Thoughts on wheel rim protectors?
 

Stumbled into these while surfing. Didn't know they existed and thought it might be a good idea to put on my new sets of 19s. My rims are gunmetal though so silver or black would be the closest ones to get. Not sure how good these are or do they even stay on long enough.

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Hmm.. Not running into curbs may prove to be more financially wise.

honestly, if you were to run into a curb or experience curb rash, i'm not sure if this strip of tape/rubber(?) would help to do anything.

I'm more concerned about very slight curb rubs. In this case, I think it will do it's job. But I have a feeling they won't stay on too long.

There seems to be different variations but I assume they are all made of plastic. Some looks like it will stay on there pretty good.

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Unless you just like the aesthetic value, I don't think they're really worth it either. Even if you're reversing slowly, there is a lot of force, and friction between the wheel, and the curb. I find the passenger side tilt-down mirror helps a lot more in avoiding curb rash.

Interesting mod! It's more for appearance to me rather than protection. I don't think bunch of rubbers sticked into wheels with just 3m tape lasts long, remembering the wheels could turn about almost 20 times per second on 60mph cruising speed :eek:

My god those are hideous. Just stay away from curbs and pay attention to what you are doing and you will be fine.

Yeah those things are sooo ugly. Looks like something a ricer would put on his wheels.

I'd stay away. I have little confidence in these holding up to the abuse the wheels go through especially going at high speed.

I think you guys are right. Probably gonna skip these and just rely on my passenger side morrow tilt function.

Good idea. For me though, its not the curb protection that I'm disputing. It's the concept of what may happen if these fly off the front wheel at say...100+ MPH.

What if the front rim protectors slingshot's itself to the side mirrors?
What if you end up smacking a motorcyclist when these finally fly off?
What if the glue/tape was not uniform all the way around, then when one the ends flares out, you'll now be swinging these around like whip (even at low speeds). God forbid you were also turning at the same time. Now you will potentially be whipping your car's body. LOL

To help you visualize...would you ever put standard snow chains on your car knowing there's a loose strand? I bring this up because that happened to a buddy of mine a few years ago. He was forced to do it in Tahoe, but we were cringing every second. Lucky for us we only endured it for maybe a 1/4 mile.

Not sure why you guys think they're going to "fly off" We've all been using stick-on wheel weights for years and I have yet to have one lodge in my windshield or even see one loose on the road. Adhesives have become pretty strong...

Hey guys

I actually have these installed on both my cars (BMW X5 and C300).

They've been on there for a good few months and I can assure you they show no signs of coming off. I hit the wheels with Karcher pressure cleaner once a week and they don't budge.

I agree that aesthetically they're not great, but they're a damn sight better than having gouged up rims. If you get the grey ones, they 'disappear' on a silver wheel pretty well.

My 'better half' drives both cars and she has an incurable disease that forces her to hit kerbs when parking. On our previous C180, I repaired and repainted all four wheels for them to be trashed 4 months later. No amount of me going ballistic every time she hits a kerb seems to make a difference, so with these rimskinz installed I sleep much better at night knowing that the wheels have at least half a chance.

They won't survive a heavy hit on concrete, but they will protect you from those light 'kerb kisses' that just graze the outer edge and end up adding up over time to look pretty nasty.

The skinz are purely sacrificial, so if they get damaged (but save your wheel in turn) you just rip them off and replace.

Here's a pic of them installed on my X5, I can get you a pic on the AMG wheels if you want?


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...ee4a5e5c0f.jpg

Well..I guess it's too late now. I just got my first minor curb rash over the weekend. Was parking into a curb on the driver side. I thought I was clear but I didn't realize the curb had a slight curve at the end and my driver rear rim scraped it slightly. Enough to cause damage. Was paying too much attention to my rear camera.:smash: