Calypso Vert owner, basketweave wheels restoration

[dubsport87]

Hey folks, I recently bought a 91 318ic, and it came with bottlecaps. These wheels are ugly as sin. I picked up a set of basketweaves for cheap from a buddy. They were in need of a bit of love. Below is what I had to do to bring them back to looking good.

my vert with the ugly wheels



The wheels I got



They look ok from 10ft



I also got this nifty BBS center cap removal tool



Had the tires removed, now for the fun part



woof! I had my work cut out for me



getting there



got me some center caps from a member on here, I only got two with my set.



I promptly took them apart and got them ready for paint.

[dubsport87]

All four wheels had some degree of curb rash I had to address


I painted the lips silver and color matched the centers calypso.


Center caps in the process of paint


Cleared!


close up of my paint job


All four wheels done


everything drying in the sun


close up of the centers


In the process of putting the centers back together


Here is the finished product!


Im going to let the paint cure for a little while before I slap tires on. It was way more work than I had expected but def worth it. I have no intention of modding this car, but basically putting more expensive options on it that a customer could have had back when it was new.

[e30saam]

This is going to look interesting.

[Danny]

Never been a fan of body matched wheels but the quality of work is impeccable. Nice job.

[NeedaE30]

nice work man, need to see them on the car

did you use sandpaper to clean the inside of the wheels? i ended up using 0000 steel wool with never dull and it worked awesome

[davesmystery]

Those are going to look awesome, I remember BMW offered all sorts of custom basketweaves back in the day.

Also interested to hear what you used to clean them, I've used a variety of things but they haven't come out very well.

[Thehemiman]

Those are going to look awesome, I remember BMW offered all sorts of custom basketweaves back in the day.

Also interested to hear what you used to clean them, I've used a variety of things but they haven't come out very well.

I can see this being an awesome 90's oem look..

[SteadyAim.]

Great work! Would love to see them mounted.

[dubsport87]

Never been a fan of body matched wheels but the quality of work is impeccable. Nice job.

Thanks I think I have about 8 hours in cleaning, fixing, sanding and painting these wheels.

nice work man, need to see them on the car

did you use sandpaper to clean the inside of the wheels? i ended up using 0000 steel wool with never dull and it worked awesome

I used easy off oven cleaner, it works really well, but it eats through the clear. That didn't matter to me since I was sanding and repainting anyways.

Those are going to look awesome, I remember BMW offered all sorts of custom basketweaves back in the day.

Also interested to hear what you used to clean them, I've used a variety of things but they haven't come out very well.

Thanks, yeah easy off oven cleaner is awesome, its turns that baked on brake dust into goo you can just wipe off.

I can see this being an awesome 90's oem look..

Thanks!

Great work! Would love to see them mounted.

Me too, it might be a couple weeks I want to let that clear fully cure.

[pilotskillse30]

well thats going to look cool

[Unearth078]

looks great!

[freeride53]

Very happy to see my old centercaps (and pierre's too) @e30nub getting new life!
Your weaves look fantastic.

[freeride53]

Since you're going for the cool early 90s OEM+ look, I'd recommend looking into the late model front plate filler.
I think it would work well on your car in lieu of the chrome vanity plate.

[m3/e30fanatic]

nice! would love to see them on the car. Good job on painting and prepping

[bades2001]

i like where this is going