Ebay Fender Flares - review pleasantly suprised

[Radekxpl]

As the title states I have decided to experiment with fender flares from Ebay and I must say I am very pleasantly surprised with the results. I wanted to upgrade the look of the X5 with some flares but I did not want to spend $700+ on Oem flares, I have search around and found very attractively priced flares on ebay at $236 for set. Here is my experience and some pictures.

Here is a link to the flares if anyone is interesed at $236: https://ebay.us/qlMTl9
$236 After placing the order it took 14 day exactly for delivery to my house in US, Upon opening the box and just looking at the flares everything looked well I am going with the black unpainted look so the raw plastic texture was important to me which it was, similar to the oem flares. These can be painted as well but I imagine would probably was to be sanded a little for smooth paint finish, I am not going to paint them so I'm not really concerned with that. Installation was straight forward and I am really happy with the look after the installation. Below are pictures of the final result, with 449 style wheels warped with plus size 265/50/19 Nitto NT421Q tires and a 25mm spacers in the rear. With Flares the 449 rear wheel does not look good without spacer 25mm spacers brings it out and it looks just right in my opinion.

Based on my experience at $236 you cannot go wrong with this fit is spot on finish is nice and its 1/4th price of the oem flares. Tip if your are installing these they don't come with rivets so you have to source them your self. I'm not a fan of the original pop rivet type one time use. I have used instead this type of expanding rivet with good results bmw part #51118174185 you can get these almost anywhere I have ordered mine here:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...PZ%26vxp%3Dmtr
I would definitely this to any one looking to get expended flares.

[yewlock]

Nice looking

[mkdan2004]

Hey, thanks for the review. Convinced me to order the same product. I do have a question regarding the rivets. I was checking the type of rivets used on www.realoem.com and it looks like front and rear fenders are locked with different type of rivets. Did you replace both front and back with "51118174185" this ones? If so, how many did you use? I found a local shop selling them "by piece" and i am not sure how many i need.

[boosted43]

Originally Posted by mkdan2004

Hey, thanks for the review. Convinced me to order the same product. I do have a question regarding the rivets. I was checking the type of rivets used on www.realoem.com and it looks like front and rear fenders are locked with different type of rivets. Did you replace both front and back with "51118174185" this ones? If so, how many did you use? I found a local shop selling them "by piece" and i am not sure how many i need.

You can get 30 of them on eBay for less than 5 bucks.

[Radekxpl]

Originally Posted by mkdan2004

Hey, thanks for the review. Convinced me to order the same product. I do have a question regarding the rivets. I was checking the type of rivets used on www.realoem.com and it looks like front and rear fenders are locked with different type of rivets. Did you replace both front and back with "51118174185" this ones? If so, how many did you use? I found a local shop selling them "by piece" and i am not sure how many i need.

In total you will need at least 16 they work for the front and rear flares, I bought extra because it's always good to have some spare one around and they are inexpensive

[6lacksheep]

Any one know if these fit the f16/f86?

[menelaos]

Have purchased them too.. And will sand, prime and paint white mineral when I transition to M Package.
Don't think they fit F16, but do contact them, just in case.

[A-4WD]

Originally Posted by askylitdrive

Any one know if these fit the f16/f86?

They definitely don't fit and the design is completely different. You can find them on ebay by searching BMW X6 Wheel Arches.

[originalgoods13]

Can you provide a close up looking at the texture? Does it match the "grain" or is it smooth and ready-to-paint?

[Radekxpl]

Originally Posted by originalgoods13

Can you provide a close up looking at the texture? Does it match the "grain" or is it smooth and ready-to-paint?

Texture on the flare marches exactly the texture of the unpainted factory flares and bumper plastics on my car, with that being said if you want to paint it you would have to sand it down a little to make it smooth. I will try to take some pictures later on today.

[originalgoods13]

Ordered! There's 2 left and it's a bit cheaper to buy from eBay than directly from the site even with the 20% code.

[Radekxpl]

6 month owner ship update, still look as the day they were installed brand new no discoloration warping, cracking ect to report, good product.

[M302_imola]

Originally Posted by menelaos

Have purchased them too.. And will sand, prime and paint white mineral when I transition to M Package.
Don't think they fit F16, but do contact them, just in case.

Did you ever get this done? I'd love to see pics as I'm looking at doing the same.

[menelaos]

Originally Posted by M302_imola

Did you ever get this done? I'd love to see pics as I'm looking at doing the same.

This is my mod thread. Please visit my album and scroll down.

http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1480641

they look great!

[originalgoods13]

I have yet to install my set but it looks good and seems high quality.

[TxBeem]

Did y'all have any fitting issues, especially with the rears

[menelaos]

Rears are around 98% right!

[TxBeem]

Is this what I should expect from these flares?

[TxBeem]

Another one.

[JsingX5]

Originally Posted by TxBeem

Is this what I should expect from these flares?

Those rears are tricky, I feel like one of those little internal plastic tabs on your rears isn't seeded properly causing the whole flare to stick out like that.

I had to take one off and pop it on again to get it to seed right.

My fronts line up perfectly, if this first picture is from the front you should try again.

[mkdan2004]

Originally Posted by TxBeem

Another one.

Yes,that is pretty much the best you can do on the rears.
Front are 100% perfect.
If you pay attention to some X5's with OEM fenders, you will notice a small gap too. I actually have seen few with a significant gap. Others, are almost completely flush though.

[jay320bird]

So it seems that the link you have attached are all sold out. There are some other flares on ebay but are from China. The same thing? Has anybody tried these?

http://r.ebay.com/7V3Ckl

Thanks for the help.