E30 Zone

Got some scaby 17" BK alpina reps on at the mo (on the car when i got it) went into a wheel refurb place near where i live and the have a set of orginal 15" BBS in there that some one is sellin for £150(with center caps) and they want 170 to refurb them is this ok?

If so what tyres should i get and what is the best size (width and wall)?

Thaks All,
Ant.

well you can certainly get cheaper BBS but mint always costs most. For comparison, I paid £200 for some 2 year old BBS which were probably shinier than when they were made - but that sort of deal doesn't come along very often.

Best size is correct size, 205/55/15 as seen on my sig pic (car is on Eibach springs). 50 wall tyres look too skinny in my eyes. But not everyone agrees

£150 is reasonable for a good set. If they really need a refurb then nearer 100 is a reasonable price. Refurbs prices vary place to place. usually 140-160 being a proffessionals benchmark price. remember BBS are also more hassle than your simple 5 spoke tsw's to sand down! If you get it done for that price, let them know that if there is any bad spots on the visible side, you'll start to knock off £10ers! ;)

205/55/15 is the standard size and still looks good. Toyo proxies (TR1's or something?) are a good set for roughly 200ish.

195/45/15s have been used (i think thats the right ones...) to lower the wall and give a streched look.

To be honest, for £320 I would want them to be shod in some pretty nice rubber.

I'd say 150 is too dear is if they then need a refurb. Should be nearer to a ton.

£170 is not a bad price to refurb a set to be honest.

Yeah, if they need a refurb than they should be in the region of 80-100 pounds. to get them refurbed it shoulb be about 150, but 170 is reasonable.

I saw a set of five in really good condition go on ebay for just over £80 the other week its luck of the draw really and how much you want them

If you want to save a £50 note. Wait for them to pop-up on here and go collect. Or win a set on the bay for cheap and pickup/courier them to yours. Then get a refurb/respray (in a nice colour) and some top tyres then perfect wheels!:P

a couple of years a go i had a set of bbs wheels refurbed and sold them on ebay with all the centre caps done and all new badges for £350 this was for a set of 5 with no tyres the wheels did look like new

you could pick up a set that needs a refurb for under a ton. not much of a saving but id also expect to pay less to refurb 15's. maybe around £30 per wheel?

last time i had a set done it cost me £80 for a set of 4 wheels to be done with the caps that was including sand blasting and acid dipping

the last set i had done was 18's in gold and they were £65 per wheel but that was a few years ago now.

Mine cost £50 per wheel, rims sprayed in a different colour.

Got him down to £55 (£20 off) for not getting a spot on line, but it was good enough to avoid a respray (and it was his first time doing something different!), so wasn't all bad.

but it would be like 40-45 per wheel for a standard job, all one colour.

There is a bloke in Blackpool that would allow you to pull in, he would swap the tyres off your old wheels and give you a fully refurbed set for £240 all in. Don't know if he has any BBS though, I'll try and find out.

He hasn't got any on Ebay at the mo, but his phone number at PX Wheels is:

Tel: 01253 400230

Be interesting to know if he has any in stock. I had some 18" Mondeo wheels p/ex'd once and they were fab.

to be fair a set of good caps will cost you the best part of £100. So a set of 15's for 50 quid effectively isnt bad at all.
If the wheels aren't corroded and not heavily kurbed then you will have a set of wheels as good if not better than new for £80 less than what BMW would supply you 4 bare wheels for.

As for tyres I would recommend 205/50's if you like driving, if you dont 205/55's

Well mine cost £80 + £200 refurb and there as new now

original price too high. offer 250 all in. Or just keep looking, it adds to the fun of owning and modifiying old cars

£150 isn't bad for a straight and round set with all caps. A lot of people will charge not far off than for a scruffy set of bare ones.

Around £40 a wheel is about right for a good quality refurb with factory standard finish, a bbs type rim with it's seperate caps is always going to be more labour intensive than more simple designs.

IMHO, £320 all in for effectively a brand new set of 15in bbs isn't bad at all. Sure you might be able to save 50 with some hunting around but is it worth the effort?

fuzzy wrote: id also expect to pay less to refurb 15's. maybe around £30 per wheel?

I've just had my 18's unbuckled and powder coated.

The powder coating came out at £40 a wheel.It should have been more than that, but the guy's just going to add a bit onto the next set or 2 that he does in order to recoup his money.

So effectively,you can say it's circa £160ish to strip and powder coat a set of 4 wheels.

If the wheels come with mint/nr mint centre caps then the price isn't too far of the mark IMO

Bob_S wrote:to be fair a set of good caps will cost you the best part of £100. So a set of 15's for 50 quid effectively isnt bad at all.
If the wheels aren't corroded and not heavily kurbed then you will have a set of wheels as good if not better than new for £80 less than what BMW would supply you 4 bare wheels for.

As for tyres I would recommend 205/50's if you like driving, if you dont 205/55's

100% spot on.

Thanks for all your input guys.

Ant.

I like driving and 55s are spot on for thrashing back roads on my suspension. Bottletops are noticably more comfortable at 65 section but 55s give great feedback.
There is no single answer to fit all situations.

£320 is probably alright all in. I bought a set of 4 pretty ugly and pitted 15" BBS but with good condition caps for £100 last year, was £200 (cash) to refurb those four plus another one to use as a spare at BJV about a month back, including 6 centre cap rings I had knocking about. Rubber is worth factoring in, I got lucky as the set I bought had good tyres on which were effectively free of charge, though that really was pure chance - I was fully prepared to have to throw them away, but they turned out to be fine.

On a related note, I'd say £60 was a fair price for a set of 4 used caps in usable condition, though I think they're about £50 each new .