lallyr

Car has started wobbling again !! No prizes for the correct guess.... I think the alloy is bent yet again.

Should change the title to 7 bent alloys.

benzmodz

Going back several months to the proposition that you could use a smaller rim like a 17" setup and have yet to see that anything like that has been attempted.

Its simple physics. 90% of the shock absorbing is done by the profile of the tyre. Clearly you are running out of absorption and finding that the road and the rim are making contact.

In addition to which the speedtronic is only operable if the tyre profiles are at factory specification. ESP controls speedtronic and that can also be damaged the same way as the rim.

You may also need to raise the car to the highest setting and the softest spring of you have the E-Class / CLS version of active suspension.

Simply complaining about the rims is like asking why a black singer can have the name Mr White.

lallyr

Why am I the only person having these problems though. I know of two other people who have the same car and drive on the same roads as me and they havn't had any problems yet. That is why i am complaining !!

SUNILP

I lived in India for several years and the roads in parts of India are horrible. I would probably attribute it to that and would recommend 17" instead of 18". Not enough rubber on teh 18" for those roads. I will be coming to Delhi for as well incase any installs are required. Feb 2006 with my star diag system.

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lallyr

In understand everyones point about the roads being bad here and me running over people from the lower cast! But why only my car? I know two other people who live and drive on the same roads! Why not there cars?

Thats why I think it might be a problem with the suspension? How is everybody else's drive? My suspension is quite stiff and I can feel almost every small bump.

GMW

Sorry, but the rims can "ONLY" be bent by contact with a potholes, speed bumps, tarmac ripples which are like a mini speed bump...etc. From your pics and from what you said that you avoid potholes like the plague then if it is not a pothole it is from ripples in the tarmac. Those can damage your rims at highway speed. Low tire pressure amplifies the impact and so does excessive tire pressure.

benzmodz

What is the proposition here. You want to run an experiment to prove that every single 18 inch rim you install on your car is going to have the same damage. Somehow I was convinced after the first 3 rims. But the experiment is running now to the 7th rim. It's time for a new experiment.

manilamerc

I work for a wheel manufacturer that supply both the OEM and aftermarket. From looking at the pictures, it looks that the dent was due to an impact with a road hazard. I really doubt that a suspension design or failure can result to that type of damage to your wheels.

Auto makers will generally require wheel manufacturers to submit the wheel to an impact test simulating driving through a pot hole and the damage to your wheel looks exactly like the results of that impact test.

I guess the road conditions in India coupled with the 40 series tire of the 18 inch wheel is really the main reason for such frequent bent rims. By the way, it does not have to be potholes, sometimes driving through railroad tracks at a faster than normal speed, driving over big curves etc... can produce similar damage.

lallyr

Thanks for the advice everyone. Not going to bother changing to 17's yet. Have instead placed a order for the new S. I really don't like the look of the 17" alloys on the CLS. I will let the new owner figure out what he wants.

Will be buying the new S with 17's for sure though.

M.J

man i have order 18" AMG to be placed on my new cls which also have suspension system does anyone else have 18" over here , i mean any other 18" user with the same problem ????!

georgedaman

What kind of tires are you using? Are they beaded????I have been runing on 40-45 profile tires for the last 17 years through several Benz and one of the first lessons i learned ,not to even bother with none beaded tires ..

lallyr

Not sure what type they were. Sold the car ages ago.

1985mb

Look at the 3rd pic -- hasn't this car been in an accident? The front end and fender are all bent out of shape.

It's irrelevant now if you sold the car.

burkettamb

for one, the car looks fine, the fender looks fine, there's just a cloth on it for working on the car. 2nd the tires look to be michelin PS2, theres the friggen reason the rims were bending, that tire is way to damned soft for those roads

lallyr

The car has never been in an accident.
Yeah I think they might have been Michelin's.

jnolan

welcome to the club.