Quote:
Originally Posted by mpower03
First off, I would like to thank Vortex Tuning and Kelvin at Vortex Tuning for their remarkable customer service. They were excellent, helpful, persistant through this whole process. I bought a set off wheels used off their track car from them. As with most used wheels there are flaws with them, and Vortex Tuning pointed them out to me before i made my purchase. They had offered to use and outside shop custom paint the wheels for me at an additional cost. I agreed with them and paid them. About five days later the wheels arrived back at Vortex Tuning leaving the unsatisfied with the job the outside shop provided. At their expense they had the wheels repainted. Same thing happened again. Vortex tuning was very upset with this shop, and had offered me many options like a different set of new wheels at a remarkably low price, but i still wanted these wheels custom painted. They told me they were going to have a different shop redo them, and at their expense. About one 4 days later i get an email saying that the wheels arrived back from being POWDERCOATED and they look absolutely flawless! I was excited, wheels were shipped out within the hour of them arriving and they were on the way to my house finally. This delay was not caused by Vortex Tuning, and they did everything in the power to provide what i wanted to the highest standards. Vortex Tuning really delivered! Thank you Vortex, and thank you Kelvin!
I would like to note: The wheels came with BMW center caps, but when they arrived i painted them black and clear coated them my self at home. Car in the background on a couple of them is my friends 2006 Mini Cooper S. Also, pictures were taken with two cameras.
Now off to pictures! 
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Thank you very much for the kind remarks. It's our pleasure.
Car is looking awesome! The deep gloss black VT996 wheels really set her apart!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mpower03
FYI, there is debate on whether or not powder coating forged wheels will weaken them or not. I don't know specifics - I was just reading in a forum thread about it - either here or on M3forum.net since these are the only two forums I frequent, I just can't find the thread this a.m. The bottom line is if forged aluminum is heated to a certain point, it can lose some of it's strength - this is hard fact that is based on metallurgy. I think it has to do with recrystallization temperature or how close to it the material is heated - man I wish I could find the thread. I don't know how much heat is used with powder coating, or what exact temp should not be exceeded, or relatively speaking how much weaker the wheels might be - regardless, it's a debate..... I'd like my RACs a different color, but I'm certainly not ready to get them powder coated until I know more about how the material might be affected....
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Concerning the powder coating metallurgy, it depends on the aging specifications of the alluminum alloy used for the wheel construction and the heat treatment during powder coating. It's always a good idea to consult the wheel manufacturer and the shop before proceeding.
Without going into technical details, our wheels are perfectly safe for the process used by the shop. In fact, our factory offers production powder coating options for our wheels. We have also consulted the shop about their process with our tech data. They have confirmed that the process is safe, since they have been power coating for road and race applications for more than two decades we trust their experience. Seeing how great they look, may be we should powerder coat the next batch at the factory!