I have a Monaco (dark navy metallic) blue 530i and I love my stock silver (painted) wheels. I'm very tempted to get the same wheels in chrome (see below). I need some opinions as to what everyone thinks. Is it a good decision or does it lean toward the "ricer side" of modding. Thanks for your opinion.
No. I spent a whole day repainting every chrome bit on my car (except the bumpers) to black. Chrome, in my opinion, does not belong on a BMW, and I do not know why they even bother. It makes it look cheesy and very untastefully modded, IMO. Besides, it's a PITA to look in the direction of a car with lots of chrome when the sun is shining in your eyes, so it could probably cause a few accidents in the mean time (same with white cars). Heck, chrome is the antichrist in my book... Keep in mind that these are all opinions, but I have never, ever, never ever ever ever never ever, seen a car with chrome wheels that looked good. I've seen plenty of BMWs ruined just by having chrome wheels on them and I would rather have no wheels on a car than to have chrome wheels. I'd rather drive a (stock) Honda Civic and give up all driving enjoyment, for cryin' out loud, than to drive a car with chrome wheels or chrome anything on it... Pleeeeeeeeease don't be cruel to your ultimate driving machine...
I appreciate your opinion. That's kind of what I was thinking. I rarely see chrome on Bimmers but often do on Lexus, Infiniti, etc.
If you tend to be a 'form follows function' type of person, there is hardly any practical or performance benefit to chrome wheels. Chromed wheels are substantially heavier than their non-chrome counterparts, increasing unsprung weight, reducing the performance of your suspension system, requiring the shocks to work harder, and decreasing ride quality. You'll notice there are no chrome wheels on Formula 1 cars... The only practical positive I can think of is that since chrome is a very hardened surface, it's probably easier to clean brake dust off them compared to painted wheels. Aesthetics are a personal choice of course, but chrome doesn't do much for me. I might be less anti-chrome if chrome wasn't any heavier than paint, but I tend to find understatement far classier than showy, most of the time.
I'll join in here and agree with the majority. I do not like chrome wheels, unless they are wire spoke wheels on a 60s jag, but that is a different story all together. Put that chrome wheel money on a nice set of BBS wheels from the www.tirerack.com. You will get the change in look you are probably wanting with high quality wheels, that are most likely lighter and stronger than your stock wheels. Just my 02 cents worth. GR
It depends... I'd say it depends. Where I live in the upper Midwest it looks out of place just because it's not popular. But in my travels some areas of the country seem to just love it. (In some areas of Texas, Florida, and in a band from Southern California into Vegas) I like the look of both stock and chromed on most BMW's It's your car do what you like, and enjoy! PS. For me a bigger question is the black wheels I see becoming semi-popular.I can't get with this as of yet.
Chrome??!!! No way! Keep your stock silver wheels. If you really want to add some style, throw some 550i/M5 wheels on your 530i.
Have them powder coated the color of brake dust. No on the chrome. Really. Seriously. I have seen too many BMWs with chrome wheels, and they just look cheap.
Hideous White car with "chrome" wheels!!! Well, I agree that Chrome wheels do not appeal to me either. I don't like the added weight and agree, it just looks "wrong" on most of the BMW line. I also have seen them in my travels to the coasts and while some are acceptable, most are not....in my opinion. It just looks out of place. That said, if you look at the picture of my 1991 E34 M5 to the left here, you will see my OE Motorsport 17x8 and 17x9 wheels have the polished aluminum lip and the centers are painted silver metallic. (Don't look az3579...my car is also White so at this point, you are probably becoming ill...lol..). This treatment was an option from the factory on these wheels, the M parallels as well, and some others. This is NOT chrome, but it looks like it when I polish them. The black shadowline trim was not an option my year, so it came with the chrome trim around the door windows only and black trim around the front and rear window. The only other "chrome" is on the front kidney grill and the ///M5 on the trunklid. For me, this is not "too much", it is tastefully done, and more importantly, it is all stock!! As Doug said, its your car, install whatever makes you happy.
