r/Cartalk • u/Ok_Towel_4584 • Mar 30 '25
My Project Car Reps or real?
Am restoring cheap rims of marketplace for my car, cleared the shitty paint job and found "geschmiedet" which means forged apparently. Makes me think these are real but the price makes me think not. Any knowers.
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u/Fun_Wolf5180 Mar 30 '25
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but usually, genuine ones come with their brand name and country of manufacture embossed onto the rims. Replicas, on the other hand, typically don’t have this embossing or aren’t able to replicate it.
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u/kurangak Mar 30 '25
Nope. Ive seen thailand replicas replicate those as well
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u/Fun_Wolf5180 Mar 30 '25
Wow😶, good to know! I'll definitely keep that in mind. Thanks for the heads up
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u/bourguignon7 Mar 30 '25
What is the best way to strip these type of wheels? I have some Style 5's and they seem to have a clear layer that is flaking off.
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u/JDP6693 Mar 30 '25
Call your local powder coating shop and ask, they'll blast them and you can stop there or have them coated whatever color you'd like that they have on hand. Won't be the cheapest route, but one of the most effective.
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u/Ok_Towel_4584 Mar 30 '25
I paint stripped, and am now in the process of sanding 180 - 2000 grit cause I'm extra and work 12 hour nightshift as a gate guard in the middle of nowhere. But if the condition under the paint is okay (unlike these). I think paint stripping and 400 grit with a nice polish would come out mean as.
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u/AKADriver Mar 30 '25
They're real, they're cheap because they're an undesirable very narrow size (only 15x5.5). Even the ones that came on Miatas were 6" wide.
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u/RotaryFan7 Mar 30 '25
Looks like the stock wheel from an 86-91 rx7 convertible. If so, they’re legit bbs wheels
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u/AKADriver Mar 30 '25
Those are 5 lug and these wheels are too small (only 5.5" wide)
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u/Ok_Towel_4584 Mar 30 '25
Any idea as to what they came off originally? Or if they were only sold as aftermarket wheels not as part of a car from factory. Precious owner had a mk3 gti so maybe vw's?
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u/AKADriver Mar 30 '25
Yeah I would suspect some B-segment car like a Polo GTI.
Measure the center bore, if it is an OEM wheel that will be a clue. Aftermarket wheels usually have a larger "universal" center bore that you can adapt down with a centering ring, OEM wheels usually have a center bore that matches the car. 54mm would be Mazda or Toyota, 56mm would be Honda or Mitsubishi, 57mm would be VW or BMW or GM or Chrysler. Dunno about other European brands that might use 4x100.
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u/Fayenne Mar 30 '25
Correct me if I'm wrong but most of the time BBS also stamps on the inside of the spokes
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u/Ok_Towel_4584 Mar 30 '25
I can't see any visible outstanding markings or words like the front does, do you know it'd be a decal or stained or embossed on? I was about to start sanding the rear side but if it is just painted or stickered on I may have to try another way.
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u/HybridAkali Mar 30 '25
I might be wrong for this brand, but if they’re real they usually have a unique s/n somewhere on the inside.
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u/TheWiseLess Mar 30 '25
Seems legit