Shellbmb

My tire pressure warning light came on and I found that my right rear tire was losing pressure. Thinking it was my tire, I took it in to discount tire to find out that my rim was cracked!! Check out the picture. You can see bubbles coming out of the fracture. Tire was fine.

There are no dents in the rim and I do not recall hitting any pothole or anything of the sorts.

Is this a warranty issue? Or I am just SOL. I did not buy a wheel warranty as I bought the car pre-owned last year. Wonder what the cost of one new AMG 21" rim is.

StevethePilot

You bought the car pre-owned but how many miles are on it? And can anyone else say if there's any kind of warranty on the rims? Your real problem with that, of course, is you bought the car pre-owned, meaning you can't be sure if the previous owner did anything untoward that would've damaged the rims.

Shellbmb

It has 26,000 on it currently. I bought it with just under 20,000 miles. It was not a CPO and I have no idea how owned it previously.

I'm just wondering if this is a typical failure from running over something like a pothole, or is this more indicative of a manufacturing issue. But that's for the dealer to decide and I'm pretty sure I'll be in the market for a new rim. Or depending on the price, maybe a new set of aftermarket rims! I hate this 21 inch tire size as our options are limited.

lkchris

It's pretty typical with low profile tires.

It's more likely to be covered by your insurance than by warranty.

BlownV8

I had something like that occur on a GL wheel. They replaced my rim under warranty with no questions asked. If you had an impact that was hard enough to crack the wheel, it should be noticably bent too. If it is not bent from an impact, your wheel should be covered under warranty.

nynd

I'm with him. BUT - I believe there is a certain mileage they allow those claims till. If it was going to fail prematurely, then it should have failed within the first 5 to 10K. Anything beyond that you would think was damaged done by owner. Best thing is take it in and see what they say. Worst comes to worse, maybe MB can exercise a "good will call" and pay for half and you pay the other half, or something like that.

There are single wheels on Ebay (reconditioned) that go for $500 - 600 I believe. Just do a search on 21" amg.

asg

Take it to the dealer and see what they say. They may warranty them. My dealer warrantied a set of E63 I put on a E320, and I didnl't even buy the wheels from the dealer. Bought them from a tire shop as used take offs.

It can't hurt to ask.

Fourdiesel

There is no way to be certain unless a full fracture analysis of the cracked pieces is made, but I'm a metallurgical engineer and it is a pretty good bet that the crack shown is a fatigue crack originating at a 'defect' in the metal forging as manufactured. This type of fatigue crack can take many miles / cycles to grow the the size where it is discovered so it is not at all surprising it didn't show until now. This analysis is further supported by a lack of other damage to the outside of the wheel rim (ie dent or bending) that may have been caused by a pothole or curb. Any M-B dealer SHOULD be able to collect from the factory under warranty. Good luck!

Shellbmb

Thanks for the replies. If all else fails, I can check ebay for a replacement assuming the replacement cost is outrageous. There are a few from 300-600 bucks. We'll see what they say when I take it in this week.

The spare looks so pathetic on this vehicle.

Shellbmb

Dealer pretty much indicated that regardless of the type/location of a rim fracture, if you didn't purchase the wheel warranty, they will not warranty a rim. So looks like I'm in the market for a new rim. It was worth a shot at least.

Dealership wants 1450 for one rim. I think I'll be looking elsewhere.

alx

this is not a manufacturer nor a usage issue. i assume you got your truck with new tires. if so- this is a mounting issue.

mounting large-diameter tires on rims if not done by a properly trained tech might overload the rim lip which will lead to immediate or stress fractures.

my guess is this is an installer- provoked stress fracture.

alex

Devil Red

Wow, wow & wow! As fourdiesel said this is most certainly a defect. It's amazing how easily manufacturers/dealers get off with "you didn't purchase the wheel warranty" BS. As far as I'm concerned, if the vehicle is under the original factory warranty then they should take care of this no questions asked. Unless they can show you how the rim was damaged, a crack like what is seen in your picture most certainly seems to be a defect and not "something a bad mounting job" could cause. I'm no engineer, but the margin of safety, i.e. the load/stress these wheels were designed to endure is far, far greater than we can imagine. Nobody makes a rim/tire set up for a 6000 lb truck conceivably & realistically whose occupant's lives hang in the balance of its performance to operate on a fine line. Manufacturers go to extraordinary levels to make an exceedingly high limit, aka almost idiot-proof, so their vehicles don't hurt or kill people. It's generally bad for business If I were you I would ask to speak to the service manager and then maybe the dealership GM and tell him how you feel their product is defective/unsafe and may have hurt you or your family. If they aren't going to make good on the rim then be sure to tell them you'll be done with them forever and more than happy to tell everyone you know about their "defective" and "unsafe" product. This is not about being able to spend a few bucks on a new rim, but holding someone accountable for something they should just take care of in the first place without you having to do the jig. Don't let them off easy ...

EWT

That looks familiar. I just found an almost identical crack on the left rear wheel of my 550 when it started losing tire pressure a few days ago. I purchased it as a CPO car in July, so I have no idea what happened to it prior to that time, but it has seen no significant impacts during my ownership, and has no external damage other than the crack. My service adviser claims he's never had a successful warranty wheel claim with MB outside the first year. Has anybody else had luck with a warranty claim on the standard MB warranty? I've already got an ebay wheel on the way, but wouldn't mind having a spare if I can get a new one from MB.

cyclrder

Shellbmb,

take it to the dealer... if they warranty it .. then fine.. if not.. they can fix it ..

Manhattan MB will fix that wheel for about $200 .. it will come back looking like new except that the outer finished is polished.. it will come back painted the inner color silver.

I bought a 2008 CPO.. only after two weeks did I notice that two of the rims on one side had been painted (the give away was that they didn't leave the polished lip) ... I did buy the warranty though...

In NYC... I have cracked 3 AMG CLS 55 wheels and bent another 3 ... they are easily fixed and painted in such a way that you can't tell they have been done (course, they don't have the polished lip)

don't sweat it.


as far as the dealer's point of view about warranty.. how do they know you weren't running around with 24lbs of pressure in your wheel because you forgot to reinflate after riding on the beach or something.... any wheel will crack if you are underpressured and you hit the right pothole....

I will bet you that 90% of every AMG equipped MB in New York has bent wheels.... and some cracked. those wheels are made for smooth roads...

as far as warranty on a CPO car... they offer the wheel warranty in addition so I doubt the manufacturer warranty covers it....(but try your luck and ask)

lkchris

Here's the typical disclaimer printed in Mercedes sales literature:

Here's the same from BMW:

If you get warranty coverage for wheel damage, you're lucky, and so is your dealer if Mercedes reimburses.

EWT

I started losing air in a tire last week and discovered I'm now on cracked wheel #2. You'd think MB could use a higher quality wheel on their products than the one they used on 08 550s. I've treated wheels to far more abuse than anything the GL has seen and never had a wheel crack before. Unlike last time, the used supply on eBay has really tightened up and there aren't any single wheels currently listed for a reasonable price (lots of demand for replacement wheels?). I may be switching to another OEM style or an aftermarket wheel since replacements are costly and they are apparently very prone to cracking.

alx

There is no wheel that will survive a proper pothole, low profile tire and 6000 pounds of German engineering riding on top of it

cyclrder

The wheels are actually quite strong... That being said, I cracked one going through water crossing the road during Irene not knowing the road had washed out...the other my wife hit a side glancing blow on our driveway edge that put a hairline crack at the post... In January... I couldn't give my 2 reconditioned wheels away!

realize that a reconditioned wheel will most likely be painted to the edge and not have the clear coated edge that the factory wheel will have...

I fixed my issue by buying a new wheel warranty that came with a GL63.

EWT

Mine haven't hit potholes of any significance. They spend their life driving around suburbia on relatively good streets. Speed bumps are about the most challenging things they've encountered. I may switch to a 19" or 20" wheel to get more sidewall. The large wheel/low profile tire looks good, but as you note isn't the best combo for a large, heavy vehicle.

alx

in my experience (and from what i have seen in the field) most bent rims happen without the driver's awareness especially on a softly suspended luxury vehicle.

it doesnt take a giant pothole that will bang the vehicle so badly that you would think the wheel fell off (although those scenarios certainly exist)

it is usually a much more subtle "just hit it right" small pothole and alignment of stars and phase of the moon that produce bent/ cracked rims.

2010GL550

I've had good luck with these folks:


http://www.wheelsamerica.com/Buy-OEM-Wheels.php