aggies15

Not sure if anyone has had this problem before but I woke up one morning to a low tire pressure light. Figured I had a flat so I took it to the dealership so it could get patched. Turns out the tire was fine and there was actually a hairline crack on the inner portion of the wheel that was causing the tire to leak air. Dealer told me that they don't repair cracks because of potential liability issues in case the weld fails sometime in the future. I was quoted $1650 for the wheel before labor and tax.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before? That's awfully a lot of money for one wheel. I'm also considering filing insurance because my deductible is only $500.

Crazy part is that I don't remember hitting a pothole or anything remotely big enough to cause the wheel to crack.

ErikM

Do you have 19" with Run Flats??

aggies15

19' Michelin PSS

MrMeth90

I had that happen to my C300.
I was furious, they quoted $750 but it was a normal 17" rim. I bought a replica and gave the car back 2 months later.
I would file the claim if you have more then a few months left on the lease

oldman&theC

I had the same thing happen to me.I had a small crack in the inner portion of my 18" wheel.There was no tire damage and I did not hit any bump or pothole out of the ordinary.They quoted about $550 for the wheel.I protested that since there was no tire damage the wheel must be defective.I said if you don't cover this under warranty I want the cracked wheel back to have it evaluated.They covered it at no charge but only if they kept the cracked wheel.I let them keep the wheel and got it replaced at "no charge".

aggies15

So if there's 0 damage to my tire, they should be able to get it through warranty? I had a tire shop check it out and the tire itself is 100% fine.

ErikM

I think if you make a big stink about it the dealer or MB may extend some courtesy.. I'm ordering my C43 in a few weeks and as nice as the 19"s look I live in NJ and we have potholes that'll swallow you alive (maybe a little exaggerated) So I'm sticking with the 18" and will put on real tires.. Save the RFT's for the lease return.

oldman&theC

It worked for me.It appears that MB knows they have a problem with the wheels.Service advisor first said the low profile tires were prone to crack wheels.I told him I don't buy that.I previously owned 2 BMW's for 8 years with low profile tires and never cracked a wheel. He then admitted that they get 5 or 6 cracked wheel problems every week.

aggies15

Just dropped off my car at the dealer. SA initially told me that I'd have to go out of pocket for it but I brought up the warranty and how the tire showed no signs of damage and he said he would have to get with the shop manager before they would be able to make a decision. Thanks a ton for the advice though because I never even considered the warranty before...

DVision44

Nj roads really are good for some craters. This happened to me. Woke up with a flat so I refilled my tire and took it to the dealership. They checked my rims and found one was bent and one was cracked. They have a wheel guy that comes 3 times a week and he took care of both problems along with resurfacing a scuff on my 19's for less than $300.

Just take it to a rim repair specialist and save yourself some money

oldman&theC

Don't forget to mention that if they say "no warranty" you want the cracked wheel back so you can have it independently evaluated.Thats when they agreed to cover mine at no charge.

aggies15

Update:
Just got back from the dealer. After a little back and forth, they finally agreed to pay for the wheel as a gesture of "goodwill". I'm only responsible for labor (which ended up being $70). They did tell me that if it happens again, I'll be fully responsible for it.

Thanks to y'all I saved around $2k!

oldman&theC

I may be old but I am not senile yet.It just appears to me if the tire has no damage and the wheel is not bent and you find a hairline crack you probably have a defective wheel.MB should be looking in to this problem.I don't recall any other manufacturer having so many wheel problems.

aggies15

That was the logic I used to argue my point. They told me that since I already had 14k miles on it, they felt the defect should've happened much earlier. At that point, since they already agreed to pay for the wheel, it was pointless trying to argue with them anymore.

Cyclebiff

I got my C43 last November, 19" with runflats. Cracked wheel and flat tire the first month due to pothole. Not covered under warranty as it was a vehicle accident apparently. Several grand later I decided to keep it as a weekend ride.

Last weekend took in for Service B, got a c300 loaner for the day. O.M.G. What a difference the road noise and ride were. The c300 had the smaller 16" or whatever the basic cheap ones were.

If I could trade the wheels somehow I would have totally gotten the smaller tires as rain this year has destroyed the roads out here in farm country. My next Mercedes I'm going to skip the low profile tires altogether.

ErikM

Why not just get rid of the RFT's and get a set of normal tires and a mobility kit like this if you get a flat? https://www.stopngo.com/cars/ Car will ride better be quieter, handle better..You could also just buy nice aftermarket 18" wheels and tires like these Mandrus Wheels http://www.mandruswheels.com

Then put the 19" back on when you get your next car

MASSC450

Personally, I wouldn't waste my money on one of those kits.

The majority of flats I've experienced (or my wife) with our 18"/19" wheels have been sidewall blowouts from hitting potholes or curbs.

Nothing beats an actual spare tire if you can change a tire yourself, and I hate how more and more auto makers these days don't even design areas in the trunk to store a donut spare & jack.

I'd have no problem paying extra for a "Spare Tire" option if it were offered.

smenniss

aggies15

I've cracked 2 wheels so far and have had to pay for neither of them. The dealership's response both times were "no" but a little persistence pays off. The 2nd time around, I actually ended up emailing corporate after being offered 50% from the dealer (they tried to quote me $1800 initially). Most of my driving is highway and I've never cracked a wheel before this car so I know it's not anything that I'm doing. I explained this to corporate and within 12 hours of sending the email, the dealership called and told me they were going to comp the wheel (all I had to pay was labor). I also brought up the failed class action lawsuit highlighting this very problem back in 2015 or so.

Keep in mind that I live in the huge metro area with equally large luxury dealerships. If you do business with a smaller one, they may not be as flexible as mine was. Not sure how much of my email was corporate paying or the dealership just giving in.

smenniss

NoVaDoge

Add me to the roster of cracked wheel victims.

Bought a certified C450 from a dealer here in NoVa around the start of the year (my first Mercedes). 21k miles when bought and MBZ certified. New Continental run flats installed on it.

About two weeks ago, got a tire pressure alert on the display - right front wheel was reading 28 psi whereas the rest were in the mid 30s. Refilled with air. Got an alert two days later at 27 psi. Refilled again but started go get annoyed. Got alert again 3 days later - this time at 22 psi.

Refilled and son and I checked tire thoroughly - no nails, no screws, no sidewall scuffs or tears or rashes. Nothing. Figured it was either a bad sensor or defective tire (maybe ply or valve stem). Local tire shop confirmed low pressure (eliminating bad sensor) and suggested that as the tire was only about 5 months old, to take it to the dealer and ask them to replace under tire warranty (1 year) and the dealer would be retaining the purchase receipt on the tires.

Local MBZ dealer took it in for assessment and after 30 minutes, service manager informed me the rim was cracked and that they're assessing if they can repair. After 5 minutes, service manager told me "no repairs on AMG wheels". Manger noted that a replacement wheel, with install, is about $1,400. I asked to look at wheel and service manager took me back. Sure enough, there was a 1/2"- 2/3" long crack about 1/32" in width on the inside rim. Interestingly, about 2" from that crack were telltale signs of weld marks and weld feathering. That fact did not persuade service manager and the tech. I told manager I would return, left with car and promptly looked up rim repair shops here in NoVa. One shop gladly took in vehicle and had it done and repaired in about 2.5 hours. And $175.00

Rim repair shop owner noted that: 1) this rim had been damaged before and repaired - about 2" as we had noted at the dealership, 2) alloy rims like those on AMG vehicles are extremely strong but the particular alloy in the wheel is brittle - easy to deform and crack, and 3) compounding issue #2 - run flats. Because there is no room in the C450 for a spare, many of us drive on run flats. The Rip shop owner noted that while a run flat is great for flat protection, the solid rubber nature of those tires means that those tires do not absorb impact as much as a gas or air tire does. The impact transmits through the rubber to the body and wheel much more than with regular tires. In combination with a brittle alloy wheel, expect cracks.

My two cents for first post...

alexasa

iTrader: (1)

they are absolute trash wheels - just as soft as they are brittle. The new 2019 might be better - not sure (the studio pack wheels seem unchanged).

when tires wear out in 10000 miles and you can break/bend multiples wheels in that same time period... anyone having issues should just switch and have a better life lol.

Dumi

Solid info here...

I just had a second wheel crack on the inner lip of 19 inch (passenger side this time). I switched to non-runflats about 6 months ago. I'm assuming that the crack developed while still having the run-flats on, developed a slow leak, no potholes that I can recall hitting recently.

ptheodoropoulos

Anyone with damage on front wheels and tires on AMG vehicles please contact Panagiotis Theodoropoulos at 310-756-2462. This is a very common problem in certain AMG vehicles. My own 2018 E43 AMG has damaged three front wheels and
four front tires in 13,000 miles of operation and Mercedes Benz USA, LLC refuses to address the problem. Anyone with similar issues please contact me directly by calling the above phone number. One of my wheels had a 7 inch longitudinal crack. This is a safety issue that needs to be addressed by Mercedes Benz USA, LLC. If you have these types of problems please file a complaint with the NHTSA so that the issue gets investigated and the defective vehicles are recalled.

gfmohn

I have had two massive curb hits on my 2015 C300 (17" Mandrus 23-spoke) front wheels. The driver side hit was with the wheel hard over. It pinched the side of the non-RFT tire and blew it out. The rim got a small dent, but the wheel still holds air. The passenger side hit was truly massive. The whole side of the car flew up in the air. The wheel was straight ahead, so the full tread of the tire took the hit. There was no damage to either wheel or tire! (In both cases, it was a rainy night, and new construction had moved the curb in the first case and installed a curb where there had been none before, in the second case.)
When I ordered the wheels, I had noticed that in the Tire Rack catalogue, Mandrus wheels had a load rating of 2000 pounds per wheel. Competing brands had a rating of 1350 ppw. That's an almost 50% difference. I'm glad I got the Mandrus wheels.