[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by pkim1079

Hmm. I guess since i also prefer one piece wheels for strength this would be good as a one piece too?

I guess also although it will break instead of deform, the amount of force it can take exceeds that of a conventional wheel?

There's no reason that a carbon wheel wouldn't be one piece, unlike those silly Dymags of yesteryear. You can layup the mold to join the rim face to the barrel.

Strength obviously depends on the manufacturing goals, but with things like bike forks and rims, the failure strength tends to be magnitudes better than aluminum while weighing a good bit less. Given equal weight, you'd likely have three to four times the strength, sacrifice to say 30% less weight and you'd likely still retain 1.5-2x the strength of aluminum.

I'm not saying I want to be the first one to curb one though!

[pkimM3r]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

There's no reason that a carbon wheel wouldn't be one piece, unlike those silly Dymags of yesteryear. You can layup the mold to join the rim face to the barrel.

Strength obviously depends on the manufacturing goals, but with things like bike forks and rims, the failure strength tends to be magnitudes better than aluminum while weighing a good bit less. Given equal weight, you'd likely have three to four times the strength, sacrifice to say 30% less weight and you'd likely still retain 1.5-2x the strength of aluminum.

I'm not saying I want to be the first one to curb one though!

sorry, i was saying since i prefer a one piece wheel now, and the cf being a once piece that it is plausible.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by pimp4cheddar

So true. Road bikes and mountain bikes are prime examples of carbon wheels at work

Pretty Lightweights. I left road wheels out of the discussion simply because of heat issues with carbon clinchers, which of course will be a non issue once road discs become more standard (and SRAM's don't explode).

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by pkim1079

sorry, i was saying since i prefer a one piece wheel now, and the cf being a once piece that it is plausible.

It could be interesting. The things that scare me though are how they reinforce/jacket the lug interface, what mounting tires is like and if they can be repaired. I can't see them being any cheaper than a good set of forged wheels, but for dedicated track wheels, combined with the weight savings of carbon ceramic brakes, you could easily shave quite a bit of rotating mass off of each corner.

[lasovan]

some pics...

[Paul-Bracq-BMW]

Originally Posted by lasovan

some pics...

That's Carbon porn!!

[TheBingoBalls]

Is there any high-res pics of those parts?

[Chuckbilodeau]

Originally Posted by pimp4cheddar

So true. Road bikes and mountain bikes are prime examples of carbon wheels at work:

thats like $6-7,000 right there. 2 wheels.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by lasovan

some pics...

Thanks for those! I assume the 3k weave is just a cosmetic application?

[Schm]

This is really interesting. If you can put the carbon fibre "mash" into a plastic moulding machine, the more i3 and i8 models they produce perhaps the less expensive CFRP parts like the steering wheel mentioned above could become! These raw materials are made in Washington State too!

[ska///235i]

Yea try that in the city...new wheels everyweek

[Technic]

Originally Posted by F30form

That is a niche manufacturer making a ridiculously expensive one-off wheelset. This is a OEM making a ______ mass produced CF wheel. Juuuust a bit different.

Get that "affordable" out of this thread...

[lasovan]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

Is there any high-res pics of those parts?

there is.

that steering wheel is awesome!

[Andrey]

If price of a set will be 4 times the price of normal rims, and they will be fragile like a glass, then I will pass.
I don't see a point in these wheels apart from racing on the track for a light weight oriented and focused car,
If I want to get 100 pounds off of my car, I would just empty out my trunk, and all the junk.

[SCOTT26]

BMW Efficient Dynamics celebrates its seventh anniversary with a further look into how lightweight engineering becomes an integral feature of Efficient Dynamics previewing the next generation of BMW models and the many new innovative features they will take to be lighter than today's models.
The journey starts here...

[farishat]

I'm not wearing carbon fiber underwear. Not even carbon fiber shoes.

[brianhn1]

Originally Posted by W///

Not sure I'd call this stuff "affordable". No such thing as that when it comes to BMW. I'm excited to see progress though.

I remembered when some of us drooled at the prospect of owning some Dymag wheels back then. I'm glad we don't see imitators like CF laminated wheels or something ridiculous like that...

I'm impressed that BMW decided to take a stab at it...whether BMW's version will be "cost effective" or "good value" remains to be seen. It might go the way of carbon ceramic brakes for a good while in regards to either its appeal for looks and/or actual improvement in performance/safety, but who doesn't like unpainted CFRP wheels they can abuse on the track or just to show off.

Let's get the "go green activists" and the gov't safety regulators to promote this so that everyone else will have to get on the CF wheel bandwagon, I hope that they ban cheap steel and heavy wheels ASAP.

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by Storkenmaier

"The carbon fibre wheels are very damage resistant. They're actually more damage resistant to kerb hits than standard alloy wheels because the damage polishes out really easily. You can scratch it when you park and it's better to polish out than aluminium. You can have the metal finish to it with the alloy hybrid, but it's technically a better solution to go all the way and have a full carbon fibre wheel."

Scratching it is one thing, but if you *curb* an alloy wheel, you can get it repaired and it'll look like new. Can't see how you would do the same for one of these. It would mandate a new wheel. Best bet would be to have a 3 piece wheel, b/c the barrel is going to take the brunt of most cosmetic damage, anyway.

[ufgtrs2007]

Gamechanger

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by F30form

This is a OEM making an affordable, mass produced CF wheel. Juuuust a bit different.

Define 'affordable'...

These wheels will be 10K for a set, maybe more.

[pkimM3r]

Originally Posted by ska325xi

Yea try that in the city...new wheels everyweek

wheel and tire warranty LOL.

[Judah]

Removed