DILEMMA: 2nd Hand Genuine BMW Alloys or New replica alloys?!

Surely its depends whos making the reps, and the so-called originals for that matter, - because they're often one and the same company.... :)
 
Only thing with wheels, IMO, is to keep an EO look - even if they are reps. If you are buying reps you'll need to do a fair amount of research to make sure you're buying something decent, but I wouldn't rule out either option. For your budget I think you may be restricted to OE wheels with minor scuffs and part worn tyres. Or spend a little more on the wheels and wait a while until you need to change the tyres anyway. I'd be suspicious of new wheels that are that cheap with tyres - I think Easty's wheels look great (and from the forum I know others agree!) but I'm sure they weren't cheap.

As for the debate about selling them and what they're going to be worth, you may lose some potential buyers with reps, Mr W for instance, but if they look anything like Easty's I suspect only very few! Most people wouldn't have a clue about unsprung weight etc, so I wouldn't let that sway your decision from a resale standpoint. Just keep your current wheels to go with. Let's face it, you bought your car despite the wheels (as did I)... I'm sure you can sell it on the same way.

Good hunting... be interested to see what sort of deal you get! Also, as much as I enjoy the debate, are you any further along having had all this advice?!
 
lacroupade said:
Surely its depends whos making the reps, and the so-called originals for that matter, - because they're often one and the same company.... :)
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BBS make replicas?

Honestly though, they must be inferior quality. If they can produce/market them on a low volume setup, vs OEM's who will want thousands and thousands and are buying without the need for marketing budgets and the like, then either manufacturers are getting taken for a ride (not likely), or the replicas are cut back on quality a fair deal.


Fair enough if you don't have a big budget, or the wheels you want are out of production, or in the case of good (those ones over £1000) CSL reps you can get them in the right offsets for a non-M model, then fine...

But I wouldn't buy replicas of wheels that are easily available as originals for that model in the right size/offset. The fact they are worth half as much the instant you take delivery just doesn't appeal to me, and then the issues with their impact on residual/resale ease of the car.

Dave
 
But personally I would never pay several hundred pounds over the odds for a second hand car just because it had slightly posher wheels.....the fact that second hand 108s tend to go for a measly £300 or so on ebay pretty much underlines the problem doesn't it?

And don't think for a minute that companies like BBS don't make 'badged' wheels for other resellers.....
 
Don't forget that just because a well-respected company makes a wheel for a certain marque, it doesn't necessarily mean that the wheel for that marque will be of the same/greater/lesser quality than their own.

It all depends on what level of strength/weight/cost/materials BMW have specified to the wheel manufacturer - for all we know they've asked for the wheels to be lighter at the expense of strength/longevity.

However, most 'replica' wheels are poorer quality than genuine - and OEM does not mean genuine, just that it's made by the same company that makes your car wheels.
 
PawnSacrifice said:
Only thing with wheels, IMO, is to keep an EO look - even if they are reps. If you are buying reps you'll need to do a fair amount of research to make sure you're buying something decent, but I wouldn't rule out either option. For your budget I think you may be restricted to OE wheels with minor scuffs and part worn tyres. Or spend a little more on the wheels and wait a while until you need to change the tyres anyway. I'd be suspicious of new wheels that are that cheap with tyres - I think Easty's wheels look great (and from the forum I know others agree!) but I'm sure they weren't cheap.

As for the debate about selling them and what they're going to be worth, you may lose some potential buyers with reps, Mr W for instance, but if they look anything like Easty's I suspect only very few! Most people wouldn't have a clue about unsprung weight etc, so I wouldn't let that sway your decision from a resale standpoint. Just keep your current wheels to go with. Let's face it, you bought your car despite the wheels (as did I)... I'm sure you can sell it on the same way.

Good hunting... be interested to see what sort of deal you get! Also, as much as I enjoy the debate, are you any further along having had all this advice?!
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My goodness!!! It seems that I have opened one hell of a can of worms!!! First of all thanks for all of the advice/comments... I am leaning more towards the second hand genuine bm alloys due to 1) quality and 2) resale value...

I am considering a set of 108s as we speak!

Cheers,

Ames x

my next dilemma is... Falkens or RFTs?!!!!! ;)
 
Mr Whippy said:
Good quality replica wheels are still worth a great deal less than originals.

New CSL's vs replica CSL's worth buying, the new CSL's retain most of their value, the replica ones, as we have seen, lose a great deal of value instantly.

I wouldn't buy a Z4 with replica wheels, unless it had about £500 knocked off the value.

I care, and I'm sure other people would. How about buying an M3 CSL with replica CSL's on it? They are so close to OEM, even in weight... what does it matter? Well, the fact they are worth maybe £1000 less to sell is a big issue I'm sure most people would consider!

Replica wheels are just for those who want the looks of something more expensive, but cheaper and inferior to the originals. It'd be like buying M badges for your 3.0i, or buying those stick on Bremo brake covers for your callipers :D

Why not just buy the originals, and the extra cost simply goes to improving the residual value of them, or the car they are fitted to.


I'm not fussed if people want to fit them/buy them, but I'd walk away from a car with replicas without a cost reduction to replace them with originals, and I'd know they were almost worthless to re-sell.

Dave
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We are talking different animals here. I wouldnt buy a M3 CSL with replicas, as thats an expensive car. Just like i wouldnt buy a 3K set of wheels for a car worth 10-12K. It doesnt make sense. Its all relative to the car. And its nothing like buying M badges for a 3.0i either. Not sure were your going with that one to be honest...
 
lacroupade said:
But personally I would never pay several hundred pounds over the odds for a second hand car just because it had slightly posher wheels.....the fact that second hand 108s tend to go for a measly £300* or so on ebay pretty much underlines the problem doesn't it?

And don't think for a minute that companies like BBS don't make 'badged' wheels for other resellers.....
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In fact a fairly decent set of 108s went just this evening for £255. Not sure how that enhances the second hand value of any car TBH..... :roll:
 
Anything non-oe (ie, fitted from the factory/showroom) will put people off, simply put.

Cripes, we have owners on here worrying about RFT's being fitted for insurance purposes, so aftermarket or replicas would NOT get the full/proper pay out from an insurer if they had the chance to avoid paying for originals (at much greater expense)

It's just not worth buying replica stuff unless you can't get them as originals... imho.

They don't sell for as much, they WILL impact resale value/ease of selling (BMW wouldn't take them on an AUC would they?), and all to save maybe not much money at all, vs just buying nice 2nd hand originals.


Hey ho, each to their own... but in this case, if you can get genuine 2nd hand cheaper or for the same price as NEW replica wheels, then you WILL be better off financially in the longer run!

Dave
 
Mr Whippy said:
Anything non-oe (ie, fitted from the factory/showroom) will put people off, simply put.

Cripes, we have owners on here worrying about RFT's being fitted for insurance purposes, so aftermarket or replicas would NOT get the full/proper pay out from an insurer if they had the chance to avoid paying for originals (at much greater expense)

It's just not worth buying replica stuff unless you can't get them as originals... imho.

They don't sell for as much, they WILL impact resale value/ease of selling (BMW wouldn't take them on an AUC would they?), and all to save maybe not much money at all, vs just buying nice 2nd hand originals.


Hey ho, each to their own... but in this case, if you can get genuine 2nd hand cheaper or for the same price as NEW replica wheels, then you WILL be better off financially in the longer run!

Dave
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I think it depends on the age of the vehicle. You're selling a 5-6 year old car into a very different market than if you were trading a 3-year old one. And the insurer is hardly going to fork out a grand for set of alloys they know can be had s/h for £250 are they?

As an aside, I'd think carefully about the position a lot of people must be in, i.e. have you declared those 108s to the insurance company or not bothered just because they are OEM? Yet the fact is they are not 'standard' are they?....so why should two owners pay the same premium when one has 'standard' wheels and the other 108s or whatever, that cost a packet extra?

And I don't know the answer by the way - anyone had to have the argument with the insurance company out of interest?
 
I declared my 'non' standard wheels to my insurance company ie they are different from the build sheet... they were not bothered as long they were 'OEM' (which they are), so no change to premiums :D
 
Its clear in this thread who has replica wheels lol. Stop defending yourselves, you do as you please, people are just giving advice to somone else.

As far as the thread goes, i'd go with the 108's and Falkens (and some tyreweld!) you won't regret it, i'm sure. :)
 
i have owned both 108's & reps, hence why i am defending replica's in respect of they are not all bad. depends on the quality.

I bought my car with 108's, had them professionally refurbed, then nealry 2 years down the line they were knackered again, hence why i am questioning the quality of what are supposed to be 'quality' wheels.

And yes i agree, each to there own. :poke:
 
lacroupade said:
Mr Whippy said:
Anything non-oe (ie, fitted from the factory/showroom) will put people off, simply put.

Cripes, we have owners on here worrying about RFT's being fitted for insurance purposes, so aftermarket or replicas would NOT get the full/proper pay out from an insurer if they had the chance to avoid paying for originals (at much greater expense)

It's just not worth buying replica stuff unless you can't get them as originals... imho.

They don't sell for as much, they WILL impact resale value/ease of selling (BMW wouldn't take them on an AUC would they?), and all to save maybe not much money at all, vs just buying nice 2nd hand originals.


Hey ho, each to their own... but in this case, if you can get genuine 2nd hand cheaper or for the same price as NEW replica wheels, then you WILL be better off financially in the longer run!

Dave
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I think it depends on the age of the vehicle. You're selling a 5-6 year old car into a very different market than if you were trading a 3-year old one. And the insurer is hardly going to fork out a grand for set of alloys they know can be had s/h for £250 are they?

As an aside, I'd think carefully about the position a lot of people must be in, i.e. have you declared those 108s to the insurance company or not bothered just because they are OEM? Yet the fact is they are not 'standard' are they?....so why should two owners pay the same premium when one has 'standard' wheels and the other 108s or whatever, that cost a packet extra?

And I don't know the answer by the way - anyone had to have the argument with the insurance company out of interest?
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You are right on the age of the car etc, but unfortunately the insurer would have to replace like for like, they don't expect owners to go trawling eBay for days and then going to pick up wheels etc... the insurer would ask you to take your car to X garage and then they would replace as necessary on your behalf. Probably with new stuff. They don't for example go on eBay and buy you 2nd hand tyres and panels :)
This is why plenty of older cars are just written off, because to fix them up right costs them too much. That is then where people come in and buy them, and take the time to source 2nd hand parts etc, and sell them on as CatC/D etc...

No, the 108's were not declared, nor was the wind deflector, or the extended storage, or steering wheel controls. They have the reg number, they can ring BMW and get the details before giving me my quote :)
It is a risk though, insurers can be complete divvies, which is why I have chosen one that I know don't play such scummy games when it comes to total losses :) (which is where insurers prove their worth imho!)


But yeah, I agree, it's a tough one, but replicas are just one more way for insurers to play silly buggers imho. If they find out, they could easily just not pay out. If they are OEM then it's a harder thing for them to quibble over (unless it's all declared etc of course) :)

Dave
 
Hey guys!

Just a little update for you...

My search for a new set of alloys is finally over!!!

After much deliberation and consideration I have invested in a new set of alloys...

They are devil riviera deep dish 18" alloys and I will be posting pics once I have got them fitted next sat...

I k ow they won't be to everyone's taste/liking but I think they will look great ;)

Thanks for all the advice/info - you have been great!

Ames x x x
 
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