jahquan3

Happened to me this morning on the way to a conference. It hit a large pothole which I didn't see due to sun glare. Luckily I was near a gas station to fill it up with air. But PSI reader came up red. It went from 33 to 14. I filled it back up to 33 and by the time I got home (2 miles or so) it was back down to 26.
Insurance covers it so adjuster is on his way out. I have the AMG rims. If they can't repair it I guess I'll be forced to replace the whole set. Any reasonable staggered set of rims for my E550? I'd like to stay under a grand for the entire set if possible.
Thanks

VegasE

I expect that the adjuster will total the rim and pay you for a new one. That is what happened to me the last time I crunched a rim 10 years ago on another car. So why would you feel forced to get a new set of 4? There are rim repair shops in all major cities that should be able to fix it. Typical cost is around $150.

In my case, I did not like my OEM wheels and used the money to buy an aftermarket set. The OEM rim was so expensive that the OEM price of one wheel nearly paid for my aftermarket set of 4. I had the crunched rim repaired and sold the OEM set on eBay. (I was upfront that one rim had been repaired.) I used the shipping boxes from the aftermarket set to ship the OEM rims. So I would up with rims I liked and was several hundred $ ahead.

However, I love my AMG rims so if I were in your shoes, I'd keep them. Get the crunched rim repaired and keep it as a spare.

On a similar topic, I follow several BMW and Audi forums too and I have seen far more bent rim posts on this board than all the other boards combined. These rims must really be soft.

The G Man

If you follow the BMW forum, you must see a whole bunch of bent rims on there. If you stare at the BMW rims long enough, you will cause a bent. This is due to the combination of runflat tires and BMW's light weight rims. I had 3 bent rims in the BMWs I have owned in the pass and, cross my finger, none so far in my Mercedes. Driving in NY and NJ, bent rims are pretty much the cost of doing business. The roads are like a war zone out there.

jahquan3

Only reason I'd prefer a new set is all 4 have curb rash. It's been like that since I purchased the vehicle so I was leaning towards a new set possibly. If they can just repair it then I'm cool with that. My deductible is 1k and I doubt even a replacement of the AMG rim is that much. So if I have to come out of pocket might as well get a new set. I read somewhere these rims are like 800 new for one but I'm not sure if that.

jahquan3

The adjustor is coming tomorrow morning. I have an Elantra rental in the mean time lol.

belarus27

i have a print out from insurance and it was 1350 lol
like 2 years ago
edit: maybe cuz mine are chrome?? idk

jahquan3

Wow.
One of my last visits to the dealer my SA was telling me how expensive the rims are and that I should get them repaired. He didn't give me a price though.

jahquan3

I assumed mines were chrome too. Aren't they all the same material with our package for our year?

belarus27

lol yep pretty pricey for a wheel... even ADV 1 dont cost that much jk jk , they cost a lot more... but still

post up a picture if you can , i can tell you if its better to repair or get a new one.. if you want

belarus27

they also have a silver/machined or watever color it is besides chrome , once i get home i will post both

jahquan3

jahquan3

Only visual damage is the bent out lip and it has 2 small cracks/slices in it. A repair seems possible but not sure of how it usually works.

Airmousam

Looks like alloy and that can be repaired, I've had a few done. Get yourself some new center caps on ebay too. Good luck

jahquan3

2 of my 4 caps are horrid. I'll change those out as well.

cetialpha5

You can also get the curb rash cleaned up, about the same price anywhere from $100-$150 a wheel. It's probably cheaper if you do all 4. Not a fan of aftermarket wheels, especially if you're going to get a cheap set. I had one rim fixed and the guy had a bunch of aftermarket rims sitting around that he couldn't fix, they just tend to crack instead of bend.

belarus27

I know a guy that can fix it , for about 80(just the repair no touch up paint) but looks like u not in cali... so im guessing for 150 a shop can do both? And yes it is fixable , i had worse lol
and here are the 2 colors in pics

jahquan3

Ahhh, I see. A huge difference the chrome really stands out. The adjuster should be at my place no later then 11 so I report back exactly what options he gives me.

Thanks for the help everyone.

jahquan3

Adjustor just called and said he thinks I need a whole new rim and tire. He thinks I also need to get it on a lift to get a closer inspection at the control arm etc.

He says the rim is $1400 (From Mercedes) and he has the tire at $40.

I guess that's a random tire price since even though the Yokohama ADV Sport are inexpensive they cost me about 150-175 per wheel if I recall correctly.


Edit: I received estimate documents by e-mail just now. See breakdown:
$1,410 Wheel/Rim - 1
$340.99 Tire - 1
$69.95 Suspension Alignment
$13.50 Mount Balance and Misc Fees
$14.70 Body Labor ??? (Never heard of this)
$122.32 Sales Tax

$1971.46 - Total

belarus27

so if your deduct. is 1k is it really worth it?
can easy get a tire and a wheel for less even with alignment included
(when i had mine repaired i checked out ebay and there was a used one for 250 with the tire on it (and thats if you dont want to repair your current one which i would and it still be even cheaper))
total is crazy

p.s unless there is a damage to control arms or sway links ..etc.
and yet it still be less than a grand

jahquan3

I'm definitely leaning towards just getting a new set of rims. Even if I have to spend over a grand there is no way I'd pay that much for one wheel and still have the rest looking subpar.
I still have a warranty I believe on the tire so I should be able to purchase another and get reimbursed from Tire Rack.
I might still see if I can get it repaired but at this point I don't want to deal with the headache. I have a couple days to decide since GEICO can't get the car towed until Monday the earliest they said.

FYI - The gave me and rental Elantra and it started making some loud **** noises as if something in the under carriage got loose. So they brought me a Chevy Cruze just an hour or so ago. My luck with cars is looking dim right now LMAO

The G Man

For a $1000, I would go for a new set of rims, those OEM rims are way over priced. Once the repair guy heats up the rim and bent it back, it will not be as hard as before, the next pothole you hit, you might have to go thru this insurance mess all over again.

belarus27

makes a really good point , instead of wasting 1k on deduct , is to invest that into new wheels , im thinking for around 1300-1400$ yo ucan get decent wheels with decent tires. if you can afford it then it does sound like a good option. and get that wheel repaired and then keep that set of wheels as a spare or just sell them and get some money back.

belarus27

it loses its strength after being heated up? i heard/read that somewhere before also , basic metallurgy knowledge i guess

cetialpha5

Can you just pocket the difference? I think you can just have them send you the check instead of sending it to an auto body shop. I'd just get another rim on eBay and get the old one fixed just in case.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-Mercede...dYzQN4&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Factory-...hYm0lk&vxp=mtr

cetialpha5

You'd probably have to hit it again in the exact same spot. Usually aftermarket wheels are weaker than OEM. That's why they're cheap...

Personally I hate aftermarket wheels, they never quite look right and I tend to avoid any used car with aftermarket wheels.