Thought I posted this but don't see it in the forum. I am swapping out wheel rings on my XKR and was sent a how to. Thought I would share.

CD

 

Are you buying new rings and fitting them yourself?

It looks a simple enough procedure but not having read any reports on the forum from anyone who has done it, I'm wondering what the chances are of getting all the bolts out cleanly.

Graham

 

flycaster, I've linked your thread to the FAQ page for our car, its a good addition. Thanks!

 

When I curbed my left rear Montreal I called a local wheel repair wizard who had worked magic many years ago with some BBS wheels I messed up pretty badly. He was able to take out bends and polish up as good as new. So when I talked to the guy about replacing the trim ring, he strongly encourage me to just have the ring removed and then polish up the wheel below the ring. He said he had done these many times and the results almost look like you have a ring.

I said I might still want to get a ring and he then said that once these wheels are disassembled, they do not always hold air well when put back together which is why he was discouraging the ring replacement. But it looks to me like even just removing the old ring requires dis-assembly/re-assembly so what was he talking about?

By the way I still have the Montreal in my garage as a spare until I decide what to do.

Doug

 

Graham, not doing myself. Gotta find a shop that has exp doing them here in Seattle.

 

I replaced three of these rings when I had my wheels refurbished last year. I paid £80 per ring, but they are getting harder and harder to find. Current value on UK eBay is around £100+

 

I hoped you'd come back with something along the lines of 'easy job, all done and sitting here with a cold beer admiring the wheels'!

The PDF you posted is from SBWheels in Birmingham (UK). They are about 200 miles away from me and my easiest option is just to drive down there and have them supply and fit new rings.

As Frog posted in his reply, the rings are getting harder to find and it's likely shops with the ability to fit them are equally scarce. Good luck with finding one locally in Seattle.

Graham

 

I checked the eBay link and it looks as if Steve Gray (SB Wheels) is the best source.

It's not one of those 'must do immediately' jobs like exploding tensioners but, as the rings are getting scare and prices going up, I might as well attend to it sooner rather than later.

Did you fit them yourself or have someone fit them for you? It grieves me to pay someone to work on my car if I can do the work myself and the worry is, if any of the bolts shear or the threads are damaged during removal, I'd never know.

I've had one piece alloys refurbished in the past and they come back like new. I'm wondering whether to have the Sepangs dismantled and take the opportunity to have the main rim section refurbished before rebuilding with new rings.

Graham

 

I have spoken to steve a few times about replacing the steel rims on my paris wheels and his advice to have the done by a pro as they always leak if not done properly..but at £200 a wheel i put up with the few scratches

 

I wonder which pro Steve had in mind.

£200 each is an encouragement to raise my 'scratch tolerance' level but I don't want to risk the rings becoming no longer available and leaving aftermarket replacement wheels as the only option. Jaguar still list Sepangs at £760 each so that won't be entering the equation.

Graham

 

I know steve he lives in brum.he quoted me £200 per wheel.he does the work himself..this was last year so may be more now..ring him he is ok to talk to..
I have had a fair bit of success with wet and dry + elbow grease to remove a lot of my kerbing..brasso or chrome cleaner afterwards.

 

I put my car on axle stands for 2 weeks and dropped the wheels off at a local bodyshop. They stripped the wheels down into the three component parts and refurbished them, replacing the three badly scratched rings. The fourth ring was slightly scratched, but I am a tight git and wasn't prepared to shell out yet another £80 or so for a perfect new one.

The wheels are now like new. The refurb cost me about £300 + the rings off eBay = total £540. I got lucky as the boss needed something my business could supply him with, if you get my drift...

 

Wow I am wondering if I am getting screwed with the price on the rings. The rings are from Coventry West and they are asking $295 each...ouch!

 

Remember the £80-100 ($130-160) per ring we are talking about is from eBay in the UK. $295 sounds about right from a 'real' store in the US where shipping from Europe is an issue.

 

I've done work on these including the rings. The article is a great help for anyone that's thinking about it.
My mission started a few years ago when I wanted the BBS Montreal wheels restoring, I contacted Caroline at BBS in Germany, and they where going to get the job, until I factored shipping to the deal. They've since gone bust twice...

The guy who makes the rings only does 18" and 20" and as mine are 19" I was screwed. I removed them and had the lips polished by a great wheel company, who by the way will do discount to UK members...
Rhino Alloys | Specialist Alloy Wheel Refurbishers | Diamond Cut Finish, Alloy Welding, Powder coating, Alloy Wheel Straightening

First off the bolts are titanium, apart from the valve stem, this is steel and the one that usually binds. They're all thread-locked. You'll need a Spline drive bit, not Torx.

I'd suggest heat on the bolts to release the thread lock, but if you're not getting the wheel centres' refinished this won't be an option as it can damage the paint finish. If you are getting the wheels refinished then Mercedes Brilliant silver is the colour.

To knock the centres out of the wheels I placed one wheel face down onto two pieces of wood, with carpet over them, then placed another rim on top of it, again face down. I then used a lump of 2x4 wood to knock the centre until it let go.

SB wheels was the place I got new valve stems. The rubber O ring that seals the stem can fail so this another place air leaks, when rebuilding that's something to replace.

The rings themselves are glued on, a butane torch gets the polyurethane bonding soft enough to let go. Don't be surprised if the alloy's in a bad way if there's gaps between ring and rim to begin with. Tidy up with a rotary wire brush and bond the new rings down with good old Sikoflex. (a type of mastik, poly bond, sealant)

The rims do polish up to a mirror finish, but you need to stay on top of them with autosol and some ren-wax.

 

Great info on the components and refurbishment process.

Graham

 

I posted a thread about one of my 20 inch BBS wheels missing one of the spline bolts and this article helped a lot. Apparently the bolt head broke off when the last owner had the tires replaced before I bought the car. It would appear, to fix this problem, that the broken bolt would have to be removed. All the rims are in really excellent condition except for the broken bolt head. I was thinking of gluing a similar type bolt into the hole and forget about the problem until the next tire change. Any suggestions?

wcnesta
03 XKR
01 XK8

 

Does anybody know of the colour equivalent of the BBS oyster gold paint. It is hard to come by.

 

If your location of 'peterborough' is the one in England, call Steve Gray of SB Wheels in Birmingham (07891 376829). He's a mine of information on alloy wheels and especially BBS.

When you've done that, please post an Intro in New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum section and tell us a bit about yourself and your vehicle.

Graham

 

I've got two BBS Paris wheels with slightly bent trim rings - not from curbing, but high speed NYC potholes (what they spend all that toll money on I've no idea, but it definitely isn't road maintenance! But I digress...). Has anyone tried sending their wheels back to BBS for a rebuild? Seems like the logical step.

If there is a mechanic on the eastern seaboard who does wheel rebuilds please pass his name along.