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Wow even better! Thanks for the insider information! I've also seen in photos this rim made in Germany and the US so sounds like Mercedes sources the rim from at least 3 different countries.
Yup! When you get the chance, remove the front wheels and take a look at the back side engravings. Not sure if my company was the sole supplier of this wheel, but it would be interesting to know.
Wait so are you saying my exact wheel was shipped to the Alabama assembly plant or just that this supplier ships them for the US market? Because this is supposed to be brand new so if this one was shipped to the assembly plant that would mean it was put on a car and used and then probably re-manufactured to look new again lol.
Wait so are you saying my exact wheel was shipped to the Alabama assembly plant or just that this supplier ships them for the US market? Because this is supposed to be brand new so if this one was shipped to the assembly plant that would mean it was put on a car and used and then probably re-manufactured to look new again lol.
No, I mean the wheel is manufactured in China and shipped in bulk to Alabama for final assembly. Your wheel is most likely new. I doubt it is used (it looks new to me at least).
Out of curiosity how much did you pay for it? Was the seller located in the US? I thought about getting new wheels but shipping from Europe alone would cost almost the same amount as one wheel! So I ended up having all 4 wheels repaired and painted matte black.
Out of curiosity how much did you pay for it? Was the seller located in the US? I thought about getting new wheels but shipping from Europe alone would cost almost the same amount as one wheel! So I ended up having all 4 wheels repaired and painted matte black.
$605 including tax. Ebay seller located in the US. Definitely better than the $1300 from a dealer!
This looks like a very good replica wheel. I have a pair of replica wheels on my B-Class but on my C-Class, I would not place replica wheels unless you intend never to drive fast. The biggest issue with wheels and rubber from China is the lack of inspection and for metal the core foundation pore of the metal.
This looks like a very good replica wheel. I have a pair of replica wheels on my B-Class but on my C-Class, I would not place replica wheels unless you intend never to drive fast. The biggest issue with wheels and rubber from China is the lack of inspection and for metal the core foundation pore of the metal.
Did you read the whole thread? Literally a guy who works for a company that makes OEM rims for Mercedes verified the rim is OEM and was actually made by his company. What insider information do you have that the guy who made the rim is missing to be able to say this looks like a good replica wheel??
I have high confidence that these are genuine Mercedes wheels. The engraving layout on the back looked very familiar, so I looked into my archives and turns out that my company designed and manufactured this wheel!: 18x8.5 H2 Himalaya Gray, Machined Face for W205.
Haha, what a coincidence!
It's strange the Mercedes website calls the color high gloss gray but you say Himalaya Gray. And then to make things more confusing the ebay ad called it "charcoal". I imagine they're all the same color? Just wondering because I noticed the wheel looks slightly lighter than the ones on there, but it also can be from the mounted ones have less light in the barrel giving off a darker paint appearance.
So here's pictures of the markings on the one the rim replaced, made in USA and a lot of different symbols compared to the new one. The new one has a more reflective shiny appearance with paint that looks ever so slightly lighter. The external barrel of the old one has a different pattern from the new one and is definitely a rougher feeling and looking material, weight I'd say is similar though. You can see in the two zoom up pictures the old rim has a sharper radius where the outside curves into the inside of the rim where the new one is definitely more rounded in this area. Are these all types of things that can vary between different OE suppliers? Maybe something only the Mercedes supplier Engineer can answer. The rear wheel was the one replaced.
Last edited by Bmarcinczyk14; Sep 17, 2021 at 09:16 PM.
It is fake! I would not touch it with a 6 foot pole.
It's funny all the people who say it's fake literally can't give 1 reason why their saying that 🤣, it's just super easy to call it fake without even thinking about what ur saying. What's fake about markings that match exactly other ones online that are oem and a guy who works for the company confirm it's genuine? One thing I am skeptical of is I believe it was refinished even though I was told it wasn't. Disappointed in the color match to the originals.
So here's pictures of the markings on the one the rim replaced, made in USA and a lot of different symbols compared to the new one. The new one has a more reflective shiny appearance with paint that looks ever so slightly lighter. The external barrel of the old one has a different pattern from the new one and is definitely a rougher feeling and looking material, weight I'd say is similar though. You can see in the two zoom up pictures the old rim has a sharper radius where the outside curves into the inside of the rim where the new one is definitely more rounded in this area. Are these all types of things that can vary between different OE suppliers? Maybe something only the Mercedes supplier Engineer can answer. The rear wheel was the one replaced.
Yes, it is completely normal. Each supplier designs the rim portion (what some people call the 'barrel') and the lightener pockets differently to accommodate their process. Personally, I would prefer to have all four wheels made by the same supplier, but in theory there is nothing wrong with the same design produced by different companies.
I think what's happening here is that another supplier made this wheel in the USA (not us) originally for the W205 platform. Looks like my company made it for the Chinese market, but was requested by Mercedes to start shipping parts for USA assembly at some point during its lifecycle.
I revisited this post because someone reached out to me asking me if they purchased counterfeit wheels (different car) and it reminded me of this thread.
Not sure if OP is still active in these forums, but I hope you're enjoying the wheels!
I actually bought the front and rear wheels (same one that OP has) from my company and mounted it on my car.
I just got two rims (Front passenger and Rear passenger) for my W205,
I looked at this thread before purchasing, and thought this was a Genuine one, but still some slight differences.
Anyone can help me figure out if these two are OEM or counterfeit?
They are real. Made by the same company I used to work at.
How can you tell? If you don't mind me asking?
When I checked with the Mercedes dealership for the part number that came with my car, they said I needed: A2054011100 and A2054011200
The center cap of this one is different than the ones I have, and I plan to just swap the plastic caps because I was sure they would be the same size. Otherwise, I can't figure out what's the difference between these and my OEM ones (Except for the center cap design).
The ones I bought are: A2054017600 and A2054017700
Depends on how much you paid I suppose. If you paid $100 for China rim, then most likely it's fake. But if you paid $500 for it, you can sorta feel good that you paid OEM price but the seller is laughing to the bank.
This evaluation does not make sense. The seller can ask for 500 $ still the product is fake.
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