dariusf

Hi guys, I'm not too knowledgeable on the C, I drive the CLK. We are looking to get the 2010 C300 for my wife and have some questions. There are two cars we found, both 2010, ~5k miles each. They are about the same other then one has AMG wheels the other 7" UMI installed. Both sold by Mercedes dealers. MY wife like the AMG wheels but I think its much bigger deal and cost (~$2k) to install UMI even if I get a good deal on the parts. Thinking about getting the one with the UMI and just adding the wheels later.

Can someone identify these wheels and what is the approximate price for them? Any aftermarket 'replicas' that are similar in 18" that you can recommend?



Looking for a clean look along the lines of ST181

http://www.sonictuning.com/wheels/me...staggered.html

Thanks
Darius

Sportstick

Some others to browse:

http://www.powerwheelspro.com/shop/index.php?cPath=23

C300Sport

I believe the sticker price is about $1020 but to get those exact wheels aftermarket is likely going to run you a lot more. There are a lot of aftermarket choices out there although the higher offset on the W204 does limit our choices compared to most other cars.

Peabody

I would also get the parts you want and look for aftermarket wheels. Here's a great website for after market Mercedes replica wheels and here's their replica of the AMG 18"

dariusf

Awesome, thank you for all the info. Perhaps the best route would be to get these exact wheels from the dealer. I have a connection to get discounts for OEM, or go with thes power wheels pro

http://www.powerwheelspro.com/shop/p...roducts_id=327

and perhaps needing to go with spacers. Just got threw this on my CLK

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...ransplent.html

dariusf

these do look good



are people running them on C in this forum? Do they get good reviews as to the quality?

BlackjackM

I was in a similar situation as you- I couldn't find the colors I wanted with the options I needed that had the AMG wheels. The largest Mercedes dealer in Mass had 126 cars in stock at the time and maybe 10% of them had the AMG wheels. So the dealer agreed to swap them onto the car I wanted for $250. Maybe you could ask your dealer to do the same....it would solve your problem and they'd get the sale. Good luck!

dariusf

I definitely will try. The main thing I want to be sure is getting the 7" UMI as thats a major pain in installing. Also besides all wheel drive I would love to get xeon lights as we have lots of forested land around us.

Peabody

Does running the staggered 18"s work with 4Matic?

dariusf

good question, my CLK is only rear drive and has staggered setup, and at one point I had a C300 loaner from the dealer for a week and I'm quite sure it was 4Matic. I had the rear tire side wall break and had to replace the tire (lost ~$350 ). It was running the staggered setup. There is another car being prepared for sale at one of the other dealers that is 4Matic and includes the 7" UMI and some other extra options. It should be ready for us to test drive by the end of the week. I can post back what I find out regarding the wheels. Will try to get the AMG 18' included in the deal. I hope that this will be the car as I'm getting tired with the search.

dariusf

Also anyone has any info on the cost of upgrading the Xenon headlights? I would guess its at least $2k unless I can find some used lights.

BlackjackM

Yes, you can spec the 18in AMG wheels as a factory option and they are staggered.

Funny, I went through the same exact process as you, looking and looking and looking for the right cars- driving 45 mins to drive one that looks great in pics and is an absolute beater when you arrive. This is the reason that I ended up just leasing a new one to my precise specifications. Have you considered leasing as opposed to used?

dariusf

I have not considered much leasing at this point as we keep the cars for 5-6 years. I still need to run the numbers but in Illinois one has to pay full tax as well that I think is not the case in some other states and that needs to be factored in as well. For now we are looking for a used one, 2009-2010 under 10k miles if we can find one with the specs/options we want. Mostly White with beige, 4Matic with 7" UMI. All else would be icing on the cake There were a number of cars but most with black or gray interior or rear wheel drive and ~4-5k miles. That I consider almost new. All these were between $36-38k. We found one loaded, 4.5k miles, xenon lights, 7" UMI, 4Matic, rear shade, panoramic sunroof, 18" wheels etc. for $38k but did not make a decision in time and it was sold. Wife was still looking at BMW 3 series at that time. She drifted away from the BMW once she realized how outrageously stripped down they came. I knew all along but try explaining that to the wife There is almost no chance to find ~5k mile 2010 in white/beige and Navi. With out the Navi it looks like something out of the 80s inside. A total joke for a 40k car. We did find a brand new 2011 with Navi at $42k list but it did not even have the rear seats folding. WTF? 42k car and no options that come standard on a Hyundai? Its crazy. If we wanted all the (what should be considered standard) options we would be looking at maybe 45-46k Besides the Mercedes handles much better for my wife as she is switching from Lexus RX330 so BMW is way to stiff for her. We are not in huge rush, her car is 2004 in like new shape with 55k miles. We got it brand new from Lexus and would prefer to avoid the immediate loss of value once we drove off the dealer Will give it a month or two and if we can't find a used one with the options we want, we will then get a new one. I still have to run the numbers for leasing as it might be a good option.

Thanks for your suggestions and advice, appreciate it greatly.

BlackjackM

That's too bad about the tax situation as in Mass that's one of the huge perks to leasing- you only pay tax on your payment instead of the whole car. So I pay about $20 per month in tax instead of all up front. Question, do you get any tax back on a lease when you turn it in there? Doesn't seem fair to pay the full tax on a car that technically you're "renting"...

2nd, lol @ something out of the '80s without nav. I have to agree, as I've had a stripper C300 loaner for the past 5 days (!) and it's driving me crazy. I'm so sick of flipping through radio channels looking for music and no commercials.....I'm addicted to Satellite radio. Of course my iPod and all my ripped CDs are in my car, sitting in the shop.