Wheels and Caps - Damaged Style 177 20"x10.5"

[we350z]

Where do I get!? I just sold my crib so a got a bunch of cash to spend on goodies!!!

Originally Posted by JayX5

wowzers!! The truck looks much better. Now just chage the chrome trim to shadowlin e to better match the front end.

[we350z]

Bra covers some blemishes Roundel is peeling, and looks like some dirt that got under the bra previously has made a decent line of scratches undeneath it on the hood. There are rock chips from pre-bra also here. Also the area where it velcros to the inside of the fender has had some paint rubbed away. Also there is a pretty good swipe on the passenger side bumper, other than that it looks great lol. Thought about just going with the upper bra, but I would rather hide these things than show them off.

Originally Posted by xnsf

wow....very very nice

take off the bra! we want to see it all!!!

[we350z]

Please make this a sticky post as I am pretty pissed off right now I don't want to see anyone else be as disappointed as I am right now.

I am officially taking back my stand on Wheels and Caps. I would highly advise against purchasing aftermarket wheels from them. My experience has been nothing short of a nightmare, and a huge hassle. Buyer beware!! Either save your clams for OEM or go with a different vendor, IMHO.

So they were good about replacing the two jacked up rear rims they sent me at first (see above). When I last spoke with them they told me that replacements they had shipped out to me were from a "new" manufacturer but that they should come from the same mold. First off, I did have some reservations about having wheels from two different manufacturers on my vehicle to begin with... call me crazy. They said they would send me new fronts if I had a problem with it.

So I finally got my replacements last Monday, and I inspected them immediately. They looked good to me (not bent, minimal surface imperfections, QC stickers); however I should have looked a little bit closer:

Please click the images for 6MP resolution:

Rear 20"x10.5" Rims - New Manufacturer - Rough inside edges of rim face, looks as though they pulled the rim from the mold too soon or the mold was not clean or something.




Front 20"x10" Rims - Old Manufacturer – Smooth, beveled inside edges of rim face



The difference is night and day, and I guess in my excitement of having waited so long to finally put these rims on I got a little hasty.

Also, I was not specifically looking for this, and I did not notice the blemishes until I had already mounted tires on the rims and bolted them up to the vehicle. The defects are evident on both rear rims. Upon further inspection I started to notice some paint overspray as well on the sides of the rim face fingers. Needless to say the craftsmanship of theses rims from the new "vendor" is NOT very good at all, and is definitely unacceptable to me.

I spoke with Wheels and Caps about this, and apparently they have no more rims from the "old" manufacturer and unfortunately for me they have a policy where they do not accept returns for rims that have been mounted on a vehicle. So if nothing else be sure to fully inspect your rims in a well lit area, running your fingers across the inside edges to ensure they are smooth to the touch, not jagged and rough.

If you do decide to go with Wheels and Caps, which again I strongly recommend NOT doing… DON’T MOUNT TIRES ON YOUR RIMS UNTIL YOU HAVE RIGOROUSLY INSPECTED THEM.

Now I have to either live with these crappy rims or attempt to sand the inside edges down with a dremel or fine grit sandpaper or something. I don't know if this would be effective, it may make them worse. It would be extremely time consuming, regardless I should NOT have to do this.

It's also important to note that the new manufacturer does NOT provide lug nuts if you are planning to use them, the old manufacturer did provide silver aluminum lug nuts (which I wouldn’t use anyway). Also the center caps provided are different, old ones have silver caps, and the new ones have fugly black and white target looking ones.

[Nate@WAC]

In defense of Wheels and Caps:

I spoke to this customer on the telephone during this ordeal. I explained to him that the replacement wheels were going to be from a different manufacturer. I told him that if he did not like them or if they did not match well enough, we could send him 2 front wheels from the same manufacturer of the rear replacements, or we would take all 4 wheels back for a full refund. At this time, I spoke with the customer about not mounting tires and installing these without inspecting them well. On Friday, July 20th, this customer called me to tell me the replacements had arrived and to say they matched and he had no issues at all with the wheels. Saturday morning, I received an email to state he installed these wheels, the car drove smooth, but he was unhappy about what he explains in these pictures.

Unfortunately, once the wheels are installed, our return policy clearly states, we cannot take back any installed wheels. This return policy is listed on every advertisement posted online and I spoke of this on the telephone with this customer.

I believe our feedback speaks for itself as far as customer service. We have almost 7000 feedbacks with 99.9% positive. We are the easiest wheel company to work with when it comes to issues like this, but we do stick to our return/warranty policy. If anyone from this forum would like to contact me personally to discuss our product or our return policy, please feel free to do so.

Thanks,
Nathan Williams
eBay Sales Manager
866-745-7467
[email protected]

[dr.jay]

That sucks, I know I jump the gun all of the time, especially when I get something new, I will definately be weighing my options when I buy my replica 87's

[khooger]

...for such an expensive car, why do replicas? I have heard many horror stories of vibrations and stuff like this.....to keep the car long term OEM's are the way to go.....just my 2 cents

[we350z]

Dunno, I am asking myself the same questions now. I guess I can live with it.

[we350z]

UPDATE

[Ambrosius]

I am glad that everything turned out fine. I love the look of style 177 and they looks very nice on your BMW.

One thing that I have heard though is that they are boitch to clean because of the nooks and crannies. Is this true in your case?

Ambro.

[we350z]

Umm, everything did NOT turn out fine - please re-read this entire original post and update. I am still dealing with problems with these rims with regards to ride quality (steering wheel vibration at speed) and wheel surface quality issues (paint scraping off and jagged spoked edges). They are not that hard to clean really I guess, no more so than any other rim I have lol. That is the least of my concerns right now unfortunately