Anyone do a wheel exchange
 

My wife has ordered a new '06 X5 3.0. We both hate the 17" wheels that come on the truck and did not want the sport package (SP) suspension (and she doesn't care for the style of the steering wheel on the SP either) but likes the wheels you get with it. Our sales guy informed us that we can't just add the wheels that we would have to do a "swith out" with their parts dept in order to get different wheels. The parts dept would give us credit for the 17's and we would pay the difference for the 18's. #1) is this true that you can't just add different wheels when ordering the vehicle to begin with and #2) has anyone done this. I am curious as to how much $$$ credit you get for the stock 17's.

Thanks for any help here.

Wheel exchange
 

I've tried this twice with the factory, and they just won't do it! They say no custom orders! But on my '05, I was successful with the parts manager, at a cost of $1000, installed. That was from 18's to 18's. On this new one, the '06, the parts guy wanted too much, but I was able to make a trade with another '06 4.4i that the dealer had in inventory. The swap was even up for the wheels, (again 18's for 18's), but I paid for remounting and balancing tires. The wheels I got were on on '06 4.4 they were using as a demo, and the tires had about 2000 mi. on 'em.

Honestly, if I was the new car sales manager, I would have said "no", but I've made several friends at the store, including my salesman (he went to bat for me with the mgr), and this IS the 3d car I've bought from them.

To get an idea of potential cost, look up the retail cost of both types of wheels you're looking at, then figure the difference. On top of that, you must figure the cost to the parts dept. for inventorying the wheels you are trading in. That's where the "rub" is. If the wheels you want to turn in are not popular, or the parts guy thinks he will jhave trouble selling them, or just doesn't want to inventory them for a while, he'll add another couple of hundred.

BTW, on average, the dlr cost is ABOUT half the published retail price. Given all the factors, you may be better off buying the wheels you want outright from a dealer that advertises 25% off on parts, or persuading your parts guy to sell them to you at that price, then selling your 17's privately. Also, look at the wheels section on this site for used wheels, or others who are selling "dealer offs".

Good luck.

Actualy, I would jump on their offer. Its pretty rare that they would take your wheels and give you any credit.

My dealer told me the same thing...they will switch out the wheels for me at delivery and that I will have to pay for the difference. Sounds reasonable enough...that is until you hear the deal of what they will give you for your 17s ($400 for all tires and wheels) and what they will charge you for the 18s, 19s or 20s (MSRP). I almost couldn't give my 17s away and ended up selling it privately on Ebay for approximately $500. But on the other hand, I got a great deal on a set of 19s - type132 from a forum member for about $1500...so that made the pain a bit easier to swallow.