SeaBlue

I'm not joking. The only difference I see is single and two or three piece wheels. Are two or three piece wheels better in your estimation? Can you provide information that proves the lower price wheels are less superior and would be dangerous? Show me the proof and I will admit I was wrong in thinking the lower cost BBS wheels were safe to use on a B8 A4.

Audirings4

I agree with my Avant brother. Just because a wheel maker meets minimum standards that doesn't mean they are the same quality.

ALSO I am speaking of replica wheels. Like the hundreds of company's out there producing "rs4" reps. All you need to do is pick a company and run a google search. Take VMR for example.
BBS also makes OEM wheels but not replicas. BIG difference.

Lastly you don't need to pay an arm and a leg for wheels. I've gotten great deals on new or near mint condition wheels. Sometimes you just need to wait.

JD15

There is a significant difference between quality wheel manufacturers like BBS or Oz, which produce both aftermarket and OEM wheels, and many manufacturers of replica wheels. Although some replicas may be of similar quality to OEM wheels, it is an exaggeration to say that all replicas are of high quality and that, in general, all wheels are essentially equal.

QUA77R0

I think we are all on the same page. You just didn't see it yet. My question to SeaBlue regarding the difference between a $500 BBS wheel and am $1100 BBS wheel is that the main difference is FORGING. Then you can throw monoblock vs multi piece configurations. And yes, the cost of a 3 piece forged center rim is based on complexity and design. A design that was intended to save suspension components. The outer lip is meant to be deformable under impact, bending to save your more expensive suspension components that probably are not forged. Hence the forged center and spun lip. It's race technology trickled down to the street.

I started a thread awhile ago about the problems that I experienced with the OEM RS6 wheels. They cracked across the spokes and radially from the mounting points and no they were never overtorqued. That was after its first track event. Thankfully Audi replaced all four. If as some claim, the same companies are making OEM wheels and replicas, then the poor quality of some OEM wheels should give you pause when considering the quality of the replica. As a single buyer of a replica wheel, the manufacturer has nothing to lose if they ship you a defective batch. They know that you don't have the money for the forensic analysis of failed wheels nor the pockets for litigating against them. On the other hand, they know that the manufacturers that they supply must have consistently high quality wheels at a reasonable price or they will lose big $ contracts. I dare say these bulk shipments to auto manufacturers receive more scrutiny and still I got a defective set (all four cracked in over 20 places/wheel). Where does that leave the single consumer?....

I can think of three OEM wheels that I guarantee are not replicated the same even if they look the same externally.

Case one, Audi has a wheel that looks identical to the Titanium edition wheel but it costs 3x as much...what gives? The spokes are HOLLOW CAST. All replicas of this wheel are like the basic Titanium edition...solid spoke.

Case two, Porsche 911TT wheels also have HOLLOW SPOKE technology that makes them significantly lighter than any replicas.

Case three, AMG uses vermiculite cores inside the spokes creating a much lighter wheel than the knockoffs. I was told that AMG has all their wheels X-rayed for QA. Not sure if that is true...

In all three cases, you can purchase wheels that appear very similar to but are in no other way comparable to the original aside from the fact that they will both accept a tire mounted on them. If all wheels did was go in a circle, then maybe the watch analogy may have been applicable. The reality is that the weight of a wheel (both overall and distribution) has an enormous effect on braking, handling, etc. ad nauseum.

Sorry if I am rambling... I feel like I have barely scratched the surface...

SeaBlue

I agree with your analogy and I also still feel the $500 BBS wheel is a safe wheel to use, at least it better be as my Audi dealer sells them as an upgrade for the A4 at $1500 a set.

SeaBlue

The wheel I'm talking about is the BBS CH 18" Silver

Why no edit button?

QUA77R0

SeaBlue,

Are you sure that your dealer is selling 18" BBS CH wheels for your car? That would be a great deal. I would double check though...

CH is 18x8.5", most likely the dealer is offering an 18x8" BBS wheel that is probably a CK model. In which case, you can get them cheaper online...

SeaBlue

I looked at the info the parts guy gave me and it said CH so I called him and it's not CH. He said the display said Ch but they noticed their mistake and changed it to the correct wheel .... CV. I went to BBS USA and that wheel is no longer in production. So much for Audi parts.

gunsmoker

I wouldn't be surprised if most wheel manufacturers do that, at least the OEM ones. I mean, if there are safety issues, that can be pretty costly to the manufacturer. If you google it, you will see a number of manufacturers of such equipment.

I'm in the semiconductor equipment business and 7-8 years ago we outsourced our printed circuit board assembly to a big company that does just that. One of the benefits was that they could stay on top of the equipment trends and had X-ray inspection systems which helped us improve the reliability of our products. Nowadays it's simply impossible to not rely on such equipment for the chips in BGA packages - the big square thingies on the PCBs which appear to have no leads (they have little metal ***** underneath for that purpose).
The sad thing, however, is that we first outsourced the manufacturing to a site in Massachusetts and a few years after that it was moved to the Malaysian facility of the same manufacturer and we are down to only R&D in the US.