Paint the flares.
My wife doesn't know anything about cars. Just that she likes her Lexus RX300. Thinks my MDX is just "ok."
She saw a mahagony MDX with unpainted flares on the freeway and laughed out loud. "Why do people mess up such a nice car with such stupid looking stuff?," she asked. "I have the same thing." "I don't think so, or else I'd notice." When we stopped at the gas station she got out and took a look at my black-body matched painted flares and gave an approving nod. "They look right on your car. How come other people don't just buy it in the same color as their car?" Then comes the explanation of the extra $600 - $900 in paint work (had the front trim done too), hauling the car back and forth to install after painting, and then back to the shop for colorsanding and finish polishing. About 16 hours in arranging the purchasing, paint estimation, pick up/drop off waits, installing the flares & front trim myself, dropping off the car, rental car hassles, arranging co-workers to drive me, etc, etc. (She thought it was just new-car purchasing hassles)
Like any job well done, nobody notices. But they sure do notice flares that aren't painted. Even on Silver Satin. Unlike the Montero, the MDX flares are not well integrated into the body and stickout sorely when they are unpainted. Effort well spent, I think. My humble opinion.
By the way, I think chrome door handles have that 50's look, so they got painted too. Huge pain to get them off, but was able to rip out the paper-cone Bose speakers while the door was apart. Upgrading the Bose system is a whole 'nuther story.
Are you sure you want bright chrome wheels on silver? Have you seen other cars (any make) in this color pattern? I have, and I think that you should think about it more, get more opinions so that you don't take offense when no one else sees it the way you do.