Rear pad modification

A minor tweak was made to the back of the hub pad which removes some excess material around the spokes (taking advantage of the bmw only fitment). on the 17x8 et38 this shaves off .15lbs, and about .4lbs on the et20 version. It was an easy change for them and I'm glad I caught it before everything was finally signed off.

First Draft

Final Design

A wheel with material removed around lugs

Color Samples Arrived

I received color swatches yesterday. This included a custom mix of motorsport silver which did not match up well, and two premium finishes called Hyper Black and Hyper silver (which look almost identical). The Hyper finishes look the most similar the silver most commonly used, but run a $10 premium per wheel. All other available finishes add no additional cost.

Wheels Back On Track

Had a meeting with the factory representative at the SEMA show. And we picked up where the project was left off. The mold is going in to production officially. I received revised 3D images and paint samples are on they way. The center cap area was tweaked for aesthetics as it was thicker and more square previously. It is more rounded around the center cap now.

The polling showed an interest in a 17x8.5 e30 m3 fitment, With enough pre-orders this could also be an option.

Additional Wheel Delay

As you all know this wheel project is behind schedule from what was originally anticipated.  Recently we’ve been waiting on getting sample.  As we were told that the mold was complete and they were just having quality issues on the first units which needed more modification of the mold.  Supposedly they were on round 3 of modifications, and then I stopped hearing from my contact.  I was not getting any responses to emails, and phone calls went unanswered.  This went on for basically two weeks.

I became rather pissed off and started do some detective work to try and figure out what is going on.  When I originally sent some wheels for them to get an idea of the design I'm considering, I was given a shipping address.  Using this address I was able to get in contact with the factory directly.  When I mentioned the name of the guy I’ve been working with, their staff immediately recognized him, as they have been working on wheels together for the past 15 years.  The Gentleman I was speaking with had been working for the same factory for the past 23 years.  I asked him what the status was of the wheel order, and he told me that the 2d and 3d designs were completed back in June, and then they never heard from my contact again.  No mold was created, nothing had been done since then.

This whole time I’ve been lied to.  I sent a partial payment for a mold deposit (almost $4k) back in August to the guy I’ve been working with, and nothing has been done.  What’s sick is I would routinely talk to him, for 30 minutes on the phone, and he would go in to these detailed stories about what progress had been made.  Apparently he did similar things to other long time business partners of his.  Somebody else that worked with him for the past 15 years finally stumbled onto the factory a month ago when he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on.  And his complaint was the same.  Earlier in the year the guy that did this to us mentioned that he would be going to SEMA, and that we could meet there to talk.  I looked up his registration and he’s now working for some wholesale tire company.  I called him up at his work, and he still claims that that everything he says is true, enough though he can’t prove any of it.  He hasn’t returned my calls since.  From conversations with other people that have worked with him, it seems he’s going through some kind of personal crisis.  Foreclosure, or bankruptcy possibly.  I can believe it since it can be tough running your own business, and problems seem to be more common in our economy these days.  But I’m disgusted by his behavior, and I can’t believe he’s destroying his reputation with people he’s known and worked with for so long.  It’s a mistake I hope he pays for dearly.

I spent a long time on the phone with the factory and they went ahead and explained the process of the wheel production again to me.  They were very sorry to hear what had been done and how much time had been wasted.  We basically have to start the wheel production from the beginning again. Luckily the design phase is complete and they could start in on a mold asap if they get the ok.  I’ll be meeting in person with their rep at SEMA on Tuesday next week.  They are sending out paint samples to me, which I didn’t get when working with the other guy.  I was given a pretty firm time table for how the process should flow, and am very pleased to see that 3 sales reps would be working on this project.  They are doing this so that I get immediate responses for any questions along with updates.  That way if any of them are out, somebody is there to cover me.

What this means is that from start to finish it will be another 4-5 months before final products are in hand.  It will be 45-55 days before I have samples in hand that we can look at.  I know this is a let down.  There’s nobody that this hurts more then me, and I know how many of you have been patiently waiting.

Things won’t be finalized till next week, none of this was the factories fault at all, but they are going to help me out how ever they can.  5 people moved their partial deposits over when we declined the shipment of Rota wheels (that too was a fun experience).  I would like to compensate them with a 5^th spare wheel for free.  For those who have been waiting, I’m sorry that we have additional delays.  I’m so glad I did not accept preorders until I had a sample in my hand.  I didn’t want to believe that something like this would go wrong (nobody could have predicted this), but experiencing a mistake from the last order made me realize the importance of waiting.  I’m sure everybody else is glad too that they didn’t put down money early.  What I will be able to do is when the pre-order does officially open (after samples arrive), Then, I can implement a tiered pricing groupbuy, meaning that additional discounts will be given out depending on how many people pre-order there are.  Previously it was just going to be one set price.

I’d like to apologize for the delays.  It’s extremely embarrassing to have to explain this news.  On the internet it is hard to build trust, and for me to explain here that nothing has been done in months, just sounds terrible.  I hope everyone can understand the situation, and knows my reputation from previous transactions.  This whole situation has cost me significantly, which is even more reason I cannot give up on it.  I also know how important a product like this is, and I’d really like to see them complete.  These wheels will be very much worth the wait.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Wheel Update

I just received word that the molds were modified a second time to add additional material to the main hub of the wheel where the spokes meet. I believe this is related to the porosity issue from before. I was told excess material will be milled off, so we'll have to wait and see what the final weight of the wheel will be. The mold is returning to the production facility for the 3rd time for samples to be produced.

I'm not pleased with the delays, but I am glad to see they are putting an emphasis on quality and not rushing anything through. Our dealings with Rota previously showed us what kind of problems that can cause.

Sample wheel update

Sample wheels were produced. They had some porosity problems which is very common with mesh wheels on the first test samples produced. They require a few more days to make tweaks to the mold to fix this problem. Porosity is caused by air in the mold in narrow passages (like the thin spokes of a mesh wheel). By adding more material to the spokes they will solve the problem, then they will machine off the extra material after it comes out of the mold to bring the wheel back to its original specs and weight.

The samples I'll be receiving are et20

Mold complete

As of Sept. the 9Th the mold should be officially complete.  Samples will be produced for testing and acquiring certification.  I will also be receiving a few samples.  I should have them in a week.  Once they arrive and are approved the pre-order will officially open. It will be open for 2-3 weeks depending on which production cycle the wheels get done on.

A website will be created to accept pre-orders to make organization and communication easier.

Colorized versions of the wheel

Here are some images of the wheel, and what it could look like in different color variations. These aren't official images, just modified in Photoshop. These aren't official colors, just options. Official colors will be selected soon, which is why taking the survey is important.

Gold

Diamond Black

Bronze

Black

Time Attack

Mold started

Everything was finalized last week. A mold is being created, which takes about a month to produce. A painted sample will be overnighted to me once they finish. After that they created the batch of wheels and send them over.

We have to wait a bit for the mold, but then things will be very busy once final production starts as that along with shipping is quick.

Also please take the poll if you haven't already

Thank you

Final designs

I received final designs for the wheel. The drawings don't show all the changes that are made when changing the wheel to et20, and the other sizes. they just modified some of the measurement numbers. I'm frustrated I waited so long for something I did myself months ago.

I'm finalizing everything on Monday and putting it all on paper, so the they will be going forward with the mold.

I should have more info on Monday.

Status Update

Well its been a while since I've updated the blog. Each time I get in contact with my source I'm told I'll receive updates within a few days, and then I don't receive them. Today is another example of not getting updates when I was told I would. But I'm told that is just how this industry goes. I've been convinced that I'll see the final updates tomorrow.

It seems the engineers misunderstood what sizes and offsets were needed, and they were working on et20 8.5 and 9" wheels as well which were not requested. Polling showed some interested in a low offset 8.5" fitment, so I will keep that in mind but the minimum numbers required pretty much prevent that from being a possibility.

The second I get the official drawings they will be posted here.

Official Survey

Please take a moment and fill out this short 9 question survey about the track wheel. This information can easily be organized to determine what colors people want in each size and vehicle application. This should help prevent having to wait for second and third batches to meet demand.

Thank you

More images

I've received additional imagry of the wheel. The center has been slightly chanaged as it is more rounded near the base, and the center cap support was also rounded off a bit. These images were an attempt at showing the wheel in different finishes, but their design application is not really made to do that. These images show an untextured center cap installed, so it looks a little odd. That area can accept oem bmw snap in center caps.

The wheels show an APEX logo, this is a place holder for a company logo that will be there, and was done as a test.

I should be receiving final designs this week for all sizes. If everything is OK, then I'll be able to sign off on them this week and production will begin.

Wheel Update

I received some long awaited imagery of the wheel. Which I've attached below. Currently the 17x8 et38 wheel weights in at 15.6lbs We believe we can get the final weight down to 14.8 to 15.1lbs. This will take some additional time to engineer but is worth it.

Here are the pics

Survey Monkey Poll

I'll be creating a poll using Survey Monkey to help us determine exactly how many people are interested in what color of this wheel along with how many people for each size. Since minimum runs have to be met, it's important that we get a good census now because we may never meet the minimum again to have wheels produced.

PLEASE fill out the survey once it's posted. You can also check out the two polls to the right.

Thank you

Colors

Because multiple wheel sizes are being created. It is possible to have some of the wheels created in other colors besides silver, but each size would be created in these colors. I'm looking to get color opinions from people.  Other mesh wheels have been produced in colors such as Silver, motorsport (champagne hue) and a ball peen polished finish. I've seen the wheels refinished in gloss black, flat black, gloss white, and some other colors.

I'd like to hear what people who actually want because these colors are pretty much going to have to be pre-ordered. If you want silver then don't mention any other color.

I've added a poll to the side but please feel free to leave comments to this post or post on any of the forums. It takes about 80-10 wheels to get a color made so be aware that choices that are too unique just won't happen. so if you post a list of your color preferences it would help more

Here are some random images of some refinished wheels.

4 lug wheels

Talking with a number of people at bimmerfest, and from some of the emails I've received, it seems there is interest in a 4x100 version of the wheel. The concern is the low number of people who run 17's on their non M e30's. A mold adjustment would have to be made with around 50 sets of wheels producedat a minimum to make the 4 lug fitment feasible. This is higher then I originally thought would be needed. It would be tough to get this many people together since there are a number of cheap wheels available (although they are not forged and not even close to being as light). I'll check interest on some of the more major forums to see how much interest there really would be. It could be possible as a production run down the road.

Getting ready for Bimmerfest

I'll be headed down to Bimmerfest tomorrow. Since my M3's all torn apart, I'll be taking a friends e30 that just finished getting a roll bar welded in today. While I'm there I'll see who else is interested in the e30 m3 offset version of the wheel. Hopefully we'll have a good m3 turn out.

Sample wheel off to the Engineers

I just received the shipping info for the engineering department that will be finishing up the design before they go into production. I've sent them a wheel with the correct vehicle fitment and brake clearance, as the margins are very slim on these cars.  They will use that for caliper clearance specs. They Should receive the wheel April 5 or 6. Right about when the Rota wheel GroupBuy wheels arrive and ship out to everyone.

Basic Wheel Design

Here are basic computer images of what the wheel will look like. The center is still being worked on along with other details, but the basic shape is visible. the center section will be significantly deeper, and the bore are that holds the center cap will be modified further. the E30 M3 fitment will have an even deeper center section thus allowing BBK clearance with ease.

Wheel Specifications and basic images

This new track wheel is being created to fill the void for strong, light weight, good looking wheels that don't cost an arm and a leg. There are many E36, E46, E92 options out there already, but they are either heavy (low quality) or priced very high. In addition the E30 M3 has a very narrow wheel selection that doesn't require spacers along with the above qualities, and this wheel offers a unique fitment opportunity.

This new wheel will have an 8 fork design.  The closest thing to it currently is the BBS RC wheel, but this new one will have substantial changes as it is being optimized for track use. The new design will have exposed lugs instead of a screw on cap, and the center area will be modified to accept a standard center cap such as the OEM BMW roundel if desired. The wheel will be semi-forged to save weight, and all excess material from the backside around the lugs will be removed. The spoke design and the lack of a lip allows for high Big Brake Kit clearance, along with strengthening the outer lip and minimizing the possibility of bends even further.

The first batch of these wheels will be in the 17” size ranging in widths from 8”, 8.5” and 9”. All the wheels will be BMW 5x120 fitment with the standard center bore. All sizes will come in BMW 3 series offsets, (38-42 range) but a custom batch of 17x8” wheels will be available in a 20mm offset specifically designed for the E30 M3. The et20 wheels will also work well on E28’s and E34’s.

First post to a new Blog

This is the first post to this blog. After organizing a few GroupBuys on forums I found the need for a little more content management, since some forums do not allow editing of previous posts. This would really throw people off about the status of a GroupBuy if they don't want to read every single post in a multi page thread.

In this blog I'll be keeping you guys up to date on the status of the new mesh, light weight track wheel.  Here I'll be posting wheel specifications, images, new fitments, and shipment updates. I'll also be using polls to get an idea of what fitments and colors people really care about.

This wheel has been in development for a while now so this is not the starting point of the development process. We should see the final product in late June/July.