bringtherain

Should probably post this in the wheel forum but eh, its 3am, I'm lazy, and I just remembered about it.

Wheel has been leaking air for a few weeks and have been putting off taking off the wheel to silicon where the patch was due to a lack of time (got promoted and I'm taking all kinds of shifts when needed for supervision) and was opting for a 2min air pump whenever I needed to.

Finally decided to just take it to a tire shop today about an hr before work since my tools are scrambled all over the place (just moved) and the guy finds out that its my rim thats leaking. On the inner well there seems to be a hole, not crack, hole..well pin sized I believe. First this guy's ever seen apparently and same for me. He said its probably due to shifty manufacturing and told me to take it to the dealer to get it fixed since its an OEM wheel.

What I personally wanted to do is to just silicon rtv the damn thing (still haven't gotten a good look at the spot thats leaking but it was miniscule from what I glanced) but I don't want that tiny fracture to emulate a cracked window and eventually become a bigger issue. Anyone ever have this situation on an oem rim?

Gashde

Never heard of this happening.

You should definitely bring it back to the dealership to have this resolved, how long have you gotten your ride for? It seems like a pretty serious issue and you'd never be able to predict the potential danger in this.

xXHotelCrazyXx

Sounds like a bad cast wheel

bringtherain

Had the car for about two years now. Guess I'll be bringing it to the dealers. I wonder if they'll even do anything about it or just tell me im SOL

AZN Optics

Doesn't hurt to ask as from your description it's a build issue, but this is something that just recently happened? I'd be interested in seeing pic of this as I've never heard of anything like this that wasn't associated with a crack.

MDMercedesGuy

I've heard of porous alloy wheels before that would leak, but never any that you could actually pinpoint a spot to.

trif_romeo

I got a oem wheel for sale, let me know, I can send you some details.

bringtherain

no thanks, I'm prolly just gonna get a new set of rims. Need to get off oem anyways.

Will definitely take a picture when I can as record for anyone else that might have the issue in the future. Gonna be a while before I have time to do so though.


And yeah my wheel starting leaking air about a week after I moved into my new place.

Need4Speed

That sucks. It could be a bad bead and is leaking

could be a porous wheel which has occurred on occasions.

Best bet would be take it into the dealership have them do a inspection on the wheel and go from there.

It is also best to grab a separate set of wheels ( aftermarket) to have encase need be.

Let me know if i can help you out in any way.

misterzero1

You must have a porous casting that is causing the leak. MB,or their wheel supplier, casts the wheels with moisture in the molten aluminum. Moisture escapes as a gas as the casting cools leaving it porous. Every wheel is leak tested. Those that fail are repaired by putting them in a vacuum chamber and adding a super-glue like material that sucks into the pores and plugs them. Porosity can easily be avoided and your wheel is an example of poor casting practices. If your wheel leaks in one place it probably leaks in others. Have your mechanic pressurize the tire/wheel and dunk it in water to look for bubbles. Or put soapy water on the wheel and look for bubbles. It's good to hear that you are shopping for other tires because your set will probably be troublesome. Look for forged wheels. They are stronger, lighter, and don't have the defects that castings have (porosity, knit lines, shrink). All 4 wheels of my MB have porosity but so far don't leak. With the outer skin removed the wheel is full of pin hole porosity. Good luck finding new wheels.

Doa

AMG wheels crack from time to time.
i've had one, my mom her CLS had one and at the dealer i see a lot of cracked AMG rims needing a fix

misterzero1

Thanks for inputting your observations. A cracked wheel from a pothole for example, would also have an impact mark. A crack that started from fatigue would not. Dealers always rule in their favor and say a cracked rim is due to an impact. Owner loses because he has no ground to stand on. And what makes a service manager an expert on failure analysis anyway? The only way to determine the cause of the crack is to open up the crack and look at the crack surface. A rule of thumb is if the crack was made suddenly by an impact it would look new - shiny and clean. If a crack was formed from fatigue it would look old - dirty and dull, maybe even the surfaces rubbed together.
Did you know that MB has a separate warranty for wheels? All other big manufacturers cover wheels under their basic bumper-to-bumper warranty. MB has a 1 year, 12,000 mile warranty on wheels. That keeps warranty numbers low and keeps MB out of trouble with NHTSA.
Anyone else experience cracked rims?

misterzero1

MB has hidden their cracked wheel problem by shortening warranty on wheels.
MB's basic warranty is 4 yrs./50,000 miles, but wheel warranty is only 1 yr./ 12,000 miles.
For these manufacturer's, wheels are covered under the basic warranty: BMW, Audi, Toyota, Honda, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Chrysler, Hundai.

According NHTSA Complaints (I checked ) MB owners who bring their cracked rims in are told by the service mgr. that crack was due to impact - not covered under warranty.

I love my MB's, but I don't like it when a big corporation is getting away with hiding poor quality.

Please spread this info around.

Daveskii

Very disappointing to hear. I hope I don't bang up my aMG wheels :O

misterzero1

Here's the bad news: you don't have to worry about banging up your wheels - they will crack all by themselves during normal use due to a casting defect that creates a crack initiation point!
I know because all of my wheels have this defect (What are the odds unless the problem is rampant.) One of the defects has begun to crack due to fatigue and not impact.
If you get your gar up on a lift, take a close look at the inner rim. Look for an area shaped like a dark gray "V". This is the cast defect.
The best part is it is non-repairable. Any stock removal will make the wheel weaker at that point. Just hope you get lucky and look at you rims every six months or so.
Good Luck!

bringtherain

damn, I haven't had time to take it into the dealer since I've started this thread but I think i'll just skip on that completely. Just ordered some forgestar f05's for dirt cheap but thats just shady as hell when you consider the amount of premium you pay for just driving a benz. I mean the standard c300 has next to no power and little to nothing for standard equipment and the minimum is $33k You'd expect them to at least get what little they give you to be good quality.

misterzero1

The Federal Government States: “If a safety-related defect exists, the maker must fix it at no cost to you – even if your warranty has expired.” Quoted from the USA.gov Consumer Action Handbook.
Wheel cracks are safety related aren't they? So it's worth the effort. If you have cracked wheels and your dealer will not replace them or give you the price to replace them, then give them a look at this document. (It can be downloaded or ordered at “publications.USA.gov”.)
Further, if there is no sign of impact to the wheel, it has been determined that a defect has caused the crack (by fatigue as I have mentioned.)
Of course the wheels will have to be inspected by a MB Dealer. And don't expect help from them. Deal directly with MB. Contact them through their website.
Of course you don't want a replacement because it might have the same defect as the original. Ask for the price it would cost to replace them.
I will give more detail as I get the chance. In the meantime, good luck!

MDMercedesGuy

Replace them with what is the question?

Are you suggesting that someone is supposed to go into the dealer with a stock wheel with a crack and then suggest that MB replace it with an aftermarket wheel?

Had my wheels off to wax them last weekend - no cracks after 17,500 careful pothole and curb free miles.

misterzero1

Good question. But in any case MB ought to bear the cost, not the dealer. I've read the NHTSA complaints and nobody mentions what the replacement was. Some cars are 3,4,or 5 years old and the identical wheel is probably not even available. In that case I think that MB would reimburse the customer the cost of the wheels and leave the decision of what he puts back on up to him. An OEM replacement would be fine if they don't have the defect in them.
But, that's just my opinion.

JWH321

Five years, 75K miles, 3 sets of tires, -- no cracks. If the problem is widespread, it hasn't reached central Florida yet.

misterzero1

Congratulations!
The problem is not widespread. About 5 owners per year file a complaint with NHTSA claiming wheels cracked due to casting defects. (Other major car companies have virtually none.) Within that group it seems to be predominantly 2008 CLS AMG and E-Class vehicles. In my case, the wheels were all cast at the same foundry in October, 2007. For that particular style of wheel, they could have all been cast during the same month.
There could be more wheels with casting defects, without cracks, but since they are painted would not show.
And, who knows how many cracked wheels occur - due to defect or impact? There is no way of counting them. All I know is what is reported to NHTSA.
And replacement wheels for 5 year old cars are not available from the dealer, as I found out. So an owner would have to replace a whole set, unless he could find one on ebay.
And I'll bet if you show a given service manager a cracked wheel, he will say "impact", of course, no matter what the evidence.