Blue GT Alloys

[lukethomas1197]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to this forum but would love some advice on my polo. I'm looking to upgrade to the Polo GTI alloys but would look at also selling my current ones. I have 17" Anthracite Montani Alloys with no scratching / marks, still in great condition. Could anyone advice on a rough price range that I could look to sell these for to pick up a set of GTI alloys?

Thanks in advance,

Luke

[SRGTD]

Welcome to the forum Luke.

Not Montani alloys, but I sold a set of Genuine 17” VW Motorsport alloys last year that I had on my 6c Polo GTI. My Motorsport alloys were the same size and offset as your Montani alloys and were pretty much in ‘as new’ condition. I advertised them on the forum For Sale board for £395 with tyres (Continental Contisport’s) and they sold for the full asking price in less than a week to another forum member. Link to my ‘for sale’ ad below;

https://www.uk-polos.net/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=75429

If you are thinking of upgrading to Polo GTI alloys, if these are the Parabolica alloys off the 6c Polo GTI - like the ones in the first picture below - please be aware that they have a diamond cut finish (face of the spokes have a highly polished, shiny appearance). Alloys which are diamond cut are quite prone to white worm corrosion, especially when they’re on the car all year round that’s used as a daily driver, as the diamond cut / clear lacquer finish isn’t particularly durable,

For a good quality refurb to remove white worm corrosion, you’re looking at around £80-£90 +VAT per wheel. Some refurb places charge extra to remove and refit the tyres (if wheels have tyres fitted).

Diamond cut Parabolica (6c Polo GTI)

9EDD688D-CBCC-4282-BE94-9567D3F877D0.jpeg (47.68 KiB) Viewed 2360 times

The pre-facelift Polo GTI (the 6R model) had Monza alloys, available either in a diamond cut or powder coated finish;

Diamond cut;

9FB0687C-A734-4F85-9772-FCCD925F2B73.jpeg (35.97 KiB) Viewed 2360 times

Powder coated;

6A00E418-E0BD-4BFD-BF6B-BF3749DE6D74.jpeg (21.49 KiB) Viewed 2360 times

[lukethomas1197]

Thank you so much for the detailed response. It is the Parabolica alloys that I am looking for, although I didn't realise they are prone to white worm corrosion. I would be using them on my daily car, so would it not be advisable to go for these alloys in that case?

Thanks

[SRGTD]

I’m personally not a fan of diamond cut alloys; they have a certain ‘bling’ appeal on a new car sitting in a dealer’s showroom but I think they’re more trouble than they’re worth;

• They often suffer from white worm because of the poor durability of the finish compared to powder coated alloys.

• They’re more expensive to get refurbished than powder coated alloys, and because the diamond cut refurb process involves removing a layer of metal by re-cutting the face of the wheel, they can usually only be refurbished a maximum of two times; any more than twice and too much metal may have been removed, which could compromise the structural integrity of the wheel.

• The diamond cut face is easily damaged by inexperienced tyre fitters and / or poorly maintained tyre changing equipment.

My last three cars came with diamond cut alloys, but given a choice of diamond cut or powder coated, I’d go for powder coated every time. In fact I’ve changed the wheels to a set of powder coated alloys on each of my last three cars. I’ve always kept the original diamond cut alloys and put them back on the car when I decided to sell it. That’s why I put my VW Motorsport wheels up for sale as I’d put the original diamond cut alloys back on my Polo GTI ready to trade in against my current car.

IMHO, the problem with diamond cut wheels is the highly polished diamond cut face doesn’t provide a good surface for the clear lacquer to bond to. Therefore, if the lacquer coating becomes damaged by stone chips, other road debris or by kerb damage, then water and road salt can get between the lacquer and the polished alloy surface, causing it to oxidise and creating the white worm corrosion. It usually happens when the wheels are between 2 and 3 years old - sometimes sooner, sometimes not at all if you’re lucky. I had it happen on my mk6 Golf GTD on two of the wheels at around 30 months old and I was really meticulous and OCD about how I looked after them; cleaned every 7-10 days with ph neutral shampoo solution (no acidic or harsh products used), protected with wax and / or sealant which was topped up every 3-4 months and any stone chip damage to the lacquer touched in with clear lacquer as soon as it happened. In spite of this, two of the wheels still became white wormed.

In your position I think I would keep the Montani alloys. I think they are a good looking alloy, especially in anthracite grey, and they have a good durable painted / powder coated finish. The multi spoke design of the Montani’s probably means they’re not the easiest design of wheel to clean though!

Edit; a Google search of ‘alloy wheel white worm corrosion’ will show some extreme cases; here’s one of a mk5 Golf GTI’s diamond cut alloy that was posted on mk5golfgti.co.uk;

[Bongobob]

How much do the 17 inch VW Motorsport alloys weigh, compared against the Montani?

[SRGTD]

How much do the 17 inch VW Motorsport alloys weigh, compared against the Montani?

Sorry, I have no idea - I no longer have them (sold them last September) and don’t think I ever weighed them, and I didn’t ever have a set of Montani alloys to compare them to. I’d hazard a guess that the Motorsports might weigh a little less though, as there is less mass to them (fewer, quite slim spokes). That’s purely speculation though.

[Argyle_Mikey]

Apologies for jumping onto this thread. Bit of a Newb question, so please bear with me.

I want to swap my standard 1.2TSi alloys (2011) for a set of standard "five hole" GTi alloys from the same era. Is this a straight swap, simple as that, or are things more complicated ? What's the part number for the GTi alloys please ?

Cheers

Mike

[SRGTD]

Apologies for jumping onto this thread. Bit of a Newb question, so please bear with me.

I want to swap my standard 1.2TSi alloys (2011) for a set of standard "five hole" GTi alloys from the same era. Is this a straight swap, simple as that, or are things more complicated ? What's the part number for the GTi alloys please ?

Cheers

Mike

If they’re the 6R Polo version of the five hole GTI alloys, then they should bolt straight on the car. I think they were known as either Monza or Detroit alloys - the name depends on the market they were sold in (they were sold as Monza’s in the UK). As these are a 17” wheel with low profile tyres, you’d probably notice the ride is firmer / less compliant compared to your existing wheel / tyre set up.

On earlier 6r Polo GTI’s these wheels were powder coated, but on later models VW either changed them to diamond cut as standard or a diamond cut version was offered as an option. I would personally avoid the diamond cut version for the reasons I outlined in my earlier post in this discussion thread. Also, if buying used diamond cut alloys that were originally fitted on a car that could now be 7 - 8 years old or older, they may have been refurbished twice during their life, in which case it may not be safe from a structural integrity perspective to refurbish them again.

There was also a 17” version of this design of wheel for the Golf GTI in a powder coated finish. Be aware that the Golf version won’t fit the Polo as it has a different bolt pattern (Golf; 5x112, Polo; 5x100) so the bolt holes in the Golf version won’t physically line up with the bolt holes on the Polo’s wheel hub assembly.

I think the part number of the Polo GTI version of the Monza alloy was 6R0601025S. I suspect there’ll be very few brand new sets for sale now. If you buy used, always ask the seller if they’ve been damaged / repaired and whether the repairs were structural or cosmetic. Also, ask to see the reverse side of the wheel where details of the wheel size (7J x 17” ET46), VW part number, wheel manufacturer (I think they were manufactured by Ronal for VW, but I might be wrong), VW emblem etc. should be stamped into the spokes.

Here’s a brand new set of the diamond cut version. I don’t know if the seller ships to the UK though and post-Brexit; if they do, then there are probably additional import taxes / duties to pay;

https://www.kunzmann.de/shop/en/tires-w ... olo-6r.htm

Be aware that fitting different wheels to your car is a modification for insurance purposes so you’ll need to inform your insurer.

Good luck with your search!

[Argyle_Mikey]

Wow - that’s perfect, thanks so much. I was looking for the non-diamond ones, just to preserve the original (ish) look.

Just had to pay 20% on a Hegel Amp I bought from Germany on ebay, so it’s a UK search for these.

Cheers

Mike