Rocket, the only reason the dealer should have for NOT replacing the wheels is if you have damaged them. The dealer will just send them back to the manufacturer, and get HIS money back, so there is no skin off his back. He will then probably try to sell you a more expensive wheel.

All it should require is for you to walk in and say "I don't like the wheels you put on. My tires are rubbing against the fender now."

You should, however, do it soon. All complaints get weaker over time. If you only go back several weeks later, they will get suspicious. Go back TODAY! Make them fix it or replace it. For ~$2000 in tires and wheels, you BETTER be happy!

 

I had to get the SC to make up for the weight of the 18's

I don't notice any problems with handling, but I haven't been racing or autoxing and don't intend to on these wheels/tires. If I decide to do something like that, I will go back to a 16" rim with the OEM S02s.

Actually, I can't see any smudge marks on the fender well grommet because it is black plastic. What I do see are rub marks on the tires where it is hitting.

I have 7.5 front, 8.5 back.

Just got off the phone with the guy at the dealer and he says the wheels were ordered from Dazz and that Dazz picked the offsets. I am going to call Dazz to get it straightened out, then coordinate with the dealer.

Wish me luck.

 

Here's a little secret I'll let everyone in on.

TIRES SHOULD NOT RUB THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE STROKE OF THE SUSPENSION, PERIOD

17's, 18's, lowered, driven hard, drive like a pu$$y, stiff springs, ........., blah blah blah,.........., whatever...


rock, don't let them tell you any different!
I bet they're going to tell you to run smaller tires, nice solution ........... NOT

 

Damn RT, how did you know about the smaller tires? Guess what Dazz told me - "you can't put 255s on those rims on that car, you can try 245s and it should solve the problem"

Thanks for the support on this.

I have decided not to end up being the middleman in this situation:

*I did not specify or influence in any way what the offset should be.
*I bought the wheels/tires when I bought the car and it is under warranty.
*There is a problem with the tires rubbing
*The dealer needs to fix it at no cost to me
*The fix has to be satisfactory to me AND THAT DOESNT MEAN ROLLING THE DAMN FENDERS (guess what else Dazz told me?)

 

Good luck with it Rocketman!!

 

An update on my situation and maybe some new information for people.

First let me thank everyone that has offered advice/support.

I may have to eat crow here, cause I was pretty adamant about not rolling the fender lip.

However, turns out that there is a local performance shop that mainly works with mercedes, bmws and porsches ROLLING THEIR FENDERS! (among other performance work, of course) This shop uses a $900 piece of equipment, specially designed by porsche just to do this one thing. They even apply mild heat in the area being worked to make sure the paint is pliable and will not crack or chip during the operation.

I am going on Friday to talk in person and have the guy look at my situation and give his opinion.

One very positive development: I finally laid it out to the dealer that I considered this to be a warranty issue and I did not expect to pay for anything - they agreed and said it was their responsibility to resolve the issue.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rocketman
[B]Damn RT, how did you know about the smaller tires?

 

Rocketman, I have Racing Hart 18" M6's with 225/40 in front and 255/35 in back. My car is lowered about an inch and the front seems perfect. The rears are a little tight. They sit right under the inside part of the lip like yours probably do. I have driven my car hard and so has a few other people and the only time I get rubbing is when I hit a good bump going 40+ and only on the rear driver's side. I stay away from potholes in general. I am not 100% sure what the offset is. The widths are the same as yours 7.5 front and 8.5 rear...maybe 8 in the rear..i will have to check. If you look down the side of the car my wheels do not stick out at all. just the bottom part of the rear wheel. The tops of the rears are clearly inside the fender...but not enough by about an 1/8 of an inch because of the molding on the inside. It doesnt bother me that much though.

Couldn't we adjust camber to pull the tops in a little bit?

Good Luck with the dealer on this.

PS: I have raised my car up a little since the pic in my sig. I have about a two finger gap all the way around

 

I agree with silver surfer. I would not believe in anything that the bodyshop tells you about keeping the paint pliant etc. The bigger concern is that for the inside part of the rolled fender or the fender lip that you do not see - the slightest crack in the paint could expose steel to the elements (including salt if you are in the snow areas) and make it rust down the road.

 

RT, I'm still not comfortable with rolling, but I'll go talk to the shop. If they can answer all my questions I'll consider this a little harder. As it turns out they don't cut metal at all (which is what I thought), but your points are well taken.

s2ktaxi makes a point that has already occurred to me - problems down the road. There may be a structural reason for the lip to be the way it is (or it could have just been the easiest way to join the sheet metal). The paint could be stressed just enough that it is OK now, but in a year starts peeling off, etc.

I'm not committed yet, but I'm keeping an open mind. Please don't hesitate to put in your $0.02!