I recently purchased a 03 TL Type S with 15k miles. The only car's flaw were the two passenger side wheels which had some serious curb rash on both the lip and on the spoke.

I checked with Jose Cruz at Rite Way Wheel in Walnut Creek, CA (925-933-4046) on what could be done to correct this wheel rash. He gave me two ways to go. The first was to get the two wheels repaired and refinished to the original, factory finish. His second suggestion was to polish the lips and spokes of all four wheels. I went with the polished look.

Here are before and after pictures. I highly recomment Rite Way Wheels as a resource to repairing/polishing your wheels. Your thoughts?

 

Here is the picture of the wheel prior to polishing:

 

damn... that looks pretty damn good! got any other shots? some from a little further away?

 

How much per wheel and did they clear coat after polishing?

 

The cost to polish all four was a bit more than the cost of a new wheel, No clear coat. The cost to refinish a pair to factory finish is about the same. Here's a shot of more of one of the wheels.

 

so how much was it total? got any pics of the whole car?

 

Cost to polish all four wheels was $300. He also centered the center car and put on chrome valve stems and caps. Here's a shot of the whole car:

 

So these aren't chromed, just polished? Any maintenance requirements that the standard brushed finish doesn't require?

The pic makes it look chromed, how close is it to chromed in real life?

Chris

 

I am not particularly fond of chromed wheels. Brake dust will eventually pit the chrome,

The rims are as smooth and shiny as they can be made. As for care, I was given a can of spray foam window cleaner. If the wheels get scratched again, the shop agreed to buff them out for a nominal fee.

 

Looks sharp. Seeing these on your car makes me want to chrome my TLs wheels. My car is diamond white too, so this pic really gave me an idea of how chrome would look. I don't want polished really because they are alot of maintenance. Not to say chrome isn't, but I like the look of chrome. This isn't my daily driver, so I may not have a whole lot of damage.

But getting to the point, your car looks real sharp and seems like you got a hell of a deal on the polishing. Nobody here in Minnesota does this type of work. But I'm doing chrome exchange from Discount Tire for $600

 

So does the finish look similar to the Audi TT or A6 4.2? Somewhere in-between brushed and chromed?

 

I don't know. I will keep a lookout for an Audi TT or A6 4.2 and let you know. Although, I must admit, I don't pay much attention to Audis - I am more into Porsche.

 

so actually how much do u really want 4 those wheels??

 

The wheels are not for sale - I make the post to show how curbed rashed wheels looked after they have been repaired and polished. Sorry for the confusion.

 

Since they are not for sale I am moving this to the Tires Wheel forum.

 

Do you have to go to any Discount Tire store directly or do this via internet?