Initial impression of replica

[bimmerpwr]

I've been looking to upgrade to 20" for quite some time. Always liked 19" but the aggressive stance of 20" was hard to resist.

After doing research and gathering input from other drivers, I settled with the following. 35lb front, 38lb back. 20x10 (40 offset), 20x11 (37 offset). Compare to stock 19" 35lb, that really isn't too bad. I think OEM 214 20" are about 42 lb. I have to say, I am quite impressed with the quality. Granted, I just put this on today and have not driven many miles yet, but initial impression exceeded my expectation. Great detail with BMW cap and little ///m mark as well. As I put more miles, I will update this if anything pops up.

[rh71]

these things are now what the 214s were yesterday... all aboard.

nice weight - I wonder how much the rep 214s weigh. I'd be interested to see if there'd be any real mpg difference dropping 10lbs+ at each wheel. Handling too.

[m5james]

Weight differences are usually the biggest downfall or reps, followed by build quality. Sounds like you've got a winner.

[bimmerpwr]

Originally Posted by rh71

these things are now what the 214s were yesterday... all aboard.

nice weight - I wonder how much the rep 214s weigh. I'd be interested to see if there'd be any real mpg difference dropping 10lbs+ at each wheel. Handling too.

I remember reading somewhere that every lb of wheel weight equals 4-7 times the static weight gain. I had my eyes set on OEM style177 20" rims until I found out that it's one of the heaviest rims, about 42-43 lb. So worst case scenario, 43 lb - 35lb ( my stock 19) = 8 lb; 8 lb x 7 = 56 lb at each corner. 56x4 = 224 lb of static weight gain, that's like carrying a passenger or two. Not that every ounce of performance matters in X5, but wouldn't want to be carrying one or two additional passengers all the time.

Going back to topic, i've driven up to 80 mph and no apparent issues so far. It does feel a bit different from my stock 19" druing slow acceleration at times, I will have to drive more to see if that's normal or not. Also, close inspection in day light yielded that although rims look nice and clean, I wouldn't bet it against OEM in terms of finish.

[blown383]

picture's of them on the truck, please...

[Aqua Bliss]

Originally Posted by rh71

these things are now what the 214s were yesterday... all aboard.

I agree! Although so far in my area (OC, California) I haven't seen anyone else with them besides me - so enjoying my "uniqueness" while it lasts.

[bimmerpwr]

While installing the arches, I decided to weight the wheels and compare to my stock 19" wheels.

Rear 20" wheel with tire was 78.5 lb (approx)
Stock 19" wheel with tire was 76.5 lb (approx)

That is only 2lb different on rear while going to 20" and 315 tire instead of 19" and 255 tire, not too bad.

I didn't measure the front wheel weight (with tire) but I am betting it will be less than stock 19" with tire.

So far no problem after a few hundred miles and it looks complete with arches now.

[FreddyG]

Originally Posted by rh71

these things are now what the 214s were yesterday... all aboard.

nice weight - I wonder how much the rep 214s weigh. I'd be interested to see if there'd be any real mpg difference dropping 10lbs+ at each wheel. Handling too.

I don't know if the mpg goes up (I'd guess that it would providing your driving habits don't change. What I mean is that if your right foot finds the weight that your wheels lost, mpg will probably get worse ).

I can say that we just switched form the OEM Dunlop runflats to a standard Conti Extreme DWS and I've noticed a difference just from that, so I'd guess this would be Very noticeable.

Back on topic........Any noticeable change in unsprung weight should help mpg because it's moving less rotational mass and 10 lbs. per corner is quite a bit.

Just my .02, and you get what you pay for!