Nice video!

So a question:

What about wheels from "Tire Rack" or another reputable vendor?

I have never had an issue purchasing wheels from them (granted not identical in looks) but just something to change up looks and for winter tire sets.

It seems to me that these wheels were "Knock Offs" that were trying to portray that they were "actual" Mercedes wheels.

 

Correct. The eBay wheels that was commented by @lights are RS spyder imitation wheels.

http://www.oemwheelsplus.com/ebay/wheels/PS130-2010-BMF-1.jpg

Turbo style replica
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/gf0AAOSwpzdWqlxL/s-l1600.jpg

 

If you want to go aftermarket look to a reputable brand like HRE. They make excellent wheels.

 

High quality after market wheels are available, but they aren't cheap either. e.g, my 981 S had 20" Niche Monotech Miami wheels, which are also forged, very strong and lightweight. But they were cheap either. A lot of cheap cat wheels are heavier but bit as strong, and might not be machines to the same tolerances that guarantee a wheel is round and true. And some may even have porosity problems that cause air seepage, but that is really getting low in quality. To some extent, you get what you pay for. For best quality, go with high quality aftermarket or find a set of Porsche OEM takeoffs. I might let my 21" forged Turbo Design Wheels go if I can find a nice set of the other Porsche wheels I like better. Mine have Pirellis and 1700 miles with no scratches our chips. You can find good deals if you hunt, and you can sell yours if u try.

 

Looking at the back of my 21" turbo wheels and my 19" Porsche wheels. They are made by BBS

 

My advice is to never buy knock-off/replica wheels. On the bigger wheels, all the faults would be substantially magnified. The casting quality would be suspect, may be out-of-round, may be hard to balance, very heavy and/or weak. You would be wasting your money and be very sorry. If you want 21" wheels, you could either look for a used set of OEM or high quality aftermarkets (not replicas) to bring the cost down. Nothing less on a Porsche will suffice.

 

I re-confirmed with my dealer that they would not do a new wheel swap even though I haven't taken delivery yet. They said that if there are recalls they can't track where the wheels went.

I reached out to HRE as I like some of them, they are forged. They referred me to a dealer. There are no prices on the site so I don't have any idea how much they cost but I'm guessing they will be out of my price range.

I guess my price tolerance at this time (it may go up after I've had the car for a year) is about in the $2500 price range, or about what I would have paid for 21s if I wasn't stupid enough to order my Macan with the 19" wheels. If I find a buyer for my 19s, that tolerance may go up.

 

The HRE Flow Form wheels are about $350-$400 a piece. They are not as light or strong as forged but are pretty good for street use.

 

I think Flow Form is rotary forged - the center piece is cast and the outer part/rim is flow formed/rotary forged. It is lighter and stronger than cast but not as light/strong as forged, and much cheaper than forged.

 

Ah, ok, thanks for the clarification!

 

I would not even entertain any wheel that isn't TUV certified HRE Explains: What is TUV? | HRE Performance Wheels

HRE are a leading aftermaket brand of high quality forged wheels . previous forum member @TTCarrera bought a beautiful high quality set. http://www.macanforum.com/forum/modifications/27489-new-21-hre-p44sc-wheels-arrived.html

Pricing varies with wheel size and a set of 21's are 2K each .
They put the OEM wheels to shame !!

I have HRE's on my 911 . Love the wheel !!

 

When you say a set are 2k each do you mean each set or each wheel? Just want to clarify.

 

Vorsteiner also makes a nice quality set of 21" flow-forming Macan wheels, V-FF 103. A full set is $2800 on ebay.

 

Don't forget to factor in cost of tires and mounting/balancing/alignment...

 

I looked into HRE FlowForms and was quoted $2500, plus shipping, handling, and the cost of mounting, balancing, etc. You would also need 4 22cm spacers. They go up to 20's in size.

Here are links to pics of them on Macans:

FF01: Porsche Macan Forum - View Single Post - Bronze Spyders

FF15: (HRE used forum member Jbtx71's Macan for the photoshoot): Porsche Macan Forum - View Single Post - Something a little different, all black Macan S

One of my all-time favorite Macans on this forum is window2time's one-of-a-kind Gray Black (matched GT3RS color) Macan on HRE's: http://www.macanforum.com/forum/modifications/25761-official-gray-black-macan-thread.html

 

Thanks a lot for the recommendations. The forged series HREs are as expensive as the forged Porsche wheels, if not more. The wheel that caught my attention most was the RS105 (Series RS1M - RS105M | HRE Performance Wheels) and that was quoted to me as roughly $7k without mounting, tires, etc.


When I search for 21" flow form wheels on hre's website, I get no results. Only 20" (and since I'm getting 19s on my Macan, it doesn't seem worth the expense to go up one inch). I should probably add that I'm not super attracted to the flow form styles they have now. I prefer a wheel with fewer spokes, less visual noise... more like the RS105 or the Porsche Sport Classic 21.


Similarly, the Vorsteiner wheel pictured below is nice but not my cup of tea. I prefer this one: Vorsteiner V-FF 104 Flow Forged Wheels but I can't even tell if that's available in 21" or for the Macan at all. Their website isn't as functional as HRE's.

 

Classifieds for sport classics
http://www.macanforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1427466

 

Classifieds for sport classics
Brand New 21" Macan Sport Classic w/ Continental Conti sport Summer tires - Porsche Macan Forum

I reached out to FH88 previously before I realized how expensive the wheels would be and was shocked at what the price was. I would love those wheels, but I wouldn't be looking at other options if I could afford them :crying:

 

Hi there, Im new to this forum and to the Macan. I just read the title (not the whole thread) and decided to comment.

Aftermarket wheels...I have had many many too many to count aftermarket wheels on my past cars Lexus IS250, Lexus RC350, Lexus RCF...and I got to the conclusion that if you don't get a hub centric set of wheels (specifically made to fit the car) you will be disappointed. Let alone the discussion of the set being casted or forged, a set of wheels to shine in their prime time IMHO they just need to be hub centric...why? Well if you go aftermarket and you get a set that "fits" the car and yet are not hub centric you will need to fill the space with a center ring...oh boy...brand new off you go for a few weeks or months before your car starts vibrating or shaking like crazy.

Porsche offers a wide variety of OEM made to specs wheels for the Macan, if you are going for the looks of it I would recommend a nice looking set of OEM's + hubcentric spacers and you will be happy. Im planning on doing that once I lower the Macan on H&R springs.

 

Not a fan of spacers whatsoever because I'm paranoid of lack of threads on bolts. But for non-hubcentric wheels, it varies based on quality of both centering rings & materials (plastic or metal). Have had both materials with no issues for years on different wheels (on Honda's, Toyota's, Lexus's & BMW's). If anyone goes the centering ring option, best to confirm no issues with that specific application first before committing.

 

I made the mistake of buying replica wheels for my X5 for winter use from a company in Florida that appears to do a big Ebay business. They claim that the wheels are made on the same production line that makes them for BMW, and they even go through the trouble to duplicate the casting marks to make you think it's true. But it's not.

If you read the Ebay feedback you would think that everything is fine, but of course that's based on buyer's initial reactions. I myself left positive feedback, and if I could I would go back and change it today, I would. But of course it's too late to do that.

I should have known there was a problem right from the first time I had them installed. They fooled the technician...he also thought they were genuine BMW wheels, but he commented that they "just don't fit quite right".

Fast forward 4 years later...they are impossible to balance as well as the OEM BMW wheels, which to me is a clear indication that the claim they were made on the same production line as genuine BMW wheels is bogus.

And it's not a problem with the tires. I'm now on a second set of winter tires, and have the same balancing issues.

I got duped. At least none of the wheels have failed, at least not yet.

 

"They claim that the wheels are made on the same production line that makes them for BMW" <<< This is about the more ludicrous claim I have ever heard.

 

I have 295-30-22s all around & they handle better than my spyders did. But these are zr rated & my spyders were all season

 

I thought all Boxsters/Caymans come with summer performance tires.

 

Has Anyone Bought the Knockoff 21" Turbo Wheels from Ebay?

I was looking into buying a spare set of 21" wheels so I don't have to mount and dismount my winter tires twice yearly.

Ebay has genuine Porsche sets (including a set of summer tires) for a bit over $5000 delivered, as well as replicas (I assume from China) for about $1000 a set.

Has anyone here bought the replicas, and what has your experience been?

Several years ago I bought a set of replica 20" wheels for our X5 from an Ebay vendor called "Wheels Direct" in Florida, who seems to do a huge amount of business on Ebay. Their Ebay add claimed that the wheels were made by the same manufacturer that makes the OEM wheels for BMW, and that the proof was that even the casting marks on the replicas matched the real ones.

With the price being less than 1/2 for genuine BMW, I should have known it was too good to be true. By the time I found out I had been lied to it was beyond the 30 day return timeframe, and tires has been mounted on them and they were on the X5. The tire installer noted that the wheels were genuine BMW (he was fooled to) but that he was a bit concerned because they did not fit the wheel hubs quite right.

Fast forward 4 years later I have used the wheels reasonably successfully, but I've never been able to get them balanced anywhere near as well as the OEM ones. I've hit some pretty good potholes over this period of time, and at least I've never had one fail.

 

for most part, they are hit & miss. As long you are okay spending $1000 and understand there is a chance of them being inferior in quality wise, then get them.

 

By the time you buy and mount tires for 21" wheels, you would have spent more than just picking up a used OEM set of 19s for winter, I'm guessing. And the 19s will be better in the snow anyway.

 

http://www.macanforum.com/forum/wheels-tires-suspension/104450-aftermarket-wheel-quality.html