# Diamond Cut Wheels



## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Diamond cut alloys, look nice and pretty but end up looking utterly pants!! 

This is the state of most of the wheels on my mums Twingo Gordini 1.2tce, they've not been kerbed but have after 18,000 miles ended up looking like this -










She's looking at buying a new shape Clio but the part-ex offered to her has been affected by the state of the wheels, which even the saleman admitted looked like a 'manufacturing fault' not damage as such.

No doubt they've got the odd tiny chip in them that's allowed water and road salt to eat away the lacquer.

Thing is, these style of wheels are clearly pretty bloody fragile yet are more and more common. Probably half of the Clios we looked at, had been spec'd with the 17" option of diamond cut wheels. Wheels that I'd have no confidence in them lasting longer than 15,000 miles without looking crap.

My mum is also of the feeling that she'd rather have the standard 16" wheels as they'll hold up better. :thumb:


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## Yellow Dave (Apr 5, 2011)

It's certainly made me think twice about which car I get next. 

A friend has a 62 reg 330d with diamond cut faces that last summer required specialist refurbing because of this. Once finished I coated them with capro DLUX and had started to corrode again. He just had then fully painted


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## Sutty 90 (Aug 24, 2014)

Every manufacturer diamond cut wheels suffers from this. I strongly believe it's mainly due to the lacquer not adhering to the bare aluminium properly. Add a few stone chips in to the mix, even minute ones, and there's no stopping the corrosion. Most customers I've repaired wheels for have had their diamond cut wheels painted instead due to the cost and high chance of it happening again.

Sutty.


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## dubstyle (Jun 13, 2007)

My M3 when i bought it had Diamond cut wheels first thing i did was get them powder coated a different colour as they always go funny


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

A great money spinner for the dealerships, and a lovely looking wheel to 'Joe Public'.

Personally, they should be banned!


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## RisingPower (Sep 21, 2007)

Yup diamond cut wheels are absolutely pointless, exactly the same happened less than a year with the m3 19s. I'm not sure how much better polished is though, both are silly on uk roads.


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

I don't like the look of diamond cut wheels and i especially don't like the way they get white worm.


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## rf860 (Jul 24, 2011)

Shaun said:


> I don't like the look of diamond cut wheels and i especially don't like the way they get white worm.


Your golf has them, no?


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

I'd much rather strip the lacquer off and keep them polished.
If you seal them properly you only need to polish them once a year at the most.


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## RisingPower (Sep 21, 2007)

Dannbodge said:


> I'd much rather strip the lacquer off and keep them polished.
> If you seal them properly you only need to polish them once a year at the most.


Polished wheels get pitting and simply don't work in the winter, very bad idea for winter.


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

My BBS ones survived well over winter. I just keep them clean and well sealed


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## RisingPower (Sep 21, 2007)

Dannbodge said:


> My BBS ones survived well over winter. I just keep them clean and well sealed


I kept the volks sealed with g techniq and washed with waterless most times I went out.

Salt still gets to them, they still corrode. Might have been the second winter, maybe quite a bit of dish doesn't help.

Unless you're going to give them a thorough wash each time you drive, there is not much I found that actually offers any protection to a polished surface.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Kriminal said:


> A great money spinner for the dealerships, and a lovely looking wheel to 'Joe Public'.
> 
> Personally, they should be banned!


When you see how many have been replaced under warranty, I'm sure manufacturers will think twice in the future.

Some of them look good, but they are just too risky to have here in the UK with our road conditions for a large part of the year.


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## bigmac3161 (Jul 24, 2013)

My current and previous car had diamond cut jobbies and bar the wife kerbing 1 on my RCZ they've been perfect just wax them before winter jobs a goodin


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## Richors (Apr 29, 2007)

Whenever I have had them I had no laquer and a regular polish - hard work but keeps them ok.
cheers


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## 7and911 (Mar 2, 2014)

When replacing tyres, the wheels will have "Minor scratches" during taking off the old tyres. Any advice of a product to use on these scratches to prevent water/salt ingress.

Thank you


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## m2srt (Oct 5, 2012)

My xc60 has them, even though I touched them up( with clear coat, not in a priest way), they are starting to go. Mind you, they are 3 years old!


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Sutty 90 said:


> Every manufacturer diamond cut wheels suffers from this. I strongly believe it's mainly due to the lacquer not adhering to the bare aluminium properly.
> 
> Sutty.


That's exactly my understanding of it as well.

I had a set of VW Castelet wheels on my old Lupo which I had powder coated and had a polished lip.

The place that did then explained that lacquer simply doesn't adhere property to bare metal and will eventually flake. They left the lip bare metal and all I made sure of was that they were cleaned regularly and went round the lip with some Super Resin Polish once a month.

Just frustration with these wheels on my mums car is that they affect the price of the part exchange they'd offer when it's something the manufacturer knows will happen. Not the dealers fault but with Renault as an example producing so many cars with diamond cut wheels do they knock part ex prices down for every car with this issue? P!ss take me thinks.


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## Rich.2211 (Mar 17, 2014)

Kia have a massive problem with this at the moment and are replacing them under warranty. The worst culprit is the diamond cut wheels found on the Kia Sportage.


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## rhyst (Feb 17, 2013)

Mine are starting to go on my 330d I was going to get them redone but it's about £500 I might just get them powder coated


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## Franzpan (Mar 2, 2009)

I had Diamond cut wheels on my C30. kept it until 4 years old and 40k miles and they still looked factory fresh.


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## -Jamie- (Nov 6, 2012)

RisingPower said:


> I kept the volks sealed with g techniq and washed with waterless most times I went out.
> 
> Salt still gets to them, they still corrode. Might have been the second winter, maybe quite a bit of dish doesn't help.
> 
> Unless you're going to give them a thorough wash each time you drive, there is not much I found that actually offers any protection to a polished surface.


Im almost certain that Gtechniq doesnt work on polished wheels and they advise against it?

To the OP, My RS250 Megane had diamond cut wheels when i got it as well and even after 15k they looked ****e. Terrible looking IMO and slightly chav, Ive yet to see a wheel that actually looks good with diamond cutting


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Interesting that there's a couple of people on here who've experienced diamond cut wheels that have lasted but in the most part they've turned sh!tty after a frustratingly short amount of time.

Also, as mentioned a number of manufacturers repairing/replacing wheels under warranties. Can't be cheap. 



-Jamie- said:


> To the OP, My RS250 Megane had diamond cut wheels when i got it as well and even after 15k they looked ****e. Terrible looking IMO and slightly chav, Ive yet to see a wheel that actually looks good with diamond cutting


I must admit there are a handful of wheels that really suit the diamond cut look but many do just seem like an option to look spangly and sucker you into speccing that option.

The RS250 rims are very fussy compared to the smaller single coloured wheels but the grey or black rims on the RS Megane's look far tougher and classier. In my opinion that is.

I think diamond cut wheels are a good way to make a normal car look interesting. The new Clios my mum has been looking at looking a bit more showy with the 17" diamond cut wheels I suppose and they're a £450 option.


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## -Jamie- (Nov 6, 2012)

The other wheels that come on the RS Megs do look far better, Was one of the first things i done was to get rid of the chav spec 19's for the Cup 18" wheels


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Good shout. Dark rims on bright colours always look nice as far as I'm concerned anyway haha


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## Kimo (Jun 7, 2013)

Depends what wheel cleaner has been being used too

My mate had his for years and still looked like new because he just washed with shampoo and used fk1000p to seal


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

I would imagine a lot of day to day cars will get the whole wheel acid/TFR treatment from the local car wash so I'd imagine that definitely wouldn't help. Certainly on my mum's car that won't have helped.

But those on here that experience it I'm surprised if they used anything harsh as, well it's Detailing World! haha


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## Kimo (Jun 7, 2013)

It's suprise you how many people get caught up in the 'no acid' wheels cleaners and use very highly alkaline cleaners tbh


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

I don't use wheel cleaners just, APC, pressure washer and mitt/soap personally


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## RisingPower (Sep 21, 2007)

-Jamie- said:


> Im almost certain that Gtechniq doesnt work on polished wheels and they advise against it?
> 
> To the OP, My RS250 Megane had diamond cut wheels when i got it as well and even after 15k they looked ****e. Terrible looking IMO and slightly chav, Ive yet to see a wheel that actually looks good with diamond cutting


Was no such advise at the time.

But yes, it totally doesn't work on polished wheels. Works great on the paint on polished wheels though


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## 7and911 (Mar 2, 2014)

Franzpan said:


> I had Diamond cut wheels on my C30. kept it until 4 years old and 40k miles and they still looked factory fresh.


how do you look after them, is it just avoiding kerbs? or you do regular seal/polish?


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

7and911 said:


> how do you look after them, is it just avoiding kerbs? or you do regular seal/polish?


Not kerbing them is a must as even a small mark would let the elements in and start lifting the lacquer.

Ironic thing is that on my mums car the wheel they was lightly kerbed when she bought the car doesn't look too bad. The wheel pictured in my first post isn't kerbed!! Can only assume stone chips are enough to compromise the finish and it's all down hill from then.


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## Starfox (Sep 22, 2012)

I have a VW Golf GTD with 18" Charleston Alloys - had them in storage as I have had different alloys with winter tyres over the winter.

As I am putting them back on soon I am considering a refurb (they have signs of whiteworm starting - it is not too bad at all but still it annoys me as I am fussy like most on here!).

I spoke with a couple of garages (based in NI) and no one seems to recommend getting a Diamond cut refurb done at all. It is either paint all the one colour or get a two tone paint job done on them. Originally I was didn't want to loose the OEM/diamond cut effect but now I am considering going down the two tone painted finish (one garage is saying they do 4 coats - primer, 2 paint coats & a top UV Lacquer which would be £340 for all 4 alloys).

Anyone else had any experience of going down this route/any pics they could share? They said they would just be using a silver paint to replicate the machined front surface...


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

Most refurbers won't guarantee a diamond cut finish if they do your wheels, or at least not for any decent length of time, the finish just does not last in most cases.


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## Starfox (Sep 22, 2012)

The lack of confidence does make it difficult to consider spending the money to get it done.

The worst of mine is this one so I might just make do with for another year and get them done at the end of this year (although I assume leaving the corrosion can then start to affect the Aluminum surface?










Other ones are not too bad, i.e.


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## RisingPower (Sep 21, 2007)

It's not corrosion, it's the lacquer. 

Either get it powdercoated or polished, lacquer on diamond cut wheels is beyond f'in useless.


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## Dode (Jun 13, 2013)

I have resigned myself to the fact that my diamond cut alloys will at some point need a refurb. I will probably just get them powdercoated when the time comes


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## 4d_dc2 (Mar 28, 2008)

Diamond cut wheels look aweful in my opinion. I'd rather have steel wheels and trims.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

Rich.2211 said:


> Kia have a massive problem with this at the moment and are replacing them under warranty. The worst culprit is the diamond cut wheels found on the Kia Sportage.


think these suffer loads too










thats the Optima ones btw


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## nicks16v (Jan 7, 2009)

aerocoat is the answer . Chrome powdercoat. Different levels of finish to suit your needs . Based in norfolk i believe .


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## nicks16v (Jan 7, 2009)

will get pics of my golf anni wheels done by them . Top firm and great service and finish .


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## chefy (May 9, 2011)

I have them on my XJS which is nearly 19 years old, and are a bit overdue for a re-furb, no kerbing or actual wheel damage, I've been looking / enquiring for diamond cur re-furb, and the few places that do do them tell you about the lacquer problem, however, I like them, I'd like to keep the car original, I don't use it in the winter, in fact I only just taxed it / put it back on the road today.
Here is a pic of one, all four are in roughly the same state.


I think if they are waxed and looked after they should last. 
Re-furb prices vary hugely from £360 to £600 (for 4) this is in Edinburgh, and I was enquiring only yesterday.

I have to say, I like diamond cuts, certainly much better than steels !!


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## shane_ctr (Dec 17, 2006)

nicks16v said:


> aerocoat is the answer . Chrome powdercoat. Different levels of finish to suit your needs . Based in norfolk i believe .


Used 2/3 times now superb, also add bonus is a standard wheel powder coat including repair is only £40:thumb:


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## PaulRJ (3 mo ago)

Just in the process of refubing some diamond cut wheels on the missuses Juke, they needed doing and she needs some new tyres so I thought i'd do it all together. I've polished them back ready for the laquer however I was toying with idea (because of these sort of problems) of using a clear etch primer, wait 24hrs for it to do its thing then a clear primer folled by the laquer. Has anyone tried this?


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## Dave Spalding (Apr 16, 2008)

I've had diamond cut wheels once and had full sets replaced under warranty twice. (63 reg Astra VXR). Would never choose to have them particularly. I have cheaply refurbished a set for a mate to trade their car in. I just sanded with a flat block being careful not to disturb the black parts and then clear coated the entire face. I did obviously lightly key the black parts. Took me about 3 hours.


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## thesmileyone (Dec 8, 2016)

The white worm is terrible, thinking of just having them done in hyper silver just not sure what that would look like.


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