Marcin3z

If all goes well, I'll be picking up my 2014 E550 tomorrow. I've read a ton on the cars damaging tires. Is it as big of an issue as it seems? Are there any remedies? Can you get a smaller rim with taller tire for it?

What's your experience/ advice?

Thank you in advance

P.S.
Please spare me from holier-than-thou "if op is worried about repairs he shouldn't get an MB".

pierrejoliat

Well you likely have staggered rims, so you are pretty locked in, you are correct however that the smaller the rim the less likely you will bend it or blow a tire in a chuckhole. I have 17" on my luxury '12 and 18" on my sport '13 and it's a night and day difference in the ride, they do have different suspensions, I'm sure that contributes as well. That being said, I have bent two of the 17" and only one of the 18" in the last 7-8 years.

DFWdude

All depends on where you live and how the climate affects your roads. And your driving style.

I live in TX where we see just a couple weeks yearly of cold expansion/contraction in road surfaces. So, while we do have some potholes, I gather it's not as bad as northern locations. My 2016 E350 is now just shy of 3 years in my possession, and its 18" OEM wheels remain flawless. I don't tailgate others, so I usually see road craters far in advance. BUT Carfax from the previous owner in Florida (similar climate) notes 3 tire replacements in its first 2 years.

As for options, you can go to a smaller diameter wheel and taller sidewall tire. It seems the limiting factor is brake clearance. Go too small and the wheels will not fit around the brakes. There are lots of wheel pick threads here if you want to do a search.

cetialpha5

I believe 2014 E550 is 4matic so should be a square setup. They did have 17 inch rims on the E350, but I think the E550 has different brakes than the E350 so it might not fit.

As for the OP, the experience is that 18 inch rims will bend and crack. So far my 17 inch rims have just bent, no cracks yet. More bends/cracks on the 18. You can buy either a refurb oem rim or get a replica rim. Depends on the rim style though, they can be in the $200-$400 range per rim. You can get bent ones fixed for around $100, if they're cracked, they can be welded and then fixed but it's more like $150+. That's basically the cost of owning a Mercedes. Same with tires, sometimes you just get flat tires and no bent/cracked rims. I suggest when buying new tires, get them from Costco, they have a 5 year road hazard warranty. I think they charge about $20 to swap a tire in case you get a cracked rim and want to swap in a new rim. Otherwise the only other advice is not to hit potholes....

KEY08

Comes with 18” AMG rims and a square setup. 17” will not clear calipers. Yeah, avoid potholes. That’s all you can do. Or you can mount 19” staggered like me and take even more chances.

cetialpha5

Only other advice is not to put too much air in the tires. Maybe a couple PSI over the placard at best, but some seem to do 40+ and that leads to uneven tire wear and I think makes it more likely to bend rims as the tire has no give to cushion the blow against the rim and you get a harsher ride.

Oh and not too little air either, it's kind of a fine line, too much is bad and too little is bad.

alan_e550

Try your best to avoid potholes. Depending on where you live that could be asking for a lot, though, especially in the New England area.

what options is your e550 coming with?

up_too_late

I live in VT and have had mine about 3 years and 25,000 miles without any tire or rim issue on the twin 5 spoke AMG wheels. I too had read the posts and found 2 used wheels and bought them as spares but they have so far been dust collectors. I am a careful driver but I don't think I'm overly obsessive (my wife might say otherwise). I've hit the normal potholes and a couple of teeth rattlers while up in Montreal but so far so good.

I do run 17's in the winter (mine is a 350 wagon, doubt that would work on a 550).

Marcin3z

Keyless Go
Parking Package
Distronic plus with steer assist
Brake assist plus

As much as I'd love for it have airmatic - it does not.

davidjohnbamber

Congratulations on your new ride! All 3 years the M278 was offered in the E550 was 4-Matic only with a square setup. Looking at the front wheels on my E550, a 17" rim would clear the caliper with little room to spare. As others have commented, be careful while driving. I've driven mine for 4 years with only a few curb rashes.

VegasE

My 2 cents. In following this forum for several years, it certainly seems like MB rims are more prone to cracking/bending than the average car. I've never seen any explanation. As other have posted, the pothole population where you live effects your likelihood of having a problem. There aren't many potholes in Vegas but I do a lot of driving to/from Northern Arizona and have had several bone-jarring pothole hits on I-40 at 75 mph with no damage. My car has the 5 spoke AMG rim option and maybe that is why I have been trouble free? My car has staggered 18" tires. I check tire pressure monthly when cold. I set the front to the placard pressure and the rear to the minimum pressure recommended on the placard because I rarely drive the car with maximum load. Because of staggered set up, I can't rotate the tires. My only minor complaint is my rear tires wear out at 15K-20K miles. Tire brands, tire pressure, and alignment checks seem to have no effect.

cetialpha5

There's lots of other bent rims at the rim repair shop I go to. The explanation is that low profit tires like 40 series don't have enough sidewall to protect the rim when there's a bad pothole. At least the rim just bends instead of cracking. Cracking is worse and also happens, but not as often. The bent rim repair shop had lots of rims they couldn't repair because a piece cracked off. They can fix cracks, but not if a it's a cracked piece that breaks off.

Nothing you can do about the rear tires wearing out so quickly, that's basically what they do which is why a square setup last longer.

diesel_dan

I bent one of my rims, but it isn't a stock rim - it's something the original owner had the dealer put on, and I can't find them, anywhere... My MB Dealer said they were an option at the time (Dark, almost black grey). It happened on a pitch black night in a downpour, the pothole was filled with water so no seeing it, I was doing maybe 35mph... Big Hard Hit, I figured for sure I was going to be on the side of the road. Nope, made it home, but next morning checking, I have a bubble in the sidewall. Put spare on and head to the tire store... I have the Continental contisportcontact XLs (one of the OEM tires), looked good on the outside of the rim, the bend was on the inside... Still running that rim, I do think about it over 100mph...

Watch for potholes, you can't have it both ways - these cars (550s) handle decently, but I don't expect it to be the car to excite me in the twisties - and I do have the airmatic and yes you should be envious - I think when I drop my bags into sport, it handles better than a Sport model E550, yet it is like silk when you want it to be...

Only thing I would advise is to get the same tire size you have, in a tire that meets your "sportyness" needs...

My $.02

cetialpha5

The rarer rims can run $400-$1000. What's the MB part number that should be on the back of the rim? Anyway sounds like it's just bent and not cracked so it should be fine to get it bent back. Most places charge around $100. Found my place on Yelp but most tire shops can recommend a place that will bend them back. I've had several bent back and they've been fine afterwards.

Darel

I went through 19 rims in 3 years on my '14, while my Audi remained on the same OEM rims with no issues. I bought a set of "semi-forged" aftermarket boy-racer style rims and had a bent one within a week. I then upped my tire size to the next largest size up to create more sidewall. I have some very slight rubbing on bumps, however the aftermarket rims have a hair less offset so they sit a little wider. No issues for a whole year, vs. rim repair/replacement had previously become a monthly expense for me.

VegasE

I've ben running low profile tires on my Audi TT OEM rims for 20 years and never an issue

Darel

Yeah my Audi also had even lower-profile tires than the MB, and never had a single rim issue. And in addition to the 19 rims I had on my car, it had 4 new ones on it when I bought it CPO. That's 23 rims in 3 years!!!!!!

cetialpha5

It's just the luck of the draw and anecdotal evidence. My boss had an Audi A8L and blew two tires and two rims. Also a Corvette and blew a rim also. Just depends where you drive and how bad the potholes are at the time. Got two rims a year and a half ago, one crack, one bent, figured mind as well just get a new one as it was just $145 for a new one vs $115 to get it bent back. No issues for the last year and half.