Originally Posted by Mang

Thanks for the thoughtful advice. Update. I went to regular guy (has done vintage sportscar wheels for me in the past). He simply didn't want the work, but he did set me up with a mini orbital and I bought he and his lady friend lunch. I was able to get to the curb rash, all 4 wheels needed minor attention. Then I set off to a new place, guy said he would throw a wheel in the blaster and see how much work to strip. He was not phased. Made me a great price @$90. per wheel, and then I chose color. It was between 2 - one silver - called 'silver' lol - a perfect match for original, and the second was called gr06 - gr for gray. It is a light gray, lightly metallic, and I chose 40% gloss, so not flat and not high gloss either. It will then have a clear coat for protection. I chose the gray, but still can go factory original look too, have a few days. So no to shadow chrome, although looks good and I notice it now on cars out there.

My 'aesthetics' theory on these early x5's - they need a 'popping' wheel, otherwise looks like a big panels 'blob' going down the road. Why I still may go back to silver. These German designer/engineers study this stuff for many hours, they think like this. They choose bright silver for a reason. Just my spinning on the matter.

I'm a car fanatic, and likely to leave this nice clean car as is - other than the wheels. It is my daily driver and will take a winter beating for its first time this winter. I discovered it in Danville (east Bay Area) still owned by original elderly couple from new. So function before beauty and why I'm not pouring money into mods and accessories, rather keep it mechanically fresh and decent enough looking...as he invests in dent repair and gotta have 'cool' wheels. First thing I did was go to the dent pro in Reno when I got this car home because it had a few minor dings here and there, but wears 100% original paint - it truly came out amazing. Good dent guys are gold!

Edit - Disclaimer - I think these early x5's are the best looking suv out there - calling it a blob was to make a point - picturing German techno-designer guy arguing his case for big silver wheels that pop!