Well I had a fun day at the repair shop! I had gone to have a flat fixed and turned out it had what my mechanic called the groove of death. Which meant that I must have driven on it long enough soft that it began to put a groove in the side wall. So okay just a new tire. So we went to put the spare on which was flat. Once again just put some air in and check for leak. Well the leak was in the rim! So aside needing a tire I now also need a new rim. Which brings me to the real question. Suggestions on a good source for OEM wheels.
I don't have any experience with them to comment if they're good & true to their claims, but I remember seeing their website before - https://www.originalwheels.com/bmw-wheels/ However, if your chapter has a facebook group or page (or their own msg. forums), might be worth throwing out a feeler too. As opposed to FB 'groups', FB 'pages' unfortunately disincentivize interaction, but if they have a page instead of a group, on a computer in a browser (can't speak for phone), click on "Community" (typically lower left of the page, and individual's posts and their replies will show. Also check the Roundel classifieds online here, you might get lucky with someone selling a set of wheels. Check here too - stands to reason if they're parting out cars, they'd have wheels. https://www.bmrparts.com/ Ebay might be the best place for a deal on a single wheel - might luck into somebody selling an old spare off the same model so you'd know for sure it's the exact same match, for instance. Get familiar with wheel specs so you know what you need. Except for the 4-lug bimmers and until the more recent models, BMW wheels with a few exceptions are 5 lug with 5x120mm bolt-hole spacing, 72.5mm centerbore, and varying offsets depending on the model. et is the German abbreviation for offset, offset is in mm. You can lookup stock wheels for your car on realoem.com too, they'll list the offset. Pics aren't the best though & sometimes you have identically styled wheels in different sizes. Staggered setups have become more common than they used to be. E39 5's (including M5) & E70 X5's have a larger 74.1mm centerbore. Unless someone really takes a lot of closeup pictures, a lot of time ebay sellers won't have closeups of the wheel markings on the backside of the wheel or spokes which would show the offset spec (etxx), but offset is something you'd want to confirm if someone's selling a correct-looking wheel that wasn't on the same model as yours. Bolt-hole spacing varies from maker-to-maker, so it would be incorrect to assume all 5-lug wheels from varying makes are interchangeable. Any local pick-n-pulls, who knows, you might get lucky and they'd have a similar model in they're parting out. Craigslist is worth a shot, but I wouldn't rate odds of someone selling the exact wheel you need as high or even likely. There's classifieds on other BMW-specific forums or even model-specific facebook groups for that matter. Bimmerfest, Bimmerforums, Bimmerpost - but then you're gambling on someone's integrity sending $$ into the ether & hoping it's someone honest that really has and will be sending along what you're paying for - ymmv.
Was poking around the forums, years ago someone had linked this place too - forgot about them; again no experience to comment - https://www.finishlinewheels.com/BMW/
Well as it turned out I ended up buying a set of OEM style 44 wheels for the car. They are the same style as I have now. Believe it or not the spare wheel actually had a pin hole leak in it. One rim was slightly bent. I found a great source for OEM wheels and cheeper then refinishing. Some used ones were fairly pricy and still need refinishing. Thanks for your insight as always. Would like to meet you if you are going to O'fest.
Barring anything unexpected, I should be there - got reservations & registered awhile ago! Now, there's others here I know will be @ O'Fest, but a gathering of relatively frequent forum participants might just be a trio of you, me, & Steven S.! For future reference, where'd you find your set of wheels?
