Buff out wheels?

P

pinoyheat551

New member
I was detailing a 2009 benz ML350 today and the customer had a weird request - we wanted me to remove the scratches on his wheels. Can this be done? I have a flex rotary with a 2 inch backing plate and 2.5 inch cs pads for this. Do you guys know if the wheels on this vehicle is clear-coated? It's not chrome and it looks like aluminum but it has a clear-coat looking finish to it. What do you guys think. Had anyone done something like this?
 
As I have just learned this week by Jesse @ Wolf Chemicals. If you can scratch it, you can also sand and buff it.



I would first try polish it out by hand, I know Bob AKA "The REAL Auto Concierge" does this sometimes around chrome and other materials that require such work. If you want to buff by machine, I believe it's going to be quite hard to manouver the machine around tight and akward angles.
 
The standard wheels on ML's are clear coated aluminum. There are many threads dealing with how to repair these. Just search 'wheel repair'. Small scratches and marks, like paint, can be buffed and improved. Deeper scratches and curbing requires a patch and repaint.
 
The only issue you would have is with the OEM gray painted coating. Anything with a clear coat, and really anything with any sort of finite material made to stand wear can be polished(paint, trim, glass, wheels, plastic - all with different polishing substrates).
 
I polished some wheels using a PC and 4" pads. It was hard to maneuver around in some areas. It after I got my technique down the others went quick. I did ruin a pad though. They came out nice and I was able to remove all the oxidation from the powder coat. I sealed them with opticoat
 
I had polished some Nissan Maxima wheels with M105 and a microfiber towel. They came out beautifully and the shine was nearly blinding after sealing with machine super sealant.
 
Old MF discs with the backing plates blown out make for good wheel polishers using hand technique. I rarely do this though. I usually give a high quote for it.
 
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