The Opposite of Bling - DIY Satin Black RS4 DTM's (Daytime Pics too!)

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 10:42 AM

First off - much much thanks to lawong for his garage, time and advice in this matter! I owe you big time buddy.

I wanted another set of rims - partly for daily driving - so that when I drove to work (I work in a bad part of Oakland) less attention would be drawn to my rims. After scouring the used/classifieds, I came across a set of used RS4 DTM"s with nearly full tread of Falken Azenis ST115's - exactly what I was looking for.

However, when they arrived - they looked like this:

Which frustrated me - not the fault of the shipper per se, but definitely annoying. I brought it to a rim shop and they said that repainting would be at least 150 per rim - and I was going to do anthracite/gunmetal.

In talking to lawong (Leonard), we felt that we should give painting it ourselves a shot to see if we could save 400-500 bucks. However, having limited space we wanted to do it with spray paint cans. So off I went to the local hardware store and we found Rustoleum Automobile Primer and Rustoleum Satin Black paint - satin being a cross between flat and matte black giving a smooth slight gloss - but not fully flat.

So we first taped the rims and tires down (I didn't want to unmount and remount tires so we did it this way and it seemed to work):

We then sanded the rims with 200 grit sandpaper so that the clearcoat roughed up a bit.

We then primered the wheels with one coat of primer.

We then added 3 coats of satin black paint - letting at least 24 hrs dry between each coat.

I then tried to use a Matte finish clear - but that looked ugly so we did it in satin black again. Finished:

lawong pumping up my wheels to 36psi:

lawong's denim blue with one of my wheels:

Pics of my rims in daylight:

I'll be honest - in certain angles and in direct sunlight - it looks odd. But in the dawn/noontime/evening it looks very stealthy. The black also accentuates the BBK Stoptechs. At night - it just looks badass. Hard to explain until you see it.

I know a lot of people won't like it and will complain that I went away from the luxury look - but I wanted to try and see how it looked. I'm satisfied and happy with it and that lawong and I were able to do a great job painting the wheels for about 40 bucks in paint. It took us 2 weeks though!

**lawong** · 11-23-2004 10:47 AM

That was the longest 2 weeks of my life. Every day we'd put on a coat having no real idea what it would look like on the car. The results actually turned out better than I had expected. It certainly doesn't work for all wheels, but for RS4 DTMs I think that's the perfect wheel for matte black.

I must say tho.. those wheels look awesome on Denim Blue. :)

**EssTooKayTD** · 11-23-2004 10:47 AM

those breaks are sooo nice. Looks good man. I look to do the same with my wheels as well.

**phatAvant** · 11-23-2004 10:49 AM

Get ur lowers painted and it wont look "odd" anymore, I think it looks phat like this but it will real kick ass if the lowers were painted...

steve

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 10:56 AM

Yeah I thought about painting my lowers - but then I kinda like them looking like that - it gives it a nice contrast and doesn't make the car look too "fat"

**audidood** · 11-23-2004 10:59 AM

it's like knight rider.

**cdub** · 11-23-2004 11:14 AM

now that you've got the methos perfected, let's paint those Volks a nicer color...like red for good luck!

**mcpath** · 11-23-2004 11:17 AM

It looks hot. Very undercover stealth look.

**gohan** · 11-23-2004 11:24 AM

you should get some black lug nuts

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 11:44 AM

Originally posted by gohan
you should get some black lug nuts

Yeah I thought about that too - but its hard to find and actually the current lugnuts don't look to bad - it breaks up the overwhelmingly black look a little.

**BoostedA4tQ** · 11-23-2004 11:48 AM

wheels and car looks awesome

Thanks for the write up...been meaning to do it to some 19" i have laying around....use them as my beat up rims...

**chris@penskeaudi** · 11-23-2004 11:54 AM

i think the rims overall turned out tight looking, they look sweet in the day time. i really want to do this now.

**giago** · 11-23-2004 11:56 AM

I'm in to the new look!

**Gzo17** · 11-23-2004 12:01 PM

gangsta gangsta......but I think it looks sweet!!! very stealthy like someone said

**A4NCAR** · 11-23-2004 12:18 PM

Hmmmmm... it'll take some getting used to. Interesting though.

**illusive45** · 11-23-2004 12:28 PM

Looks saucy, Richy Rich! Nice change of pace from your Volks.

**dbtong** · 11-23-2004 12:31 PM

Looks pretty good in a thuggish kind of way.

I think that this does accentuate the fact that your lowers aren't painted...and they should be.

Those 19's are your WINTER wheels? And the Azenis are all-season? Nice set-up. I wonder how they'd look on...Casablanca White?

**EVIL-AUDI** · 11-23-2004 12:55 PM

I think they turned out great. Nice work.

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 12:57 PM

Originally posted by lawong
That was the longest 2 weeks of my life. Every day we'd put on a coat having no real idea what it would look like on the car. The results actually turned out better than I had expected. It certainly doesn't work for all wheels, but for RS4 DTMs I think that's the perfect wheel for matte black.

I must say tho.. those wheels look awesome on Denim Blue. :)

Haha.. yeah it took a long time to see what they would finally look like! I'm lucky it looks decent.

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 01:00 PM

Originally posted by dbtong
Looks pretty good in a thuggish kind of way.

I think that this does accentuate the fact that your lowers aren't painted...and they should be.

Those 19's are your WINTER wheels? And the Azenis are all-season? Nice set-up. I wonder how they'd look on...Casablanca White?

So you're int he paint the lowers camp too? Hehe... i might - but maybe later after i get some more engine stuff done.

Azenis - actually I don't think they are - when I say winter rims -re ally i just mean rims for the rainy season and all the dirt and crap that floats to teh surface - plus it takes me like 25 minutes to clean the volks... these just 30 second spray haha.

**Breedawg4** · 11-23-2004 01:03 PM

I like a lot.....great paint job...i would just like to see how its going to look in a couple of months after driving for a while...i hope the paint doesn't chip off to easily.

If you have to repaint, i would try a satin gray to get more of an anthricite color...I think a nice satin gray would look sweet and wouldn't clash as much with the black.

Again, looks pretty badarse and unique....I LIKE!!!

Brendon

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 01:04 PM

Originally posted by A4NCAR
Hmmmmm... it'll take some getting used to. Interesting though.

Hehe.. yeah my wife came out this morning and said "WHAT THE HELL?" hahaha...

She thinks it looks good - but its the polar opposite of her car - an all silver C55.

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 01:24 PM

Originally posted by Breedawg4
I like a lot.....great paint job...i would just like to see how its going to look in a couple of months after driving for a while...i hope the paint doesn't chip off to easily.

If you have to repaint, i would try a satin gray to get more of an anthricite color...I think a nice satin gray would look sweet and wouldn't clash as much with the black.

Again, looks pretty badarse and unique....I LIKE!!!

Brendon

Hmmmm... great suggestion! I also wonder how the paint will hold up. lawong hit the rims with his car - and they held up okay to that... but we have to see how it reacts to the heat from the brakes and such.

**piaadoll** · 11-23-2004 01:25 PM

whoah that turned out better than expected!!!

looks professional!!!!

**Saturnine** · 11-23-2004 01:29 PM

Oh man!!! Those look awesome!!

Very good work kind sirs!!

**AWDTurboLuvr** · 11-23-2004 01:32 PM

Who parked the stealth bomber on the rooftop??? That looks really really mean man. As others have said, if you painted your lowers now, it would look great!

**Nevaeh Speed** · 11-23-2004 02:04 PM

Now thats sick, nice easy fix on the wheels. I love the black on black.

**A4NCAR** · 11-23-2004 02:36 PM

Originally posted by neoprufrok
Hehe.. yeah my wife came out this morning and said "WHAT THE HELL?" hahaha...

She thinks it looks good - but its the polar opposite of her car - an all silver C55.

C55! Nice.

I was thinking about that recently.

**DLSJ5** · 11-23-2004 02:41 PM

Risky Rich, but I gotta say that I'm into it, looks mean and aggressive. Paint the lowers for sure. Nice work.

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 03:05 PM

Originally posted by A4NCAR
C55! Nice. I was thinking about that recently.

Yeah that car is a beast. Makes me wonder why I spend so much time and energy trying to get the A4 to just 2/3's its power. But then again, I like punishment like that. Hehe.

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 03:07 PM

Originally posted by DLSJ5
Risky Rich, but I gotta say that I'm into it, looks mean and aggressive. Paint the lowers for sure. Nice work.

Thanks Drew... now the one problem I foresee - a lot of Evo's and Sti's will think my car is fast - when clearly unchipped it is SLOW. I need to remedy this issue QUICK. I mean, I'm not looking to beat or even come close to those cars, but just faster than my current state. Plus these wheels are heavy - my car feels slower already haha.

It looks like I'm going to chip APR 1+ and go from there. I love the Dahlback kit but damn... I can't swing that much money at this exact moment - maybe later.

**gotsportec** · 11-23-2004 03:13 PM

rims look good

**groggy** · 11-23-2004 03:28 PM

Looks great, I'm going to do the same thing but anthracite.

**retrohasen** · 11-23-2004 03:43 PM

That looks ALOT better than I thought it would.
You have some serious painting skills. Nice job.

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 03:53 PM

Originally posted by retrohasen
That looks ALOT better than I thought it would.
You have some serious painting skills. Nice job.

Thanks man. Leonard was the one who first did it to the first wheel and figured out that light coats was the best. We put on very light coats - but did it 3-4x to avoid bubbles, uneveness, etc. Plus, i think satin black is a lot more forgiving of blemishes than say gloss black.

**Tinman** · 11-23-2004 04:56 PM

not bad, they look good. why do the centers of those RS4's curve in like that instead of having the cap that covers the hub and lugs? I would've left the center and the insides of the wheel brushed.

L8

**jab3style** · 11-23-2004 05:00 PM

SIK SIK SIK!!!!! Job well done guys. Seriously looks intimidating.

**lawong** · 11-23-2004 05:10 PM

Originally posted by neoprufrok
Hmmmm... great suggestion! I also wonder how the paint will hold up. lawong hit the rims with his car - and they held up okay to that... but we have to see how it reacts to the heat from the brakes and such.

They were in the way when I was trying to park the Passat. My car doesn't fit in the garage anymore since it got the boot because of the... mystery car.

**A4 - Oh Snap** · 11-23-2004 05:30 PM

Nice job. I haven't washing my OEM RS4's in two months now and with the brake dust buildup, my rims look like they're gunmetal.

**neoprufrok** · 11-23-2004 06:31 PM

Originally posted by Tinman
not bad, they look good. why do the centers of those RS4's curve in like that instead of having the cap that covers the hub and lugs? I would've left the center and the insides of the wheel brushed.

L8

Thanks. I think your mistaking it with Rs4 reps.. These are the RS4 DTM reps which do away with the cap. When leonard and I (he has some rs4's) compared the two - we realized that hte metal would look kinda silly as it makes the wheel more complex looking than black would connotate.

The rs4 dtm's on the other hand, look more simple than regular rs4's so it looks better blacked out. My 2 cents.

Thread: The Opposite of Bling - DIY Satin Black RS4 DTM's (Daytime Pics too!)

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