StingertimeNC
Senior Member
- Thread starter
- #1
So I've been struggling with the new Apex wheels. Had the shop switch over the OEM tires and three of them are fine, but one wheel is having an issue. According to Apex, Michelin tires are not a good fit because of the knurling on the bead seat area of the Apex rim. Michelin has a more narrow and or shallow bead design that doesn't always create a good seal against the rim. The options are, add bead sealent to the tire/rim in an effort to create a better seal, or get a different tire brand.
I did some searching and discovered folks on BMW and Porsche forums having the same issue with these specific rims. I actually had a spare PS4S tire and swapped it onto the wheel and same thing. There were a couple reports of folks losing air pressure in a wheel or two or three, while at the track even. Not something I want to experience. I also want to have complete confidence in the car when at the track, so using bead sealent and just hoping it's going to be fine doesn't sit well.
Sadly, since I purchased these rims from another forum member, the wheel replacement warranty no longer applies. Only the first owner gets the benefit. Apex hasn't definitively said they will not help me in any way, they just want me to try all the options first. Honestly not sure how they could help other than replacing the offending wheel just to see if that helps, but since there's no warranty at this point I suspect it will be a wheel replacement on my dime, which is no guarantee of success anyway.
Had I known this to be a potential issue, I wouldn't have purchased these rims. I also will not pruchase rims, with knurling in the bead seat area, in the future. Not worth it, especially since I'm not racing the car. Track days yes, but racing, no.
I have Continental Sport Contact's on the way. I've been wanting to go to a 275 x 30 tire, so this is as good an excuse as any to give it a shot. If this fails, I will go a different direction for wheels.
So currently I have three OEM rims (sold two of the five I originally had) and I'm about to have a set of Michelin PS4S tires for sale with 2.4k miles on them.
Fingers crossed the Continentals do the job. What a hassle.
Rims are nice as hell, and apparently this issue doesn't affect everyone, some, or even lots of folks, have had success with Michelin tires on their Apex VS5-RS wheels, but it's a known fact that people have had problems.
I'm not here to bash Apex, they seem like a solid company with good product, but not having a 100% success rate with Michelin performance tires, like the PS4S, or Sport Cup 2's etc. is very unfortunate, and it limits our tire options quite a bit depending on what size you want to run.
Just wanted folks to know before the take the plunge.
I'll report back after the new tires are installed.
TLDR- Do some research before buying Apex VS5-RS wheels, if you plan to use Michelin tires, they may not be a good match. Apparently these wheels are fine with other tire brands.
I did some searching and discovered folks on BMW and Porsche forums having the same issue with these specific rims. I actually had a spare PS4S tire and swapped it onto the wheel and same thing. There were a couple reports of folks losing air pressure in a wheel or two or three, while at the track even. Not something I want to experience. I also want to have complete confidence in the car when at the track, so using bead sealent and just hoping it's going to be fine doesn't sit well.
Sadly, since I purchased these rims from another forum member, the wheel replacement warranty no longer applies. Only the first owner gets the benefit. Apex hasn't definitively said they will not help me in any way, they just want me to try all the options first. Honestly not sure how they could help other than replacing the offending wheel just to see if that helps, but since there's no warranty at this point I suspect it will be a wheel replacement on my dime, which is no guarantee of success anyway.
Had I known this to be a potential issue, I wouldn't have purchased these rims. I also will not pruchase rims, with knurling in the bead seat area, in the future. Not worth it, especially since I'm not racing the car. Track days yes, but racing, no.
I have Continental Sport Contact's on the way. I've been wanting to go to a 275 x 30 tire, so this is as good an excuse as any to give it a shot. If this fails, I will go a different direction for wheels.
So currently I have three OEM rims (sold two of the five I originally had) and I'm about to have a set of Michelin PS4S tires for sale with 2.4k miles on them.
Fingers crossed the Continentals do the job. What a hassle.
Rims are nice as hell, and apparently this issue doesn't affect everyone, some, or even lots of folks, have had success with Michelin tires on their Apex VS5-RS wheels, but it's a known fact that people have had problems.
I'm not here to bash Apex, they seem like a solid company with good product, but not having a 100% success rate with Michelin performance tires, like the PS4S, or Sport Cup 2's etc. is very unfortunate, and it limits our tire options quite a bit depending on what size you want to run.
Just wanted folks to know before the take the plunge.
I'll report back after the new tires are installed.
TLDR- Do some research before buying Apex VS5-RS wheels, if you plan to use Michelin tires, they may not be a good match. Apparently these wheels are fine with other tire brands.
Sponsored
