Model/Color Codes

In my mind, they are definately not interchangable. Silver is silver, whereas gunmetal is more of a grey/charcoal/anthracite color. The problem is, Subaru may feel differently. I have told me dealer that if the wheels will indeed be gunmetal, I want them. If they're silver (regardless of what they call them) I'll go with the gold.

I'm equipped to do my own powder coating, so I'll have to see what I think of the silver with gold wheels combo. After watching the video that features that combo heavily, it's starting to grow on me. If not, I have plenty of colors to choose from.

91TB78 - You're probably looking at around $40 a wheel plus shipping to have one of the wheel restoring places repaint them. And I'm not sure most of them powder coat them... at least 2 I talked to use regular automotive paint (like OEM) when they redo wheels. You are much more limitted in colors when you powder coat, so I assume that's why they avoid it.

CloNeGTS - Depending on the finish the manufacturer used, it could be pretty easy or pretty hard. If the wheels are anodized, you really just need to clean them up and then coat them. If they're painted, you'll need to sandblast or chemically strip them and then coat them. Regardless, the wheel has to be down to bare metal in order to powder coat it.

The powder itself is about the same as automotive paint. The equipment and prep time is where the money adds up. I would probably want to chemically strip a performance wheel, since sandblasting has the potential to weaken it. Icky stuff... A good shop will probably charge you $50 to $100 a wheel to powder coat them. It would be a lot cheaper if you had bare metal wheels that you wanted powder coated. If I didn't have to strip them, I would do them for about $30 a wheel.