E89 need help choosing aftermarket alloys!

[mattmuirhead]

Hi All,

So I've managed to crack 2 of my alloys on my E89...

I have the BMW 296 19" V Spoke wheels which I absolutely adore, BMW have quoted give or take £1000 + labour to replace them.

However for this price I could potentially get a set of four brand new alloys. I do find it hard though to picture what the wheels will look like and I have no idea which brands are decent and what's good for the money.

So if anyone has replaced their stock wheels before, or if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them!

I'd need 19x8j Front and 19x9j Rear. If possible under £1000 (otherwise it defeats the point!) and ideally in black or anthracite, I love this look (my car is also white):



Thanks! Matt

 

[Smurfalot]

I have the same dilemma mate...
But for a silver car. What we need is somebody that's a photoshop whizz to show us what would look good..

 

[Peterboroughdave]

Why not have the wheels professionally welded, re-machined to original profile and finished to the colour you prefer if all 4 wheels are done, or to match original finish if you are only doing the 2 damaged wheels.

I had my 326M wheels re-furbed which did not have cracks but had to have alloy material welded in to the edge of the rim to allow re-machining back to the original profile. The finished profile and coating is fantastic and at £115 plus VAT per wheel was a great result for me

This will maintain the value of the cars OE wheels.

Dave

 

[Busterboo]

Why not have the wheels professionally welded, re-machined to original profile and finished to the colour you prefer if all 4 wheels are done, or to match original finish if you are only doing the 2 damaged wheels.

Only for them to crack again?

 

[Peterboroughdave]

A small gamble I guess, the 326 wheels on recently new to us car had no cracks and was running for 34,000 miles on 19" x 30 x 255 runflats at the rear. I don't know if the OP's wheels are any worse for cracking than the 326's.

To reduce risk of cracking in the future and improve the ride we have swapped out the run-flats and increased rear to 19" x 35 x 255mm

Fairly happy with the risk v benefit of keeping the 326M's on our car, but it is up to the individual to decide

Dave

 

[mattmuirhead]

I've emailed a guy that has refurbed my alloys on previous cars asking for his advice too so I'll let you all know his opinion.

My problem is if I refurb they could crack again, if I get the originals from BMW, they could crack again. So do I get a whole new site of alloys and tyres if so that's going to get very expensive?!

 

[R.E92]

I don't have any I can recommend other than the standard BBS and HRE but I know one company you should avoid at any cost. VMR Wheels!

I made the mistake of buying a set of CSL reps from them. Within a year all four had developed buckling and two had started to lose their finish.

I contacted them for some sort of replacement and they just asked me to return them to their office in the USA for inspection (at my cost!!) :headbang:

Expensive mistake but a good life lesson.

 

[lordgrover]

If there are any Rota wheels from RareRims you can use their virtual bay; click.

 

[philip27]

I had the same problem last year and ended up replacing my alloys. I had to rush picking some new wheels if I am honest but decided I wanted something that did not look wildly different to some of the OEM styles of wheels that were available for the e89. I think the e89 is a hard car to pick wheels for and anything that has a fussy design does not work well on the car but that is just my opinion.

In the end I went for Fox MS005 wheels. It took me a while to get used to them as I loved the 296 wheels I had but I am happy with them now and think the look good on the car.
https://www.autoalloys.com/19-fox-ms005-matt-gunmetal-alloy-wheels

 

[Dp557]

Im currently going through a similar problem with mine all though my wheels are fine I'm not that keen on them and looking to go to 19's thinking of staying fairly oem and going for bmw 313 wheels they look great on e92's trying to decide if they will suit my e89

 

[Busterboo]

An heretical suggestion these days, Matt, but, if your tyres are near the end of their lives, go to the original option of ... 18" wheels.

Lower costs (of both wheels & tyres), lower crack rate, better ride, greater agility, just as good choice of designs ...

 

[Peterboroughdave]

Hi Philip

Your cars and the foxy wheels are looking very slick, is the car on standard springs, looks lower at the front than mine

Dave

 

[mattmuirhead]

I made the mistake of buying a set of CSL reps from them. Within a year all four had developed buckling and two had started to lose their finish.

Sorry to hear that mate, I shall avoid at all costs - thanks for the heads up!

An heretical suggestion these days, Matt, but, if your tyres are near the end of their lives, go to the original option of ... 18" wheels.

Yes I had started to look at 18" alloys, newb question alert, my current alloys are different widths front and back, what's the reason for that, and if I went down to 18" would they also need to be 9" rear and 8" front?

In the end I went for Fox MS005 wheels. It took me a while to get used to them as I loved the 296 wheels I had but I am happy with them now and think the look good on the car.

Car looks brilliant mate! On those alloys can you replace the center caps with the BMW ones? Or have you used the adhesive alternatives?


Thanks everyone for all the advice! Very helpful, although now I have more decisions to make!!

 

[ibroker]

I have a set of oem 326 in black with good tyres you can have for less than your budget.??

 

[philip27]

In the end I went for Fox MS005 wheels. It took me a while to get used to them as I loved the 296 wheels I had but I am happy with them now and think the look good on the car.

Car looks brilliant mate! On those alloys can you replace the center caps with the BMW ones? Or have you used the adhesive alternatives?


Thanks everyone for all the advice! Very helpful, although now I have more decisions to make!!

They were adhesive stick on ones I couldn't find any actual centre caps that would fit they were all to big.

 

[philip27]

Hi Philip

Your cars and the foxy wheels are looking very slick, is the car on standard springs, looks lower at the front than mine

Dave

Thanks Dave

My car is on standard spring's but it does have the M-Sport adaptive suspension setup. I think there is a slight difference to the standard none adaptive ride height.

 

[mattmuirhead]

Hi all,

So yesterday I finally got my new alloys fitted! I went down the aftermarket solution and I couldn't be happier with the end result!

After a lot of research online I was overwhelmed by the amount of choice and was really uncertain about what sizes I could fit on the car, what were good brands, what style what look good etc. Eventually I found an alloy shop near where I live, they were super helpful and broke everything down for me, I couldn't recommend enough! If anyone is in the area and wants to talk wheels go to Subiton Tyre and Wheels (http://surbitontyreandwheel.co.uk/)!

But without further ado here are my brand new shoes, AC Wheels FF029 in dark matte grey:

 

[sunnydays]

Those look great! Good choice

 

[yoghurtman]

Nice! Must remember these for when I finally get the dreaded crack!