Blame lightonthehill for this thread... his daily visits to the dealer and love for the Max are contagious! I've been thinking lately that because of me my local Nissan dealership will soon put "No Loitering" signs all over their parking lots

Anyway, here's what I came across today: the first 2005 Maxima that I see with OEM chrome 18" wheels. IIRC, they are an option on both the SE and SL and the MSRP as per the window sticker is $1,530. Compared to the regular 18" on the silver Max right next to it, the chrome wheels did seem tiny. But anyhow, here are the pictures.

 

WOW the wheels are different huh?

 

I bought my 05 SE four weeks ago. I had the option to get the chrome wheels for a grand because someone ordered them for a 04 and didn't like them. I don't care for them either. If they would have made them just like the stock 18's on the SE I would have been more than happy to buy them. I have seen many people on cardomain that have 18's and 20's aftermarket that put those to shame. I was thinking of taking my factory 18's to a chrome shop and have them dipped in chrome. They look much classier than the factory chrome wheels in my opinion. Everyone one likes different things which makes us all unique. I just wouldn't pay $1500 for those and they seem to take away from the appearance instead of adding to the appearance. Just as you say, they do seem smaller than that stock wheels, more like 16's.

 

Look at all that rust - ugggh...

Anyway I have an 04 with chrome dipped OEM's and I LOVE them...

 

that really doesn't look all that bad, but for $1500, no way.

 

I agree, not worth $1500 at all for chrome upgrade. I did see them in person on a 04 Black SE though and they looked good. Stock ones should be able to be dipped a hell of alot cheaper. Been a long time since I looked into chrome dipping, but back in the 90's I remember was looking at getting my Stang 5.0 stock star rims dipped. Was $100 bucks a rim which was not bad, there are also some places that offer rim exchange, your stock for chrome ones and some $$$$.

 

Yup... very different... chrome are 5 spoke instead of 6 on the regular 18's. I personally like the 6 spoke non-chrome much better.

 

oh jeez, those things are ugly.... Im about to get an 05, and the dealer asked me if I wanted those rims, Im glad I said no... Is nissan purposly trying to make the max uglier uglier? The stocks look the best IMO.

 

Alloy looks much better than these chromes. I did not see these wheels when i bought my car. But I am clearly and really glad that i did not buy it..

 

slivermax04, I think these are an 05 option?

 

i think i saw a 350z with those rims but it was alloy not chrome

 

Maximadmoiselle - Since I am being blamed for the existance of this thread, I felt I should get my $1530 . . oops, my 2 cents in.

The pics are very good; well chosen and from good angles. Couldn't help but notice the 'Marrone' tag. Marrone has dealerships all over south Florida. I appreciate the chance to see the OEM chromes. I also noticed the red tabs marking the 'high spot' on the tires, as well as four weights inside the wheel. Evidently someone at Nissan is trying to prevent the steering vibration.

I'm not into chrome, and used to sand and paint over chrome on my Datsuns. But Nissan is very careful about using chrome on the Maxima, so I usually leave what little is there.

Strangely enough, despite my general dislike of chrome, I found these wheels rather striking. My eyes were really drawn to them. Having only five spokes gives them an agressive, lean look. The pattern is fairly simple, symetrical, and every spoke is alike. I abhor non-symetrical wheels.

I also like the fact no part of them sticks way out or way in; the wheels are rather in line with the side of the car. I'm not about to pay $1530 for them, but, as with the spoiler, if they were already on the car, and the dealer wasn't going to charge me for them, I would probably bite.

JiuJitsu - Rust accumulates very quickly on the rotors if the weather has been moist and the car has not been driven. It is most obvious on cars with wheels with fewer spokes (hence wider gaps to see thru), such as these chrome wheels. But I was not aware there had been any moisture in Florida this past month (OK, I should be banned for that statement).

Maximadmoiselle - Maybe someday when we're both bending over examining wheels on new Maximas at the dealer, our rumps will meet. Wouldn't that be poetic justice?

 

Does anyone have a pic of the factory rims dipped in chrome and how much $$$ . JiuJitsuThug?
I think they might look nice.

 

As requested:

This is with the old tires - I now have Yokohama's on the chromed OEM rims.

 

yes the 04 chromies are very sweet!

 

bling bling...


/nuff said

 

LOL - true. But i keep them on 18's rather than moving up to 20's because I like to keep the weight balance in check. 20's would kill any extra HP that I get from my performance mods.

 

Thanks JiuJitsuThug,

That looks really nice, especially on the black.

If you don't mind me asking, How much did it cost you and how long does it take to do?

 

adeen2 - Thanks! I really like them and everyone thinks they are aftermarket rims - lol.

Anyway as for price I paid $600 total with installation on a wheel exchange program at my dealership. Took less than an hour for them to throw them on. VERY HAPPY with the exchange program.

My dealership is awesome though, they really take care of me (Mossy Nissan - San Diego). I had them throw in all my performance mods too (Stillen Intake, Greddy CatBacks and Stillen RSB.) They have thrown in my aftermarket shift **** and pedals for free cause they like my MAX.

 

they arent an OEM option, but a dealer option........

 

Yeah, that could explain why dont see it in the 2k5 booklet.

 

The chrome 6 spoke wheels were an OEM option in the latter half of the '04 run, and they were changed to the 5-spoke chrome for '05 - check in an '04 brochure and you will see them on the options page - they were a late add.

 

I also have the oem wheels with the gold center piece on a Black 04 Max which I got off E-Bay from www.oemrims.com since my dealer wanted the full price for them, charged just $45.00 shipping both ways from California to Arkansas, with a 1 year warrenty, you can see them on my cardomain site which is linked in my signature. Another option to consider..

 

theres a place in the san francisco area that does chroming for 170 a wheel and if it has damage they will fix it and chrome it for 275. its called wheels america. i used to work there.

 

I wouldn't want to argue with lightonthehill , but the red mark on the tire is not to denote the high spot ... it actually denotes the "light" spot on the tire. It's supposed to be a guide for mounting the tire on the rim, so the red mark lines up with the valve stem. Since the valve stem has a little weight of its own, the light spot is placed next to it to offset that.

In the rush of mounting thousands of tires a day at the mfr., this guide is only roughly followed (note in the picture that the mark is offset from the valve stem by a couple of inches). Usually, that's no real problem, as the tire weights take care of it.

Just have to keep you honest, light!

Mike

 

The rims are OEM, and I don't think you can find a non-chrome version of them.. if you don't see it in the brochure, it's on Nissan's website
here
18" CHROME WHEELS SET OF 4 $1,530.00

Yeah, I would have offered to take the car for a spin to clean the rust off the rotors And I exaggerated, I only went for a walk around the lot while my car was getting serviced.

 

i think if you want to put chrome on the new MAX . . you should definately look deep into the aftermarket, because rims on the AM make those nissan chromey's look like shiny keychains compared to the ones out there.. but that's just my two cents. .

 

Mike_TX - So the red marker is for the 'light' spot, and not the 'high' spot, eh? All I know is when I get 'high', I feel 'light'.

I appreciate your bringing this discrepancy to my attention. I don't mind ten thousand posters here knowing I know nothing, but I would hate for the greasemonkey down at the tire shop to find that out. Which he eventually would, had you not enlightened me. Thanks!

 

lightonthehill: no worries about the greasemonkey at the shop catching any flaws in your car-related knowledge. Just talked to one yesterday and he couldn't tell a Nissan 350Z from a G35 coupe, honest to god. You're talking some rocket science here with your high and light spots.

 

I just saw a new, off the lot 6th gen parked by my post office. As I was walking by it, I was shocked to already see aftermarket rims on it. But it didn't quite look like they were, as there were Nissan center caps on them. If they were after market, and somebody just managed to find 4 center caps, then this must be the fastest a Max has been fitted with new shoes.

Did 05s get a new rim option? I don't believe they did, but maybe I missed a memo...

 

yea they have an 18" chrome rim option. I was looking at it but didn't like the actual 5 spoke, I much rather have the 6 spoke ones..

 

Nope - was an option - each dealership had a couple sets sent to them from nissan - my 05 has them - 5 spoke chrome 18's

 

Damn, that's frigin hot. I loved how they looked.

 

 

If someone will post a pic - i will send it to them to post here - lemme know
It will be a day or so until i can get a pic - she is put away in the garage - and i will not be there until tomorrow or so..

 

With a drop, the 05 with the 5-spokes looks unbelievably gorgeous. I can't wait to see what the 2006 face-lift will look like.

 

here you go, i believe these are the rims you are talking about arnold

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....=chrome+wheels

 

yea those are it, way down on the first post there......

 

I have them as well I think that it was a $1,500 dollar option I think that they look great, people comment on them all the time. The only thing is that I wish my brake calipers were painted, in fact I may ask a buddy to paint them the same color as the car. I may also go with the drilled and sloted rotors, has anyone seen the rotors for sale on ebay? I think that the wheels would look great with those rotors.

 

I bet the 06 Max will have 6 spokes and the 07 will have 7 I think that there is a pattern here