Ebay replica wheels
11-11-2007, 02:15 PM
#21
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Originally Posted by Rizbel' post='492950' date='Nov 11 2007, 11:41 AM
OEM BMW Style 124s in chrome. NOT REPLICAS made by BBS
They came off my 545 when I switched to M166 wheels last year.
They came off my 545 when I switched to M166 wheels last year.
11-11-2007, 02:33 PM
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Originally Posted by NY550i' post='492904' date='Nov 11 2007, 12:18 PM
I have been in the wheel business for quiet some time and believe it or not majority of the aftermarket wheels come from CHINA.
People are also always so quick to blame the wheels but never the tires or things... alot of things can cause vibrations or shimmy... suspension issues,no use of hubrings,flat spots on the tires,defective tires or a simple thing like a correct balance.
I have had many people come to me with vibration/shimmy issues and majority of the times they said they balanced their wheels hundred times but once i put it on a GSP 9700 Roadforce balancing machine everything is fine.
People are also always so quick to blame the wheels but never the tires or things... alot of things can cause vibrations or shimmy... suspension issues,no use of hubrings,flat spots on the tires,defective tires or a simple thing like a correct balance.
I have had many people come to me with vibration/shimmy issues and majority of the times they said they balanced their wheels hundred times but once i put it on a GSP 9700 Roadforce balancing machine everything is fine.
With all due respect, I really do not buy into the balancing issue so much. Millions of people go to Firestone to get their tires balanced, and these millions do not all have vibration problems.
Each replica is different. When you are buying a "brandname" replica, you have less of a chance of a problem. Quality is built into the name, and there are consequences for a defective product.
When you are buying "Joe's replicas" off ebay, you are buying from someone who wants to make a profit. Some may work, but there can be problems even in the same run of wheels (from the same seller).
When you ask the seller whether you can return the wheels if they vibrate, they all state that you cannot return the wheels once they are mounted.
For $700 more for the OEM #166s, I am not sure that I would trust my $50k car (US) to replicas.
Just my opinion.
11-11-2007, 02:35 PM
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Originally Posted by monacobmw' post='493015' date='Nov 11 2007, 06:33 PM
Please note my post above, which refers to the extra $300 spent rebalancing the tires on the replica wheels (Roadforce machine at a boutique tire shop). When I received my OEMs, I used the same tires off the replicas. It was not the balancing, and it was not the defective tires.
With all due respect, I really do not buy into the balancing issue so much. Millions of people go to Firestone to get their tires balanced, and these millions do not all have vibration problems.
Each replica is different. When you are buying a "brandname" replica, you have less of a chance of a problem. Quality is built into the name, and there are consequences for a defective product.
When you are buying "Joe's replicas" off ebay, you are buying from someone who wants to make a profit. Some may work, but there can be problems even in the same run of wheels (from the same seller).
When you ask the seller whether you can return the wheels if they vibrate, they all state that you cannot return the wheels once they are mounted.
For $700 more for the OEM #166s, I am not sure that I would trust my $50k car (US) to replicas.
Just my opinion.
With all due respect, I really do not buy into the balancing issue so much. Millions of people go to Firestone to get their tires balanced, and these millions do not all have vibration problems.
Each replica is different. When you are buying a "brandname" replica, you have less of a chance of a problem. Quality is built into the name, and there are consequences for a defective product.
When you are buying "Joe's replicas" off ebay, you are buying from someone who wants to make a profit. Some may work, but there can be problems even in the same run of wheels (from the same seller).
When you ask the seller whether you can return the wheels if they vibrate, they all state that you cannot return the wheels once they are mounted.
For $700 more for the OEM #166s, I am not sure that I would trust my $50k car (US) to replicas.
Just my opinion.
11-11-2007, 09:44 PM
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here what I would say I will never buy any wheel from the net.
I would go to a shop and order them. then you know you will get 100% good items.
If you buy them on the net and if something is wrong then you will have to pay for the shipping to send it back and get new 1s.
replica are cheep but not that cheep to buy on the net.
I am planing to get a set of replica 18" m166 2nd hand wheels and I asked to the guy he needs to wosh them inside and out to see if they are cracked before I get them. these are just for spare if I have a puncher.
I would go to a shop and order them. then you know you will get 100% good items.
If you buy them on the net and if something is wrong then you will have to pay for the shipping to send it back and get new 1s.
replica are cheep but not that cheep to buy on the net.
I am planing to get a set of replica 18" m166 2nd hand wheels and I asked to the guy he needs to wosh them inside and out to see if they are cracked before I get them. these are just for spare if I have a puncher.
11-12-2007, 03:57 PM
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Please note my post above, which refers to the extra $300 spent rebalancing the tires on the replica wheels (Roadforce machine at a boutique tire shop). When I received my OEMs, I used the same tires off the replicas. It was not the balancing, and it was not the defective tires.
With all due respect, I really do not buy into the balancing issue so much. Millions of people go to Firestone to get their tires balanced, and these millions do not all have vibration problems.
Each replica is different. When you are buying a "brandname" replica, you have less of a chance of a problem. Quality is built into the name, and there are consequences for a defective product.
When you are buying "Joe's replicas" off ebay, you are buying from someone who wants to make a profit. Some may work, but there can be problems even in the same run of wheels (from the same seller).
When you ask the seller whether you can return the wheels if they vibrate, they all state that you cannot return the wheels once they are mounted.
For $700 more for the OEM #166s, I am not sure that I would trust my $50k car (US) to replicas.
Just my opinion.
With all due respect, I really do not buy into the balancing issue so much. Millions of people go to Firestone to get their tires balanced, and these millions do not all have vibration problems.
Each replica is different. When you are buying a "brandname" replica, you have less of a chance of a problem. Quality is built into the name, and there are consequences for a defective product.
When you are buying "Joe's replicas" off ebay, you are buying from someone who wants to make a profit. Some may work, but there can be problems even in the same run of wheels (from the same seller).
When you ask the seller whether you can return the wheels if they vibrate, they all state that you cannot return the wheels once they are mounted.
For $700 more for the OEM #166s, I am not sure that I would trust my $50k car (US) to replicas.
Just my opinion.
All replicas are single piece alloy... the only quality concern is the painting,powdercoating or chroming but that does not have anything to do with shimmy or vibrations and a totally different subject.
Believe it or not, "joes replica" and "lakeshore wheel&tire" or "the wheel exchange" that specifically specialize in replica wheels get their wheels from the same factory... all they do is order a containers from china and resell you the wheels.
Want to do the same? go to www.alibaba.com and you can become "thewheelexchange" or any other replica specializing company also.
The main reason why OEM wheels dont give you issues like SOME replicas is because they are HUB CENTRIC and individually quality control checked before they are sold meanwhile majority of the single piece alloy companies have universal center bores that require hub rings and sometimes the bores are not cut straight causing the wheel to wobble on the hub of the car at semi high speeds.... these china factorys dont quality control check and just ship out the wheels.
Easy way to check if the center bore is smooth and straight is to put the wheel on a balancing machine without a tire on... if the wheel wobbles the center bore is not smooth and will more then likely cause shimmy/vibrations.
I sell A LOT of "cheap chinese" (that also includes known brands like giovanna,seva,adr etc. etc.) wheels thru retail,wholesale and ebay and i always check each wheel on a balancing machine before they get installed or shipped out and thats the reason why all my customers are HAPPY and never have shimmy/vibrations unless its something else causing it like no use of hub rings,bad balancing,suspension problems etc. etc.
11-14-2007, 06:20 AM
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Originally Posted by NY550i' post='493460' date='Nov 12 2007, 07:57 PM
Believe it or not, "joes replica" and "lakeshore wheel&tire" or "the wheel exchange" that specifically specialize in replica wheels get their wheels from the same factory... all they do is order a containers from china and resell you the wheels.
Want to do the same? go to www.alibaba.com and you can become "thewheelexchange" or any other replica specializing company also.
The main reason why OEM wheels dont give you issues like SOME replicas is because they are HUB CENTRIC and individually quality control checked before they are sold meanwhile majority of the single piece alloy companies have universal center bores that require hub rings and sometimes the bores are not cut straight causing the wheel to wobble on the hub of the car at semi high speeds.... these china factorys dont quality control check and just ship out the wheels.
Want to do the same? go to www.alibaba.com and you can become "thewheelexchange" or any other replica specializing company also.
The main reason why OEM wheels dont give you issues like SOME replicas is because they are HUB CENTRIC and individually quality control checked before they are sold meanwhile majority of the single piece alloy companies have universal center bores that require hub rings and sometimes the bores are not cut straight causing the wheel to wobble on the hub of the car at semi high speeds.... these china factorys dont quality control check and just ship out the wheels.
I put the wheels on a Hunter machine without tires, and the wheels showed themselves to be balanced.
When the wheels were put on my car (with rings), there was some good vibration.
I tried and tried to get it right. I thought that I could beat the problem in the end by doing enough experimenting to figure out the problem (using plastic rings instead of metal ones, etc.). Most of us, however, do not have time to sit at the wheel shop on a Saturday morning.
The comments regarding brandname replicas refer to all non-OEM models that have a great name in the marketplace. Those companies can't afford to lose goodwill by selling a defective product. When you buy from "Joe's replicas" on Ebay, you are buying into the faith of a seller who can change his user name when problems arise.
I have nothing against replicas if they work. I wish my replicas did not cause so many problems. Will I buy replicas again? No. Would I recommend them to the average person who does not have time to figure out what hubcentric rings are? No. If someone really cannot afford OEMs and they are willing to do their homework, replicas may provide a solution.
The best thing about this site is that we share views and no one makes their decision without understanding the risks. I appreciate all of the comments made above, as we have removed the mystery of the issue for someone entering the market for replicas.
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