“Are you a pimp? Because only pimps run MAE wheels.” – that’s what Markus got to hear at a recent car show he attended, hah. I guess that’s what you get for running wheels that in fact were mostly found on big body Benzos back in the late 90ies which were driven by persons of questionable employment. Shady past aside, the old school MAE splits made by OZ are definitely a ‘hate it or love it’ kind of wheel. I for one, absolutely love them.

When Markus got the chance to grab these up, he didn’t hestitate one bit. He picked them up and straight away dropped them off to be refinished. Markus went for  a subtle brushed finish on the faces with a ton of clear over it – it’s really hard to capture in pictures, but I assure you in real life it’s incredible to look at.

The Golf is actually Markus’ daily driver. It’s just a 1.9 TDI but it suffices for the duty Markus intended – delivering him to work and back and looking good all the while. Actually, the Golf kind of spiraled out of control. When Markus picked it up, his intentions were to not change a thing. A week later he had ordered lowering springs – which never actually made it into the car as he bought coilovers shortly after. Those were swapped out for lower coilovers after a while. Then Markus was the victim of a wheel theft and he knew there was just one way to prevent that – making the car so low, there wasn’t a jack in the world that would fit under it. That’s when he installed the GAS airride.

Along the way, Markus has also proven himself as a wheel whore – no set of wheels has ever lasted a full year on his car. But with each consequent set he went wider and more exclusive. The MAEs so far mark the top of his constant changing wheel setups.

As you can see, Markus has really dialed in the fitment on this set. When he airs the car out, the fender lips nicely suck themselves behind the wheel lips.

I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of the photos now, as I think the car speaks best for itself. It’s truly one of the finest Mk5’s I’ve seen so far.