Restoring AC Schnitzer Type III Wheels after Years of Neglect

Taking you through the steps of cleaning and restoring neglected AC Schnitzner Type III wheels to bring them back to like-new condition. In total this was about 25 hours of work.

[@davidcook99]

You sure were lucky to get all the Titanium bolts out in one piece and they do look good. You've inspired me to refurbish my E46 M3 ACS Type 3 racing wheels..... many thanks for sharing.👍

[@jetpack5]

Nice to see the attention to detail. You are worthy to own them and enjoy it. Rare to see these days and it is refreshing.

[@michaeldebrou8767]

The devil's in the detail....stunning result!

[@aaronlopez717]

inspiration ! to work then .. enjoy ! ( even if I do not have your vision buy a hidden need- treasure-goal )

[@Retrobeemer]

Just did this process on my staggered 9.5 & 10 x 17 Azev on my e34 535i. I did much by hand and my fingers felt way shorter by the end! *Be sure to ceramic coat the outer lips. It’s easy to do and the protection is fantastic. They only need a quick wash with soapy water to remove brake dust and no more corrosion issues.*

[@BBStandonit]

I just got my hands on set today, I can't wait to get till they get here. Hopefully I learn alott form this video

[@E70MGarage]

Oh wow! Quite an effort but they look freakin' gorgeous!! Job well done.

[@guri131]

Totally legit. Goes to show how simple maintenance can go a long way in preserving things.

[@leol6458]

Wow what a difference, the effort and dedication shows in the results.

[@Amirs350Z]

Absolutely stunning!

[@mattobrien2010]

Wow! They honestly look new. Solid work 👍

[@BMWEcsi]

Labour of love with Great result . Electric tooth brush..lol .

[@mohammedibrahim6062]

Awesome work

[@toreberger646]

Very satisfying to watch,turned out beautiful😃

[@bradlucas1088]

Everything is looking great. I am enjoying watching you make this a great car again.

[@mariemotors]

Thank you so much!

[@dennismundt7378]

Background information only. The "AC" in "AC Schnitzer" stands for the city of Aachen (Germany), where the headquarters of "AC Schnitzer" is also located. ;-)

[@tim.iteland.9447]

Great work on those wheels .

[@mariemotors]

Thanks! It was a LOT of work.

[@mikesmcoupe9259]

Phenomenal results and attention to detail...Well worth it

[@mariemotors]

Thank you!

[@julianlopez2389]

going to have to apply this method to the style 65’s, i bought a wagon that came with them knowing how much they go for but one wheel in particular was drowned in a florida flood, and it’s so full of grime, that is way too stubborn for just a spray and rinse, glad i came across this vid

[@lobuzz311]

Nice work! Those wheels are really rad. I can't believe you went around each bolt hole with clay bar. That's ridiculously tedious. But the results speak for themselves, I suppose. Good on you to stick with it.

[@tyler0xy]

clean 🧏🏽‍♂️

[@1kontrabida]

Those wheels are a gem and classics, all original including the fasteners, they have covers you can install in between the spokes that you can find on ebay from time to timee. And yes their two piece wheel just like the LM's, they come in their silver center and polished lip, their not light because their meant to go on the autobahn and or top speed @200 mph, love the staggered and the offset aswell....good job on restoring them back to their glory. btw try to replace the hub centric rings for new ones.

[@ricks_toys]

Marie! A good cleaning solution for the ultrasonic cleaner is to use Coca-cola! We use it at my old Diesel workshop, we would take apart the mechanical pumps and clean them in the ultrasonic cleaner with Coke.

[@kcw9313]

My fav feels to go with the e39 m5. Awesome progress but be forewarned that those bolts are one time use. Use loctite. Check run out. If you didn’t use a clear coat on the rim section they will be susceptible to finish damage since no protection.

[@margeharrison7638]

those rims are killer! they will be the jewelry on yr euro E24. I spent a lot of time rolling over the thought of bigger rims for my E24, and even went so far as going on EBAY and favoriting a set of some rims, but in the end, I decided to go with the factory M6 TRX rims which i restored in a similar fashion, and got raped on the tires.............in the end though I love the way they look as my car is stanced an inch lower.

[@broomad]

WoW !!!

[@thrty8street]

Nice work. What type of power ball drill attachment did you use? I plan to polish the lip of the wheels on my e28.

[@mariemotors]

Thank you! The attachment is a Mothers PowerCone.

[@1983dmd]

Nice work ! AC Schnitzer wheels are worth the effort! Did you try to remove the center emblems ? Usually it is possible to pop them out?

[@mariemotors]

Initially, no. Since the wheels were sitting in the hot Florida sun for so long there was a concern that the center caps would be brittle and break if they were removed. But there was a bit of lingering dirt that we couldn’t reach without removing them, so they did come off (no camera footage of that unfortunately) and did so without issue.

[@mauriceclemens3286]

I would have taken the center cap off and sent them out to be media blasted and powder coated. Nice job on the aluminum rims. By chance did you try vinegar on the bolts? I’ve been surprised how plain old vinegar can clean oxidation off metal. I do love the Schnitzer rims

[@mariemotors]

No need for media blasting or powder coating, the paint was still in excellent shape, the wheels were just incredibly dirty and had lots of deposits on the surface that needed to be removed.

[@amadafaka]

Great job on the wheels. Did you seal the wheels with a ceramic sealant or wax? I would suck to put that much effort into cleaning them again considering how much brake dust bmws make.

[@mariemotors]

Thank you! The future owner will be ceramic coating them.

[@mmunro89]

I need to restore a set myself - what torque setting did you use putting the faceplate back on?

[@mariemotors]

IIRC it was around 15-20 ft-lbs (20-27 nm)

[@gnwstos_agnwstos]

Have the same wheels but some of the bolts are broken.is there any replacement core for them?

[@mariemotors]

I’m not sure if OEM replacements are readily available, but Black Forest Industries carries very similar bolts

[@powerman1955]

Good job, very impressive work. So were these wheels OEM on the donor car, or were they aftermarket?

[@mariemotors]

Thank you! Great question, and to be honest I’m not sure. The donor 540i had a full ACS body kit and ACS wheels, so it’s possible the owner bought it like that originally (it was a 1 owner car), but I could not find any background info on the car to confirm if that is the case or not.

[@powerman1955]

@@mariemotors interesting, will be even more interesting to see what you have planned for it. There's a guy on KZbin, his channel is "Idocars", he's a BMW addict and has a real habit. You may or may not find him interesting. Anyway, thanks for the quick response, I appreciate that and thoroughly enjoy watching your stuff!

[@powerman1955]

I see that it's "I do cars", thought I should clear that up

[@johanlilljebjorn1001]

Sweet! Are they for the e24?

[@mariemotors]

As much as I love them, no. They are way too big for the E24 or anything else I own, so they are going to a new owner. Shame though, they would have looked great.

[@johanlilljebjorn1001]

@@mariemotors A good flip is a nice way to get some funds 👍

[@machineryandtools6214]

Holy Jesus.

[@mariemotors]

I brought God and Jesus into this project many times, lol.

[@machineryandtools6214]

@@mariemotors lol that GD JC is always messing with us!

[@5wagn]

Are you selling the wheels? If so, please let me know!

[@mariemotors]

Sorry! They were sold months ago.

[@pierremartin1118]

How much you sell for?

[@soeren72]

I just use 1:5 hydrochloric acid / Water, cheap and minimal effort

[@poolhorse]

I hope you’re not planning to put these on you E24 - that would be blasphemy :-)