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So I am on my fifth bent rim in about a year of ownership on my '14 E350. FWIW the car has the "split 5-spoke" non-AMG wheels. I swear these things are made of Jell-O.
I don't have a problem with the looks of the stock wheel, and I certainly don't care about "performance" in my wife's DD. I just want a set of wheels that will last longer than two months without turning egg-shaped.
To that end, this is an entirely financial venture. Currently, I have bought one spare rim, and what I do is I throw the spare in the trunk, have the tire shop figure out which one is bent, install the good rim, then I take the bent rim to a wheel repair shop and have it straightened (so far every individual wheel has been bent - there are no failures that point to a repaired wheel being any less durable than an un-repaired one). The repaired wheel then goes on the shelf for the next time. Each wheel repair cost me about $80-$100 depending on how bad it is, and so far none have been cracked (which at that point I would probably scrap the wheel and just buy another). This is on top of the fact that the wheel repair guy is about an hour away from me, so there's gas, plus it wastes a day of my time. He does repairs while I wait.
So I figure I can suffer through nearly 30 wheel failures before it makes financial sense to buy a set of forged aftermarket wheels from the usual high-end guys you see around here but...it's a GIANT pain in my ***. Basically two full days of my life wasted each time (wheel replacement, then wheel repair).
So is anyone out there offering CHEAP FORGED wheels in stock sizes for our W212s? I have seen a couple sets on eBay for a reasonable cost but I'd like to be able to choose style and/or finish if possible. I don't want it to look like a Kia owned by a teenager whose parents just got him a Pep Boyz gift card for his birthday.
You must have very bad luck, very bad roads, very bad driving habits or all of the above?
Mine 2014 rims after 183k miles look fine with minimal curb rush.
Talking about cheap- they usually means soft alloy.
I am thinking about changing wheels to 16" for comfort and I actually have extra set of 16" wheels for my W211, who have the same bolt pattern, but slight difference in ET.
Meaning you might want to buy W211 wheels.
If the weather will not go above 110F again, I will give it a try and post the results how the wheels swap works.
Actually it doesn't. Right after I bought the car a local guy was selling a set on CL and I went to his house and test-fit the 16"s, and they wouldn't clear the calipers. Although I'm not 100% sure they were the exact same wheels as what you have so YMMV.
Also buying 16" rims means buying a second set of tires, when I just bought new ones a couple months ago so there goes the whole financial aspect of it.
Last edited by Darel; 08-11-2018 at 10:43 AM.
Reason: add
You didn't mention if they were 18 or 17 inch rims. My guess is that they're 18 inch rims. I've had slightly better luck with the 17 inch rims. Only two bent rims in 2 years. Noticed them at the same time so it was only one trip to the wheel repair guy. I'd just stick with factory after seeing all the bent/cracked rims at the wheel repair guys. I think OEM does a slightly better job than aftermarket. I think your other option is to get a tire that has a stronger sidewall and to put a couple extra psi's in the tires.
I just plan on getting future tires at Costco so that I get their road hazard and free lifetime balance/rotation.
They're 18s, I do have road hazard and all (had to get one tire replaced already). I also have an Audi S5, zero issues on my car or in the forums, thinking about just getting a used set of Audi wheels. I can probably find them with tires for less than a set of aftermarket wheels.
Correlation does not imply causation. My boss has an Audi A8, he's had a few bent/cracked rims also. With such a small sample size, I'd just say it's the luck of the draw that you got bent rims on one car and not the other. Just luck on when and how you hit those potholes. I have slightly better luck with the 17 inch tires with 45 series tires than the 40 series tires on the W211 with 18 inch rims. Never had bent or cracked rims when I had 60 series tires on a different car. It's the low profile tires. I wish MB and other manufacturers would stop. It's a crazy pointless trend to go with baloney skin tires, you just end up with lots of flat tires and bent/cracked rims.
I wish MB and other manufacturers would stop. It's a crazy pointless trend to go with baloney skin tires, you just end up with lots of flat tires and bent/cracked rims.
The problem is safety standards keep getting more strict and technology keeps getting added, both those things increase the weight of the car. With that increase you need better stopping power which results in bigger calipers and rotors... and to make space for them you need bigger rims. What they could do... is increase the wheel wells so you could run 20 inch rims with 60 sidewall without rubbing
Man I feel bad for you guys in those pothole states. I am from Michigan where it is pathetic but have been in Arizona for 10 years. Never a bent rim here.
However I have HREs on my CLS and have C63 forged on C350. I have many sets of forged rims back in Michigan so have a lot of experience in this area. The OEM rims are typically heavier and don’t bend as much as aftermarket forged or not. i cannot imagine your problems will go away if you have that many bent rims in one year.
I suggest to try to get an OEM 17 rim (assuming you have 18s now) that clears the calipers. You will find these dirt cheap on the marketplace here. Pull yours and check offsets and get something close. Then get the widest sidewall possible. You can easily go an inch over stock diameter.
Flow forms aren't going to bend less or more. They will be cheaper than forged though but paying new prices in your situation is dicey.
Vehicles are not getting heavier requiring larger calipers and thin sidewalls. We are demanding better performance and looks. Drilled rotors, large red calipers, 19-20 rims and 30/35 profile tires simply look cool and sell cars. I swapped the sport 18 rims for 19” C63 forged 507 rims and they look sick. Can only do this in a state like AZ though.
For instance, I just scrolled through marketplace and saw these. 40 and 45 profile. Lots of other options if you don’t like the look but you get the idea. Title of the ad is:
Man I feel bad for you guys in those pothole states. I am from Michigan where it is pathetic but have been in Arizona for 10 years. Never a bent rim here.
However I have HREs on my CLS and have C63 forged on C350. I have many sets of forged rims back in Michigan so have a lot of experience in this area. The OEM rims are typically heavier and don’t bend as much as aftermarket forged or not. i cannot imagine your problems will go away if you have that many bent rims in one year.
I suggest to try to get an OEM 17 rim (assuming you have 18s now) that clears the calipers. You will find these dirt cheap on the marketplace here. Pull yours and check offsets and get something close. Then get the widest sidewall possible. You can easily go an inch over stock diameter.
Flow forms aren't going to bend less or more. They will be cheaper than forged though but paying new prices in your situation is dicey.
Vehicles are not getting heavier requiring larger calipers and thin sidewalls. We are demanding better performance and looks. Drilled rotors, large red calipers, 19-20 rims and 30/35 profile tires simply look cool and sell cars. I swapped the sport 18 rims for 19” C63 forged 507 rims and they look sick. Can only do this in a state like AZ though.
No wonder! It's all your fault.
Yeah, as an engineer, bigger wheels and thin sidewalls is a total looks things only. Looks sells cars, cracked/bent rims and flat tires creates service opportunities. The fine line is that if the customer gets too mad about it, then they stop buying your car. Some of that did sorta happen. The 18's were pretty common on the W211, but then the 17 became sorta standard on the W212 and the 18's were more of an option.
Yep agree there but geez the 19s and 20s look so nice
Hey I just saw 5 posts down a guy that has been trying to sell HREs for a year. They are 18s and people going that route jump on 19s so they could be a deal. I wonder if you could get 45 profile tires on them? Definitely could get 40. Just check outside diameter compared to OEM. Can go a lot more than stock keeping all 4 the same unless you lowered it a lot.
I think that if a decision is made to get oem rims for durability reasons, there is also the option of re-finishing them, such as a different powdercoated finish, to get an appearance change.
I have 3 sets of 18's off my old E5504M, all in great shape.........however the Mandrus are not forged they're cast, but only asking 500 for them. 2k each for the other two sets that are forged and pristine.
at least on my E250BT who has about 320 mm rotors on front.
As you can see not much space left to the caliper, but then you don't need much.
Would not for TPMS I would put those W211 wheels on it right now.
With 10 mm lower ET, the W211 wheels stick out more, but I could not see them rubbing the fenders.
Original bolts work fine.
08-11-2018, 07:21 AM
