The lip has not been polished at all, lip has the same finish as the face, he refered to it as metallic sterling silver, this is infact the more cost effective way of doing things, but you are right if lip had been polished that would the cost a few more pennies....
Yes, you are correct, the lip isn't polished.
From factory the wheels have a diamond cut lip which is then lacquered. To date i have not found a refurb company where the diamond cut lip lasts more than 6-12 months of regular use. You begin to see small patches of lacquer lift. For durability the wheels have been powder coated.
The other problem is that a wheel can only have the lips diamond cut twice. Any more than this will result in the metal being too thin and the wheel prone to buckling. This is a safety issue and hence the reason why i measure the thickness of the lips before purchasing wheels. This is why you have to take care when buying 2nd hand wheels.
The alternative is to have the lips polished and left unlacquered:
The downside with this is that they require regular cleaning and polishing with Autosol to maintain the shine.
If you have plenty of time to clean then these are the wheels for you:
I used to have every set painted with a diamond cut lip but these days you don't get a premium when selling. I do get the 18" 19" diamond cut as they sell for a premium. Also newer paints these days make the wheels look good without a polished lip.
I'm trialling some new custom finishes in powder coats, here's some wheels i've refurbed for the W202. Normally they are diamond cut, which i had redone 18 months ago, but he finish didn't last so i've gone down the painted route:
