Prepping (and personalizing) my winter wheels

Not long after ordering my SE in mid-March — still in the tail end of winter up here, and just a couple of days after Quebec drivers are allowed to switch back to non-winter tires — I set about looking for a set of rims for the next winter. I mean, it was just seven months away, and I honestly didn’t even know if I’d have my car by then!

I found a nice-looking set of wheels with run-flat Pirellis on Kijiji (what used to be eBay Classifieds), called the seller, agreed on a really good price, and ran to get them. I found out on this forum they are 495 Victory Spokes, and while they were quite dirty, they looked to be in pretty good nick.


As they appeared in the ad.

I put them in the shed and didn’t think about them until after I took delivery of my car in August, and set about arranging for new winter tires. I trotted out the new-to-me wheels and gave them a quick wash to bring to my tire guy. I found a bit of curb rash on three of them, and two were very heavily caked with baked-on metallic brake dust.



Tires mounted, I then ordered four SE-specific center caps from Seattle MINI — not the Power Spoke bolt covers — and started planning how I’d repair or hide the minor blemishes on the wheels. I started gathering supplies and tools.

To be continued…

 

Fast forward to this week. Tools and supplies at hand, a bit of time off work, and the return of spring-like weather all gave me an opportunity to get my winter wheels ready. I rolled them back out of the shed, and rolled up my sleeves.

First things first, pop out the original MINI caps.

Plan of attack: clean the faces, clean the barrels, give 'em a bit of a polish (without going nuts, these are winter rims after all), scrub the tires, then touch up the blemishes.

I sprayed the faces with one of the best non-acid wheel cleaners you can buy, Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus, and after the recommended dwell, agitated with a soft but effective Chemical Guys Wheelie brush.



Next, I sprayed the brake cake inside the barrels and went to town with my dedicated wheel and tire scrubber: a Harbor Freight “Chicago Electric” D/A with a 4” aquamarine Cyclo brush. Much like CarPro Iron-X, the Sonax cleaner turns purple as it attacks and neutralizes ferric and ferrous oxides, along with other fallout compounds.



A quick rinse with the pressure washer, then on to the tires. As they were new, this would be quick. A key to getting a tire coating to work well and last a long time is to make sure that all dirt and oils are eliminated. “Dressings” — virtually all of which contain some combination of silicones and surfactants — tend to last a week or two, and make a tire look even uglier as they degrade and attract dirt, while coatings are just that: they cost the tire to repel dirt, and a good coating can last a whole season when properly applied. New tires like mine only have a minor amount of handling dirt, and whatever mould-release compound the factory use.

For when I was doing production detailing I liked using Meguiar’s D143 Non-Acid Wheel and Tire Cleaner, because it’s cheap and effective. But on my own cars or for people who wanted me to go extra, I trust Tuf-Shine Tire Cleaner (along with the Sonax wheel cleaner mentioned above). Spray it on, let it dwell a minute, then scrub with a brush (the same Cyclo as above, after a thorough cleaning).



I wiped off the water droplets with a good microfibre, then set the wheels aside to dry overnight before doing the touch-ups.

To be continued…

 

I decided the wheels could use a bit of a polishing, but I didn’t want to spend too long on it, knowing they’ll get punished with salt and grit and ice all season. Instead of painstakingly hand-polishing the spokes, I gave each wheel a superficial once-over with a Lake Country Hybrid orange pad and a Menzerna polish (I forget which) on my Griot’s 3” D/A. I’d really like to upgrade to a Flex PXE-80 or Rupes iBrid for jobs like this, but I haven’t seriously detailed for money in a couple of years, so that’s a bit out of reach. The Griot’s is out if its comfort zone on tight curves like these spokes, but I’m satisfied with the overall cleanup.



To prevent oxidation and lifting the surrounding powder coat, it’s a good idea to use a self-etching primer on bare metal blemishes. It also does a bit of filling, and helps paint bond with the powder coat better. I went with a spray can of Rustoleum Automotive Self-Etching Primer (sprayed into the cap), and decided to use a larger touch-up brush, in spite of the blobby results, because I have a plan to hide most of the curb rash.



I topped the primer with BMW Midnight Black Metallic from ScratchesHappen, and let it dry before applying the supplied clear coat. I set the wheels aside for the night to let the paint cure.



To be continued…

 

Let’s pop in the SE center caps!



Ooh looks good. But I’d like the wheels to stand out a bit more. Hmmm…

I thought about some sort of protector like RimBlades or AlloyGators, but could not justify the expense, and was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t find the their yellows to match with ours after spending all that money. Instead, I chose to go with a pinstripe. I found that Oracal 651 “Brimstone Yellow” vinyl is a very close match to our Energetic Yellow trim, and ordered a roll of ¼” striping tape. I have a cool striping tool for wheels, which makes quick work of it. Enjoy this quick, raw video I took today.



Last but not least, I finished by coating the tires with Tuf-Shine Tire Clearcoat. It is by far the best tire coating product I’ve used, and gives amazing results —customizable from subtle satin sheen to full gloss — that last months, not weeks.



The final result looks pretty great IMO!

 

Lol yeah, I thought about it, but that’s not really for me, and I’m a guest here.

 

Menzerna FG400 (now known as 400 Heavy Cut Compound).

 

Lower Mainland? The “all weather” WR will likely suit your conditions just fine.