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188 Posts
a few weeks ago, I got a "tire defect" message. the right rear tire was very low; I filled it back up, and it seemed OK for a couple of days. for a while, I thought I had a slow leak, but then, I took it somewhere, and they showed me that I had a cracked rim.
great, I thought, there goes 600 bucks. so, I got an OEM rim (this was before I knew about m5board.com's cheaper options), and took it to a specialist to have the rim swapped out onto the old tire, and get things rotated and balanced. at this point, I had noticed that the OEM rim was much darker than the wheels on my car, but I figured that the former owner had them re-finished a brighter chrome. if anything, I thought it would just be a minor aesthetic problem.
I should have said first-- I'm a total noob. anyway, before they did anything, the mechanic called me out to the garage floor, and showed me that the OEM rim I bought wouldn't work. it turns out that the former owner was running on 19" M3 competition package knock-offs, not OEM, and not even M5 wheels.
now, I am between a rock and a hard place.
this is the option I am leaning towards now, because it's the most cost effective: just keep filling it with air every 5 days or so and riding on the cracked rim, until I can find out from the previous owner where he got the knock-offs. then, buy one, swap it out onto the old, still-good tire, and run on the fakes until the tires wear out. after that, get 3 OEM wheels and new tires at the same time.
I know there are other options, too, and I'd like some advice. also, if anyone is selling front or rear OEM wheels, I guess it can't hurt to start shopping a few months ahead of time. thanks in advance.
great, I thought, there goes 600 bucks. so, I got an OEM rim (this was before I knew about m5board.com's cheaper options), and took it to a specialist to have the rim swapped out onto the old tire, and get things rotated and balanced. at this point, I had noticed that the OEM rim was much darker than the wheels on my car, but I figured that the former owner had them re-finished a brighter chrome. if anything, I thought it would just be a minor aesthetic problem.
I should have said first-- I'm a total noob. anyway, before they did anything, the mechanic called me out to the garage floor, and showed me that the OEM rim I bought wouldn't work. it turns out that the former owner was running on 19" M3 competition package knock-offs, not OEM, and not even M5 wheels.
now, I am between a rock and a hard place.
this is the option I am leaning towards now, because it's the most cost effective: just keep filling it with air every 5 days or so and riding on the cracked rim, until I can find out from the previous owner where he got the knock-offs. then, buy one, swap it out onto the old, still-good tire, and run on the fakes until the tires wear out. after that, get 3 OEM wheels and new tires at the same time.
I know there are other options, too, and I'd like some advice. also, if anyone is selling front or rear OEM wheels, I guess it can't hurt to start shopping a few months ahead of time. thanks in advance.