After several years and many thousands of kilometers, the clearcoat on all of my BBS LMs (18x8.5") has begun to chip and peel in spots.

I'm a little pissed off because I expected much more of a company's flagship wheel, but I do suppose the orientation of the machined lip to the direction of vehicle travel makes it a little more prone to rocks and other debris.

Is this normal behaviour to be expected of LMs? Anyone else out there with peeling clear?

N.B. I do live in Canada, but these wheels have never seen road salt or harsh climates. Always stored indoors through the winter.

 

That is the downside to clearcoating. I think the metal bleeds after temperature changes and affects the clearcoat.

You can have the rims turned and the lips polished which removes the clearcoat and makes the wheels look dynamite.

see: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...oated-not.html

 

That makes sense.

I've always like the subtle shine of the machined finish on the BBS LM lip. It isn't as all out bling bling shiny as a polished lip, but just stands out enough from the silver painted centre to catch your eye.

I don't know if that machined finish can be maintained the same way as a polished finish without the presence of a clearcoat.

I guess I'll just have to consult a wheel shop and see what they can do about it.

Thanks.

 

I am quite certain that the BBS is a polished finish. The polished finish is not as bright as chrome plating. It is done on a specialized wheel lathe and it is a turned finish. So it is a bit more subtle. It's very smooth.

Very easily and if it stains a slight bit of wheel polish such as Mothers or Griots brings it out.

Over 2 years on mine and not an issue.

 

Wheels live in a hostile world. Canadian winters combined with high speed gravel can penetrate any clearcoat eventually. Acrylics are toughest, polyester clearcoats have less "orange peel".
I would discourage you from using a bare polished finish unless you plan a very aggressive maintenance regimen.
I personally love the high tech look of a bare machined wheel but it requires a lot of work to maintain.

 

No question about that but for those of us fortunate enough to live in the beautiful mild climates of California we do not have that worry.

That's why we pay the big bucks for our homes!!!

 

My wheels are likely subject to less "harsh elements" than you'd think. They spend half the year stored in my basement, and the other half on the car during the summer months when the weather here isn't much different than it is in California.

When the temperature drops below 50°F, they come off the car for the winters—and that's long before any salt gets to it.

In BBS literature for the LM, the lip as "machined finished", which I had always understood to be less shiny than polished. I'd definitely consider chrome/high polish to be one step above that (e.g., BBS has a "ball polish" finish available on the RC) which is immeasurably shinier than the lip on the LM.

It's exactly this subtle shine that drew me to the LM in the first place. It's shiny, but it isn't quite polished.

That being said, an LM with a polished lip... Hmm...