C-63AMG

I live in a part of the world which is nice although as with all parts of the world you get honest and dishonest people. I am in the wheel / tire industry and I feel bad the amount of times I have people come up to me trying to exchange their OEM wheels (BMW, Porsche, Audi, Range Rover, MB etc) for a new set, different design, different size or simply refurbish them. It breaks my heart when I have to tell them the wheels they bought, sometimes for in excess of $4000 are fakes and they have no recourse to get their money back.

I've seen dishonest shops show customer's original wheels only to treat the customer for a tea or coffee then switch out the OEM wheels for, what we call, grade one replicas. These replicas are near identical in everyway to the OEM wheel and in some cases even the dealerships cannot tell the difference. They have OEM part numbers on them, OEM stamps, correct offsets, same 'country of origin' and same widths etc. I've even seen flat out shops trying to sell replicas as fakes without even trying to switch them around. I feel bad the amount of times I get people asking for discount and telling me X, Y or Z has better prices and I know when they go to X, Y or Z they're going to get replicas or wheels which are bent and will cause vibration at certain speeds.

As you can imagine the UAE (and Dubai which is in the UAE) is very central to the East and West. Africa on the East, Asia above and Saudi/Australasia to the right so Dubai is a hub to the world and a lot of things happen. Right now there's a hell of a lot of good fakes on the market that I've taken to a few dealers just to see if they know the difference between OEM and replica.

Mercedes - 2 out of 3 times were correct
BMW - 1 out of 3 times were correct
Porsche 2 out of 4 times were correct
Audi 0 out of 2 times were correct

OEM 19s are readily available over here as these come as standard on our C63s and people switch up and sell them on. Replicas are also readily available as a lot of people want to put 'AMG' rims on their C Class but don't want to spend the stealership prices and don't know about the second hand markets.

By the way, I've a set of OEM C63 19" with Conti Contact Sport 3 tires on with 70% tires in excellent condition if anyone is interested. US$2750 via air or $2350 via sea.

Below are a few sets of C63 19s. Which of the below are OEM and which are Replicas? Are any of them OEM or are there any replicas? Can you name the OEMs against their letters.

C-63AMG

AND This is the tire condition I have on the OEM set if anyone's interested in that set. US$ 2750 shipped via air.

Mikegpr03

Bump for Sam 100%

BerBer63

A, D and maybe E fake... I can't tell about the rest just from those pics.
Cool exercise

_timothy

theyre all fake!


no idea. ive never seen a set in person.

adibaiz

Any sets in mate black?

C-63AMG

Thanks Brother

Will let you know in a bit

Wow, they're really that rare over there?

LOL - I've got the whole country on it but don't know how long it will take Sir

C-63AMG

Here's photos of the OEM set available at the moment. There's another set but not going to sell them until this set is sold and has been delivered. Email for high res photos.

khmergod

I'll be honest, I don't really hate replicas. I only hate it if the replicas has the logos of the manufacturer. I wouldn't mind spending half the price on the matte black 19" Multis...as long as they are near the same quality so they don't break on me.

C-63AMG

C-63AMG

In all honesty, nothing wrong with good replicas but I wouldn't want to use some of the cheaper replicas out there. The set on my sig are replica wheels from the SLS AMG and I had no issues with them at all.

The problem is that replica wheels do use lesser quality material and not as strong as the OEM wheels in many cases so they're far more likely to bend when driving over bumps at speeds or through potholes. The heat and cold changes constantly and the pressure on the wheels on high HP cars, over time with the heat and cold can also cause cheap replicas to change shape over time which leads to vibrations.

These replica wheels that they're selling on ebay in the US are sold for $25 - $ 50 per wheel from the manufacturer as long as a container load is purchased. Thats' between $100 - 200$ for a set of four. Now very few people order container loads so the price rises dramatically. Well still very reasonable but % wise, much higher than that price. These replicas for the C63 multispokes out here sell at $770 to regular customers new.

BerBer63

my OEM 19s cracked...i would've been better off with replicas if you're saying they look that good. I don't know where MB manufacturs their cast wheels or outsources them from. My Forgestars on the other hand are going strong for 25% of the cost.

USCGTO

I understand your set has Zero damage - curb rash.

fly2nite

I'm not sure about the others, but I'd say photo A is a replica because the Mercedes Star isn't lined up properly with the text next to the model number. Very interested in hearing how to identify these, thanks for doing this!

whoadude

cool exercise, I think A is a rep. Looking at the text font between A and B there is definitely a difference.

Roswell

So which ones is a rep? And how can we know the set u r selling are genuine?

I wouldn't be surprised MB Benz are sourcing them from the same place as the rep.. At 50$ each & retails them for 1250$ LOL

C-63AMG

Did you drive with the OEMs when you had a puncture for a few hundred meters or riding with them on low tire pressure without realising? Am interested to know how your's cracked?

That is correct, there's no curb rash what so ever. If you need, let me know your email address and I will send over high res photos that you can zoom in and examine in more detail.

Thanks


Info coming tonight on reps vs OEMs

jnsn78

I would say:
A and D are replicas
B and C are OEM

On the pictures, the star is molded inversed on the replica, and the print "made in germany" is normally positioned 2 spoke before, not just before.


here is an OEM:

C-63AMG

So A, C, D, E, G and H are replicas.

B, F, I & J are the real deal.

If you look at the rear of A and B, you will see A's text is much thinner and more direct where as that on the real one (B), is blended in. The fonts are also very different. A (replica) is more straight and rectangular where as the OEM (B) is more rounded.

You can also tell by touching the paint on the inner side of the wheel, the OEM is much smoother and feels like art whereas the replica feels like lesser quality.

If you also look at the spokes - where the two tones of paint hit each other, the OEM one has a much more crisp line and is 100% straight on the paint crossing each other, the replicas are never that straight although damn close.

It's much harder to spot a replica from an original when the wheel is attached but looking at the back 75% of the time will give it away if you look for the right things.

The last thing is that the OEM wheel has a stamp embedded on the rim (you can only see this if you remove the tire). This stamp cannot be rubbed or scratched off and it's the production stamp which states the day and time the wheel was made. The only way to cover it up is by painting over it. Sometimes when OEMs are refurbished or where bent and straightened, then they get painted over and this stamp is sometimes painted over.

Roswell - wel if I was selling replicas as OEMs, I would hardly put up a post on the subject

m3equals333

very informative post, thanks Sam.

JimmyR

Hi mate what is your genuine v fake call on this set that has been on Ebay in Australia for a while now:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/19-inch-G...ht_1332wt_1180

Certainly priced like they are genuine. For comparison a new set with tyres from a MB dealer is about 9K!!

C-63AMG

Looks OK Jimmy but I was confused about two things:

It says set of BRAND NEW and he makes an emphasis on the Brand New part but then says two wheels were repaired as they had marks on them. Not sure how a set of new wheels (and two from a set of four), would have marks on them. Also seems like an internet photo rather than a self-taken photo? Perhaps ask them to take a photo of the rear of it with the part number and the made in Germany or the manufacturer stamp across the width of the rim.

Price wise, you have to be *****ing me! 7000 US Dollars for a set of them?

Faris63

My OEM 19's cracked when I had them on my C63 both rear wheels

I believe you got your wheels from Alloy Wheels Direct ?

_timothy

could be wrong, but i think the price has largely to do with the insane australian duties/taxes the seller has probably already incurred.

Roswell

It's sad to see so many members with cracked wheels... low quality with premium price.. way to go AMG.

I will have to drive carefully this spring time.