i am considering replacing my cls 55's bent wheels (aaargghhh) with Replica AMG Twins. Some of my concerns are

1. With replicas being so much cheaper than the real deal (less than 1/5th of the price), how worse off they really are ? Will they effect the acceleration, driving experience etc ?

2. I have air pressure monitoring built in. Will the replicas work with that ?

3. Are there any other wheels in the same price range (lets say < 300 a piece) that I should consider ? maybe TSW or mandrus ? any other brands ?

Thanks.

 

Why don't you get your current rims fixed?

 

I wouldn't go for replica wheels. First, it will be degrading to your car..u not driving a honda civic...and those replica wheels are heavy, and you would have no idea how it is made. It would def effect your acceleration IF it weighs heavier than even your stock. You can take out your tire monitoring pin out of ur stock wheels but not sure if it'll fit and function normally..If you don't mind, find used brand name wheels...as long as they are in good condition, they shouldn't go over 1.6-2.2G. Mandrus wheels are not bad...but in my opinion, don't get replicas...u rather spend that money on some other brand wheels..even if it's not a big brand..will still be better than replicas.

 

mercedes claimed that they fixed the bent but i still feel some vibration at high speeds. (visually i dont see anything) maybe its time to go to them again.

 

interestingly mandrus does not cost a whole lot more than the replicas, mandrus millenium atleast.

 

That's interesting. I had the same issue and feel like mb should really look into all of the people who report bent rims. I had all 4 of my bent but only had the front one fixed. I have now replaced my oem wheels with cor concord wheels. Sounds like your rims are still out of round. I would take it back and let them know you still have vibration before purchasing anything new.

 

i just ordered vossens for mine, hubcentric, made to fit mercedes and the biggest problem was deciding which model from all of the great styles. no , i don't work for them. i just have been looking for 100 different options and kept going back to their line. it helps that they are a sponser of this site and they have extensive pics on their site.

 

vossens are great looking wheels (most of em) and not super expensive either. i think for ~ 2000 you get some pretty decent vossen rims. BlackBeast06, Concor are awesome but wont they cost the same if not more, than the original AMG wheels ?

now thats the dilemna ! i can go with the replicas for < 1000 and fork out another grand and get vossens....now how much is the difference quality wise, is the question ?

 

Yeah, Cor Concords are expensive but look great. Checkout my photo album. I'd either get them re-check to ensure they were repaired properly or look for some reasonably priced aftermarket wheels.

 

indeed, they look great

 

there are tons of great used wheel deals for the cls out there.. check out the classified section here or craigslist...

 

looked extensively for a week , craigslist in st louis had nothing, and the classifieds on this site and the other site, had nothing. tried to jump on some forgiattos, but everything was sold. there is a guy selling 20" marcatos, but he wants 3k for them and direct from marcato, they are only $2800. i always worry about used wheels, offsets, width, bolt patterns. and mostly, out of round. original poster has problems with out of round, would hate to see him spend 2k on a used set and still have vibration issues. i love cor too, but way out of budget. i got the vossens under $2500. installed with tires. brand new and the right fitment for my car. i hear great things about mandrus too, but thier styles are kinda limited and imo played out.

 

my experience mirrors akitchell's. could not find appropriate deals online including craigslist. also with used wheels out of round really scares me. it is something thats almost impossible to tell through visual inspection, let alone buying it online. mandrus and vossens look like the best deals to me too (though i would start with bugging my mercedese dealer to fix them, as they had claimed). are there any other brands around the same price range you guys know of ?

akitchell since you did a lot of research on that, mind thowing in a few other names here ?

 

there are some really cheap wheels that have the right bolt pattern from taiwan, or china. some brands like verde, boss,zinetti, akuza etc..

trust me, the money you save will not be worth it. the wheels have the right bolt pattern, but little else is right, offsets, widths, hub diameter, brake clearance. you will have fitment and vibration issues galore. sometimes you will need spacers, extra heavy wheel weights and numerous trips to the shop negating any savings and could also pose safety questions.

then there are midline offerings, which are hubcentric, and generally made for mercedes, some brands are tsw, mandrus , which is made by tsw for mercedes, ace, vossen. not much selection in this price point. i shopped ebay, craigslist, discount tire, tirerack. this is why i am such a vossen fan. by far the best looking wheels and a decent vareity of styles.

then there are the out of my budget forged brands, alot of them sponsers here. iforged, hre, cor, asanti, forgiatto etc etc. most are multi piece wheels. the multi piece are supposedly lighter and have replaceable parts if you bend one.

the weights i looked up with the exception of a few styles, were upper 20's to low 30's for the midline and upper priced wheels. pretty much the same. in my history when i have hit a pothole, i either do no damage to the rim and just kill the tire, or do no damage to either or completely kill both and damage car as well. i have never done "middle damage" just needing only a replacement barrel. i would imagine a replacement barrel would cost just as much as the whole midline wheel anyway, so the replaceable part arguement is out the window for me. the lightness ( within reason) dosen't matter to me , as i am not racing. i just wanted a nice looking , vibration free wheel that was different from stock to set my cls55 apart from the crowd. kept on coming back to the same company again and again.

i won't mention their name again, some might get the idea that i am working for them.

good luck on your wheel search.

 

pm sent

 

how are the vossen wheels doing, akitchell ? (been almost a yr)

 

I've managed not to curb them yet. The cheap kuhmo tires are even holding up well. The tires aren't wearing the best . Slightly noisy but idk of that's the fault of the wheels, alignment, tires or driving style. It's not really bad enough to worry about. As far as wheels go , I've owned many sets of chrome and polished wheels and they always get either pitted or frosted. These stainless rims are the way to go so far. I wipe them down after each washing and they stay shiny with no corrosion. We get alot of salt here too. I jus bought a ridgeline and thinking about a set of vossens for that car as well.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with replica wheels. They are very very popular in the domestic community. Many times owners want to go bigger and wider but retain a factory look.

 

I accept with information:trust me, the money you save will not be worth it. the wheels have the right bolt pattern, but little else is right, offsets, widths, hub diameter, brake clearance. you will have fitment and vibration issues galore. sometimes you will need spacers, extra heavy wheel weights and numerous trips to the shop negating any savings and could also pose safety questions.

 

do you have 20's ? i can't find any 19's in the vvs series (the more expensive forged vf series has those)

 

yes, i have 20's. i didn't even research 19's since 19's are usually more costly than 20's because they are a less popular size tire - wise. at least thats been my experiance.