After having purchased the sportline cs.16 19" from modbargains, I have waited to mount as I'm contemplating powdercoating the wheels. My wagon is a 535xi with an m5 front bumper and slightly tinted windows. Originally I thought i'd leave the wheels a stock silver color, but then I realized that since I went this far with getting new wheels, that maybe coloring them would be cool.

I'm looking at different options, and considering going as crazy as BRONZE. I'm attaching some pics of M3s with csl replicas in different colors as these are all i could find... any suggestions after checking these pics out... anyone have colored CSL reps on their E61s?

thanks!

SILVER/STOCK


COPPER(not a csl rim but this is all I could find...AMAZING COLOR IMO)


UGLY GOLD (too bright IMO)


BRONZE


STORM GREY (one of my favorites so far... not so loud, just right?)


BRONZE METALLIC ON LEFT


JET ANTHRACITE... better than storm grey?


DARTH VADER BLACK

 

I would say put them on the car in the stock silver colour and perfect new condition!
In 1-2 years when you get a few scratches on them, you can still recolour them (while refurbishing), and until then you will have had time to preperly choose the colour.
It would seem a waste to me to repaint brand new wheels, especially as they suit your car very well indeed.

On the new colour, I would suggest a middle shade of grey, something like the "jet anthracite" pic you have posted, which to me is very very far (much lighter) than the real anthracite colour! A half-matte or "frozen" effect on them would be great.

Keep in mind that these pics show very modified cars, while yours will be largely stock from the outside, even with M-sport bumpers. I.e. to keep things balanced, you should not go too much overboard with the wheel colour.. Just my 2 cents

(PS. I hate gloss-black wheels, something is entirely not right with them IMO.)

 

The rational thing would be to wait to paint them, but so many mod decisions are not rational, so that's your call.

I agree with a shade of grey choice (not the typical black), though a bronze metallic would be cool too, and very unique, which gets bonus points. Gold or too close to it reminds me of the Subaru WRX's too much...

 

thanks guys.... I came to the same conclusion over the weekend. One of my concerns was having to keep these wheels clean as the brake pads produce insane amounts of dust especially on the front, so I thought a darker grey powdercoat would help mask that a bit. But after considering the overall "balanced" image of the car like you both state above, I'm keeping them stock color. I found a product at Target stores which once sprayed on clean wheels helps keep them clean of brake dust (helps, not 100% as I've noticed). So, I'll be sure to use a lot of this wheel cleaner as well as buying one of those TV order wheel cleaning balls that you connect to your garden hose. Will be the only way I can think of to keep a multispoke rim like this looking good.

I will post pics of car by tuesday.

 

The best product to keep wheels clean is FK1000P.
It's a high-temperature resistant synthetic wax, which is very very durable.
Do a search on google and on detailing forums and you will get more info.
A big box (15 OZ I think) is something like USD 25, and it will last for a long time. You can also wax the car with it.
Have a look at it, if you apply it while the wheels are new, I think you will solve the brake dust problem

Should they still get dirty at some point in the future, get Iron-X from the UK and removing the brake dust becomes a child's play

 

thanks for the replies... will try waxing to see if that helps.

here are some basic phone pics (I really need to buy a camera) of how car looks with wheels mounted. I have achieved my goal of keeping a compliant ride, filling out wheel arches, and increasing wheel size. I haven't driven car hard yet but the tires seem pretty quiet, not sure if car feels any more accelerative despite the lighter wheels (maybe heavier tires make up for it?). I had an "interesting" experience with the seller, but overall don't have anything bad I want to post. Anyway, only mod left will be to put on a m-tech rear bumper, just not ready to tackle all the issues that exist with understanding how to make that work... don't think I will do side skirts... the car is NOT an M5, and i don't want to pretend that it is, and I kind of like the smooth sides.

 

I have the same rubber on my E61, and they are great tires! Ride them hard, the car feels like it is on rails on rails when cornering. My winter rubber is yokahama and will be going on black and silver rims....though I voted for bronze metalic...

Cheers

George

 

looking really good alexio

 

Looks GOOD Alexio. I am going for a similar set up - ordered some 19" M6 replicas from Modbargains in a Silver/Gunmetal, decided to do 8.5" all around for a square setup and 245/40 tires to help with the ride and poor streets... My E61 looks very close to yours, it is a black sapphire with a brown interior and rear tint, but it needs the MTech/M5 front bumper (next).

 

I think the wheels look good in silver as well. It has a nice contrast with the blue car color. I went with a gunmetal color (M5 replica) wheel but my car is white - and wanted a little contrast with the white color.

How do you like the Hankook V12 tires? I originally went with the same tires and thought they rode and handled well, but had a vibration problem between 50 to 60 mph that could not be corrected, despite several rebalancing (road force) attemps. Ultimately replaced the Hankook's with Michelin Pilot Super Sports and the vibration problems have gone away. Perhaps I just had a bad batch of Hankook's.