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Show Your Worst 21" Curb Rash

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Show us your worst curb rash.

I confess, I am definitely getting curb rash. My worst is on the front right wheel where I am trying to park somewhere a bit too crowded.

The rash itself doesn't bother me too much visually. I am not particularly fond of the noise when it occurs.:crying:

More photos here.
curbrashfrontright.jpg
 
I don't have 21s, and I have curb rash on 3/4 wheels. I know exactly when it happened the first time: my birthday. The other two times I have no clue. It must have been a very minor impact early in my experience with this car. It's just a little disconcerting that I can't pinpoint the other two times...
 
Scraped a curb the second day I had the car, before I could have the gators installed. But I can't post a photo because the gators cover the damage. But I will take and post tonight photos of a few scrapes on the gators.

Hi Artsci

I was looking at the earlier post on the alloy gators. I saw your great photos of them with the silver wheels. :biggrin:

I'd love to see the damage on the gators themselves.

I was thinking of getting myself a set but perhaps only installing them on the right side. Then if they scratch on the right side, I can someday eventually use the extra on the right. I am much more likely to get curb rash on the right side then the left. Mostly as in tight spaces, you can really tell where you are on the left. May be the reverse in England.
 
I haven't got any curb rash yet on my S. After curb rashing my BMW in the first month of ownership, I'm pretty careful to park not very close to curbs.

However, I did manage to drive over a curb/median in a parking lot. :( Surprisingly everything was fine. (My car wears 19" tires...)
 
No way I'm showing pictures! After driving a tiny RX8, my level of rash switch to the Model S is embarrassing. It's not so problematic now that I'm used to it, but the car is so wide that when trying to parallel park I really tried to get close to the curb so I didn't stick out into the road...which greatly increased the chances of catching the rims. I'll always have some sort of rim guards on at this point just for cosmetic reasons.
 
I have the stick-on convex button mirrors mounted at the outside edges of both mirrors. Perhaps they look outdated, but they allow me to see the curb on both sides of the car with the mirrors in their usual driving position. Also eliminate that dreaded blind spot. So far I haven't hit the curb or merged into the side of a car in the adjacent lane. I've been buying these for the past 30 years. Look better than the spring loaded whisker curb feelers my 1952 Dodge came with...
 
Can you show us a photo of the button mirror? Where did you buy this? I'd like to get this just for the right side.

I have the stick-on convex button mirrors mounted at the outside edges of both mirrors. Perhaps they look outdated, but they allow me to see the curb on both sides of the car with the mirrors in their usual driving position. Also eliminate that dreaded blind spot. So far I haven't hit the curb or merged into the side of a car in the adjacent lane. I've been buying these for the past 30 years. Look better than the spring loaded whisker curb feelers my 1952 Dodge came with...
 
one good practice is the tune the mirrors when reversing... put in reverse... tune both mirrors so you see good when reversing. save in profile. Next time you put in reverse the mirrors autotilt to the saved location and assist a lot to avoid curbrush. Be patient and careful when parking. The car is larger than a X5 so learn the size.

I think this helps a bit to avoid destroying the wheels... sooner or later something will do it in some way though... ;-)
 
Button Mirror.jpg
Can you show us a photo of the button mirror? Where did you buy this? I'd like to get this just for the right side.

My local hardware store carries these, they're probably also available at Autozone etc. Also several styles at Amazon. This is a 3.75 inch mirror. I have 2 inch mirrors on some of my other cars that have smaller side mirrors, but the 3.75 inch works better (if you have the real estate). I've got 'em on both sides of the car. (Driver's side is for lane changes--They also eliminate the blind spot in the lane next to you. I can still see enough roadway in the remaining flat mirror to see what is further behind the car.)

Note that you can actually see the outside edge of the rear tire in the button mirror. These come in handy at the drive thru at the bank -- I never can tell where that concrete island ends and I've hit them before. The tilt-the-mirror-down-when-in-reverse feature won't protect you from those, unless you stop and put the car in reverse. I haven't even bothered activating that feature on my S since my mirrors tend to freeze up solid in the winter anyway.

These things are good for about 5 to 10 years, and then they fall off. But, for a couple of bucks, you can get another. Just clean the flat mirror well before applying, and press all over the button mirror to get good adherence. I hold the flat mirror with my other hand to keep it from wobbling around when I'm pressing on the button mirrors.