Okay so I see a lot of pics from people all over the US with nice rims and tires....which I plan on getting soon enough with spring coming but my question is this. I see pics of people with their rims on in the winter. I was always under the impression that this was bad for the rims to drive them around in the winter, is that not true or is just a preference...I mean if the snow and salt will not directly damage the rims them why wait until spring to put some nice wheels on?

 

Properly maintained wheels will not be damaged by snow znd salt. An icy road that causes you to slide into a curb is a different story.

I have a set of wheels and tires I use for summer and I use the OEM wheels in the winter. The aftermarket wheels have high performance summer tires (not for use in snowy conditions) so I go back to the stockers in winter because they have all season tires.

 

Luckily down here in TX we only have to worry about ice/snow like twice a year. But for if you deal with it all winter, then I'd probably use the OEMs on winter tires and save your nice wheels for spring/summer time.

 

That is what I have always thought too, I would not want to damage the rims in a pot hole or let the salt eat away at an expensive set of rims.

 

salt eats clearcoat and paint off aftermarket wheels

 

salt + wheels = bad
right now i have my winter wheels on (hubcaps). I'll probably be switching into summer mode next month.
The first set of wheels i bought i kept on in the winter. i had pitted lips and clearcoat peeling.

 

I just got my xB a couple weeks ago and I've since bought a set of snow tires (in the garage) and a set of alloy rims (due Tuesday). Next week I plan to move the stock Bridgestones to the alloys and the snows to the oem rims. When the Bridgestones wear out, I'll replace them with my preferred tires for summer driving !