I would like to keep my unmarked diamond cut alloys in good condition so am looking at some type of rim protectors. Has anyone got experience they could share for or against please?
Obviously driving carefully helps but I'm not the only one that drives the car
Stop the wife from driving, job done.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Tyres with rim protection
A lot of the low profile tyres have this now and I found this makes a big difference.
Obviously not wife proof but it will protect against minor knocks and stops you looking like some OCD tool with stuff covering his alloys.
I have in the past supplied a couple of makes, don’t recommend any, not good looking and some are stick on which are knackered if you need tyres changed, the winter weather and road salt will probably knacker the diamond cut finish anyway.
Don’t buy alloy gators they are dreadful, often damage any paint and lawyer underneath anyway, and its tyres off if you need to replace one.. utter waste of pennies .. just look after them lol like me
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This.Originally Posted by Macca
I bought a one year old car from a main dealer with gators fitted. When I needed to replace my front tyres, I went to my local independent tyre fitter and when he saw the gators he asked me to come and watch him remove them. The gators had been hiding a small section of kerbing on one wheel which was fair enough. However much of the outer edge of each alloy was covered in fine scratches and chips.
The tyre fitter explained that grit and small stones can get caught between the gator and alloy which over time vibrate and damage the alloy. He said he wanted me to see the damage first hand so I understood that he hadn’t caused it. He told me that the gators are usually a one use item and I would need new ones or some connecting joints if I wanted to re-use them. His advice was take them off, keep them in the garage and whenever I sold the car, to refit them to hide the scratched alloys.
I removed them and ever replaced them. I later part-ex’d the car with a main dealer who wasn’t worried about the state of the allloys. A private buyer would probably be more picky.
Gators do prevent kerbing but from my experience they also cause problems.
Rimming. You're doing it wrong.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
Always one that lowers the tone
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Exactly my point, more damage than good, speaking from bitter experience the trapped grit caused so much damage and corrosion the first week I knew the f hidden issues was my tyres going down
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Hideous looking things those Alloy Gators, in my personal opinion of course.
Thanks guys. This was the kind of info I was needing. Just have to be more careful.
How about alloy wheel isurance instead of protection?
I didn't expect to take Audi up on it but they were £1200 alloy upgrades and at £250 for 3 years seemed a reasonable price.
It's the 12 month anniversary next week and I've used them 3 times to fix a range of scuffs.
Expected to easily pay for itself at this rate.
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When I was younger I had them fitted to the alloys of my m3 after the eyewatering costs of getting the diamond cut alloys refurbed when I curbed a wheel in a car park. Whilst looking very low profile they are pretty noticeable once fitted. Should you find yourself driving at very high speeds then they can come off as well which is not ideal. Oh and when you take your car to the car wash make sure they dont spray the wheel cleaner on the alloys as it strips the colour from the rim protector. All in all I wouldnt recommend
Always annoys me that used car dealers don't seem to care about alloy condition... a tidy set makes even an old car look good. They never seem to budge on price to get them sorted either
As an aside i found they did a decent job on our ( SWMBO is attracted to kerbs like a moth to a flame)last car but to anyone on a contract hire/ leasing deal the leasing companies can be very picky on wheel condition when the car goes back and are not slow in coming forward on billing accordingly.
Get a set of steel wheels with reasonable wheel trims.
Put the diamond cut alloys (they really are more trouble than they are worth) in storage.
Bash the crap out of the wheel trims (easily / cheaply replaceable) and steel wheels, when it comes to giving back / selling / trading in the motor, just pop the alloys back on.
er what
I’ve got diamond cut 19’s on my beemer and they really are a pain in the arse – I’ve never scuffed them once but they’ve been back twice because the coating is just not robust enough to get through winter and as soon as somebody takes off the wheels to fit tyres etc they’ll manage to chip the coating which then lets the moisture in and they’ll be knackered again. I’m sending them to and independent to have them powder coated this time!
As others have suggested, you can get some protection from using tyres that have a "lip". If you are keeping the car for no more than 3 years, you should be OK more generally. Mine look awful now with the well documented "milking" effect as the wheels corrode under the lacquer from the centre. Thanks for nothing BMW!
Had this on my M3, it’s a terrible finish that IMO is not fit for purpose. Had mine powder coated the same 2 tone colours and they are much better.
Interesting! Sorry to hijack. How much does powder coating cost? How long does it take and is the finish definitely more robust?
Thanks
About 80 quid a wheel from memory.
It’s way more robust, but not to curbing as I found out from my wife! You don’t get that milky sheen and the lacquer coming off. It honestly looks the same unless you’re right up to them.
The diamond cut finish is stupid. A stupid retro fashion. Period.
Just ask ányone who was into motorbikes during the eighties. Cauliflour look oxidation wíll creep under the laquer.
Tyres with a rim protection bead are a first line defence from curb rash. A good idea but will not keep the rims from developing a rash under the transparent skin.
Rim gators are ... sad.
Like watch bracelets.er what
The only problem is steel wheels with hub caps look terrible, I’d rather have knackered alloys!
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Cheers
PPF ?
I’ve got diamond cut wheels on both cars and the Golf wheels have got the white worm marks (they were protected when brand new but not topped up).
The TT wheels were refinished but I suspect will get the white worm again before they get kerbed.
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Good description (if not spelling!). My car now looks absolutely s**t if it gets cleaned because the wheels are so corroded. Rest of the car's in good nick, too.
I forgot to mention that we had the DC alloys on our other car refurbished under the warranty.
I have heard it said that factory warranty won't cover it but I've had two cars done in the last few years.
Obviously you have to prove it's not due to chipping or damage.
I worked in a Kia dealer in parts, we would do on average 3 sets a month of replacement warranty wheels, a large problem is the salt/grit used on British roads in winter and the poor quality wheels supplied by the manufacturer, and the fact that any small mark allows water in behind the lacquer to "knacker' the finish, often second time round customers would spec cars up with alternative wheels to save the hassle. I know this from experience with Hondas.
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