OEM vs aftermarket wheels

[shboxster]

hello. my ride is 2004 986 2.7. i am looking to replace my 17" SII wheels with 18". i was not planning to do anything about the wheels and was happy with the 17" ones, but **** happens. one wheel was stolen a few days ago. porsche prices are simply stupid (i live in china, where everthing branded costs crazy money). it takes more than a month to get the wheels from germany. so porsche oem is not gonna work for me at this time mainly because i am not gonna wait for a month for a wheel. i will order one rim later to make sure i have a full set of oem.

aftermarket wheels are priced all right, expensive by US standards, but cheap for me in china. what is the difference between the oem and other wheels? i assume all or most of the stuff is made in china anyway in the same factories with the same machines and materials, so the only difference would be a porsche mark up if you buy the wheels from porsche. is this right to say this? does anyone know who makes wheels for porsche?

[Topless]

Porsche OEM wheels are "forged" so they are strong and most are reasonably light weight for best performance. Aftermarket wheels from China range from very good to very very terrible. A "cast" wheel will bend or break much more easily and they are often a little heavy which affects performance. The low price leaders in aftermarket wheels are always "cast" wheels so you get what you pay for (low quality, low price). People here in the USA change wheels as often as they change shoes so many wheel shops have "take offs" for sale cheap. You may be able to find your exact replacement OEM wheel online through one of them and have it shipped today for a fraction of the cost of new. Good luck.

Edited March 2, 2009 by Topless

[White987S]

eBay may be a good option for you too.

[Duster]

hello. my ride is 2004 986 2.7. i am looking to replace my 17" SII wheels with 18". i was not planning to do anything about the wheels and was happy with the 17" ones, but **** happens. one wheel was stolen a few days ago. porsche prices are simply stupid (i live in china, where everthing branded costs crazy money). it takes more than a month to get the wheels from germany. so porsche oem is not gonna work for me at this time mainly because i am not gonna wait for a month for a wheel. i will order one rim later to make sure i have a full set of oem.

aftermarket wheels are priced all right, expensive by US standards, but cheap for me in china. what is the difference between the oem and other wheels? i assume all or most of the stuff is made in china anyway in the same factories with the same machines and materials, so the only difference would be a porsche mark up if you buy the wheels from porsche. is this right to say this? does anyone know who makes wheels for porsche?

Check out this website: http://shop.wheelsrims.net/porsche-boxster-inventory.html

This where I bought my Porsche OEM Carrera Light 5 spoke wheel for the Boxster at a very low price of $265.00. The catch is they are refurbished, but have a lifetime warranty (Whatever that might mean). The Porsche wheel I bought was the real thing, because it did have have Porsche part number stamped on the back of the wheel. I would give them a call and ask them if they have the Porsche wheel in stock and if they will ship out to China.

[shboxster]

thank you for the responses and tips. i have found the websites, and have asked one of those if they ship overseas, in my case china. an interesting and not very fun thing for me is that i have tried for a week to find ANY wheels in china, and failed. anything porsche or suitable for porsche is simply not available. nothing. apparently there are no orders now from anywhere (us, eu) for export so the factories don't have any stock and the car repair shops have no stock either. to order from a factory one has to order 500 sets of wheels. well, i have no choice now but to first buy one OEM wheel and wait for a month. i will get it through a car dealer from the eu at half the price of the official porsche quote. supposed to be the real deal. anyway, the whole situation is unpleasantly amazing. the factory of the world of anything real and fake has nothing to sell. anyway, a good thing is that now i know where to look for parts and will be ordering some stuff on the net (real stuff). cheers all

[grover]

I hear there's a guy in your area who has one wheel to sell that matches your other 3!! maybe you can find him and buy it from him?

[shboxster]

I hear there's a guy in your area who has one wheel to sell that matches your other 3!! maybe you can find him and buy it from him?

china is quite a big place to find a guy who has my stolen wheel. where in china is that guy? how much is he selling it for? i also need some bolts. cheers

[Jeff Alton]

Porsche OEM wheels are "forged" so they are strong and most are reasonably light weight for best performance. Aftermarket wheels from China range from very good to very very terrible. A "cast" wheel will bend or break much more easily and they are often a little heavy which affects performance. The low price leaders in aftermarket wheels are always "cast" wheels so you get what you pay for (low quality, low price). People here in the USA change wheels as often as they change shoes so many wheel shops have "take offs" for sale cheap. You may be able to find your exact replacement OEM wheel online through one of them and have it shipped today for a fraction of the cost of new. Good luck.

Current late model porsche wheels are actualy cast and not forged. The original Fuchs wheel was a forged wheel but the later ones are all pressure cast. Pressure casting creates a wheel of good quality at a reasonable price but they tend to be heavier than an equivilant strength forged wheel.

Cheers