What's this on my wheel?
 

I washed my car yesterday for the first time since installing my new wheels and I noticed these on all four.

http://i62.tinypic.com/2uxuusw.jpg

What is it and can I remove them?

Wheel weights. Don't touch them. That's what they put on when they mounted and balanced your tires.

You can paint them black or ask for black ones so they stand out less

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When I was plastidipping my wheels, I noticed these but in a few spots, I could tell some of them were missing because only the sticky residue was left behind. Do they really come off easily on their own?

Very important that you leave those on.....

Weights for the wheels, but that's an odd place to put them usually they are located on the lip of the rim

Middle of the barrel is a very typical place for sick on weights, I've never seen them really close to the lip at all. Mine are further away from the spokes, but definitely not at the inside edge.

I'm used to seeing the wheel weights right there as the OP's wheel has them, but on my previous car with black rims, I did what was already suggested, colored them black (with plastidip).

Depending on the type of wheel, basic steel wheels will typically have a different type of weight mounted on the outside and inside lips, most aftermarket wheels will have these stick on weights on the inside and outside of the barrel like in OP's pick.

[sarcasm]If you would like to shed a few pounds of unsprung weight, you can remove all of them[/sarcasm]

because it's all about every pound of weight right.....?

Thanks guys, it's my first time purchasing aftermarket wheels and I didn't know they actually stuck on weights to balance the wheel. I never see them on pictures either.

It's not about the weight. They just look ugly and out of place where they are located and would've liked to remove them if they were unnecessary.

It's good I was kidding. My statement above is for those that think changing the pulley "for a couple of pounds" is a good idea,...

You can put duct tape over them to make them less visible and less likely to come off.
Since you can get duct tape in almost any color, just find the closest to the rim color

you must be new to wheels!!

but anyways, you can ask the wheel balance place to relocate those weights.

Wheels have to be balanced every time you get new tires. The residue is from the last set of wheel weights. They can come off on their own, but they usually do not.

Every wheel on anything aside from a tractor or slow moving implement is balanced and has to be rightfully so. Must be OPs first vehicle perhaps.

As far as where they're located that's all dependent of wheel itself sometimes tire design by where they place the weighted section due to tread design. My Weds with MPSS weight strips right up tight outwards as well.

Yep it's the first car I've bought on my own and first car I've modified :) I figured it was some type of weight by looking at the numbers. I have Michelin PSS as well.

Ok makes perfect sense on their placement then. Have a great day! :)

so the balance, aside from where on a circle (imagine looking at the wheel as it is lying on the ground so as not to roll) is also dependent on how far toward the face of the wheel the weights are placed.
Sometimes they'll place the weights all the way toward the inside of the wheel, sometimes they'll place it closer to the face (the part that you see easily toward the spokes). This is all done for balance based on calculations by the mount n balance machine.
I doubt they can push the weights further toward the inside without messing up the balance of the wheel.

Inward or outward is dependant on the wheel itself in design and tires. So therefore no you would not want to move it from that position either.

ok your 2 sentences pretty much said what i was trying to say... but sooo much clearer.

my hat's off to you sir.

they are that close to the wheel because they are dynamic balanced. I'd bet there are hammered on weights on the inside.
To the people saying they belong in the middle, that is another type of balancing, which is less accurate, called static balancing.