better than when I started but I was not satisfied and knew they could look better...... the pro made my wheels look better than new. My friends still can't believe they were not chromed. The pro did comment on the quality of material used in these wheels and stated that most of the newer cars will not net such a finish due to the process/material used to fabricate wheels.

I started with a polishing kit that contained all the buffing wheels, compounds, metal polish and clear finish to do one set of wheels ($120). Since I did not have the tool to turn the correct rpm for polishing wheels, I was in another $75. After applying the clear finish, I knew I was not satisifed and decided to strip the clear prior to taking them to a professional. I used two different off the shelf paint removers......neither of which harmed the finish.

Bottom line here........I did not have the right tools to do the job. The pro took one of my "already polished" wheels and within seconds polished a small area on one of the pedals to a mirror finish. His polishing wheels and buffing motor looked like the big brothers of what I had. I spent $500 for the pro to polish all four of my wheels. Between the polishing kit, buffer, paint remover and additional polishing wheels I needed, I was in about $250 for the home method. Note: the pro did not recommend clear coating but suggested a special wax. I dreaded what was ahead keeping these things looking like new but to date have not done anything but wash with soap and water.

If you are in fact wanting a mix of polished metal and black paint (I've seen several guys do this to their 2.0L alloys), I would think you should have them stripped, polished and then move on to the paint department.

Keep in mind that when you get your wheels looking like new money, you will probably need new center caps along with new wheel lugs. Those price out at $100 for center caps and about $160 for the lugs. Hard to imagine one spending $1000 to refinish 2.0 liter alloys. Sorry for the long post.......maybe you can learn something from my mistakes.