BBS wheel questions?
 

Hiya folks,
I’ve been looking for a set of 20” BBS Detroit’s, quite hard to find though!
So my first question is: who’s got a set they’d like to part with?
Also: what’s the craic with inflating them? Am I right in thinking they need a special adaptor? And are there any known issues or problems with said adaptor?

ta

2002 XKR 4.2 SC RHD Coupe

Don't know anyone with a set of wheels for sale... most people seem to be buyers not sellers.

The wheel valve is an internal type, hidden behind a fake "bolt looking" cover.. You unscrew the little cover, screw in a valve stem adapter and inflate the tires like normal. The car originally would come with a little kit that has a few extra caps, 2 valve stem adapters and a tool to remove the caps (basically a flat head screwdriver).

Never had much trouble with them. They do have o-rings that must be in good shape to keep the seal on the adapters while they are installed and my tire inflater will sometimes slip off of the metal adapter so I have to hold it in place. Annoyances mostly, not any real problem.

Yeah I figured there would be more buyers than sellers, I have found a set for sale online but they are in rotten condition, I may be wrong but they don’t seem like the sort of wheels that could be easily refurbished :-(
Thanks for explaining the adaptors though! :-)

What Charlie said. I'm in the process of switching the BBS montreal wheels, which have the same deal with adapters, bolts etc. I got the inflation adapter, the false inflation bolt, the caps, and the spline bit from PW motorsport (Welcome to PW Motorsport an authorized BBS and Audi Performance Parts supplier, VAG VW Audi Seat Skoda Specialist Garage Pembrokeshire - BBS VALVES). Their website it a little tricky though, so make sure not to duplicate orders. Their parts came to me fine, though.

Also, the trim rings are really expensive (like 295 GBP or something from SB wheels). Some people remove them and just polish the lip. If the ring gets too torn up, it'll interfere with mounting a tire (found this out the hard way a couple weeks ago). So if you buy a second-hand wheel, watch out for that. I didn't think it was a huge deal (the ring can just be removed), but even removing the ring involves disassembling the wheel, which has to be done with care, but others on here have certainly done it.

These are pretty rare to see for sale, and can be pretty expensive to both acquire and repair. I bought the rear wheels off of ebay. One was refurbished, one wasn't. No one in my state would even so much as touch the wheel because it's a two-piece and the titanium bolts are prone to snapping, so I had to send it to California (where the other wheel was refurbished). I'm sure I could've found somewhere in the northeast USA, but I had already seen proof of the California shop's work, and that was most important to me. If I'm not mistaken though, your network might be a bit easier. DCR parts could probably help you out?

I'm not trying to steer you away from these wheels (that would a bit hypocritical)--just trying to make sure you're as prepared as possible for the stuff I didn't realize when I decided to make the switch.

Oh you’re not steering me away at all, if anything you’re confirming what I thought, and I’m very very grateful for your experience :-)
Seems like I’m going to have to find a perfect set or nothing, which is just going to be even harder!

Thanks again fellas :-)

What wheels do you currently have on the car?

For a five-spoke, a good alternative to the detroit wheel would be the apollo. Those are 19s, and in retrospect I probably would've gotten those. They'd have been half the price, easier to find, and easier to repair or refinish if needed. Also, less prone to bending and provide a better ride.

The Apollo’s are nice and all, but they don’t clear the Brembo brakes of an XKR, a huge downside.

I’ve got the 18” Hydra’s.
I’m a little annoyed at my self because when I was shopping around for my XKR I turned down a couple that had Detroit’s on, if I’d known then how hard it is to get them I’d have bought one of those cars! :-(

Whoa. Even at 19"? Is it an offset thing?

Glass half full--if you ever have issues with your wheels, getting them repaired won't be too hard.

It might be cheaper to buy a car with Detroits, swap the wheels and then resell the car. The only risk is you will fall in love and then have 2 XKRs.

Ha! I just had a look at Auto-Trader to see if that was possible just before you posted that, bit of a hassle for a set of wheels though, plus I’d probably nick a few other bits off the “donor car” :-P