LuvMyMercedes

Hi. I have a 2004 E320 4-Matic and have to replace two wheels. I have a shop that will install wheels that I can purchase, but I see a huge variation in prices out there.

Is it a bad idea to purchase reconditioned wheels? I'm just looking for the same type 16" wheels I already have - nothing fancy. Are reconditioned wheels a safety risk/not worth the price savings?

Thanks in advance for any advice out there.

Plutoe

There are some national groups that sell reconditioned wheels and bumpers and alike that have been in business for years and have the reputation-----like LKQ or is it LQK I always get that one screwed up---so ask the vendor who did the reconditioning?????

Craftysince86

LKQ

depends what kind of reconditioning and the quality of work.

are we talking fixing lips or cracked barrels? big difference between those two

MJ50

unless reconditioned wheels come with warranty, i'd rather buy used rims from CL or eBay...

boardboy330

Find out what the recondition is. There is a place here in town that takes in old wheels, fixes curb rash and powdercoats for resale.

LemonSqueezy

+1 on everything above. Reconditioned can be anything from fixing curb rashes and powdercoating to fixing bent or cracked barrel. Definitely find out which side the wheel falls under.

zubin.p

I was debating this same topic a few weeks back too. Google Hollander reconditioned wheels, are those the ones you are getting? I bought a set off Ebay and they seem to be fine, no issues whatsoever, they were nowhere as cheap as replica amg wheels that you see on Ebay so I guess I went with that assumption that the recondition process is quite rigorous? If you are getting a really good deal on the wheels I would inspect them closely, roll them down the floor and see if they roll straight or if they wobble.

I upgraded from the stock 16s, now they are just lying in my house with no tires on. Was thinking of selling them but I think Il put some tires on them and use them as my winter setup.

LuvMyMercedes

Thanks for the replies. So if I'm simply trying to get a replacement set for my E320 (16", right?) what is a good play to buy them and/or what should I be looking for in terms of any specifics.

Thanks in advance for any help.

boardboy330

I have seen the normal 16's on CL and Ebay. I would buy any. My set needs cleaned up and is being used for winter as well, else I'd sell them to you.

wjcandee

Okay, so I have a LOT of experience with this. The potholes in NYC and Long Island positively devour our alloy wheels on the W211.

I have bought wheels from the dealer, I have bought allegedly-unrefinished "used" wheels from Ebay and from suppliers including Parts.com and such, I have had wheels redone by a shop.

My conclusion is that the factory wheels are no more reliable than a really-well-refurbished wheel or new knockoff wheel. The other sources have occasionally had a repair fail and left me with a wheel to change.

Really-well-refurbished to me means one thing: Al's Hubcap and Wheel in Mineola, Long Island. I have been going to Al for about 5 years now. He will sell you a wheel or he will refurbish yours. He gets $135 for repairing and hypersilver-refurbing a wheel; $85 for a plain repair. When refinished, they have no road rash and really do look brand new. Well worth the extra $50. His wheels have never failed me where he repaired them, and he does meticulous work. As I posted elsewhere, I recently had to have 4 wheels redone because they were all bent. Previously, I would do one at a time if they failed, but these were so bent up after this last winter than I couldn't even properly balance the tires. So off to Al I went. He looked at one of the four and said, "You didn't get this one from me." I thought I had but then I remembered that I had slipped a tire onto a spare wheel that I bought online, allegedly-used-but-unrepaired. He showed me where the repair was, and what he meant, saying, "We would NEVER do a repair like this", and proceeded to rip apart both the type of repair and the workmanship. So he fixed that aspect of it as well. With 4 truly-straight wheels, it's an enormous difference in the ride, which I would have said was good to begin with. But it's SO much better these days.

I don't know if he ships stuff -- he does retail work for customers who bring wheels in and also gets a lot of work from tire places and dealerships redoing their wheels -- but he might. You can google him and call him; he's a very-direct New Yorker, but a really good guy whose phone is ringing all day long, which I know from sitting in his shop while he works his front desk. That's one unequivocal recommendation I can make, and I would never even think to go anywhere else now that I found him. He's a super-honest guy, and he will tell you if he doesn't think the wheel is safe to repair.

Here's his web page: www.alshubcaps.com And read the article under the "news" tab. It's funny, and too true.

Barry45RPM

I've had a cracked wheel repaired & refinished by these people... great work, great prices. and all guaranteed... finish & repair.

http://www.wheelsamerica.com/Wheels-...-Locations.php

X72

LuvMyMercedes, see this thread https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ize-spare.html if you are interested in using your 16 inch rim as a full sized spare tire. I bought the set years ago from an alloy wheel shop. Try the auto recycling places (junk yards).

For anyone else, you just have to be sure that the 16 inch rims will fit over your brakes.

You didn't say why you needed 2 new rims. Are they bent, scratched up and/or have surface corrosion? If they just have surface corrosion and minor sctatches you can live with, you could try the Wurth Silver Spray Paint for alloy wheels followed by their High Gloss Clear or see how much a body shop will charge to repaint your rims. You probably would have to paint all 4 to make them match.

At wjcandee. I bet you car does not have the 16 inch rims. This is one of the prices we pay for the poor road conditions in the US. Suspension components wear out faster and tires get damaged too. I am in the South, so the roads aren't as bad, but I have driven the car many places and I have seen how poorly our roads are maintained. The trend to lower profile tires makes no sense to me. All current MB sedan models have too low profile a tire for my taste.

X72

At zubin.p, not only will you have a winter set up, you can use one of the 16 inch tires as a full sized spare as you can see in my prior post just above.

You also will have back up tires. I haven't had any bent rims on the 16 inch rims. If you upgraded to 17 inch rims which are cast aluminum alloy, you may need the backup.

Long Islander

Nice write-up. I've been going to him for several years because he has the Hunter Road Force balancing machine, but I've never had him refinish wheels (my wife and I are extremely careful about avoiding curbs). Also, I always bring my tires and wheels to him "loose" so he doesn't jack up the car. Since he doesn't have a shop lift, his guys use floor jacks and I've had another shop dent my rocker panels by improperly using a floor jack. Have you had any issues with the floor jack at Al's?

wjcandee

So far so good for me on the mounting; no problems with how they treat my car. And they've jacked it a lot over the past few years. I was just there today, in fact. I saw some gigantic Ferrari (I think) wheels in there with Toyo tires that had the lowest low-profile I have ever seen, like an inch. I asked Al how the owners avoided breaking those wheels. "They don't. Why do you think they're here?" Ah. We both laughed. Made me feel a little better about mine.

He really does a great job at repair and refinishing. Now that I have two spare wheels, hopefully I won't need to be back to see him for a while, but the potholes on the North Shore are still pretty bad, so we will see.

Long Islander

You're not going to believe this, but today, I scuffed the right rear wheel on my Porsche against a curb! First time in my life I did this and it had to be on an $1800 wheel. Ugh. I'm debating whether to take it to Al's or just bit the bullet and ship it to Wheel Enhancement in LA. It has to be done perfectly, not just very well, and I don't know if there's anyone else in the country who can do as good a job.