18" BBS Monza II alloys - Genuine and Repairs?

[martialyang 0]

Hi guys,

Been searching through a lot of the old posts tonight trying to work out a couple of things regarding the 18" BBS Monza II alloys but haven't been able to find the answers I'm looking for.

In short, I recently purchased a set of the 18" alloys to replace my 17" ones from eBay. I got them for what I thought was a decent price but now that I've received them and inspected them, I'm somewhat disheartened to see the amount of damage that's been caused by kerbing (imagine the entire outer edge of every alloy being scratched and chipped and you'll have a pretty decent idea). The seller did mention that they were scratched and need refurbishing but they didn't look too bad in the pictures .

Anyways, first of all I want to be certain that I've got the genuine article here. I've read that there's a part number of 1K0601025AH1 for these alloys but I can't find this engraved anywhere on the alloys. Is there a way I can check that they are genuine ones?

Regarding refurbishing these alloys, from past posts it sounds as though only Lepsons are able to properly refurbish these alloys due to their polished finish and two-toned colour effect. I've also e-mailed Chipsaway and Wicked Wheels to find out if they can refurbish these wheels (I believe other people have mentioned that they couldn't in the past). Has anyone actually managed to get an 18" alloy refurbished? Also, does anyone know roughly how much it would cost to such a repair?

Guess I should've done some checks before bidding on these alloys! Got what I paid for, typical of me to learn the hard way .

Cheers for your help!

Chiu

[RedRobin 1]

Hi Chiu. like you, I upgraded from 17s to 18s via eBay via OliH who is now a fully fledged Tyresmoker. I've got some photos of the stampings on the inside of the alloys but they're on my G5 Mac and that's with Apple right now. I'm pretty sure that BBS is stamped somewhere too.

I know how to tell a replica from a pic of the outside face - tricky to describe, but if you can post a pic....

[martialyang 0]

Hey RR

I would've put money on you being the first to reply but didn't think you'd be up at this time of the night

Hopefully there'll be a photo attached to this post.

I'm using the picture from the link below as a reference and have been trying to compare it against pictures on eBay.

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/9841/alloycx2.jpg

I recall you posting something about how a certain join is different when comparing the genuine wheels to the replicas. I couldn't work it out in the past but now I've had a closer look at the outer edge in the link above compare to the replicas on eBay and the alloys I have, I fear that the ones I have are indeed replicas.

[winrya 0]

they are genuine wheels but certainly in need of a refurb. Lepsons refurb them, also a place called a1 wheel renovations in wolverhampton do it. My neigbour had one of his wheels done and they looked very impressive. They weren't quite so chromy looking as the other wheels but it wasnt really noticable. Thing is, you will be looking at £80 a wheel which no doubt is making your purchase turn rather expensive

[martialyang 0]

Ryan, cheers for the feedback. Sounds like Lepsons is going to be my best option. I've not fitted these wheels yet so at least it'll be practical for me to leave them with Lepsons for a week or so.

How are you able to tell whether they're genuine or not? Bit of a daft question sorry but are you checking the attached picture or the link? (the link is to a photo of a genuine one that I've pinched from a another thread for reference, and the attached picture is of one of the one I have, sorry if this wasn't clear in my original post).

Thanks again!

[winrya 0]

the amount of time i've spent cleaning mine i know exactly how they look. I remember looking at the replicas and seeing differences in the shape and finish. I've been looking to find an example but there isnt anything out there at the mo.

[mikemod 0]

Looking at your attached picture instead of the link I would say yours are replicas.

There should be a BBS stamp on the inside somewhere.

[jd6677 0]

Here is a picture of a genuine Monza II wheel – from the inside. As you can see from the picture there is stamps and lettering/numbers on every spoke.

JD

[winrya 0]

I'm starting to wonder now?!?!?!? I've posted a face on pic of mine for comparison and they do look very similar but yours dont seems to have such a large edge to the rim. (pos the curbing) Suppose your answer is whether or not you can see the vw and bbs stamps as in the above post.

Something i remember about the replicas were that they appear much closer to chrome than the machine polished look of the oem's

Yours

Mine

[JonnyGTi 0]

You can easily check if they're genuine by looking at the back.....there should be a BBS number...something like BBS RD 305 (although the 305 may be 278 or another no.)

There should also be a "GERMANY VW" logo and the part number on them as well as shown above.

Have a look at the photos above and in the links below and you can see where these are located :-

linky 1

linky 2

[martialyang 0]

Thanks all for you help, I'm quite certain that I've ended up with replicas now. Quite gutted that for about another £150 more I could've bought a brand new set of these replicas wheels with new tyres and all. Anyway, lesson learnt and guess it could've been worse

I've had a look on the insides and the spokes look significantly different and the colour is a plastic grey colour rather than being shiney. No signs of BBS or a VW logo.

Big thanks for the photos too, I'm sure they prove really useful as future references for everyone interested in getting a set of the genuine 18" wheels.

Thumbs up to the GTI community

[robs1977 0]

Unlucky mate,did the ad say they were genuine? if so can't you put a claim in on Paypal as the item is not 'as described'

[JonnyGTi 0]

Sorry to hear that Chiu...

Like you say, for future reference for anyone considering buying 18" Monzas on E-bay, it is best to :

1. Ask for the BBS No. (should be BBS RD XXX)

2. Ask for larger photos of damaged / scuffed areas if needed.

3. Pay on collection if you can go and pick up the wheels, so you can see them before paying.

4. Ask for Tyre make and tread depth and be suspicious of non VW OEM tyres if they claim the wheels are quite new.

5. Check the centre VW cap, on replicas the standard VW cap is usually too big for the hole. I note in the photos above that your centre cap looks a bit small.

A good ebayer with nothing to hide will gladly provide you with the answers to the above.

[martialyang 0]

Unfortunately they weren't described as genuine, here's the description below...

"SET OF 4 VW GOLF GTI MK5 18" ALLOYS WITH PIRELLI TYRES

Set of 4 of the extremely attractive New Golf GTi 18" alloys fitted with 225/40R18 Pirelli tyres with decent treads, 2 of the Pirelli tyres are almost brand new. The wheels are used and do bear some kerb marks but can be refurbished."

Nothing to say they were replicas either. Normally I look out for words like 'style'.

On the more positive side, two of the wheels don't have Pirelli tyres so aren't as described, don't know if that's enough to raise a dispute.

I'm an eBay newbie (as you can probably tell!) and this was my first purchase. In fact, I registered my eBay account about 9 months ago just for the purpose of getting some 18" alloys.

I did pay through PayPal, but looking through the terms and stuff, it mentions that you should look for a PayPal Buyer Protection thing on the listing in order to be able to raise a 'not as described' dispute, but doesn't look like this listing has it, so d'oh!

[EVILHOMER 0]

Paypal and Ebay is a minefield mate, Paypal offers you hardly any protection at all (I know to my cost!!) but as a purchaser you do have more rights than the seller. Contact them and see what they will do.

Unlucky by the way!

[RedRobin 1]

Apart from checking stampings on inside, the first pic in Ryan's post is replica and the second lower pic is genuine.

I'm on a borrowed Mac (without Photoshop) and so can't pen mark the area - Check the differences where the open 'horse shoe' shapes meet the rim....There's a change of 'level' on the replicas (drops down a millimetre or two).

Just take your eye on a view all around the rim edge circumference by the tyre - It's then obvious.

[clown 0]

Sorry to see you brought these,I noticed these on Ebay myself whilst looking in general.

I see he writes the advert in such a way you yourself believe there genuine,I know without the codes at the back of the wheels its hard to tell,Not a good first purshase and for what you paid........A bit more wheel damage then you thought,I bet,,,,,

Your best bet is to sell them on admitting they are copys.Get some of your money back....

Do not have these refurbed.........

Try and look for a genuine set,there is bound to be some on there sooner or later.

[Snoopy 0]

Autocar this week say they have had 3 of theres 18s referbed at different times due to curb meeting wheel and recomend

www.spitandpolish.co.uk

or

www.wickedwheels.co.uk

"took a few hours and about £60 a time"

They listed £175 as the cost of the 3 visits for the 3 wheel in total.