Split decision
Martyn Knowles is in a dilemma: buy new aftermarket alloys or refurbish existing ones?
It’s been nine years since I bought my 2003 Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI PD. Being the second owner, I did manage to talk with the original owner about his four-year journey with the Octavia. However, I didn’t discuss the BBS alloy wheels that the car had fitted when purchased, so I don’t know if he ordered them from the dealer or had them fitted later.
Now, these BBS split rims are looking very shabby. Corrosion has set into the alloy and the lacquer is almost nonexistent on the fronts. Years of brake dust erosion and using those hand car-wash places that spray ‘who knows what’ onto them prior to power-washing off, have given the split rims a sad look.
The time has come to either change them for new or refurbish the old. In fact, I’m doing both! I thought it would be good to have two sets – one for winter tyres.
I went in search of some fancy new wheels that were different to BBS. I found a Kent-based mail order wheel company – www.rimstyle.com – that operates an easy-to-navigate website offering most of the top-selling alloys. You input your vehicle model and a selection of appropriatelysized alternatives are shown.
Not wanting to change the diameter of the current BBS style, a 16in alloy was chosen and near-on 100 designs were offered. Black alloys are popular at the moment, so I clicked on black as a chosen colour to whittle down the options. I then narrowed the design to a set of two and asked Rimstyle to help me choose.
Should I go for a set of ATS Emotions (at £461 for four) or Dotz Shifts (at £532 for four)? ATS is part of the UNIWHEELS Group and has 40 years’ experience in motor racing wheels. Dotz is part of the Alcar Group, which encompasses AEZ, Dotz, Dotz Survival, Dezent and Enzo as part of its alloy wheel brands; they make around 1.2 million alloys per year, so they should know a thing or two about aftermarket manufacturing. Both companies have German headquarters.
It finally came down to delivery times: the ATS rims couldn’t be delivered for 10-15 days and I needed them a tad quicker for this feature. So the decision was made and the Dotz rims arrived within four days of ordering.
They look fantastic in gloss black with the polished rim. New wheel bolts come as part of the deal, but if you don’t want silver bolts you can pay an extra £20 (like I did) for black wheel bolts and a set of anti-theft locking wheel bolts for a further £10. There’s provision for new tyres to add to your rims should you wish, but I already had a set of 205/55/16 Davanti tyres on the shelf.
My thanks go to the helpful guys at ATS Euromaster in Eastbourne – Dave, Deano, Gavin, Jake and Rob – who all made sure my BBS alloys were stripped of tyres and the new Dotz fitted with care.
BBS alloys are pretty high-end in terms of quality. They aren’t offered in a 16in five-stud arrangement at Rimstyle and the cheapest BBS items on sale start at a shade under £700 a set (non-split) and go up to a whopping £9000 for a set of 20in splitties. Good enough for your Bentley, I’d say! So, there was strong motivation in this instance for me to get my original BBS alloys refurbished if possible. But how much would that cost? I went to another Kent-based operation to find out.
Spit and a bit of polish
Back in 1989, when I was driving a Ford Capri daily, I wanted to get the Ghia alloys refurbished. A mate took them off my hands, saying he knew someone who worked in a garage that sent alloys off to a company called Spit & Polish. Well, when they arrived back, they looked absolutely marvellous and, if my memory is correct, they cost me about £25 per wheel. Thirty years on, I went in search of Spit & Polish and discovered they’re still working flat out to refurbish all manner of alloy and steel wheels.
Spit & Polish was established in 1984 and had to develop a system to make alloys look as good as new while achieving a quick turnaround. By 1988, they were refinishing more than 40,000 wheels a year and today handle over 100 wheels per day, collecting from points in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, London and Essex.
I went to see Richard Seal at Spit & Polish to get his views on splitting BBS alloys. Many manufacturers offer Bbs-style wheels as an option, including Bentley, Jaguar, MINI, Porsche, Volvo, VAG, etc. Richard said they split these on a regular basis and their main objective is to not cut corners. If a BBS bolt doesn’t extract as intended and the screw thread is damaged, they insert a time-sert and rethread the damaged area before torqueing the new bolt to the correct figure. A week is needed to refurbish a split alloy and they’ve never had any comebacks on those they’ve repaired over the years.
I’ve yet to send my Skoda’s BBS wheels to them, but will report on the job in a forthcoming issue. I’m also thinking of colour-coding the alloys.
As for prices, Spit & Polish will remove your existing tyres, check for tyre damage, the shape of the alloy (straightening is free of charge if they’re in for a refurb), kerbing, etc. Having established your requirements in terms of final finish, they complete the refurb and the tyres are fitted and rebalanced.
For wheels up to 16in, the price including VAT is £81.90 per alloy, while 17-19in is £86.70, 20-21in is £111.90 and 22in is £125.10. For split-type alloys, the price reflects the labour involved. For my four 16in BBS splits, the quote for a full refurb is £529.20 inc VAT (£132.30 per wheel, plus extra for colour-coding).
That’s nearly the same price as those new Dotz alloys, but, as was mentioned earlier, if you like the look of split rims, then refurbishment is seen as the cheaper option due to the new BBS wheel costs – and I don’t think BBS offer a 16in split rim.
Fresh-looking, non-chipped alloys do make a vehicle look its best – and more sellable at the same time – so I’m glad I finally got those scabby-looking BBS alloys off the Skoda and ready for refurb, while at the same time transforming the car’s look with those glossy black Dotz.