The BBS CH-R Stainless Rim Guard is AWESOME!

[TheChef]

A bit over a week ago, my front driver side CH-R had a very brief but unfortunate meet up with a piece of rogue concrete on a local freeway here in Houston.

The result was not pretty....sorry for the iPhone Camera shots....


Damage by TheChef810, on Flickr

The damaged area is about 1" long...and relatively minor cosmetically outside of looking at it from about 3 feet. But I knew it was there and it bugged the hell out of me.


Repair? For years, we have seen this idea played upon with multipiece wheels where a lip could be replaced, rather than the entire wheel. This often left the rest of us, that liked single piece wheels no options outside of taking our wheels to a wheel repair shop....with varying levels of results. The BBS CH-R is designed with a pattended Stainless Steel Rim Guard - a replaceable part for a situation just like this one. The replacement part will run you 50-75 dollars or so....mine came directly from BBS in Braselton, GA. I was told, the wheel can stay on the rim and the rim mounted to the car. Alright, lets see how this works...

Deep breath....and I took a large flat head screw driver and further seperated the guard from the wheel...minding the faceof the wheel, I pulled the out, and then with a slight pull along outside of the wheel, it pops right off.....


OldGuard by TheChef810, on Flickr

...walla.

That leaves us with the wheel, sans guard.....


NoGuard by TheChef810, on Flickr

You can see the area where the damage was around 11oclock on the wheel.

This picture was after I used a bit of 400 grit paper to smooth down the area. I wasnt concerned about the cosmetic as the area would be covered by the new guard. I just wanted to ensure that the new guard could lay flat over the area. You will notice a slightly raised area on the outside of the wheel, this small, plateau style lip allows the concave stainless ring to pop perfectly in place, so no guessing is necessiary. This wheel is now ready, after I removed any excess residue from the old rim guard adhesive with goo gone.

After removing the backing from the new rim guard (handle gently, it is thin and frail and you dont want it to bend!)...


New by TheChef810, on Flickr

Pretty awesome huh? One more, upclose, same photo as the first one depicting the original damage....


New Upclose by TheChef810, on Flickr

When many of us buy wheels for our cars we think of design, fit, finish, performance, weight, strength...but we dont think about repairing damage. Something we all will run into some day at some time, if your at fault, or not. I know when I decided upon the CH-R I didnt think much about it...but now, having seen the technology work first hand....its really impressive.

Kudos to BBS for an awesome idea and design. This whole process took me 20 minutes, and 15 of that was cleaning the residue up from the old guard. Its amazing to know that a wheel can be back good as normal for less than 75 bucks or so in mere minutes. A great way to protect your investment.

[teky929rr]

Very nice write up and big thumbs up to BBS!

[wootek]

Sorry to hear about this whole thing. I have the exact same wheel in same finish, about couple weeks ago I scraped the hell out of my front passanger side on a curb and to me it was the whole world was coming to the end but to find out thanks to the rim guard it only scraped very little on the rim guard. I spoke to someone from BBS they said it cost about $58 or something I should order couple just to keep them handy.

[Okan509]

Is there a cut in the tire to the upper right of the damage on the wheel?

But I agree - BBS was thinking when they come up with this

[TheChef]

Is there a cut in the tire to the upper right of the damage on the wheel?

But I agree - BBS was thinking when they come up with this

...it is, but lucky it wasnt a cut with any depth, it just right there on the surface, less than a mm deep, it just made a tiny flap...

[etvois]

Did you just call BBS directly to order the replacement? How long did it take? I've been trying to get a replacement for mine but everyone says it's back-ordered with no ETA. I haven't yet tried contacting BBS directly.

[Okan509]

...it is, but lucky it wasnt a cut with any depth, it just right there on the surface, less than a mm deep, it just made a tiny flap...

good!

[oohnoo]

So sorry to hear of your unfortunate accident. But crap happens and lucky these wheels have those guards just for this reason.
Actually your car and wheels were the inspiration for me getting my BBS CH-R's but in Bright Silver. I picked them up used but they look brand new with the exception of a small skuff on one tirm. Just have to get around to ordering one and replacing it. Didn't know they were held on with sticky tape.
Have to also ask them if they have replacement valve stem covers, missing two. That and I can't wait till the tires that are on there now wear out as they're 255/35's and are very noisy tires. Going with the 275/30's like you have which give that little extra sidewall and beefier width.

[wootek]

Did you just call BBS directly to order the replacement? How long did it take? I've been trying to get a replacement for mine but everyone says it's back-ordered with no ETA. I haven't yet tried contacting BBS directly.

you can call them directly to speak with someone there and you can order it directly from them.
http://www.bbs-usa.com/contact.cfm

[A42S4]

BBS FTW!

[TheChef]

Did you just call BBS directly to order the replacement? How long did it take? I've been trying to get a replacement for mine but everyone says it's back-ordered with no ETA. I haven't yet tried contacting BBS directly.

I called BBS direct. In reading the back order issue, was that on the 19"? In my case with the 20", no issue.

[TheChef]

So sorry to hear of your unfortunate accident. But crap happens and lucky these wheels have those guards just for this reason.
Actually your car and wheels were the inspiration for me getting my BBS CH-R's but in Bright Silver. I picked them up used but they look brand new with the exception of a small skuff on one tirm. Just have to get around to ordering one and replacing it. Didn't know they were held on with sticky tape.
Have to also ask them if they have replacement valve stem covers, missing two. That and I can't wait till the tires that are on there now wear out as they're 255/35's and are very noisy tires. Going with the 275/30's like you have which give that little extra sidewall and beefier width.

They can supply the rim guard and valve caps- no issue. Good call on the 275s- love mine!!

Enjoy them and thanks for the kind words!

[wootek]

They can supply the rim guard and valve caps- no issue. Good call on the 275s- love mine!!

Enjoy them and thanks for the kind words!

I'm also on 255/35/20 is there any issue fitting 275/30's??

[TheChef]

I'm also on 255/35/20 is there any issue fitting 275/30's??

No issue. My CH-R is a 20x9 fitment on 275/30/20 Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires. I am also running a 5mm BBS spacer on the rears.
I am on H&R coilovers with a one finger gap rear and 1/2 finger in the front.

[ActivS5]

Awesome! Glad you benefited from their innovation! Close one!

[oohnoo]

You sure you're only running 5mm spacers and not 15mm? When looking at mine with no spacers right now they are way inboard compared to yours and the difference look way more than the 5mm. The guy that I bought mine from had 15mm spacers and from the pics he sent me look more in line with what you have.

[oohnoo]

If it's not to much trouble can I get a ride height for me, from ground to top of fender well. I also got a set of H&R coiloever's that I need to install and your ride stance is perfect, especially with the BBS wheels :)
Also are you running any adjustable control arms up front? If not you have any issues with tire wear?

[TheChef]

...before my BBS with the stock wheels and 255 tires I was running 20mm Front an 25mm rear H&R DRA spacers.

Now I have just a 5mm spacer on the rear.

I am not running any special control arms- I am not seeing any abnormal camber wear or anything. In fact they are wearing very well and even.

Wheel measurements from ground to top of the fender- Front: just shy of 26 1/4". Rear: 26".

I am also running H & R front and rear sway bars.

[wootek]

I'm running 15mm front and 20mm rear on my setup and I think it looks good.

[TheChef]

20/25 looked great when I had a 19x8.5 higher ET wheel with 255 tires. Can't do it now...would rub.

[B45H1R]

Houston roads suck. Seriously. Bunch of poorly maintained roads or pickups with things falling out.

Things I've actually seen on the road (literally in the middle of a highway):
1. Couch
2. Mattress
3. lots of 2x4's
4. an airconditioner
5. multiple bags of concrete
6. a roll of sod so big it took up 2 1/2 lanes of a 3 lane highway
7. a dead body...i thought it was a mannequin, but when i got home and checked the news...NOPE, real dead guy on 45.

[TheDapperDriver]

thats great!

[oohnoo]

Wondering if your BBS wheels have a different ET than ours. Remember what it is? Think mine are 32mm. I get confused with ET and offset. Either that or the 275/30 tires are the reason.

20/25 looked great when I had a 19x8.5 higher ET wheel with 255 tires. Can't do it now...would rub.

[TheChef]

The BBS CH-R is ET32 I believe. The OE S5 wheel is ET43 I think. Not sure on an A5 wheel.

[NYSpeedRacer]

Hey chef, do you think it would be possible to run the rim guards on non BBS wheels?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TheChef]

Hey chef, do you think it would be possible to run the rim guards on non BBS wheels?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Unfortunatly, no. As I mentioned in the original post and can be seen in the 3rd picture...for the rim guard to properly adhere itself to the wheel, it fits on top of a very small raised "plateau" lip (my words, not BBS') - the back of the stainless rim guard is hollow, with a gel type adhesive covered by double sided tape about 4-5mm deep within. Once you remove the tape, this allows you to perfectly lay the concave backing of the rim guard on to the specific raised portion around the permeter of the wheel - in other word, the wheel and rim guard are specifically desigened to work in unison.

This technology and design is patended by BBS. Will some other aftermarket companies out there try to develop a guard with a flat bottom that you can apply to other manufacturers wheels? Not sure. Its a great design, and immitation is the most sincere form of flattery - so I am sure they will try. However, with out any specific new design element/idea not sure how long it would last in court against the copyright if BBS was to pursue.

[killgill2]

hmmm interesting

[adbender]

I just had the same amazing result....road rash on there rear passenger.

Called the my guy to set a wheel repair before pulling off the wheel guard....called him right back and cancelled.

$100 for the replacement strip though but sure saved the wheel.

[Marshall_Placid]

Nice topic Chef.

I have a question.

I have BBS CX-Rs.... not CH-Rs.

One of the wheels have a long 3 inch gash on it.

Do you think the lip guard can fit on the 20'' CX-Rs? And, would it hide the gash?

Thank you!

Of course, I'll contact BBS as well.

[mihixson]

Any chance they will color match the rim guard to the wheel? I really want to pick up a set of Satin Black CH-Rs, and while I love the idea of the rim guard, the fact that it is chrome kinda turns me off.

[LeadToRome]

Old thread but I just bought a couple of these. Called TireRack first since i bought the wheels from them, they didn't have them but looked into them and called me back within an hour - $54. ea. Figured I'd call BBS in GA just to see how much TireRack was gouging me...$54. direct from BBS too! Kudos to TireRack and these guards are awesome, so easy to change out and looks perfect afterwards.

[Mops@Nemesis]

Old thread but I just bought a couple of these. Called TireRack first since i bought the wheels from them, they didn't have them but looked into them and called me back within an hour - $54. ea. Figured I'd call BBS in GA just to see how much TireRack was gouging me...$54. direct from BBS too! Kudos to TireRack and these guards are awesome, so easy to change out and looks perfect afterwards.

Great feature for sure. I've pulled them from two sets actually.