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Does anyone know of a wheel style or manufacturer that is similar to these OEM wheels for 2013 X351?
The originals had a high-polish chrome that badly delaminating after 5 years and I had no choice but to replace them (one was cracked and no longer held air). I wound up replacing them, but I'm not liking the new wheels as much as these. I will most likely replace them with something close to the high-polished originals if I can find them. Where I live we sometimes use salt on the roads in the winter, but I'm not sure why these originals delaminated so badly.
Anyone have any ideas or seen a suitable replacement? Hard to see, but the chrome is delaminating from the wheel.
That is a 19" wheel and the style is called "Aleutian". I noted that you joined the Forum in 2016, so I presume that you are not the original owner of your 2013 XJ. If so, it's likely that all four wheels were refurbished by the dealer before they sold it to you. I doubt that it's real, electroplated chrome because that's a more expensive process than PVD coating, which is more eco-friendly and looks almost exactly like real chrome. The problem is that curb rash allows water and road salt to get behind both real chrome and PVD and cause it to come off, which is exactly what is happening to your wheels. Unlike painted wheels that can be touched up, chrome and PVD wheels have to be completely redone when damaged.
Forum sponsor Coventry Wheels offers a wide variety of aftermarket wheel designs and finishes to fit your XJ. I believe that they offer a Forum member discount, so be sure to ask if they have a wheel that you like.
Beware of internet vendors selling OEM Jaguar wheels, as they will not tell you if their wheels were previously damaged and repaired. They will tell you that they've been completely refurbished to factory specs, but that's misleading because a wheel that has a welded repair is not as strong as a new wheel. Sure, they're cheaper - for a reason - but is it worth jeopardizing your safety?
Thank you, Stuart.
You are correct in that I am not the original owner, so it's very likely the wheels were refurbished when I bought the car in 2016. They looked terrific then but degraded very rapidly and it was a terrible blemish on the car.
I have checked on a couple of online vendors that will sell sets with a discount for exchange and I almost went that direction. One of the vendors, Detroit Wheel and Tire, refused to allow me to use the exchange program because the originals were PVD. Perhaps that is one of the vendors that you cautioned me against.
At any rate, I replaced the wheels with a darker pewter and black but they definitely don't complement the car, and do not allow me to use the Jaguar caps. With the replacement I standardized all four wheels to the same size (19", P245/45R19) so if I find a suitable wheel type I hope to be able to use the (almost) new tires on them to better contain the investment.
Thanks for the advice and I will indeed let you know which way I wind up going.
I think the X351 looks best with chrome wheels. I also feel that Callum & Assoc. were in the best position to design wheels that complimented the car. For that reason, I chose to do the chrome wheel exchange with L.A. Wheel on the OE Aleutian wheels like you have. However, my car is not a daily driver and remains in the garage unless the (typically good Maryland) roads are clean and dry. Under these driving conditions, they still look new after two years. I'd probably go with painted or powder-coated wheels for everyday use here and most everywhere else.
Curb rash is a real problem with many modern cars. <55-series tires are wheel, tire and alignment shop dreams.
That looks great in blue! Don't see many in that color either. Mostly black,grey and silver.
Interesting as I also used LA wheel exchange program for my old STR wheels.
Loved the chrome but chrome over alloy just won't last as they have much different expansion rates and even in Texas with no salt after a couple of years I started to get corrosion and peeling in the nooks and crannies of the wheels. Can't really be repaired as once an alloy wheel is chrome plated it can't be easily stripped and redone. Possible but not easy or cheap. And it's worse if your curb them!
So I went with black on my XJR and sure enough I curbed a wheel almost right away! But got all 4 redone for around $500 and they still look new.
Here is a close up of the front caliper and wheel after I redid the caliper stuff.
It does not come out in the picture but I had the powder coat done in a metallic black/grey.
I like chrome wheels, but thought best not to get it on my X351. The amount of brake dust I get on my wheels that aren't chrome, is just horrendous. Did you switch to a different type of brake pad?
Yes I swapped pads to the Porterfield R4-S pads for less dust.
Had them 2+ years and have been satisfied with the performance,wear and lack of noise and dust.
I like chrome wheels, but thought best not to get it on my X351. The amount of brake dust I get on my wheels that aren't chrome, is just horrendous. Did you switch to a different type of brake pad?
No, I'm using standard pads, but I wash the car weekly.
Regarding the longevity of chrome on aluminum wheels, my wife's 14-year old Lincoln LS still has flawless chrome finish on her OE plated wheels. Perhaps the process and care is more important than the metallurgy.
I wash mine weekly also. I can still see the brake dust about 2 or 3 days after washing. Also, for me, it is more than just "seeing" the brake dust. The villa I live in, has a very tight parking space for my car, so I often rub against the car with my light colored uniform pants. I took me a little while to realize that the black I was getting on my pants was brake dust, and not just my car getting dirty extremely fast.
Yes I swapped pads to the Porterfield R4-S pads for less dust.
Had them 2+ years and have been satisfied with the performance,wear and lack of noise and dust.
Thanks to all for of the suggestions and recommendations! I have decided on the Coventry Whitley Chrome.
Because of COVID, the supply has dwindled here in the States and it's not known when they may be available again, so I ordered the only four known by Coventry to be available in the country. Using their website to simulate how the wheels will look on the car, I was able to match the model, year, and color of my XJ and these wheels are the exact look I was trying to achieve. I was a little iffy on getting the bright chrome, but I realized that it was the best look. My wife didn't like the darker wheels I had purchased to replace the original OEM wheels and to be honest I didn't care that much for them either. So, Ruairi gets new shoes.
If you want but your car is very subtle now and adding painted calipers is kind of a bling thing. If you do it maybe silver would be nice?
As you can see from my cars above I do like bling!
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I'm thinking the same thing. Perhaps if the wheels had a wider spoke pattern than the Whitleys, then I think a black enameled caliper set would look pretty good. The shiny reflections would be nice but I think brake dust would end that shininess pretty quickly. Silver ones would be cool, though.