Wheels: Used, replica, or refurbish?

I now have my 35D, very happy with it. The original 18 inches wheels are very good for the winter set; but this truck need 20" to stand out. Original brand new 214 are way to expensive! so this leave for couple of options. I Like to know the experience you encounter with different type of aftermarket wheels. Replica are plentiful, but are they true, round and balance? do Refurbish paint stay good looking for years? I know take-off would be the best choice, but how can I be sure they send me real low mileage factory wheels?

I'm looking for 214 or maybe 215


Any input welcome

A few places to look. First try the tirerack site, they do LOTS of wheels and they will stand behind the quality. Secondly for OEM you might consider a wrecking yard (oops, I mean "auto dismantler"). There have been lots of flooded (totalled) cars, including X5's especially in the US South East and water does not hurt wheels (or tires). You can go on line, look in the Roundel, or go to your local yard where they are almost all hooked up. Be sure to check the classifed thread here of the 'fest too. Good luck!

I have 20" style 336 brand new with tires im trying to sell. I pick up my vehicle on valentines day and the 336's (rims and tires) are coming off. How much you looking to spend. You can PM me.

I'd also add that contrary to popular belief, OEM 20" aren't all that expensive (well, relatively speaking), and for example 214s or the above mentioned 336s can be purchased for a bit more than $2K from places like getbmwparts.com. Of course it's more than twice than $800 for a set of replicas on ebay, but I'm yet to see an accurate replica of 336s.

Check out Direct Performance in Deerfield Beach FL. They have a store on Ebay. I bought 20 inch wheels to mount the winter tires on my '11 50i, I was extremely pleased, and the price was terrific. They sell wheels manufactured by the same people that make them for BMW. The are truly identical wheels to genuine BMW, but without the BMW insignia...they even have the same exact casting marks. The dealer who mounted the tires for me even thought they were genuine BMW.

Originally Posted by shark715

Check out Direct Performance in Deerfield Beach FL. They have a store on Ebay. I bought 20 inch wheels to mount the winter tires on my '11 50i, I was extremely pleased, and the price was terrific. They sell wheels manufactured by the same people that make them for BMW. The are truly identical wheels to genuine BMW, but without the BMW insignia...they even have the same exact casting marks. The dealer who mounted the tires for me even thought they were genuine BMW.

Someone PM'ed me to ask how these wheels worked out. I'm happy to report no issues whatsoever. It would be completely foolish to pay BMW's crazy prices for these!

Originally Posted by shark715

Check out Direct Performance in Deerfield Beach FL. They have a store on Ebay. I bought 20 inch wheels to mount the winter tires on my '11 50i, I was extremely pleased, and the price was terrific. They sell wheels manufactured by the same people that make them for BMW. The are truly identical wheels to genuine BMW, but without the BMW insignia...they even have the same exact casting marks. The dealer who mounted the tires for me even thought they were genuine BMW.

I am of the opinion that brought counterfeit knock offs.

AFAIK, no current BMW vendor is allowed to sell copies of the trademarked BMW designs.

Originally Posted by ard

I am of the opinion that brought counterfeit knock offs.

AFAIK, no current BMW vendor is allowed to sell copies of the trademarked BMW designs.

BMW AG has a large equity stake in BBS, but also sources wheels from Ronal in DE and CZ, and OZ in IT. I've personally seen a plant in Taipei that was knocking-off BMW cast wheels off down to ejection pin marks. Some less than prudent knock-off wheel manufacturers take a FEM design originally produced by forging or flow forming, and then duplicate the design with gravity or low-pressure casting methods. Metallurgy - hah!

I've given up on aftermarket unless they are one of the really reputable manufacturers. I suggest you find a set of used OEM wheels and know what you are buying. Low mileage isn't very important and isn't a proxy for condition. The Wheel and Tire classifieds on this board are a good source of quality OEM wheels - but don't know about shipping into Canada

Originally Posted by dkreidel

BMW AG has a large equity stake in BBS, but also sources wheels from Ronal in DE and CZ, and OZ in IT. I've personally seen a plant in Taipei that was knocking-off BMW cast wheels off down to ejection pin marks. Some less than prudent knock-off wheel manufacturers take a FEM design originally produced by forging or flow forming, and then duplicate the design with gravity or low-pressure casting methods. Metallurgy - hah!

I've given up on aftermarket unless they are one of the really reputable manufacturers. I suggest you find a set of used OEM wheels and know what you are buying. Low mileage isn't very important and isn't a proxy for condition. The Wheel and Tire classifieds on this board are a good source of quality OEM wheels - but don't know about shipping into Canada

Great post.

I've bolded a statement you made to emphasize a conclusion I came to: a 'reputable manufacturer' will not copy a BMW wheel. It is almost mutually exclusive: once a mfg gets to the size and maturity to properly make a high quality wheel, they then 'have something to lose'- in terms of copyright infringement and getting sued.

Same concept applies to high performance wheels- yes, you can buy cheap wheels, but as a company grows and prospers, they have much more skin in the game- and their focus on quality as a way to protect their business name and assets increases. You can pay 1300 for a single HRE wheel, or buy 4 no-names from tirerack for less than that....

Finally, people think they can somehow 'specify' or 'research' their way to making a wise purchase decision- you cannot. Sellers flat out dont know, they lie, etc, etc, at one end there are 14 year olds working in a sweatshop filling up shipping containers headed to south florida- and many hands later there are 4 wheels in nice boxes, with a high school drop out saying whatever he must to get you to buy.

My 2 cents

Originally Posted by shark715

Someone PM'ed me to ask how these wheels worked out. I'm happy to report no issues whatsoever. It would be completely foolish to pay BMW's crazy prices for these!

Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I have my winter tires mounted on the aftermarket wheels, and after more than 10k miles and some pretty whopper potholes (I live in New Jersey) I've had no issues at all. Obviously there's lots of room for cheating as the other posters have pointed out, but I'm convinced the wheels I bought were made by BMW's supplier, and somehow diverted. I saw the same wheel in stock at the local BMW dealer parts department. Even the corregated box manufacturer was the same, and the packaging used to keep the wheel from getting damaged in shipment even had the exact same markings. I don't doubt that the manufacturer of these wheels is in some fashion violating their agreement with BMW, but Direct Performance seems to be getting terrific feedback from their Ebay purchasers.

I'll offer a good example of how difficult it can be to assure that non-OEM wheels are safe for a given vehicle. I wanted a "square" set of wheels and tires for my new X5M; a set of BBS forged wheels in 10x20 size. After doing some research and talking with BBS USA, they will not approve fitting any BBS wheel other than their new SV model (flow formed, not forged) to an X5.

Many BBS wheel models are the correct size and offset to fit on an X5(M), but aren't designed & load rated for the dynamic loads a 5,300# truck can generate on the wheel hub. So, even a high quality wheel like a forged BBS may not be appropriate for all generic BMW applications.

I followed their recommendation and used 10x20 BBS SV.

Originally Posted by ard

Great post.



Finally, people think they can somehow 'specify' or 'research' their way to making a wise purchase decision- you cannot. Sellers flat out dont know, they lie, etc, etc, at one end there are 14 year olds working in a sweatshop filling up shipping containers headed to south florida- and many hands later there are 4 wheels in nice boxes, with a high school drop out saying whatever he must to get you to buy.

My 2 cents

agreed but one question I have is how is this particular company selling these wheels consistently and over a seeming long period of time w/out having the mighty arm of BMW legal come down on them?

BMW's brand is far too important to let a company get away with this if there wasn't something to their claims. Generally companies like this crush these people out of business quickly. Rolex would have them shut down in a weekend and they would'n't pop back up under a different name. Direct performance continually sells these wheels claiming BMW OEM spec on their Ebay listings year in and year out.

I'm not saying I am going to buy them but I am a little curious about how they get away with this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-NEW-OE...item27ca3a0aff

Originally Posted by dkreidel

I've given up on aftermarket unless they are one of the really reputable manufacturers.

which are?

Originally Posted by RockChips

which are?

I'm not qualified to make a comprehensive list, and some of our Board sponsors represent wheel companies that I don't consider qualified. One can't even make a call based on manufacturing process (forged, spun, flow formed, low pressure cast, gravity cast,...) as some of the forged wheels have proven to be problematic. I'll start a list, and others can add as they deem appropriate....and then we can argue over the inclusion or exclusion of xxx

• Ronal
• BBS
• HRE
• OZ
• Rays (Volk)
• AMT
• Hamann
• Champion Motorsports
• RAC Motorsports

Here is a video outlining what goes into manufacturing a quality aftermarket wheel - although Rays also build OEM wheels for Nissan and others.