Falken FK452's fitted! But...

S

speed12

Member
Well today I got all four tyres changed and fitted Falken FK452's, managed to get the lot for £370.

It was all going well, I inspected the rear springs when the wheels were off and both springs in tact, both sets of discs look ok both sets of pads ok. Rear wheels had the tyres changed, no obvious signs of corrosion on the wheels. But then as I was waxing the rear wheels the fitter called me over and said the dreaded "can you come and have a look at these wheels mate".

Sure enough I walked over and greeting me was a horrible amount of corrosion on the inside of the wheel. The laquer is literally peeling off in places and unfortunately the corrosion has made its way right up to the inner lip (where it meets the tyre). So far I have had no signs of leaking tyres, but now with non runflats I imagine the side walls will move more and I may see some leaking.

So my efforts have paid off on the external rim, regular coats of wheel wax has kept the fronts immaculate, the rears have some very light pitting but no real corrosion.

But I now have the worry of severe corrosion on the fronts... may have to overhaul them before me 3K road trip in september! Another bill to pay :-( unless I have a go myself of course.
 
I do indeed! to be fair the outside of the wheels look ok, they are not gleaming but they are not corroded, so not too bothered about them. Just not sure what to do with them now, have read through the various procedures within this forum and it looks reasonably easy but time consuming. There is also the question of the final coating to apply, whether to have just laquer or a silver coloured paint with laqeur on top. I suspect the paint and laqeur combination would provide the best long term results.
 
speed12 said:
I do indeed! to be fair the outside of the wheels look ok, they are not gleaming but they are not corroded, so not too bothered about them. Just not sure what to do with them now, have read through the various procedures within this forum and it looks reasonably easy but time consuming. There is also the question of the final coating to apply, whether to have just laquer or a silver coloured paint with laqeur on top. I suspect the paint and laqeur combination would provide the best long term results.
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Just in the process of refurbishing a spare set myself - I've stripped , sanded and polished the outer rims and sprayed them with a proper lacquer and my advice would be to do the same.

I saw a Z4 with some refurbed 108's with spray painted rims a while ago and it instantly decided it for me to go with the original polished and lacquered rims.

Although a good job, they had lost that "108 look" - just flat and lifeless.

No doubt about it - it's a bit of a task to get a good finish with the lacquer, but well worth the extra effort IMO.

(just make sure you use the correct lacquer, meant for bare-metal application)
 
Thanks for the advice. Think I need to create a shopping list and then buy it bit by bit to spread the cost (money is tight at the moment!).

Just trying to decide when to do it really, as i said the external faces look pretty good and no leaking YET. I guess it would be nice to get them looking immaculate before the big road trip, or I could just leave them until the winter and do them then.

Luckily the Z4 is just a weekend car, so its no problem if its left on axle stands for a while whilst the work is being done.
 
bmwangler said:
I saw a Z4 with some refurbed 108's with spray painted rims a while ago and it instantly decided it for me to go with the original polished and lacquered rims.

Although a good job, they had lost that "108 look" - just flat and lifeless.
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A good compromise is to have the insides of the wheels painted, but keeping the outer part of the rim as bare metal, polished and lacquered. That way you retain the "108 look" but have more protection against future corrosion on the insides. Or, you could just sell them and buy 202's like I did :wink:
 
a11y - I agree.

I've sanded, spray painted and lacquered the insides of the ones I'm doing at the moment - not worth the bother of polishing the insides IMO, apart from the fact that you really need a lathe to get a proper finish. Can't really see the insides when on the car anyway.
 
Mine were once corroded a year ago to the point of making the tyre leak. A quick go with a wire brush drill soon sorted it. The friendly tyre bloke fitting my tyres last weekend also gave them a quick wire brush and painted some black goopy stuff on them to stop them leaking further :thumbsup:
 
Had a very similar thing but seems on a much smaller scale on mine this week when I changed from RFT's to Falkens. Got the lot fitted and balanced etc for £340. I'll get the wheels re-coated in the winter. By the way, the diffrerence in the ride is great but already scuffed a rim :headbang:
 
108's are truly shocking aren't they!! If they didn't look so good we'd bin them immediately cos they are crap.BBS should be shot for producing such crummy finished wheels. :thumbsdown: :poke: :thumbsdown:
 
When laquering and painting (if paitning) the wheels, where do you stop with the laquer? do you apply it to the whole of the wheel including the area that is normally "within" the tyre space? I imagine if you only apply laquer to the external surfaces and stop at the top rim/ lip where it meets the tyre the laquer will always be more likely to start peeling off?

Yes I think If I do them I will paint and laquer the insides and leave the external rim just laquered and wax them regularly.

Although I am tempted to get the lot powder coated in a nice gun metal grey metallic, I know it will lose the look... but it will provide better all round protection.
 
If I'd kept my 108s I'd have thought about a full/all-over painting or powdercoating (including the lip) IF they'd started to corrode again - which chances are they would. I'd rather have had the better protection for an easier life at the expense of looks. I like the sound of a slightly off-silver colour too.

But I was always a bigger fan of the ellipsoid style wheels and was very happy to find a set secondhand to change to.
 
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