Sounds like they were polished and cleared by the importer.........not legit LE37.

 

Thats why you don't buy volks!

 

^^^Can you explain your statement?

 

He meant to say "don't buy any wheels that you don't know the origin of".

 

Oh well, I was just a dumb-a$$ I guess. I wondered why the stickers and boxes said TE37. Oh well, they're still volks and they look like LE37's so I'll just deal with having to get them refinished. Not a big deal, just a kick in the wallet.

They still look awesome and they feel great on the car (much more rigid/solid feeling when driven hard than the AME Circular spec-R's that I had previously)

I'm not going to loose sleep over it.

Thanks for all your help. I may contact the seller to see if he has receipts and let Volk know that JPS is misrepresenting what they are selling. Not sure that Volk will care. I can't prove anything either way.

 

man sorry to hear this...see if the seller will help you with getting them repolished / cleared...that should be the least he can do.

 

For whatever it's worth, I bought a set of "new in box" LE28n's in gloss black from a member here a couple years ago and everything about the wheels looked legit, except that the stickers on the boxes said CE28n (can't remember whether or not the word 'Limited' appeared anywhere). (I also can't remember what the sticker said on the inside of the wheel). As far as I could tell, they were real deal LE28n's and not gloss black CE28n's with modified lips. I say this because the lip had that machined appearance (i.e. you could see the circumfrential lines) and the clearcoat had that "rainbow" effect that many Volk LE wheel owners have reported seeing. I only had those wheels for a little while but never experienced any problems like the OP has.

So anyway, I'm thinking that there were some LE wheels made by Volk that were actually labeled CE or TE (maybe with the words 'Limited Edition' too).

 

Next time you have the tires off be sure to weigh them to make sure they aren't the craigslist cast volk replicas floating around.

 

as best I recall, the LE's came in normal CE or TE boxes. I can't remember if the white label on the side of the box that lists the specs, said Limited Edtioon or not.

here are Leemiks LE37T, black, which was a limited run of the LE37 from like 05-06. The stickers I think came on sheets in the box, I don't think they were preinstalled



found these floating around the web (these were grey)

 

what does one have to do with the other Ive actually been a member on here since 05 and had my car since 04. So what do you base your retard statement on. Original screen name oneillz password never worked and mods didnt respond to my pm's so reregistered. Join date means when a person joined the forum not joined the car game but i forgot on here join date equals experience.

 

Where in my post am I commenting on the quality of the wheel. I stated budget wheels hold up longer than that so its a shame that after he spent all that $ thats what happened.

 

Right above. If you don't read that as commenting on the quality of the wheel, then I guess you just have a different interpretation of your own words. Or maybe you just didn't work it correctly (not a knock on you btw, it happens, it's the net, people rush to post comments). Your initial comment is equally broad, as it assumes every budget wheel holds up better than these, and it suggests that ever Volk is destined to turn out like the OP's.

It's right up there with this comment

It's an odd comment considering you don't know the whole story (no one does). All anyone is doing is guessing as to what happened, and/or why it happened, and trying to offer suggestions to the OP get it resolved in the most expeditious way. Basing an opinion on the quality of a product that looks the way it does given the unique set of circumstances that no one even knows the full story behind, would seem short sighted. It doesn't benefit the OP, or anyone else, in any way. It has nothing to do with your join date or your experience level. It's like saying you don't like Mexican food because your brother told you that he once ate a bad burrito.

I couldn't care less what anyone chooses to spend their money on. But if someone posts up a legit question to a unique situation such as this, it deserves a legit answer.

 

Thanks Adam. Leemik's car is my inspiration. (Minus the turbo since I live in Cali) I will add blacked-out headlights and a black painted roof. I have the USDM sides, but I am looking for USDM rear add-ons to match.

Regarding the wheels, I am just more curious now than anything. Mine definitely have a machined, diamond-cut lip, not polished. And yes, I have all three of those stickers in the bags w/wheel manuals in each wheel box. I am on the fence about putting them on. On one hand, they look cool and scream "VOLK", but on the other hand, I like the clean look too. I also like that they don't have the LE37 sticker on the lip - that would bug me. I kind of like the stickers on the spokes, but not on the lips. I also notice in that pic that Leemik's lips do not have the LE37 sticker on them. (The lip stickers are always adjacent to the Valve stems). So maybe the wheels are labeled differently for European markets versus US markets. Maybe if you buy direct from JApan or europe versus buying through a Mackin distributor the labeling will be different.

The wheels I have are definitely "aftermarket" clear-coated. I think the factory has an anodized clear coat which will not peel like that. I have NEVER seen any anodized aluminum paint peel off of anything.

I did a web search on "LE37 LTD" and I see mostly black time attacks come up.

I am going to look at the wheel boxes that I have in storage to see what they say as far as color or any of that business. But at this point, I really don't care, but am just morbidly curious. I was after the LE37 look and Volk performance/quality of the wheel itself and I have all of that. All I care abut now is finding a shop that can repair them without effing them up. From 3 feet away, you can't even see the clear peeling.

I may drive them until they start to look bad before I have a repair shop touch them. But I'll go interview a couple shops so I know who to go to. I don't know if a shop can repair them while keeping that machined look of the lips.

 

Actually in all the pics I saw the LE37T wheels other than black had the "LE37" sticker under the valvestem. The black wheels were the only ones that didn't. Maybe they sent them as part of the sticker set, or maybe they just omitted them from the black spoked versions - Mackin might remember?

Anodized clear can actually peel - the catalyst tends to be a scratch. From there, if anything hits it (hard stream of water, pressurized air), I could definitely see it peeling the way it did. Even if the wheel isn't curbed, it just comes in contact with so much crap out there, that anything can happen, and before you know it, it's too far gone. I personally don't think you got knock off wheels from the looks of what you posted - I think they are genuine Volks.

I found this while searching around

http://www.completealuminumgc.com/11.html

You might want to check in the yellow pages for refinishing places - not even necessarily wheel refinishing (though that would be worth exploring too). Alot of times, these niche type guys can tell what happened just by looking it at - like a doctor can diagnose you when you're sick. They might even be able to suggest a refinishing process that will be more durable and require less attention.

Good luck - it sucks, but it could have been alot worse

 

You might consider taking the serial number off the stickers on the inside of the wheel and contact Mackin or Rays and see what their records say about the wheels.

 

Those actually appear to be the real deal, just a bad case of abrasive wheel cleaner on a ultra sensitive surface. The rainbow-esc surfacing is indicative of the clear being removed, but you actually only get the handiwrap effect when you manually futz w/ it and scrape a little back w/ your nails. As far as stickers being applied - not a issue, people remove them and re-apply them all the time. My LE's came w/ them mounted but the Limited Edition gold ones you have to purchase separate.

 

Duro78 - Your comment really has no place in this thread as it was neither helpful to the OP nor was it constructive. This is a forum where people are asking for answers on questions they do not have. Rather than helping him out, you made a very obnoxious comment that really holds no ground at all. I am sure you like you wheels but that is your opinion and obviously not a fact.



I checked my current LE37s and they have LE37 printed on both the box and the barrels. This was the same for my previous set of Gold LE37s as well. Now the black ones that you have are also a bit different as both Adam@Z1 and Crom posted as they were the only LE37s to my knowledge that came with the gold Limited Edition Sticker. That could explain why it does not have the LE37 label? Also in Leemiks picture you can see that there doesn't seem to be a LE37 label printed on the lip as well.

As far as my experience with a few different wheel companies , Work, Volk, Enkie and AME, I can say from my personal opinion that the LE37s have the most delicate finish of the three. They do not take well to abrasive cleaners and they should be avoided completely. I simply use water + some mild soap with a microfiber towel. Never use a pressure wash either directly on the wheels.

https://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-...ys-wheels.html

Would be a good thread to read over if you have not already.

I believe Mackin has a recommended Powdercoater as well. I have no experience with these guys but it seems a majority of people have their wheels refinished by these guys.

Reliable Powder Coating
9505 Stewart And Gray Rd
Downey, CA 90241
(562) 803-0802

 

Thanks for the info. yeah, I have that thread memorized by now - even before buying volks. I never mentioned using abrasive cleaners or a pressure washer. I just use a garden hose with a nozzle. I also use nothing but mild car-wash soap and sheepskit mitt with very light presure - just enought to losen the dirt and dry with leaf blower and microfiber towels.

 

Lame statement

 

hiz-n-herz, sorry to hear about your lip peeling.. Mine hasn't peeled (yet).. I doubt Mackin will do anything as I don't think they did anything major for the people that had the "rainbowing" lip problems in their GT series rims.. The lip on the LE37's is machined with a clearcoat not anodized or polished silver..

I bought mine from a reputable dealer and like Adam said, my boxes came labeled with "TE37" and "limited edition" stamped on them not "LE37t".. Your wheels look pretty authentic to me.. All of your stampings seems to be at the same place as mine and you have the correct newer LE37t center cap along with the gold "limited edition" sticker that only came with the Glossy black LE37t's..

what was included according to Mackin:
http://www.mackinindustries.com/md/rays/le37t.html

For reference.. here's what my rims looked like brand new out of the box after I put the stickers on:




I'd be curious to see if the stickers on your inside wheel look the same as mine.. Also, the inside of my rims are flat black.. not gloss like the face.. If all this stuff matches you most likely do have authentic rims..


--mike