Mad in China: A Brilliant Way To A BMW 523i On The Cheap

by Tycho de Feyter

March 5th, 2013 9:58 PM

em mad in china em a brilliant way to a bmw 523i on the cheap

Let’s say you want a Fünfer BMW, but you are experiencing cash flow issues.

Mei wen ti, no problem if you are in China. Creative and innovative Chinese companies are here to help.

Here is how it works:

First you buy a Brilliance H530. Price starts at 79.800 yuan and ends at 125.800 yuan ($12.800 to $20.200).

Then you buy a BMW-style grille, available in pretty much any color.

The grille comes in a handy set with eight BMW badges and a ’523i’ badge. The complete set costs 450 yuan, or $72. The BMW 523i is not available in China, but the extended 523Li is. It is made in China by none other than the Brilliance-BMW joint venture. Price for the 5Li starts at 428.600 yuan or $68.800. Don’t worry about the 523i not being available in China. People will think you have an expensive import model.

The work starts. Take off that cheapo Brilliance grille. Don’t throw it away! Sell it! This is China, after all.

Replace it with the BMW grille. Don’t have your picture taken if the blog gets read in Munich.

Add BMW badge to the hood. It drops right in.

Add rear BMW badge.

Add BMW badge on steering wheel. No cutting, no welding.

Add BMW badges on alloys. That’s seven badges indeed, number eight is for on the engine.

If you think your friends will never believe you can afford a 5; mei wen ti: Go for the Dreier.

Looks too real in white with racing stripes.

The kit is popular, this seller sold 12 in the last 30 days, hundreds of other small shops sell the same stuff on Taobao, the Chinese eBay. Never believe a BMW to be a BMW in China!

Dutchman Tycho de Feyter runs Carnewschina.com, a blog about cars in China, from Beijing, China. He also collects die-cast models of Chinese cars.

#BMW #Brilliance #China #MadInChina #TychoDeFeyter

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2 of 38 comments

IMeMine on Mar 05, 2013

What do you expect? They made fake eggs! It's like "I'm doing it because I CAN."

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TorontoSkeptic on Mar 05, 2013

Come on, no one has made the obvious joke yet...? "Be happy you got a Brilliance H530. Stop walking around talking **** like 'I got it cause it look just like a 5-series.' No, it LOOK like a Brilliance H530. The ****ed-up thing is it do look like a 5-series... until a 5-series pull up." http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/10/the-funny-thing-is-that-it-do-look-like-a-phantom-till-a-phantom-pull-up/

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