Evening all. I've been looking around for a winter wheel set up for the car, there are a few options in the UK, but there are many options from German wheel re-sellers. I think this is due to the legal requirement for winter tyres in many European countries, hence the increased choice. Given the joy that is Brexit, I'm concerned that there are taxes/import duties to be paid on any such purchase. Does anyone have experience of such a purchase from overseas, what are the pit falls and possible gains from going down this route? Many thanks in advance.
I’ve been looking at the same with the same worry. Technically I think you’re potentially liable for 20% VAT when they come into the country and they’ll be impounded by the courier on the orders of HMRC until the VAT is paid and potentially import duty. I’ve seen a couple of good value sets but suddenly don’t look good value against the above.
There will be duty and VAT to pay, a rough guide can be found at this site - https://customsinsights.co.uk/duty-vat-costs/
Thanks for this link, really helpful. It does look as though the duty and VAT on top of the already high delivery costs make this option seem too expensive.
I’ve bought the top set, 780M 18” wheels with * rated RFT Pirellis on. Hopefully they will be here next week. Clearly nowhere near time to put them on the car, but thought I would get in there early while there is plenty of availability (relatively speaking) and the prices are ok. Paid £1.3K delivered for these.
The seller (happy to link if anyone is interested) has several “new” sets of BMW alloys/tyres. My inner paranoia was thinking that they had been ripped off some somewhere, so I asked about his sourcing policy. Interestingly he buys from BMW main dealers that have used the wheels/tyres on either demo cars or even cars that have sat in the window. He goes to a number of known dealers in later spring and buys up all their stock.
Make sure you get loads of protection on the diamond cut spokes for those wheels. Look lovely but the winter will ravage them. £1.3k is a good price. I can't seem to find much for less than double that
Wise words there Duncan, I am already planning on treating the wheels pretty much as soon as they arrive. They will be cleaned reasonably regularly as well. The joys of having a Porsche I suspect....keep looking, sure a set will pop up at a manageable price. Do the Porsche forums have classifieds to keep and eye on?
I have probably got the wrong model/spec etc (as I have zero clue about Porkers!), but are these of any interest @Spuffington ? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15727601...ZTfs9171XRVT9m1GavPt8KpZU=|tkp:Bk9SR460qpWwZg
Thanks. Funny you should find those, I went for another look and came across them this PM. Only thing that puts me off is the DOT code which shows they're 5.5yrs old.
Guidance states that tyres over 5 years old should be checked annually a replaced at 10 years. You could have 2-4 winters out of those with no troubles, and then have a set of wheels ready for new rubber.
Update on this, the seller phoned me this afternoon to let me know that the wheels I'd bought were no longer for sale. He had been away for a long weekend, came back and the wheels (stored in a shared barn) had been knocked over and damaged. He wasn't wanting to have them re-cut, which is fair enough. I'd cleared a space in the garage for them! We are discussing the other possible options currently.
New deal done, hopefully this set are being despatched via courier this afternoon, so should be with me Thi/Fri this week. These are the factory fit 18” alloys for the M340i cars, so I know they will definitely fit. Prefer the staggered fit as well. Tyres are fully BMW compliant and have all but new tread.
The wheels were delivered this afternoon, I'm very happy with the purchase. Originally a courier was going to deliver them today, but there was an issue with the wheels being picked up due to their van breaking down, not great, so the seller offered to bring them down to me instead. He arrived at the time agreed, I was astonished to see he had them in his G23 M340d convertible...! Fair play to him on that score. After a good chat about all things BMW and the like, I stacked them in the garage. I don't think these have even been on a car, the front tyres still have the red/yellow marks in the tread from the factory. All wheels have TPMs fitted, centre caps and even the little "M" badges. Glad I went for the staggered set up, they look slightly better in my eyes. Off to order some G5 ceramic gubbins, I shall set about a deep clean, decontamination, clay and then a paint wipe before coating them. Possibly a second coat if I have enough of the coating. Bring on the cold weather!
Great result. If it’s the first time you’ve run winters, you’ll notice the car becomes much more confidence inspiring in cold temps. Im still on the hunt. Got my eyes on two sets around the £1.8k mark.
