question about these wheels

[mikesz]

Bought a set of these 18 for my 99 Boxster. Does anyone know what these would have originally been available on?

[edc]

A 986 Boxster? They look like Sport Designs just repainted or 996 GT3.

[antny]

I am not positive but I could have sworn I have seen those on a Cayenne.

[Smallblock454]

This is the original Porsche SportDesign rim, which is a 2 piece rim that is screwed together. Porsche code XRL. Was available for 986 and 996.



There are a lot of fake rims out there that look like that. But they don't have a Porsche number and in general are not 2 piece. For example this RH rim:



So check if it has a Porsche number and is made from 2 pieces that are screwed together.

[DrCactus]

FYI - Those style rims are a real &**%$ to clean - think twice. If you like clean rims these will drive you nuts.

[mikesz]

Mine have the black center and polished outer lip. Has anyone takent these apart to polish the lip?

[thstone]

If legit, they are painted Sport Design wheels. They were options on 986/996 and standard on 996 GT-3. Difference between Boxster and 996 fitment is wheel width. They are a two-piece design manufactured by BBS. I have them on my 996.

Beautiful wheels but DrCatus is correct, they are a PITA to clean.

[woodsman]

Originally Posted by mikesz

Mine have the black center and polished outer lip. Has anyone takent these apart to polish the lip?

I did. The clear on the outer lip isn't durable because it doesn't adhere to bare aluminum well. Some shops remedy this by painting the lip a shade of silver first, then clear coating. I didn't like this idea so I hand- sanded longitudinally with wet 600 grit, than clear coated. They looked okay but if I still had them I'd polish the lip and run them bare and see if they looked good for a season without re polishing them.
BTW the bolts are supposed to be titanium.

[jimk04]

Bare rims last 5 minutes before going off....ask how I know

Hard bright anodized would be best.

[BrokenLinkage]

Às per thstone: BBS Sport Design II, a $5650 factory option for your Boxster, now painted black by a PO, perhaps to lessen the burden of cleaning those grooves. My own biased opinion seems shared by others that they are the best looking oem wheels. Even the black looks great, if you keep the silver rim & titanium bolts. They are also, unfortunately, not the lightest oem wheels.

BBS claims the design, but one rep told me they were contracted for Porsche to BBS/Porsche specs and supplied only direct from the manufacturing facility to Porsche for assembly. Which was his way of leading up to the fact that, although they are 2-piece, neither Porsche nor BBS can supply a new rim if yours is damaged.

Laquer seems to have held up well on my rims. And I now have special cleaning tools for the lug bolt recesses and the end of the groove in the "spoke". I can't reach the barrels with the wheels mounted so they ride dirty.

[Smallblock454]

@ BrokenLinkage:

Sorry, but you are wrong. The showed wheels are SportDesign (I) not SportDesign (II). For SportDesign (1) rims there was a "pinted face", option from Porsche available on request. No Porsche code - like individual external color. So this was a little bit expensive; just a little bit.

The rims were used as stock wheels for the Porsche GT3 MK1. Later on the rims were available as an option for 986/996 cars.

SportDesign II is a completely different rim.

[Santafe]

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

@ BrokenLinkage:

Sorry, but you are wrong. The showed wheels are SportDesign (I) not SportDesign (II). For SportDesign (1) rims there was a "pinted face", option from Porsche available on request. No Porsche code - like individual external color. So this was a little bit expensive; just a little bit.

The rims were used as stock wheels for the Porsche GT3 MK1. Later on the rims were available as an option for 986/996 cars.

SportDesign II is a completely different rim.

Here you go as fitted to a 986 & 996 (GT3 Replica), the 996 owner just had the centers of his wheels painted gun metal grey which looks great against a silver car.

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Originally Posted by mikesz

Bought a set of these 18 for my 99 Boxster. Does anyone know what these would have originally been available on?

Make sure your suspension is up to the task of accepting these 18" wheels. The earliest 986 cars suspensions were not robust enough to handle heavier rims. I am not sure off the top of my head what year the suspensions were beefed up to handle bigger wheels. Just check it our as better safe than sorry.

AKL

[mikesz]

suspension point is taken. from what I have read the 98-99 cars are ok. its the 96-97 cars that have the weaker suspensions.

[BrokenLinkage]

SmallBlock seems authoritative in his knowledge, so I will defer to his expertise and go back to just calling them Sport Design, which is in fact how they are described under their option code XRL. I was just parroting some guy at the dealer that referred to mine as "Sport Design II."
Didn't know that about the painted face option from the factory either, but I suppose Porsche would paint the tires themselves for the right price and client. In any event, the only painted face version I have run across personally, and all the ones I saw on ebay when looking for replacements, were refinished aftermarket.
The chassis was reportedly beefed up in 98 to support 18" wheels, and some have also said there may be clearance issues as well as strength issues on a 97, although I have no idea what was changed.

[mikesz]

the wheels do have porsche part numbers on them.
I think they will look terrific on my arctic silver 99.

[mikesz]

any advice tips to cleaning/polishing these?