Nothing can make a car look worse than a set of curbed and chipped alloy wheels! The best fix for this is usually to have the wheel professionally stripped back to bare metal, filled and then primed and repainted afresh. The real pros will make your wheel look factory new, but it’ll cost you between $100 and $200 a wheel and there may be no-one near you who offers this service anyway.
Refinishing wheels on a budget
Start with removing the wheel, then wash as thoroughly as possible. Then work with different grades of sandpaper to smooth down the wheel and remove any brake dust that has really bonded to the top coat.
Apply light layers of putty in any holes/rashes - then sand and repeat to build up the surface. Because you’re following the natural curve of the wheel it’s actually quite easy to build up a great match. Be prepared to spend a few hours per wheel on this stage - the more time put in here is directly proportional to the end result.
When you’re happy with your work tape up the tire and then spray on some primer. Most likely you’ll now see more imperfections exposed by the smooth uniform primer. So be prepared to go back with some more putty and sand further. Using a filler primer can help at this point also.
When happy with the primer - no going back now - time for the top coat! Most US auto shops do not carry an exact paint match for European car wheels - so if you want to match the original color you will have to track down something like Wurth Silver which is generally considered to be an exact match for something like a BMW 528i. Otherwise grab some regular cans of auto spray in a silver you like. You probably want to budget 1 can of top coat for two wheels, and then perhaps as much as 1 whole can of clear coat per wheel to get a really deep glossy finish.
Leave overnight to dry and then really polish up the surface as much as possible. You want it to be super smooth after polishing and waxing - anything less and brake dust will cling to it.
The end result is hopefully unrecognisable from the chipped and kerbed wheel you started with! Also consider buying some new center-caps to complete the look.
