[W126 Coupe] BBS RS Wheels

[Sharan Bains]

Great wheels Jim !

I have refurbished two sets of BBS RS 3-piece wheels. And you do NOT need 
professional wheel refurbishers - you can do this all yourself. You'll only 
need finishers for the outer rim and the centre piece coloring - the labour 
part, which is the greatest on split rims, you can do yourself and save alot 
of money.

I have also refurbished 3-pice AMG wheels. The only difference between the 
two is that the BBS RS wheels have 2 rubber gaskets, the AMG only one. This 
is due to the fact that on the AMG wheels, the centre piece sits INSIDE the 
inner rim and the fasteners go through the inner rim, then the outer rim and 
then the centre piece.

Here are links to pics showing refurb of AMG 3-piece wheels - nothing 
different for BBS RS's except the RS's have 2 gaskets and have 12-point 
fastener heads. The OZ AMG's have 10-point heads.

http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbum.asp?userid=hakkinen&album_id=164582

http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbum.asp?userid=hakkinen&album_id=173211


On the BBS RS's, the centre piece sits between inner and outer rim, hence 
two gaskets, one between inner rim and centre piece and then another one 
between outer rim and centre piece. You'll see what I mean when you split 
the rims.

Also, you do not need the gaskets - you can use RVT sealant. It's far more 
durable than the rubber gaskets. And it should be availbe fromgood auto 
parts stores. There are 2 types of RVT sealant - clear and black. The clear 
is the better sealant to use.

Here's some main points :

- on the BBS RS rims, you'll need 8mm and 10mm 12-point sockets, with 1/2" 
drive. The fastener head is 8mm and the nut on the rear is 10mm.

- before beginning loosening of the nuts, spry penetrating oil on the 10mm 
nuts, and leave for a couple of hours

- you may need to hold the fastener head with the 8mm socket whilst 
loosening the 10mm nuts on each fastener, as the fastener tends to turn with 
the nut

- some of the fasteners may be seized (especially on wheels which have been 
used on the front where there is excessive brake dust etc). You may need to 
heat these before attempting to loosen - otherwise too much force will just 
break the fastener. Some of them maybe so seized that they'll break anyway. 
You may need to source additional BBS fasteners for these wheels - DO NOT 
use aftermarket fasteners. The BBS fasteners are 10.9 tensile strength and 
have this figure imprinted on the head of each one, as well as the words 
'BBS'. I haev about 100 spare fasteners - they need chroming/polishing, but 
they are original BBS RS fasteners. If you break some, let me know and I'll 
ship you some.

- Once all the fasteners are out, you'll need to cut the rubber gaskets, 
visible on the sides of the rims. There are two on the BBS RS's (it may vary 
for each type of RS wheel, but usually there are two) - take a stanley knife 
and run it all the way along the gasket.

- Once gasket is cut, take a flat face screwdriver and place it between 
outer rim and centre piece, on the gasket and hammer gently. Do this a few 
points round the rim and eventually, the outer rim and centre piece will be 
prised apart.

- Do the same for the centre piece and inner rim seperation, cutting gasket 
and splitting with screwdriver.

- That's it - wheel will be in 3 seperate pieces.

- the outer rim (dish) should be hand polished, by a specialist aluminium 
polisher. They should NOT be chromed. The fastners too should be polished.

- the centre pieces and inner rims should be sand blasted, powder coated and 
lacquered. Great if you color-code the centre pieces - vintage 80's stuff.

- when putting rims back together, just use 8 fasteners evenly round the 
wheel, in the beginning to hold it all together, but do not tighten them 
fully. Leave about a 1mm gap between the inner rim and centre piece and 
outer rim and centre piece. In this gap, fill RVT sealant, all the way 
round, in both gaps.

- when you tighten the 8 fasteners fully, the sealant will form the seal and 
at this point you need to wipe off the excess sealant. It drys quickly so do 
this before beginning the fitting of the other fasteners.

- Once sealant is nicely wiped, it will look like an original gasket. But 
it's alot better than the gaskets.

- fit remaining fasteners. Each fastener should be tightened to 40 Nm 
torque.

- allow wheels to sit for 24hrs so sealant dries, before fitting tyres


That's it ! Fit nice steel air valves and fit the correct size tyres. Once 
refurbished and on the car, these BBS RS wheels will now last for a good 10 
years without any further need for refurbishment. The BBS and AMG's are all 
forged alloy and very strong. You just need to have the correct tyres and 
look after them.

To maintain the outer polished dish, use Autosol cream or brasso  - it does 
mean a good 10-15 minutes of hard work, but you only need to do it once each 
month.

Whatever you do, do not have the outer rims chromed or lacquered. They'll be 
ruined forever.

BBS RS's look great on the SEC. I bought one set for my E500, but the BBS 
RS's look too dated for that car - but they are great on the SEC. Almost as 
good as the AMG 3-piece's....


If you have any questions, let me know.

talbir












>From: JR560SEC@aol.com
>Reply-To: mbcoupes@mbcoupes.com
>To: mbcoupes@mbcoupes.com
>Subject: [W126 Coupe] BBS RS Wheels
>Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 18:51:45 EST
>
>Greetings, all, and Happy New Year--------
>
>I just received my shipment of 17 inch BBS RS 200 wheels from Germany.  
>These
>are the 1980s-vintage 3-piece "honeycomb" wheels with 34 bolts holding the
>two flanges onto the central hub.  I will be disassembling them to clean 
>them,
>repaint the centers and exchanging the inner flanges on one pair of the 
>wheels
>to make a "staggered" set for my 1990 560SEC Euro conversion project.
>
>My questions:  Does anybody know a source for the gaskets which go between
>the three pieces?  What are the torque values for the bolts used to 
>attached the
>pieces together?  Has anybody found an interest group, and are there any
>directions for disassembly/reassembly?  I've only seen one set in the 
>members'
>cars pictures.  Who else has a set on their SEC?
>
>Thanks in advance.........Jim Rothrock, Windermere, Florida