I am about to order a set of wheels, although I'm not sure which ones yet, I know that I want to get them powdercoated so that they match the satin black exterior trim on my Cayenne. They will more then likely be 22's unless I go ahead and get a set of GTS wheels (cast wheels either way for now).

I called a local powdercoating shop that I found on Google. The guy was a nice gentleman that has been in the business for fifteen or twenty years now I believe. Sounded like he was very knowledgeable on the subject. His shop does all sorts of powdercoating jobs (sounds like its mostly commercial and industrial related jobs), and he says he has done wheels in the past.

My question is regarding having wheels in particular powdercoated: is it a difficult process? I am concerned about the wheels not balancing correctly or something of that sort when I mount the tires on after having them powdercoated.

Would it be a safer bet to have a wheel shop paint (or powdercoat) the wheels even though they will probably charge more? Or is it a pretty simple and straightforward process?

Any insight regarding this is greatly appreciated!

 

You should get it powder coated ,is last longer and do it yourself .Don't take it to a tires shop ,all they going to do is sent it out and charge you more for it .Where are you located .Out here in Orange County ,California they only charge $60 a wheel ,if they have to strip it than is another $20 a wheel .The wheel shop will charge you at least $125 a wheel .

 

I had a stock set of 20 inch wheels powder coated about 12,000 miles ago. They are holding up well. The process involves removing the tire and sensor, sand / bead blasting the surface down to bare metal, apply the finish, and baking. In my case I had the shop apply a satin clear coat on top of the powder coat because the powder coat process yields a gloss finish. I independently painted the center caps flat black (you can’t powder coat plastic). I was going to top coat the center caps with a satin clear coat but, although there is a noticeable sheen difference in the picture, you don’t really notice the difference from 10 feet away, especially after the wheels get a fine coating of brake dust.

I’m on my second set of tires with these wheels having replaced the original Pirelli Scorpion Ice and Snows with the Vredesteins. Both the Pirellis and the Vredesteins were balanced after mounting using a Hunter GSP 9700 High Speed Balance machine. I’ve had no issues and would happily do the same again.