Designed for the race track yet also approved for road use, the BMW M4 GTS which was launched in 2016 was the world’s first series-produced vehicle that was fitted with wheels boasting a CFRP/aluminium-composite construction. They enable around 7.0 kilograms to be shaved off the weight of a BMW M4 GTS fitted with the already extraordinarily lightweight forged aluminum wheels specified as standard. Rim wells in exposed carbon also lend the BMW Carbon Compound wheels exclusive visual accents.
Carbon fiber is about 30% lighter than aluminum and 50% more so than steel, which makes it an ideal material to counter the heavy hybrid components for the BMW i3 and i8. These vehicles use an underlying carbon fiber structure sourced from BMW’s new carbon fiber production network.
Carbon fiber is an expensive material to work with, but if you are using production waste then it’s a different cost structure from working up raw carbon fiber. Just so you know.
