Back in November, when I took off my 135s for the winter, I looked at them in disgust and said to myself, "I will have you refinished before Spring."
Right.
To make up for my procrastination I tried to find some mobile wheel repair outfits to do the job. I sent pics of the damage (chips, some rash, and the worst: paint is flaking) and the response was clear: not worth the $ to fix these because it'll be +-$500 for wheels that _still_ won't look perfect.
Okay, fair enough.
So I looked on the internet for too many hours for a local, clean set of ZHPs to fill my need for a stock-looking wheel. No real luck there.
So then I looked on the internet some more for some CSL-reps. I've always wanted them, and as much as I _want_ to be a ZHP purist, I like the CSL style better than the 135. So I looked. VMR? Very nice. Not available until nobody knows when. Alufelgen CS7? Super nice. Not available until June.
Those options would = driving on winter tires in the Spring/Summer. NOT ACCEPTABLE. Why? Because my days are long, stressful, and draining. When I slip into my cloth/alcantara seats, grip the leather M steering wheel, and fire up the car, I want a drive home that takes my mind off work. Winter tires don't do it, especially in the warm weather.
So the search continued. That's when I remembered a wheel that is stock-looking, but slightly different, light, well-made, and pretty popular among my BMW track-tard friends: the Apex ARC 8.
They're a little more than I expected to spend, but at almost 10lbs/corner LESS than the 135s, and also 5-6 lbs less than the replicas I was looking at, I'm happy with the choice. I worry about things like wheel-weight. It's stupid, but I do.
Anyway, so I then had to choose between 18x8.5 squared or add an 18x9 for the rear. I've already bought these: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....g&autoModClar= in the stock ZHP sizes, but I went with 8.5 (ET38) all around for a future real square setup. And hell, if these ever DO become track wheels, staggered setups are a big no-no. For now, it's still staggered with the 225s up front and the 255s in the back, but the 8.5 inch rim can handle both sizes just fine.
Last decision was color. I like a stock look, so I went with silver:
But I'm still wondering if anthracite would have been better:
In any event, soon my car will look exactly like this, minus the sweet drop:
Obviously, I'll post proper pics when all is installed and ready to go. Probably another week or so.
mb
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by kayger12
