Chrome vs Polished Faces

[t3chnique]

So I'm getting wheels refinished and I can't decide whether I want the centers chrome or high polish.

I'm really leaning towards chrome but i'm worried about how long they will hold up. I've been told will last around 3 years if you take care them but I think it really depends on the quality of the chrome job. I like the fact that chrome requires less maintenance compared to a high polish.

I'm in Cali so snow and salt are a non issue.

Thoughts?

[electricalbox]

Polished by all accounts if you can.

So many potential issues with chrome, polished isn't hard to maintain at all. I've gone with chrome lips once, and it looked badass and held up great. Until that day I came out to see a little peel near one of the bolts.

[t3chnique]

the mirror shine from chrome tho! I thought no matter how much you polish it, it will never shine quite like chrome?

[e36Love]

polish can shine just as much as chrome. go with polished

[pDubs]

Regardless of what people say polished is a little bit of a PITA to take care of. You just simply cannot let it go. If you keep up on it and wash your wheels pretty frequently you should be alright. You will need to hit them with a quick repolish with mothers or equivalent and also definitely should look in to a polished aluminum wheel sealant.\

Edit: Forgot to mention that after working in a tire shop for years I will never consider chrome as an option. They start flaking and peeling and when they do it is always very bad. Tires end up losing air due to the chrome where the tire beads up, it just ends up looking like shit.

[Icana4dit]

Depends on the wheel. I would never fully polish a mesh wheel like bbs rs, its simply too hard to take care of, and will never look as good as a chrome face. However I would never chrome lips and barrels either, the risk of scratches and flaking are very high. I just had some bbs rs faces chromed and the quality is great, they came with a 3 year warranty against flaking as long as you take care of them correctly. Apparently the best way to clean chrome is with soapy water and nothing else.

[h3llk1t3]

Polishing is clearly the way to go. Even RS' can be done via ceramic or vibro-polishing.

Polished RM:



Chrome and polished are rather well distinguishable, chrome plating sometimes gives complicated shapes a weird form, especially visible on wheels like the RS.

Chrome WILL flake - polish can be maintained easily. Chrome needs to go.