Today killed me. I am dead. Yet still I type. Tl;dr - always check center bore.

Last month I bought a ‘16 40e in Imperial Blue. My E70 X5M was running >$20/day in gas, so I figure the hybrid would meet my needs, and I could let the X5M hang out in the garage with my M3, waiting for fair weather. Practical. Responsible.

The 40e is fine, but cosmetically dull as can be. I’ve done some stuff to tidy it up and last week went for new wheels. I found a full set of 437Ms from an M4 for sale at a good price. Checked the bolt pattern and offsets, should fit. Checked the wheel sizes for SUV appropriate tires - F15 X5M had the same size wheels, tires exist (performance/run-flat only though. Boo). Checked weight capacity, seems good. To be safe I called BMW, they confirmed they fit. Called the tire place I trust more than BMW, they confirmed the fit. All is well.

So I buy the wheels ($1,400). Then have them machined and refinished ($900). Then the new tires ($1,300), then the new TPMS sensors ($200). Labor shortages are real, everything takes forever. This is a full three week process to get them ready for mounting. Today is the day.

They don’t fit. I never checked center bore, and neither did BMW or the tire shop. $3,800 and they don’t fit. But wait, it gets better.

While my rear wheels were off, the shop found my original “brand new” from the dealership tires were bubbling and had signs of damage on the wheel (fortunately I had the new tires for the 437Ms, but now everything has to be remounted all over again). Oh, and the 437Ms had Michelin PilotSports on them in good shape that I wanted to save. The shop has no idea where those went.

Three weeks and just about $4k netted me a lovely set of wheels I can’t use for anything but garage decoration.