What's happened to my alloy wheels?

[Up_North]

Hi All

I took my winter tyres and their wheels off my BMW 330D (E90) in February 2012 and stored them in the garage. As I'm now selling the car I thought I'd also have a go at selling these - they tyres had only done about 2000 miles and I thought the wheels were perfect. I went to take some pictures and was horrified at the state of the wheels. Rims and spokes on all wheels looked scratched to hell. Picture attached - this can't just be corrosion can it? Any easy fix? The wheels aren't worth getting a professional refurb.

Thanks.

Ian

[m0isty]

Yes, its corrosion I'm afraid! It gets under the edge of the clearcoat and sort of burrows along like a worm.

[Crafty_]

Up_North said:

Hi All
Picture attached - this can't just be corrosion can it? Any easy fix? The wheels aren't worth getting a professional refurb.

yes, looks like water got under the lacquer. Strip, polish & re-lacquer is the only way

[GreigM]

corrosion under the lacquer

[TonyRPH]

Are they Dezent (sp?) wheels?

I had a set with a similar pattern, and they did the same thing alarmingly quickly.

[Andyuk911]

Send them 'down south' to get sorted

[v8will]

Unfortunately wheels with a polished and lacquer finish aren't any use for winter, the lacquer will get chipped and moisture destroys the finish from the inside out. IIRC alot of aftermarket wheels with this type of finish are a nightmare to get sorted under guarantee.

Refurb with a full paint finish is the best answer.

[J4CKO]

Just strip the laquer off yourself, with paint stripper and then perhaps sand the corrosion off, then apply some more laqueur having masked the tyres and valve off, or just strip it off and polish the spokes with metal polish, keep the polish up and they should be fine, use Autosol on bare metal, normal car poilish on laquer, a Professional refurb is the best but you can get good results for a few quid and a nice sunny day.

[gog440]

[quote=Up_North]Hi All

I took my winter tyres and their wheels off my BMW 330D (E90) in February 2012 and stored them in the garage. As I'm now selling the car I thought I'd also have a go at selling these - they tyres had only done about 2000 miles and I thought the wheels were perfect. I went to take some pictures and was horrified at the state of the wheels. Rims and spokes on all wheels looked scratched to hell. Picture attached - this can't just be corrosion can it? Any easy fix? The wheels aren't worth getting a professional refurb.

Thanks.

Ian

Whereabouts are you? My brother works for a guy based wakefield way and afaik they charge about £30 a wheel.

[Troubleatmill]

Not that expensive to have the pros do it.

Like most things - I find when I do it - the result is OK.

The guys who are properly trained get much better results.

[Up_North]

Ok thanks guys. Lesson learnt - clean and dry wheels thoroughly before storing!

Tony - no there's nothing special about them - just bought them for the convenience of being able to swap to winters without going to tyre fitters.

Gog - thanks but I'm in Lanashire. I might try doing something with them myself or alternatively just sell them as is.

Thanks again.

Ian

[GreigM]

Up_North said:

Ok thanks guys. Lesson learnt - clean and dry wheels thoroughly before storing!

With these type of wheels there's little you can do to stop this......some are just prone to the corrosion regardless of how often you clean.

[eltax91]

What brand and size are the tyres and how much tread is left? I need a set for my e60 for next winter, and am regularly working I the north west. PM me with details and price.

[Up_North]

Eltax - you have mail.

Ian