bmw bbs 5 spoke split rims

P

pablo

Member
i have managed to get hold of a set of the bbs 2 piece split rims. i have been assured that they have no curbing but 2 of them have milking on the laquer (most likely on the diamond cut lips - i dont see the point in diamond cut products, they just dont seem to last when left outside).

i plan on refurbing the wheels. probably going with a painted lip, in a lighter silver.

my question is, has any one refurbed these wheels either by a professional or by themselves?

did you have to split them or was it possible to repair them whole?

any pointers etc please let me know!

if i make a start on them myself ill post some pictures. should have them with me end of the week. :)
 
I pesume you are talking about 108's.

The dealer below will probably have some examples of their website of refurbished 108's, think they are still polished though.

www.bmautosport.co.uk
 
prehaps they are polished? i got the idea that they were diamond cut from the below images..... even so laquered bare metal is just as bad!

pinched from a for sale thread....
they stripey finish suggested to me diamond cut

108RightFrontClose800.jpg


ive seen that site before, yes there are two or three examples on there, i might try an email later and see if the split them when refurbing......
 
ive just read on the adverts on that site that they are indeed polished...they even had a set for sale than had been refurbed withouth laquering leaving a very shiney polished lip

945_10391vNSI8sE3wvE.jpg


http://www.bmautosport.co.uk/detail.php?siteid=945
 
pablo said:
prehaps they are polished? i got the idea that they were diamond cut from the below images..... even so laquered bare metal is just as bad!

pinched from a for sale thread....
they stripey finish suggested to me diamond cut

108RightFrontClose800.jpg


ive seen that site before, yes there are two or three examples on there, i might try an email later and see if the split them when refurbing......
Click to expand...

I wonder if these have been refurbished already, cant get to my car, but I'm sure the diamond cutting is more pronounced than that.
 
either way i think i have now decided to split the wheels (nylon mallet at the ready) and the get the wheel lips professionally polished (£20-30 a wheel). this way i can wax and autosol the wheels once a week and not worry about milking etc

i just so not a fan of the diamond cut finish....ive seen so many examples of it not lasting :x
 
Not sure if the OEM's work the same way as BBS RS-GT's, LM's, etc. I know for the LM's, RS-GT's, the rivets are 1-time use only and need to be replaced once the wheels are splitted. BBS does not sell the rivets due to liability. In the past people have shipped the rims back to BBS for repairs.
 
from research theres no real issues with splitting and reusing the bolts(much reading on www.wheelwhores.com), some people replace and or replace the bolts for cosmetic use, new bolts can be purchased from many areas although they prob wont say bbs on them like these do.

ive had to order a special double hex drive to remove the bolts from snapon (couldnt find the tool else where in the uk) as it seem its a metric american tool (12pt triple square drive) expensive at £20 when they can be got for as little a $5 in the us...but im too impatient to wait for them to arrive.

another update soon
 
pablo said:
ive just read on the adverts on that site that they are indeed polished...they even had a set for sale than had been refurbed withouth laquering leaving a very shiney polished lip

945_10391vNSI8sE3wvE.jpg


http://www.bmautosport.co.uk/detail.php?siteid=945
Click to expand...
Wow those look amazing!
 
Really interested in this Pablo.

I recently refurbed the outside lip of one of my 108's.
It didnt produce spectacular results but then it looks loads better than it did as it was suffering with a SERIOUS amount of corrosion.
What would have made the process incredibly easy would have been to seperate the rims two pieces, but i was unsure about doing this.
I thought perhaps that all the bolts needed to be tensioned identically to each other, this was something i knew nothing about. So if you do seperate the rims and put them back together let me know how it goes.

Half way down, thats pretty much what i did http://www.clean-image.co.uk/can-you-repair-split-rims.htm as they say its a pain with the center section attached.
 
i got the wheels for £250 and so far have spent another £20 on a tool.... ive been quoted £20 a wheel for the mirror polish like above.

ill be splitting the wheels monday i think. and i will try and create a story board from refurb to balancing with the tyres :)
 
pablo said:
i have managed to get hold of a set of the bbs 2 piece split rims. i have been assured that they have no curbing but 2 of them have milking on the laquer (most likely on the diamond cut lips - i dont see the point in diamond cut products, they just dont seem to last when left outside).

i plan on refurbing the wheels. probably going with a painted lip, in a lighter silver.

my question is, has any one refurbed these wheels either by a professional or by themselves?

did you have to split them or was it possible to repair them whole?

any pointers etc please let me know!

if i make a start on them myself ill post some pictures. should have them with me end of the week. :)
Click to expand...
First off, I've never done car wheels. But, I've done a few wheels on motorcycles. I wouldn't hesitate to polish the lips of those wheels. As far as upkeep of the polished lips, it wouldn't take much effort to do that. One thing, it's a smooth surface, another thing there's not a lot of surface. I do my motorcycle wheels twice a year. Of course, we're not seeing any winter elements either. If you're interested I could shoot you a pic or two of the finished wheels on the bikes. :roll: One other thing about polish verses painting------if you do accidently nic or scrape the lip, you can sand it out and repolish. With painted there more involved with making it look right again. :cry:
 
I have refurbed my 108's to a very good standard, Pablo be warned i understand that splitting this rim is not recommended, when i looked into it i found that you will need to replace the bolts as they are stretch bolts and you can refurb quite easy while they are intact. All the talk of 'Diamond cut' is very misleading, when these wheels are made they are turned on a lathe and simply covered in laquer.

To refur DIY first mask off the inner section of the wheel leaving the rim exposed.
Use paint stripper to remove the laquer.
File out any curb damage, this is an easy process the alloy is very soft.
Starting with something quite course firstly remove the filing marks then work your way down the scale of wet and dry, 400-600-1200 grit, till you get a good surface on the alloy rim then all you need to do is polish with Autosol or something similar and it comes up mint, just keep on top of it then, once a week it takes me 5 mins to do and my wheels are superb and have often been commented on.

As a guide each wheel took me about 1.5 hours and they were all badly kerbed to start with.......... :thumbsup:
 
plowy said:
I have refurbed my 108's to a very good standard, Pablo be warned i understand that splitting this rim is not recommended, when i looked into it i found that you will need to replace the bolts as they are stretch bolts and you can refurb quite easy while they are intact. All the talk of 'Diamond cut' is very misleading, when these wheels are made they are turned on a lathe and simply covered in laquer.

To refur DIY first mask off the inner section of the wheel leaving the rim exposed.
Use paint stripper to remove the laquer.
File out any curb damage, this is an easy process the alloy is very soft.
Starting with something quite course firstly remove the filing marks then work your way down the scale of wet and dry, 400-600-1200 grit, till you get a good surface on the alloy rim then all you need to do is polish with Autosol or something similar and it comes up mint, just keep on top of it then, once a week it takes me 5 mins to do and my wheels are superb and have often been commented on.

As a guide each wheel took me about 1.5 hours and they were all badly kerbed to start with.......... :thumbsup:
Click to expand...


very interesting. i will also contact the chap at bmautosport as he has refurbed 2 sets so far and see what he reckons aswell

isnt this lathe and laquer...what diamond coating is? regardless. bare metal and laquer dosnt key all to well and will flake at some point. stonechips etc will let in the elements.

any pics of your wheels done?
 
i wrote an email to bmautosport.com last night and received a reply today. bmautosport have refurbed and sold many of these wheels and are a bmw wheel specialist.

the rest of his message is reference to an exchange and return on refurbed ones he has....

i will hopefully make a start on them this monday when my tool arrives.

'Hi Pablo

There is no problem in spliting them and the bolts are not stretch bolts and can be used over again.They need to be split to be refurbed but are pretty easy to spit, just need the correct size bit then just undo them all and knock the centers out.You can then just send you outers away to be refurbed if the centers are good,this would be the cheapest option as i would only allow £200 on them against my refurbed set as i would charge £100+vat per wheel for a full refurb to the standard as pictured.

Regards,

Mark Blunden'
 
the tool isnt pricey if you have the patience to wait for it to arrive from the states

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/12-POINT-TRIPLE-SQUARE-WRENCH-SET_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2em63Q2el1177QQhashZitem160262757258QQitemZ160262757258

theres now a set in the uk bidding!!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SNAP-ON-3-8-DRIVE-SOCKET-DRIVERS-TRIPLE-SQUARE-8mm_W0QQitemZ160262479275QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160262479275&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318


i just have a day off on monday and fancied starting
 
Yeh, what "PLOWY" said. A couple things that will help that------ One thing is always use the sandpaper wet. It makes it easier, faster and does a better job. Also a 4" buffer pad on a drill when doing the polishing does a better job than hand rubbing.

These wheels were a painted silver. I stripped the silver to bare metal, polished part of the wheel and painted the spoke hub part.
100_0444.jpg

These wheels were clear coated and had somewhat of a grain from the factory. I stripped the clear, sanded out the grain, and did the graduated sanding process---then the polishing process.
100_0158.jpg

It's very possible to make your rims look great! :thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom