Has anybody done a color change on HRE, or other high end 3 piece wheels, via a 3rd party or as a DIY? If so, what are your experiences?

I ask because I've got a set of 19" HRE 590RS' on my 997TT in matte black and want to change the color of the wheels to brushed aluminum. I talked to HRE and the price was $500 per wheel plus $100 labor plus shipping. After I picked my jaw up off the ground the guy on the phone was nice enough to tell me there's a similar color at $175 per wheel plus $100 labor plus shipping. Still pretty steep for a color change. I offered to send just the faces as I could pay a local wheel shop that has a pedigree of repairing high end 3 piece wheels to disassemble the wheels which would save shipping and eliminate the risk of damage to the barrels during shipping as I don't have the boxes any more. I was told that's not possible as HRE's policy is not to work on wheels they don't disassemble.

I have a set of non-HRE 3 piece wheels on another car and to do a color change cost me about $180 per wheel plus shipping, which is sort of what I was expecting.

The wheels are way out of warranty so at this point I don't see any compelling reason to ship the wheels to HRE for a color change and wanted to explore some options.

 

$175 is a decent price. Don't powder coat if they're forged, at least not above whatever the temp is that can weaken the forged wheel strength. Seem to think it's around 220°~ but could be wrong.

 

I talked to the owner of the local wheel repair shop at length about this yesterday. The shop routinely repairs high end wheels. I see more of a risk shipping the entire wheel to HRE than I do letting a competent shop disassemble and reassemble the wheel so that just the faces can be shipped.

My current inclination is to keep the wheels local to avoid possible damage in shipping.

 

I think that is the smart choice. Especially if you've talked at length with him, have seen some of his work, and are comfortable with him.

 

Shipping damage should not be an issue if packaged well. I would probably use two layers of heavy duty double thick cardboard from Home Depot. I would rather trust a reputable high end wheel manufacturer rather than most wheel repair shops. But on the flip side, i live in Hawaii where most shops are not up to snuff like those in LA or elsewhere...

 

Thanks for the feedback. The local shop routinely does high end wheel repair so I'm confident they can do the job. In fact they repaired a set of 3 piece wheel for a friend of mine and work was excellent.
I'd rather take the risk with the local shop than take the risk of HRE calling me telling me a barrel has excessive runout and needs to be replaced because the UPS warehouse guys decided to drop kick the boxes into the truck.

 

Packaging peanuts usually takes care of that, but good luck

 

GMG refinished mine from painted black to brushed and cleared for $250 a wheel, turned out great. They too advised against powder coating a forged wheel due to heat.

 

Thanks, guys, for the info on painting forged wheels and not powder coating.