Here's what I've found over more than a decade of driving "sporty" cars and reading forums like this where people share their experience.
1. Aftermarkets bought from one of the major sources (tirerack, discounttiredirect, etc) are probably better quality than "no-name" ones you find with mysterious origins.
2. That said, I've bought some of the latter to save money (as in $800 for a set of 18" 5 spoke wheels and 235/35 Kumhos) and had no problems with quality. For not much more than a set of "good" tires I got tires and rims that looked a lot better than OEM. I've also bought more "name brand" ones and also had no issues.
3. When you do this, hold on to your OEM set, as many buyers will want them when you sell the car and aftermarkets of any kind on this X5 will hurt its value more than the money you got from selling yours. Then sell your fakes for maybe 1/2 what you paid. Net cost is almost nothing. Because many sellers will mount/balance tires on rims you buy for free, you save there. If you replace yours with OEM wheels you can probably sell it with those on. Don't forget the TPMS. About $200 a set maybe, plus installation.
3. I have, though, had roundness/strength issues with expensive BBS wheels that came on a 540i I bought used, so I wouldn't generalize that more money is always better. I have had minor balance issues with tires bought locally and with those bought over the web.
4. Often for the price difference vs pristine wheels you can afford to replace the cheapos a few times if needed. So bad pothole luck I wouldn't worry too much over. If your area has bad roads stick to smaller wheels.
5. Yes, cheaper ones may be heavier, and that can affect performance. However, unless you are really into racing around you may not be able to notice the difference. Find the specs, it may not be a huge difference. I can say for a fact that the wimpy 18" on X5's are worse than the "heavy" 20" in many areas (looks, grip, response, etc) so at some point heavier might be better overall. My personal thinking is that this is an SUV/SAV, and if you wanted great handling to the degree wheel weights mattered you'd be here discussing your 525xi wagon instead.
6. You can buy refinished OEM BMW 20" Y spoke wheels online. I found a place advertising them (and others of all brands) for under $300/ea.
BMW OEM RIMS BMW FACTORY WHEELS STOCK RIM CHROME REPLICA WHEEL USED RIMS BMW Wheels BMW OEM RIMS BMW FACTORY WHEELS STOCK RIM CHROME REPLICA WHEEL USED RIMS BMW Rims No idea if they are legit or not, or if they stand behind their quality, but they seem to have a lot of selection. Makes since that someone out there is just buying up and fixing damaged wheels or new take-offs.
There are also ebay sellers who specialize in OEM takeoffs (though these may be rare and expensive still). Be careful with ebay purchases, double check everything, and you can get a nice bargain.
09-17-2010, 03:24 PM
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