Apex PS7 review 18" x 8.5"
Hello all,
My Apex PS-7 18 x 8.5 ET35 5x120 wheels in Hypersilver (for BMW E46 non-M) arrived moments ago and I wanted to summarize my first impressions. These (from online pics) appear similar to the VMR710's. I'll be updating this thread as time passes (updating with necessary wheel weights to balance, view installed, etc...) so please feel free to comment, ask questions, and I'm also open for any requests (if you would like to see certain measurements, pic angles, etc...). Images were captured on a HTC one M8.
First off, I have no conflict of interest or anything to disclose. I'm not endorsed by any companies, have no bias towards aftermarket manufacturers, and no former experience in reviewing wheels. In fact, this is my first ever purchase of wheels (new or used).
0) NEEDS and WANTS
I needed to replace my stock m135 wheels as my rear-right suffered a crack and destroyed the tire with it. I'm not an aggressive driver, I DD my car, and I care about my ZHP. I usually only purchase OEM quality products (exception being rear camera, car nav, etc... things that cannot be helped). I wanted a square setup to replace the staggered stock one on the ZHP so I could rotate tires and reduce rubber costs. I wanted to go 18x8 all around (even considered 17's as well) but settled for 18x8.5's as Apex didn't offer the PS-7s in 8 (at time of order).
1) ORDER PROCESS
I ordered 4 PS-7's directly off of Apex's website as I couldn't seem to find them elsewhere:
http://www.apexraceparts.com/apex-pr...l#.VAjbJfldXh4
@ $289/wheel. I'm in WA so wasn't charged tax (CA residents would be charged 9.00%).
I also couldn't find any warranty information on their webpage so I emailed Apex and received a response quickly the next business day:
**************
"Update for Case #873 - "Warranty and test results"
[name redacted],
Apex wheels are warranted for 1-year for paint defects and/or blemishes and manufacturing defects. Structural defects are covered for 2 years. All warranties are only given to customers that have purchased through Apex or an authorized dealer. We also cover the cost of shipping and processing warranty replacements.Here are some screen captures of the VIA search available online:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5572/...0160b818_b.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2901/...e4a63f21_b.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/...e4702df5_b.jpg
To see the results a username and password is required at this URL https://www.jwtc.jp/open/html/e/situmon1.html
Let me know if you had any other quesitons.
Best,
[name redacted]"
*********************
I couldn't ask for more. Keep in mind that warranty exists only if wheels are ordered from Apex or AD. I'm unsure if this warranty is "owner specific" or will follow the wheels even if they are sold/traded off.
I took advantage of their free shipping promotion and was not charged for shipping.
I ordered them on Sunday (9/31/2014 - to Seattle, WA) and the wheels arrived via UPS on 10/4/2014. So 3 business Days as Monday was Labor Day. The shipment was tracked and I didn't have to sign anything. I ordered 4 wheels and received two packages:
Slight cosmetic damage from shipping but no issues.
2) UNPACKING
In each package were 2 boxes where the wheels were individually contained:
Each package contain 1] Wheel in protective cloth and 2] APEX center cap:
3) WHEEL APPEARANCE - HYPERSILVER COATING
I'm fairly meticulous with purchases and took over 100 pics of the wheels - noting every marking on each wheel. Overall, the wheels look great (yet to see them in natural light) and appear to be uniform in shade.
4) Wheel #1
Pictured above in unpacking section:
No blemishes were readily visible or worthy to note. I weighed the wheel on my bathroom scale* and it came out to 22.8 lbs (wheel alone, no center cap, no protective surrounds).
*Keep in mind that I do not know how accurate or precise my scale is... I have never calibrated it. I'll remeasure the wheels to increase the sample size and post new weight results to see if anything changes. If there are significant differences, then we'll know my scale is not reliable. If I can find some more precise way to measure, I'll update the results.
5) Wheel #2
Here's the second wheel I unpacked...
1 visible QC stamp
The only sort of blemish that I noted was on the center cap:
I'm not sure how this may affect the appearance of the wheel down the road... As I'm not familiar with purchasing wheels but it seems very minor and will be hidden away.
Wheel comes in at 20.0 lbs:
6) Wheel #3
The area around the center cap is a tad rough but nothing is peeling here:
There's a small ding that's very noticeable if a finger is ran over it.
The wheel had 2 QC markings:
The above was unreadable.
I'm not sure why this wheel was QC'd twice... Nothing to worry about as it did pass through QC.
The wheel came in at 21.2 lbs:
7) Wheel #4
I didn't see any major blemishes or dings on the wheel:
However the only QC mark could not be read:
Somehow it got smeared away before it was packaged and shipped to me.
This wheel had some extra clear coating or something on the rim edges. Nothing to be a concern about - seemed like it just wasn't cleaned before packaging:
Wiping it with my finger got rid of it:
The wheel weighed in at 21.2 lbs:
8)Summary
This is only a preliminary review and contains immediate first impressions. I'll update with a qualitative review of ride quality, balancing, wrapping them with Conti DWS 235/40/18 tires, and keep an up to date log (cleaning, state of appearance, etc..) of the wheels. I'll only have the stock m135 wheels to compare to.
Overall, I'm very happy to see them. They are far lighter than the m135s, squared, and I'll have much more confidence riding with them than 11 yr old wheels that are prone to cracking. Wheel weights span from: 20.0, 21.2, 21.2, 22.8 lbs for an average of 21.3 lbs +/- 1.14 lbs, variance of 1.32 lbs*. This is slightly above the claimed 20.5 lbs that is noted on the webpage but no big deal for me (no weight weeny here).
Again, thanks for reading and I'll try to update this when I can. Feel free to post any comments, suggestions, and notes!
I should be ordering the DWS tires shortly later today... as I wanted to be sure to check out the wheels first.
Worthy to note is that the wheels did not come with any sort of paper (manual, specs, warranty card, etc...). Again, I'm unsure what to expect when ordering wheels but I now assume in this modern age of internet, all I need is the digital receipt to call in warranties:
For summary (re-iterated):
Apex wheels are warranted for 1-year for paint defects and/or blemishes and manufacturing defects. Structural defects are covered for 2 years. All warranties are only given to customers that have purchased through Apex or an authorized dealer. We also cover the cost of shipping and processing warranty replacements.
Thanks and happy travels.
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