I may have had a hand in leading this thread OT. So, here is a bump for Rally's original questions.

 

Probably true....as with most cheap honda/import wheels of that style, they are manufactured in the philipines for very cheap.

Whoever manufactures them....we can certainly be sure that this isnt true. From their release of the "high performance wheel" :
Thanks golden child for getting those questions on this page....we'll see if they would please answer my questions

 

link to sport max "about us" http://www.sportmaxwheel.com/about_us.shtml
they are the manufacturer, they produce 2.4 million wheels a year

 

hahhahaahhahaah
caught red handed

 

Since you're all into looking at pictures why dont you compare the looks of the web rims to the rest of the webs made. You know like BBS, ASA, etc. Even someone with y'alls intelligence level will see they all pretty much look alike. The others I have no comment on, I really dont care

 

Glad to see that you know as much about wheel production as you do about Palo Uber.

The main company producing wheels in "Philipines" is Konig & Rota. Oh, wait they are the same company and use the same wheel plant oh, my !

The largest country of "cheap wheel" production at this time is China.

 

ChiliCooperS, stop talking out of your ***.

Koenigsegg eh? Stop dreaming buddy. And yes I know my cars and modifications so don't think you're *****.

So now you are saying all Mesh wheels are the same? Man are you blind or are you blind? The two mesh wheels pictured in this thread are IDENTICAL.

Stop being so god damn cocky, at least get your facts straight if you're gonna play like you know *****.

 

Wow... I called THIS one waaaaay back in post #17.

I'm sure that ALL car enthusiast groups have that small subset that feels that they're the end-all, be-all of MOD knowlege, but it's really bad here. Bottom line is that Uber says that they make their own things and that OTHER people are stealing THEIR designs. We'll likely never know the validity of that claim. We also know (from multiple postings from people that have actually purchased their stuff - not looked at pictures but actually bought and installed it) that the vendor is helpful and the fit/finish of their goods are quality.

The rep from Uber asked why people are slamming him so hard, and as a MINI owner that has made some "questionable" MODs to his own car (read as: not practically invisible and actually DIFFERENT than 98% of the simple, bolt-on stuff that's out there) I can tell you why that is:

Because Uber makes stuff that's too "agressive" or too "flashy" or, even (and this is my favorite), too "rice" for some people's taste. I've found first-hand that if you have the temerity to do that, you have to open yourself up to criticism. Jeez folks - if you don't like the guy's product then vote with your wallet. The classy thing to do would have been to email the vendor and asked then direct to address the price differential and defend the extra cost, then make a personal judgment. Instead, some people chose to post those allegations on an open internet forum - a place renowned throughout the Known Universe as a repository for level-headed thinking and fair-minded discourse [/sarcasm].

I'm also assuming that Uber has a return policy for people that are not satisfied with their products, yes? Of course, I'm not hearing anyone that actually OWNS their stuff asking for a return... to me that's worth more than a hundred posts based on photos. Maybe that's just me (shrug).

 

You obviously don't see the problem here.

• Why didn't Palo Uber answer all the questions?
• Why didn't they answer WHAT was different on their kit comparing it to the Koeningseder?
• Why hadn't anyone heard about Palo Uber the year 2002-2003? Not even in England.
• Why are there so many sketchy things about this company?
• Why can't they spell correctly?

 

Given that many people posting in here have obviously made up their minds even before hearing from the guy, I'm surprised that he posted in here AT ALL. If I were him, I'd not allow myself to be dragged into a point-by-point discussion of every question/claim either. It's totally lose/lose at this point for him.

As for the spelling, come on man... It's that sort of ad hominem BS that makes me hate "expose" threads of this sort. Just call him fat and ugly and you win the non-statement trifecta.

I'm done in here. I wasn't going to buy Uber before this, purely because I couldn't afford them. Nothing in here changes my opinion of them one way or the other, really.

Love those rims (whoever makes them) and wish I could afford them.

 

If he only had resonable answers to the questions he would have nothing to worry about, right? I just don't see the answers.

And about the spelling and grammar, I believe it is definitely important as a company to use proper spelling and grammar, it just doesn't feel professional without it.

 

i think i can get to the bottom of that as my best lives a few miles form their listed HQ address so will get him to go have a look as
speaking form my persepective uk mini nut whos been to some of the big shows and on all the uk forums
i only found out about palo uber form this site

 

<thread will disappear in 3, 2, 1......>

 

It looks way too "tacked on" for me, not really well thought out

 

I know more about wheel production than many on this board. Don't question me on such things. I'm fully aware that konig and rota (both very cheap wheels) are made in the philipines....but if you think they are the only ones....you are incredibly wrong. There are plenty of others....go check out honda-tech to see how many you can find. Yes, china is another big distributor of wheels. And the fact of this matter is....palo said their rims were designed by palo and made by some dude in munich....the truth is that they were designed by someone at sportmax and made in whatever country sportmax is located. That is a straight bold lie. They have the right to charge whatever they want for their parts....but they have no right to outwardly lie about what they sell. Saying it was designed by some artist when it wasnt designed by him isnt even exaggerating by any means....its a lie

Stop trying to be counter to everything i say....i have plenty of backing behind my information. If you can prove any of my posts false....please do so. You can stick to your fake timex-replica rolex parts at rolex prices....and i will stick to parts that i know are quality like my BBS rims, backed by years and years of quality.

 

I'm pretty sure the original poster meant Palo Uber the artists....who according to the website is "considered to be one of the greatest living abstract expressionists and life long Mini Cooper enthusiast."

Hsving talked to my proffesors (all of which have PHD's...many of which specializing in contemporary and abstract art) had no recollection of the name. They of course all knew rothko and upon seeing the Palo pieces saw the likenesses that it shared, but hadnt heard of Palo Uber as the "greatest living" abstract artist.

Further searching of the name via google, wikipedia, or art journals returns no results which is pretty impressive for such a "famous" artist.

I wouldnt be surprised if the person existed and was an artist.....but to be called the "greatest living artist" is pretty extreme and would command great respect. But as it is now...even I am an artist (i have a gallery show next monday if anyone wants to show up and check out my work )....but i would never call myself the best or pretend that my MINI mods were worth thousands based on my name.

 

I can make your head spin about BBS bro! Do you even know what is going on with them right now?

You do not have a clue about the wheel business or Palo Uber. Trust me China has a whole lot more wheels coming out of there than the Philipines and I can prove it!

I am also glad to see your depth of knowledge comes from other "message boards"

 

BBS's current financial situation notwithstanding, the product is still beyond reproach. Between BBS and Rays/Volk, the far east market has it's source of original designs to copy/relabel/rebadge/regurgitate

 

Like i said....if you kind find any false information or posts that can't be backed up.....please let me know of my mistakes. I would hate to do that.

With that said....i spend a lot of time researching MINI parts and the tuner community around me and feel that the following observations are enough to show that Uber was the copier of such parts

• The konigseder kit was around at the early times of MINI's
  • Palo Uber is a new tuning company that arrived on the scene far after the konigseder kit was made.
  • I have read of people who got that exhaust from konigseder before Palo Uber was tuning MINI's
  • Thus, it's impossible that the exhaust in that pic is theirs (that pic was from the original advertising back when the kit first came out)
  • Again, PU wasnt around when the kit was released, so Konigseder designed that kit
• Sportmax has offered those wheels for quite some time.
  And has been in the import tuning scene for a while now.
  • Palo Uber JUST started selling them
  • They are quoted saying that the wheels were designed by Palo the artist and made by Dieter (?) in Munich.
  • It's hard to believe that they would have been involved in the designing of wheels before they even started a car tuning company.
  • Sport max wheels arent made in Munich according to their site

Those are the points i have been making and if any of them are based off incorrect info...let me know or PM me.

In terms of the bashing....i dont see many people bashing because of the look of the parts. I love the look of the kit (although would never put it on my car)....my friend bought one before Palo Uber was around and it looked amazing on his car in a bright white paint. The bashing is based on the HUGE prices without justification....and then all the rebadging and lies (such as the wheel designer and exhaust picture). I agree that there are lots of bashing threads based on general taste of mods....but this is about their false marketing and extravagant prices (to warn people). I never bashed them calling the kit super ugly or anything simply pointed to a cheaper bodykit source and asked a few questions about the truth of the things they said.It should be public....because i respect the people on this board and would hate to see them charged $3000 extra because they didnt know that it was just the PU jacked up price and that there were other options. I also asked if there were design differences....which in the end turned out to be true.

 

Please....prove me wrong. My BBS came from a time when they were at the top of the wheel industry....so I'm not worried. I am a big fan of BBS and know all about their history and their current status....just try making my head spin. You are talking to someone who can list the wheels they offered in the 70's and 80's and tell you each model number that came with what car from the factory as well as the common sizes and offsets. Stop trying to act like you know more than me....and just prove it

Prove to me that i have no clue about wheels....please. I know that china has more.....but the wheels most often badged multiple times (like you mentioned rota and konig) come from the philipines. The same is true for rebadged coilovers. I never said china wasnt a large exporter of wheels.

I was just giving you an example as a VERY Large number of direct importers advertise their wheels on honda-tech.....and will admit to where they are made in a second.

Again, prove to me i dont know something by showing where i was wrong or incorrect.

 

What kind of BBS wheels do you even own?

So you said, when your wheels came from BBS they were at the top of there game?
Are they not at the top of there game anymore? That is news to me!

IMO, they are still the best wheels made and have a great legend in racing
to support them.

 

i know what you mean on that as well im a fine art grad and
ive never heard of mr uber in the art world either

 

I said when because my wheels didnt come out in the past few years....they are an older model.....just wanted to clear that up before further questions were asked. They are still at the top....but things are changing (not necessarily for the worse...but they're changing) And some would argue that other companies are fighting for the top.....but thats all debate for now. When my wheels were made...they were undeniablly the top of the industry...so i said that.

If you want i can PM you the details on my wheels, but dont want to publically release them as I'm eager to show pics for the big debut.

 

Your comments were all totally on-track, Rally... They usually are. I was more referring to the knee-jerk reaction that others in this thread and all over the board seem to have regarding the more... shall we say, "extreme" styling MODs.

As for the people on these boards... I'd argue that the folks that take enough of their personal time to even FIND THEIR WAY HERE in the first place pretty much innoculates NAM members from the sort of vendor fleecing you're imagining is happening here. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't... I still think that starting with a mail to the vendor to see what the story was would have been a better idea, but you can't unscramble eggs, as my grandpa used to say...

 

It's more like nobody heard of them before spring 2006 (the first mention on both NAM and MINI2,
following the appearance of an ad in MC2 magazine).

You'll get support and sympathy from the MINI community if you announce yourself as a new business,
eager to establish your business and customer base with good service and good products. Look at Texas
Speedwerks as an example. You claim to be a well established and respected vendor with a great
reputation in Europe, and that would be cool. It would be very uncool to try to pull the wool over our eyes.