Help! I need new rims!
- Thread starter exander
- Start date
Got them from a wheel wholesaler (best friend for 20 yrs), so my cost is NOT a fair comparison.
The only visible difference is the lack of a BMW part # in the barrel of the wheel and the lack of the "M" rectangular knock-out area (where the M logo would be). Look for a local place that does a lot of tuner jobs and stays busy. Try to find a shop with a "force" balancer - a system that simulates road force (load) on the tires as they spin on the balancing machine, you'll get a much truer balance than plain static weights, and you shouldn't have to re-balance for a while. Any wheel shop should be able to order as a wholesaler from the replica companies. I don't remember the latest hungry supplier, but I know that Voxxwheel has my style as well in chrome, and even has replicas of the newer m5 and e46 m3 wheels. Their www has a section for dealers, and they love to have new dealers order from them.
Also remember: you will potentially pay less than half of OEM retail, so don't give the wheel shop a hard time about possibly spending $120 or more to mount and balance. Treat them well (like you'd like to be treated) and they will take care of you in the future. (My own personal experience). AND: they should also be able to get you pretty good deals on tires through the wholesale distributors they go through (i.e. the Mastercrafts on my 5 are made by Cooper tire, cost WAY less than name brands, and have really good handling and roadwear.)
NOTE: I do not sell wheels, nor am I endorsing any specific vendor, I just like saving a buck when I can and feel if anyone else can through guidance, more power to them. Besides, if you don't need the nameplate, anyone can save half off retail cost to spend on other car goodies!![[cheers]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_cheers.gif "Cheers [cheers]")
The only visible difference is the lack of a BMW part # in the barrel of the wheel and the lack of the "M" rectangular knock-out area (where the M logo would be). Look for a local place that does a lot of tuner jobs and stays busy. Try to find a shop with a "force" balancer - a system that simulates road force (load) on the tires as they spin on the balancing machine, you'll get a much truer balance than plain static weights, and you shouldn't have to re-balance for a while. Any wheel shop should be able to order as a wholesaler from the replica companies. I don't remember the latest hungry supplier, but I know that Voxxwheel has my style as well in chrome, and even has replicas of the newer m5 and e46 m3 wheels. Their www has a section for dealers, and they love to have new dealers order from them.
Also remember: you will potentially pay less than half of OEM retail, so don't give the wheel shop a hard time about possibly spending $120 or more to mount and balance. Treat them well (like you'd like to be treated) and they will take care of you in the future. (My own personal experience). AND: they should also be able to get you pretty good deals on tires through the wholesale distributors they go through (i.e. the Mastercrafts on my 5 are made by Cooper tire, cost WAY less than name brands, and have really good handling and roadwear.)
NOTE: I do not sell wheels, nor am I endorsing any specific vendor, I just like saving a buck when I can and feel if anyone else can through guidance, more power to them. Besides, if you don't need the nameplate, anyone can save half off retail cost to spend on other car goodies!
Check with www.thewheelexchange.com they might have what you are looking for. If it's just slightly bent, you can fix them as well.
![[thumb]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_thumb.gif "Thumbs Up [thumb]"){kind=icon}
Couple answers:
1. yes*
2. no
3. yes
4. yes**
* A good wheel/tire shop will tell you right away what fits right.
**Again, you CAN purchase everything online and get a slightly better rate than what I described before on THE PARTS ONLY. So, unless you've got access to some awesome balancing equip., someone may charge you MORE for the labor (look at the whole package as one deal) What you may save in small areas is not significant compared to allowing a local shop to make a few bucks and take care of you down the road. AND they probably don't have any shipping to incur from tire wharehouses.
Trust me, I aint rollling in dough, I love to save green anyplace possible...problem is I like nice stuff. But lately (up in years) I learn who's back to scratch. Also, I wouldn't tell you to put stuff on your car that could possibly kill you either...(my wife drives the 5 with my 2 kids every day).
Look at it this way: you show up at some tire shop with a set of aluminum and rubber and they're already pissed that you didn't buy from them...see where this goes?
1. yes*
2. no
3. yes
4. yes**
* A good wheel/tire shop will tell you right away what fits right.
**Again, you CAN purchase everything online and get a slightly better rate than what I described before on THE PARTS ONLY. So, unless you've got access to some awesome balancing equip., someone may charge you MORE for the labor (look at the whole package as one deal) What you may save in small areas is not significant compared to allowing a local shop to make a few bucks and take care of you down the road. AND they probably don't have any shipping to incur from tire wharehouses.
Trust me, I aint rollling in dough, I love to save green anyplace possible...problem is I like nice stuff. But lately (up in years) I learn who's back to scratch. Also, I wouldn't tell you to put stuff on your car that could possibly kill you either...(my wife drives the 5 with my 2 kids every day).
Look at it this way: you show up at some tire shop with a set of aluminum and rubber and they're already pissed that you didn't buy from them...see where this goes?
![[:D]](/images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin [:D]")
yea some guys hate replicas. i for one could care less. and would much rather drop around 200 or less per rim than $500+ at the dealers. only issue w/ replicas is staggering. i found most only come in one width configuration. (but then again, i didn't want to stagger my winters, so i didn't look too hard for different sized rims.)
having the same size rims are nice for rotating and such, but there is a caveat: summer high perfs are usually directional, meaning you can't really rotate them. (again, that's if you are getting high perf summers on there.)
another option is to go w/ refurb rims. there maybe local tires shops that specialize on that. but if the 3 rims in question are in a somewhat of a bad shape, maybe its its time to get a new set of 4. on my old talon, the rims kept on bending and i ended up replacing 3 of them. (w/ refurbs) and i still need to replace at least 2, if not more.. i wish i would've bought an aftermarket set when the first one started to wig out.. oh well.. good luck on your repair/replacement.
having the same size rims are nice for rotating and such, but there is a caveat: summer high perfs are usually directional, meaning you can't really rotate them. (again, that's if you are getting high perf summers on there.)
another option is to go w/ refurb rims. there maybe local tires shops that specialize on that. but if the 3 rims in question are in a somewhat of a bad shape, maybe its its time to get a new set of 4. on my old talon, the rims kept on bending and i ended up replacing 3 of them. (w/ refurbs) and i still need to replace at least 2, if not more.. i wish i would've bought an aftermarket set when the first one started to wig out.. oh well.. good luck on your repair/replacement.