I took off the cover from my wife’s and it has a foam.


You can see the markings on the spare where the foam is pressing against it.

Btw I just realized that the spare wheel is different color than the wheels on the Defender lol

 

The spare should match the other rims, I spec'd a non-standard factory rim choice and my spare matches. Unless that was an option I don't remember...

 

I would also bet your tire cover is a knock off as well.

 

both version posted here are authentic. The one with the foam pad and the one with the two prongs.

 

Does your cover with the foam pad have a land Rover part number on the inside? If authentic it will. Probably other Land Rover stickers as well.

 

I didn’t even bother to check honestly. I will look for the window sticker and see what it says there too before I take it off again.

 

i have both versions here. Part number of the one with the foam pad is VPLEW0143

 

Indeed with a LRJ part number it is authentic. But…. That raises even more questions. Why and when do you get the fancy wheel cover vs the foam pad wheel cover? It seems that with the fancy wheel cover you get that one when you order it at the same time as the original defender build order. As is wheel cover matching body color. And the wheel cover with the foam you get when you order a wheel cover from the dealer at some time after the original order build. Can you order the fancy wheel cover after the build when not added to the build originally? Can you order custom body matching fancy covers? Or are all the custom colors all the fancy covers. Or is the foam pad cover like version 1 and the fancy cover is version 2 that superseded version 1? And to really warp the matrix are the knock off covers fancy or foam pad type ones.

 

You can order the "fancy" version from your dealer. It's the gloss black version and I believe also the silver version. All factory color matched version that I have seen are the foam pad ones.

 

No idea, just tossing out a data point. Our color-matched cover (read non-foam) was on it when we bought off the dealer lot. I checked the window sticker and there is no mention. It may be included in one of their “packs”?