Differing quality in diamond cut wheels?

[Stimlo]

Hi All,

First time poster after many years of just browsing.
The diamond cut wheels on my 2016 Honda Civic are all in a right state. I’ve never curbed any of them!
I want to try and put them right, but I’m concerned they will go bad again quickly. Are some refurbishing methods better than others, that will last longer?
I’m based in Staffordshire if anyone has experience locally?

[hungry_hog]

Diamond cut can only be done 3-4 times on a wheel, as each time you are cutting / losing some of the metal. I really hate the trend for diamond cut wheels, they are good for 5 mins then once you kerb them they are toast.

Get them powder coated. it also gives you the option to change the colour if you like.
For my C63 it was 250 per wheel in London

[Kuwahara]

Diamond cut wheels are the biggest pile of dogst in the last decade…and my own car has them but they don’t look too bad…!! … sometimes.

Still prefer old school wheels but that’s just me..

Notice that you said you hadn’t damaged them but that seems to be the case after a winter they just look st when the road salt gets into them..

[Tango13]

hungry_hog said:

Diamond cut can only be done 3-4 times on a wheel, as each time you are cutting / losing some of the metal. I really hate the trend for diamond cut wheels, they are good for 5 mins then once you kerb them they are toast.

Get them powder coated. it also gives you the option to change the colour if you like.
For my C63 it was 250 per wheel in London

Bit in bold

A couple of years back a mechanic mate bought a very cheap E46 M3 to restore and he suggested I take a look at the wheels to see if I could spot what was wrong.

I could see something wasn't right but couldn't put my finger on quite what. They had been re-cut so many times the pocket for the M badge near the hub no longer existed!

I think he got about £20 each for them down the scrappies

[colin79666]

Yep they are crap. The finish just can’t stand up to road salt or slight abrasion, like you know, from driving on asphalt.

All 4 of mine were showing signs of corrosion after 2 years, despite never being kerbed or cleaned with an aggressive product. They were replaced under warranty. One and a half years on the replacements are going the same way! Going to get them power coated when the winter tyres come off.

[Olivera]

Don't get them kerbed at all from new and all is fine. In my experience the refurb lacquering process is dogst, thereafter the corrosion occurs.

[Fady]

Olivera said:

Don't get them kerbed at all from new and all is fine. In my experience the refurb lacquering process is dogst, thereafter the corrosion occurs.

But OP already said that he's never curbed them. Got some on a 2018 Mercedes - no issues at all and all still looking good but I put this down to rarely having park near a kerb!

If you still like them, then just get them refurbished. I've also been down that route before (though in truth this was at a place that simply swapped all 4 wheels off for an identical refurbished set that they were already carrying). If you are as careful as you say you are, then this should see you through a good few years before you replace the csr or something.

Also worth looking on eBay etc. as might get lucky and find a set that's already been done.

[flight147z]

Fady said:

Olivera said:

Don't get them kerbed at all from new and all is fine. In my experience the refurb lacquering process is dogst, thereafter the corrosion occurs.

But OP already said that he's never curbed them. Got some on a 2018 Mercedes - no issues at all and all still looking good but I put this down to rarely having park near a kerb!

If you still like them, then just get them refurbished. I've also been down that route before (though in truth this was at a place that simply swapped all 4 wheels off for an identical refurbished set that they were already carrying). If you are as careful as you say you are, then this should see you through a good few years before you replace the csr or something.

Also worth looking on eBay etc. as might get lucky and find a set that's already been done.

OP probably has curbed them and not realised

[sortedcossie]

Olivera said:

Don't get them kerbed at all from new and all is fine. In my experience the refurb lacquering process is dogst, thereafter the corrosion occurs.

so mine haven't been kerbed but I have got the starts of spidering, it looks like small stone chip damage that then lets water get to the bare alloy.

[Pickled Piper]

Diamond cut wheels can be spot repaired. Have a look on YouTube. The damaged areas are ground down with a sanding disc. Then either painted or lacquered. The only way you can tell is if you look closely as there are no turning / cutting marks.

One wheel on my car has been repaired like this. I don't know which company did it as I bought it like that. You can only tell if you get down on your hands and knees. I suspect it was done by a man in a van.

[ChocolateFrog]

I take mine off for winter and after 3 years they're still perfect.

It's the salt that kills them.

[cerb4.5lee]

I've had mixed results with them. Both were fine on the GLC/GLE because they were bought new and we stayed off the kerbs. But they had been refurbished on the M4 though, and they corroded to high heaven after the first winter in comparison.

I've now gone full silver on the M4 though, because I didn't fancy having to refurb them after every winter going forward.

[hungry_hog]

the guy at First Aid wheels (after I spent about 1200 quid there) gave me a handy tip which was "drive between the kerbs not on them"

[Smint]

Stimlo said:

Hi All,

First time poster after many years of just browsing.
The diamond cut wheels on my 2016 Honda Civic are all in a right state. I’ve never curbed any of them!
I want to try and put them right, but I’m concerned they will go bad again quickly. Are some refurbishing methods better than others, that will last longer?
I’m based in Staffordshire if anyone has experience locally?

As above the only way to extend the life is to never expose them to salt and avoid scraping them, which won't be easy if yours is a typeR on 19".
Even then you should wash them gently every week inspect with a magnifying glass and touch up any slight chip in the existing coating, once wet creeps under the clear coat into the alloy they're buggered.
Chap on the Merc forums used to talk about chrome based paints which once coated with following refurb looked as near as dammit to diamond cut finish, Merc diamond cut just as poor as anything else out there.
Never tried it myself, finally had my Prado's diamond cut wheels refurbed (painted) last year, they did however last 19 years on the original finish.

Incidentally chap i know got fed up with having the 19" made of cheese wheels on his typeR repeatedly straightened after failing to find the remaining strip of tarmac between the never ending pot holes that make up our county roads, he flogged them on and spent out on a set of 18" aftermarket, which not only don't spider web they also don't dent when striking a cats eye and the ride is appreciably better.