My car came with gray wheels and I ordered white ones. The dealer said they would paint the gray ones white free of charge. Are the factory wheels painted or powder coated? Is there anything wrong with them painting them? I assume the factory finish would be better but is this common?
Thanks.

 

That is great they are willing to paint them for you. But even if they can match the factory finish and even if they powder coat it, they are not what you ordered, and you will have two coats. This second coat will add an un-noticeable amount of weight, but if you have documents saying you ordered white wheels they should replace what you have with what you ordered.

 

Not really. No company is going to paint or powdercoat ON TOP of the original coat. They would undoubtedly be stripped prior to the primer or powdercoat.

OEM Wheels are painted from the factory. As long as it's a reputable shop, they should be able to match the factory finish. It's up to you whether you go that route or request replacements. It would not be that hard for your dealer to source you new factory white wheels, so it wouldn't be out of line to request them to just order you some new white wheels.

 

The factory are all painted.

Any added weight will be unnoticeable.

Nothing wrong with them painting them but if your order says white, then they should reorder white wheels for you

 

They are NOT powder coating them, they offered to paint them.

 

Ya after thinking about it you are right, but like you and I said. The OP ordered white wheels, they should fix the problem by ordering what you are supposed to have. They can paint or not paint the wheels that came with yours and sell them themselves.

 

As long as the finish is comparable I'm fine with them painting them white. Means my mini will look correct sooner. I purchased some Hawk ceramic brake pads and am going see if they will install them as a favor for the screw up. I know, good luck. I want my whiteys to stay that way.

 

I'd say you have a good bargaining point they will paint them and maybe get your pads installed.

One thing I would ask is if they paint them does any warranty that may be on them still apply?

 

Unless there is some kind of warranty on the paint have them deliver the car with the gray ones then order you real white ones from the factory. Our car had a big scratch in one of the wheels at delevery. The dealer offered to fix(paint) or order a new one for the factory. As they say "aint nothing like the real thing."

 

Thanks everybody. I'm going to let them paint em white an see if they will put my brakes in too. That is if they ever call me. Never a sure thing.

 

I really liked these :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mini-...82171694593263

Slick way they painted the spokes and left the outer rims silver

 

man, that is one ugly mini

 

you don't like the stickers to make the fenders look vented? I haven't seen work like that since it was done on a Monte Carlo

 

Does this make financial sense to anyone?

Receive car
Dismount wheels
Dismount tires
Strip wheels
Paint wheels
Remount & balance tires

OR

Order correct wheels on next car, swap when received

Seems like the latter would make more sense both financially and effort wise. Why strip/paint perfectly good wheels when the correct part can come over on the next boat?

 

I didn't like the other work but liked the way the wheels were painted...

You must remember too , that his wheels are USED (he's saying brakes need replaced)how would you feel to buy a new car and get old scratched up wheels on it ... The painting solution is about the only way to remedy the situation

 

yeah, that violates some Federal laws unless the car gets labeled as such.

 

It's most likely much cheaper and easier to paint wheels than order a whole new set as well as paying shipping. Otherwise the dealer is stuck ordering a whole new set of wheels and paying to ship them in rather than just shelling out $200 to have them re-painted.

Yah, I'm not a fan. They detract from the mismatched sideskirts too much

 

Drew: Bear in mind that the factory wheels come with a clear coat. Found this out when I had my R98's(pretty sure they're the same for all wheel models) sandblasted to be powdercoated. So definitely make sure that the painting done by the dealer has a clear coat on it. And unless I'm doing a difficult custom color, I would go for powdercoat over paint.

 

powdercoat isn't a good option for wheels as you can't touch it up if you curb one. the whole wheel needs to be done.

that said, I've never curbed a wheel. For those who do regularly, paint is better.

 

No, the car is BRAND NEW. I want to put new low dusting brake pads on it right away so I can keep my pretty white rims just that, white.

 

Ha ha, now i know where Rally found that ugly MINI!!!

 

Make sure you don't take the wheels to soon. Paint does need to cure for about 30 days before it is fully hardened. Dust during that period my get embedded in the paint.
You may want to check with an independent painter and see how long they would wait on the paint before using.

 

Don't know if you have this issue fixed yet, but the same thing happened with me, with the order at least.

I ordered my car with white wheels, it came in with gray. I told my SA that I had ordered the white wheels and he apologized and put out an order for OEM white wheels. Basically, he ordered a car from the MINI plant with white rims. I had to wait a few months for that car to come in so he could switch them off. It was a little bit of a pain but it was all free of charge.