Greetings Fellow Enthusiasts,
I'm the proud owner of a 2007 S-Type 4.2L and love this car tremendously. The one thing that I feel can be improved upon are the wheels. I have the 17" aluminum 'Juno' 7 spoke mags that came standard and there are a few curb rash spots that really bother me (I'm the second owner and they were the only flaws on an otherwise flawless car). I found this company called LA Wheel and Tire that will send you 4 NEW 17" JAGUAR S-TYPE OEM FACTORY CHROME WHEELS RIMS for $587, shipping included. You also give them a $1000 deposit, which they return when you ship them back your old Juno wheels after you install the new ones. You have to pay an extra $88 to ship the old wheel rims back to them. My question: Does this seem like a good deal? I think new chrome wheels would look fantastic on my car. Just wanted some opinions. The company says they are 'factory new' wheels and give a nice presentation on their extensive and meticulous chrome-plating process on their web site. Also, what do you think about the brake dust covers that you mount inside of the wheel rim that supposedly keeps brake dust from getting on your mag wheels. I get tons of brake dust on my mags and thought this might be a good way to keep it to a minimum. Not sure if it would actually work, however. Oh, one more thing, my current wheels measure 18 3/8 inches rim edge to rim edge but are classified as 17" wheels? Never understood that. Thoughts? Comments? Thanks for your help!!

 

Can't offer any advice on the wheels, but I would caution you to steer clear of the brake dust shields. They've been around mostly unchanged for decades and while they sometimes do indeed keep most (but not all) of the dust from accumulating on your outside rims, they also trap a great deal of heat very close to the rotors and pads. Overheated rotors usually means warped rotors. And while these shields can keep the dust off of the outside of your rims, they usually dump all that dust inside the wheel and all over the calipers and the rest of the brake components. The best way to minimize brake dust is to find a low-dust brake pad next time around. I like Wagner ThermoQuiet organic pads. Have them on my wife's 2004 Lexus RX330 AWD and when our S-Type's front pads are done in 5,000 to 8,000 miles, I'm putting a set on it as well....

 

Thanks Jon, for the valuable information, you prevented me from making an unwise choice. I'm going to stay away from those brake dust shields. I'll do what you suggest, get the low-dust brake pads next time. In the meantime, I discovered that applying Rain-X to the mag wheel, after thoroughly cleaning and polishing, seems to make it much easier to take off accumulated dust. As for those chrome wheels, I looked into it further and while they only are $589 for a virtually new set of 4 (they are re-conditioned original Jaguar aluminum wheels) the catch is that the $1000 deposit you leave them when you send your old wheels back is applied to any repairs THEY HAVE TO MAKE in preparing your old wheels for refurbishing that they re-sell as 'new.' Minor scuffs and curb rash, imperfections in the wheel, bent from potholes that isn't readily apparant, etc., have to be corrected and this can put a sizable dent into your deposit (up to $200 per wheel or more!). So I guess that old adage is accurate: if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.....
Reginald
'07 S-Type 4.2L
'02 XK convertible