A guy that lives by me has an E46 M3 and the wheels lips have what look like a brushed finish to it. He says they are very easy to keep clean and not clear coated, and is amazed at how often I have to polish my lips. I see him wash his car about once a week at least and never see him messing with the wheels much at all. Obviously the finish is not mirror like as the the hi polish but I like them just as much. I have seen DPE with the finish for their lips but was wondering if it is less maintenance with the brushed lips and also if you could take hi polish lips and give them that finish? I know Derrick will know the answer

 

Post a pic Rich. Brushed is my favorite wheel face finish but I just can't imagine the lips looking good brushed.

 

those are not brushed, those are a bit shinier than brushed but not mirror finish like the polish. it's called anodized i believe.

both my trafficstar wheels on my cars, and also tons of other jdm wheels i have seen (works, weds, etc...) they all have anodized lips. it's not mirror finish like what i have on the hre, but they are a lot shinier than just a brushed face. they are very easy to clean, brake dust won't stick on, and they are very durable.

 

and chris, if you want just look at the wheels on my sc430 (if everything goes right, you know where to find it ) you will see what i mean

 

Thanks for the info Henry. Do the lips show water spots if water dries on them? The one thing I really dont like is the fact that the hi polish lips are difficult to clean. I clean my car thoroughly at least once a week and usually wash the wheels twice a week and it is still nearly impossible to keep up with them. I am certain my next set of wheels will have the anodized finish.

And the guy with the M3 I think his wheels look like Works. They are a mesh design wheel but only have about a 3" lip in the rear.

 

haha i have to say i love my hre, but now with my two sets of trafficstars on my cars, i love the reduction of time in cleaning

nop there is no water spot after cleaning, just wipe clean and you are good to go. no brake dust, no water marks, very easy to clean.

but of course, the down side is if you scratch it, you are done. you can't "polish" them again like your wheels

 

Sounds like yet, another Work Vs XX on the M3. They are anodized lip, alright.

I also wash my cars every week and for the wheels I just need to clean them with car wash soap and wipe it dry. That's it! and yes, i have the trafficstars as well....

 

here goes my teacher and inspirer

 

Guess I need to sell my iForged wheels and order some Works. Do all the Work styles come with the anodized lip?

 

I think most do, they're pretty much standard on Work wheels.

Here's a set of Eurolines my friend purchased for his VeeDub

A few close ups of the anodized lip so you can see just how shiny and lustrous it is.

 

So the lips on the works resist water spots as well? The anodized lip is alot shinier than I though

 

yup, water spots are not a problem

 

When I was deciding on wheels I was looking at a few styles that Work has. Now I wish I had gotten works

 

hahaha.... I am not your teacher~~

Lots of people have mistakenly identify those anodized lip with "high polish" or even "chrome" just because it is shiny and to the certain extend has mirror effect. I believe Polishing process is different than anodize, therefore, one can be re-done and later one can't be. I haven't never gotten anything other than JDM my whole life since my first set of SSR GPO back in 1992 on my Prelude. I had experience with fixing the curb rash on the anodize lip and on both instances, I end up selling both set of wheels shortly just because I can't keep up with the time using Mother's WAX to polish the lip. I think its hard to justify going back to any other lip finished once you have those anodize lip, but again, maybe that just me.

Henry, will you go back????

 

personally, it's definitely getting very hard. i really enjoy that i can now wash my car, dry the wheels, and relax. especially since i have bbk, brake dust is always a problem (especially my ap racing). those dust really eat INTO the polish on my hre, and i could easily spend 1/2 hour doing polishing on the wheels after i wash them.

i have to admit, when they are clean, the polish lips are amazing, a lot shinier than anodized and it's nothing less than a mirror. but when you have any fine scratch or dust eaten into it, it's a lot of elbow grease gone. the anodized lips are also more resistant to fine scratches.

i would also like to add, with clear coat on polished lips, yes, they are a lot more durable, especially they won't like brake dust eat into the polish. however it's just clear coat, that's paint, so over time they will get yellow (since wheels get pretty hot, and brake dust are hot and not good for paint). once they turn yellow and dull, you are done. my old old volks av3 had clear coat lips, when i sold my wheels the clear had tons of fine scratch and it turned yellow already