THE BBS LM IS THE GREATEST TUNER WHEEL
It seems Marty's choice of BBS LMs for his JDM AMG wagon (WATCH THE NEW EP HERE) has drawn a lot of commentary from people. While style is relative and people are free to not like the look of the BBS LM (and be wrong for doing so), the argument that these wheels belong more on JDM cars or only older VW, BMW or Audi builds is flat out wrong.
The LM was launched in 1994 as a lightweight two-piece forged aluminium wheel designed for use in endurance racing at the hardest circuit race on the planet: the Le Mans 24-Hour. Wheels have to cope with smashing over kerbs, rough tarmac, fearsome loads during 24-non-stop hours of hard braking and cornering loads, and brutal high-speeds seen on few other circuits. In short, these have to be the best of the best, and the LM quickly became renowned for being able to handle all that was thrown at it.
But the story of why the LM became the hot ticket for tuner builds can trace its origins back to the early 1970s.
Having been founded in 1970 by amateur racers Heinrich Baumgartner and Klaus Brand to make plastic bodykit parts, by 1972 BBS revolutionised motorsport wheels with a new three-piece design called the "BBS Mahle" (Mahle being the manufacturer).
It was a crucial development at a time when motorsports classes were dealing with sudden, radical jumps in race car horsepower, improved chassis design, and the newfound discipline of aerodynamics requiring stronger wheels that could handle higher speeds and brutal cornering loads. At this time magnesium was popular in wheels for its light weight but its fragility meant cars breaking wheels wasn't uncommon, sometimes with fatal consequences, so a stronger wheel was needed but the manufacturing costs of casting all the different PCDs, offsets and diameters was too vast to be able to handle.
A modular wheel design which featured a face that could be put together with different lips and barrels to create a strong, lightweight wheel that was far stronger than a conventional cast alloy wheel was the answer. And BBS had it.
Through the 1970s and '80s racers latched onto the BBS designs, with their modular, multi-piece construction also meaning they were able to be rebuilt after being damaged and saving money. Privateer teams could also buy 2nd-hand wheels and have them rebuilt to suit the specs of their car if they didn't have the hooch to plump for a brand new set each season. Hooray, indeed.
By the late 70s & 80s tuners were developing cars for top speed competition more than quarter mile or Nurburgring lap times (I talk about this a little HERE) so they needed a proper motorsport wheel that could handle properly wild horsepower and speeds. Taking wheels from Tier One motorsport cars racing at Le Mans and the like was a smart move and, as I mentioned above, being three-piece they could be rebuilt to the exact size the tuner needed.
The BBS LM filled a massive hole in the aftermarket in the mid-1990s. Its 2-piece construction from high-quality forged aluminium meant it was as strong and light as a proper BBS motorsport wheel (like the centre-locks above), but it was cheaper to produce and came with quicker lead times than a full bespoke 3-piece. But it still looked like the wheels you saw on the cars winning the Le Mans 24-hour, the toughest race in the world.
The LM wasn't sold solely through motorsport channels, it was a part of BBS' regular line-up and while you weren't going to buy a set working a weekend paper route they were far more attainable for punters with street cars than a set of exotic centre-locks designed to wear slicks and last hours, not hundreds of thousands of kilometres.
The LM's simple, open-spoke design provides a far cleaner look than the cross-spoke designs BBS were far more well-known for in previous decades. As with BBS designs from the 80s perfectly matching car designs of that era, like Mk2 Golfs, E30 BMWs and W124 Mercedes, the BBS LM suits 90s designs like the E36 and E46 BMWs, BNR-generation GT-R Skylines, JZA80 Supras, FD RX-7s and more.
As these cars quickly shot from around 300hp up to double, triple, and then quadruple the factory horsepower figures they needed a wheel which could handle the performance. And the street cred from having an expensive, well-engineered racing wheel like the BBS LM was almost an unparalleled flex for anyone into modified cars, even in the early 2000s when the ballas on the cover of DUB magazine seemed to exclusively run HREs.
Even cars like the Big Red Camaro (below) which, arguably, kick-started the "Pro Touring" movement of building classic muscle cars that handle runs BBS LMs. This Camaro has dominated the Silver State Classic open road race through Nevada many times, averaging over 200mph through wild, snaking desert roads, so it needs well-engineered wheels.
The LM has, for over 30 years now, represented a genuine motorsport wheel that can handle the worst a circuit can throw at a car and also a wheel you can literally bolt to your street car. This is the purest, rawest interpretation of an upgrade: taking directly from the round-the-clock epic race at Le Mans and putting it on your MaccaNats sled is hard to top.
While the TE37, RPF1 and countless other wheels are great they simply don't have the history across GT Racing, touring cars and tuner cars to compare with the feats the LM achieved across many different continents. Even today these wheels will elicit low, revered whistles when punters realise they're not dealing with a set of BB5s but the real deal LMs.
Personally, I reckon Marty got it bang-on right for his wagon.
