I'm about to rotate my tires on my 2009 c300 4matic... The only thing is, I noticed that a lot of my lug nuts are stained white (probably from road salt) and some even are brown and appear to be rusted...

Before I rotate my tires, I would like to find out the best method to clean off the lug nuts and make them look like new, or at least not as bad... Can anyone suggest leaving them in some sort of chemical bath or anything?

Also, using the search feature got me more confused then ever. If I am right, the c350 4matic has staggered tires/rims, but the c300 4matic is symmetrical so I can rotate them front to back & side to side?

Thanks so much!

 

jctevere,

Not sure about the difference between the c300 and c350 staggered question, but regarding the question about the rusted lug nuts, I would just take it to the dealer. They should swap them out for non-rusted lugs nuts free of charge ( I just had the B service on my car and one of the wheels had rusted lug nuts and they replaced them free of charge no questions asked under warranty ). Otherwise, I have had luck using naval jelly to remove rust :

http://www.amazon.com/Henkel-553472-.../dp/B000C016OC

Good luck,

Nick

 

The dealer refused to change mine once rusted so I took em out and painted em black

 

Damn mine are rusted too... looks horrid...

might just paint them aswell... the dealer is too far for just that issue.

 

The staggered setup depends on the trim level. If you have C300 Sport, then you have staggered rims. If you have C300 Luxury, then you don't.

Easiest way to verify is to look at your tire sizes (printed on the sidewall). If they're the same front and back, then you don't have a staggered setup.

 

That's pretty cool. Which dealer did this for you? Mine are very rusted, too.

 

soak them in oil. use anti-seize when re-installing

~mike~

 

There's a product called CLR (Calcium Lime Rust) Remover that you can soak them in to get rid of the existing rust, but if you don't paint the surfaces, the rust will probably come back soon enough.

As for using anti-seize, many shops advise against it as it screws with the proper torque. If you are going to use it, at least make sure it stays on the threads only and don't get any of it on the lugbolt seating surface.

 

Hmm...
Mine started to rust and got them all changed in warranty.

 

I have these on mine. Great dealer can't praise them enough

http://www.colorlugs.com/

 

I guess I assumed it goes without saying....

The soaking in oil will make it very difficult for rust to form. even if it's already rusty.

the anti-seize should be applied to the threads only, and the only way it will mess with the torque specs is by making your torque wrench accurate. Without anti-seize, your lug bolts have to battle a lot of friction when you're tightening them. This friction will cause your torque wrench to register a higher torque and cause you to under-tighten the bolts. I'm not sure where you heard that it's bad but I've never seen a tire shop not use it.

I guess I'd have to say, do not visit any shops that use pneumatic air-wrenches on your lug bolts. Those places have no respect for nice wheels, and when the lug bolts snap off you'll be the one who's sorry.

good luck~
~mike~

 

From TireRack's tech section:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=39


Basically, when you're applying AS, you are going to be over-torquing the bolts by some 30% because typically the torque figures are provided for bolts without AS on them.

Some car owner manuals specifically state not to use AS on lugbolts.

I don't think my local MB dealer uses it.

 

The use of anti-seize will "change" your torque as your torque was calculated without the use of anti-seize, but the change would be almost negligible, but changed never the less. I know, I deal with bolted fasteners all the time at work. So if you do decide to use, use it very sparingly and as everyone before me stated, ensure its only applied to the internal threads of the nut, and try not to get any on anything else.

 

Thanks for the tip and link, I just ordered them for my car, sure can't beat the price and they will look good too!

 

MB lugnuts are crap for some reason...I've had several replaced under warranty already. You would think that they would start using better lugnuts after replacing millions of them. HELLO, there must be a problem with them... Seems like such a silly issue on a luxury brand who should be concerned with all the little issues that put them a class above. I've never had a problem with rusted lug nuts on other makes I've owned: Ford, Honda, Mazda.

 

Yeah, seriously... the OEM lugnuts on my 530i are still in good shape, even after 8 years. MB has dropped the ball on these...

 

Are you seeing the rust on the face of the lug nut as it sits in the pocket on the wheel? I've looked closely at both cars, and see no rust on the visible part of the lug nuts on any of the eight wheels.

 

Where do you live?

I'm pretty sure it's related to heavy use of salt during winter in the snowbelt areas.

 

My lugnuts were total crap rust on more than half of them but when I got my new wheels I had these changed out and thus far nooo rust yay !! Anyone with any kind of rusting should simply go to the dealer and complain that no car nowadays should have this regardless of salt or wheel cleaner use ???

 

Michigan!!! I would think my cars are likely candidates....at a year and a half, neither is showing any visible rust on the lug nut surface, although I did not remove one for closer inspection. BTW, I use Adam's Green Wheel Cleaner.

 

Well, to be fair, I am not the first owner. I don't use any wheel cleaners (apart from just regular car soap), but I have no idea if and what the previous owner used.

 

Got mine replaced under warranty today.