LOL no one wants to be the guinea pig? In all honesty though I think the aftermarket pricing is still too high, if Craig @ Open Road can get us OE part for $700, it's $200 savings, especially with no one else who has the aftermarket.

Now if the aftermarkets were like $400 OBO on ebay, it would be much harder to not give them a try....

There is so much hardware included in the factory boards, that I fully understand why they cost so much. The aluminum part is structural. All the plastic has to line up with the under body plastic. The flares have to get replaced, which is more plastic. Do you really want to take the chance of it not looking factory compared to all the other plastic? $500 is a big chance of aftermarket. Plus all the damn clips, rivets, it is no joke at the amount of parts.

If I had some extra cash I'd put in $400 just to see if they'd accept it. Problem is, they just might. Alas $400 and free S&H wouldn't be too bad for OE knock offs. I'd try 'em for that.

There's a similar year E53 I see around town occasionally with the OE running boards and it really looks sharp and would love to have a pair on mine.

Why not try offering $400? Although to be honest I doubt they would take it. I usually can't get an offer accepted at 20% off, its gotta be hella expensive for them to ship as well.

I keep trying to read the auctions of the previously sold ones to see if the feedback is good, I mean people are definitely buying them, I just haven't found a review from someone on the forums yet.

I'll put in my 2 cents here (may be worth less then that!) :dunno:

I have the factory boards on my X and I really enjoy the look...but I don't actually use them to get in and out of it. Mostly I just get my pants dirty getting out, granted I could keep my X cleaner or learn to jump out further to avoid that, but that's not always an option. I will say that they are nice to have when you're washing the X, they help to reach the middle of the roof :thumbup:

Okay, this is only an idea. Maybe we throw our money together and do a group buy direct from Asia/Alibaba (or similar outfit). From what I can tell, most have a minimum order of 10. This way you are getting it at wholesale. I know the guys on other forums have done the same for headers, etc. Just a thought.

Jay, I love the signature! :bustingup

Any guinea pigs on this price?
Running Board/side Step/side Bar For Bmw X5( E53),Old Item.car Accessories. - Buy Running Board,Side Step,Side Bar Product on Alibaba.com

This is not a true running board. This is a peice of aluminum flat bar with a bunch of countersunk holes in it. I'm sure most on this site could whip something up like this in their garage:)

Non functional, cheap bolt on......., but I kind of dig them for what they are.

Looks like Green Dragon has it. Looks like if 5 people purchased 5 sets, they would come in around 160? Am I reading that right?