ansontang

Hi everyone,

So I have a 2017 Maybach S550. I took it to the dealer for service and expected to have a few bent rims.. the service advisor lets me know i have 3 bent and 1 cracked rim. I authorized him to go ahead and make the repairs. A few weeks later, having only driven the car back home without hitting any potholes, I felt vibration in the steering wheel. i brought it back to the same dealer and again I'm being told I have 4 bent rims.

How/why are the rims so easily bent? Do you think the tech is correctly evaluating the problem or simply just saying the rims are bent for an easy fix?

Streamliner

This is a huge, heavy car, but yet, they outfit it with the same 20” wheels and ridiculously low profiled tires that come on a regular W222. If they MUST go with 20” wheels, couldn’t they at least go with a larger tire, offering deeper sidewalls? In addition, the huge Maybach comes with RUN FLAT TIRES and NO SPARE! Ultimate luxury? The BEST or nothing? I don’t think so.

2012 merc amg

Ya, I've been through that too. On my e class wagon I finally just replaced the rims which are 19 inch ones with aftermarket wheels that look great and so far knock on wood are holding up fine. Once a rim is bent and fixed it is more weak than before, I've been through that many times with these cars especially when the roads were real bad in the state I live summers. Now that roads are good I've not been having these problems, thank god because I really like the 20 inch AMG rims I have on my S550 nice looking rims. Anything that is bumpy I just go slower over and try to be as careful as I can. The rims I put on my 2019 E class wagon are Mandrus 23 rims. You might have some bad tires too because if the bumps were big enough to damage the rims it could have also damaged the low profile tires too. That was my experience, when the roads were bad in this state I use to get bent rims and cracked tires, I was at the dealer a lot. When it started happening with my wagon I have a friend at good aftermarket tire shop and he sold me the Mandrus for 300 bucks each and new tires and the wagon has been smooth as glass since then. Mandrus makes a lot of other styles too and they are specifically designed for Mercedes and you can get nice looking mercedes center caps on eBay or amazon or reuse your current ones. To replace the Mercedes rims is a small fortune so thats why I did not go that route.

Katie22

I know when I take my S600 Maybach to the tire place they tell me TWO of my rims are bent slightly. I CANT feel any issue with them so I continue to use them.

ansontang

Thanks for the replies!

I'm just curious why these rims are so easily bent. What are they made of...tofu?!?!?! LOL!

Streamliner

Beautiful car!

Kaloteck

Nah, it would've looked small-time.

VKS400

Who the hell needs a spare? Run flats is the way to go..

chassis

The wheels are bent because M-B has made a poor choice, from the consumer’s perspective, in terms of wheel and tire combination. Large diameter wheels and low profile tires create an unfavorable situation where wheel damage is more frequent.

This situation is made worse because automakers continually seek lower cost and weight in all components, including wheels. This allows them to make more money and meet fuel economy and emissions standards.

One claim that will be made in support of large diameter wheels is the style/cosmetic appearance argument. It’s a subjective claim and, as this thread shows, can have a negative consequence for the consumer.

The comments apply to M-B, to stay on topic with this thread and site. The comments do apply to most manufacturers using 20” and larger wheels with 45 and lower aspect ratio tires.

p.s. An offshoot of this topic is the increased frequency of broken tire sidewalls. Search this site. Low aspect ratio and runflat tires result in very stiff sidewalls that can catastrophically fail, more often than higher aspect ratio non-runflat tires would in the same usage scenario.

Streamliner

Wheels over 19” shod with very low profile tires on a W222, are like a beautiful woman wearing 4+” stiletto heels: they both look very sexy, but are both completely impractical.

Streamliner

I've said this here before, but I believe it bears repeating: First of all, compared to conventional tires, run flat tires offer a less comfortable ride, period. They wear out much more quickly, cannot be repaired and are much more expensive to replace. Now, the bad news: Run flat tires may work if you get a simple puncture and lose air pressure. However, if you hit a road hazard that SHREDS your tire or severely damages your wheel, run flats or conventional tires will BOTH require immediate changing. If you have a spare in the trunk, no problem. If, however, you have NO SPARE--you are STRANDED. If such an occurrence happens away from a large metropolitan area, say in a national park, ski resort or just out on the open highway, just WHAT are you supposed to do? The chances that the local fillin' station will have a matching tire in stock are slim to none. So, you and your loved ones will have to check into the No-Tell Motel for a night or three while a suitable tire is located and shipped in. You put your well being and the well being of your family AT RISK, for want of a simple, inexpensive, virtually-every-car-on-the-planet-has-one SPARE WHEEL & TIRE! Just WHAT were the geniuses in Stuttgart thinking when they came up with this brilliant idea? They were all sitting around thinking when somebody said "I know, we'll COPY BMW and use run flat tires with no spare! Yeah, that’s the ticket!

I ordered the 18” wheels and run Bridgestone QuietTrack conventional tires on my S560, with MBC. The ride is absolutely sensational! I carry a W221 compact spare in my trunk, along with a jack & tool kit. Should I ever get a flat, I’ll call MB Roadside or AAA and have them do the swap. If they can’t reach me in a timely manner, If the situation is safe, I’ll change it myself. What can I tell you, I was a Boy Scout and was taught to always BE PREPARED!

steinjr

I have owned multiple Mercedes models and they all suffer from bent wheels. Daily commute in big city and it's going to happen.

Streamliner

I think that depends on what city, what wheels/tires & how one drives. I’ve driven MB since 1975 in the greater L.A./Orange County area and have NEVER bent or broken a wheel.

as.thompson

I also have driven various MB models since 1975 (started with a '75 450 SLC), also mostly in the Southern California area. I have had only one bent wheel (a 20 inch AMG rim with run flat) for the first time earlier this year on my S550 coupe. I hit a curb trying to avoid a construction crew that was crowding the intersection. It only cost me $45 extra to have it straightened when I had the scrape refinished.

roviw1

I have a similar W221 spare wheel in my S500 ( also with MBC ) , I put a small trolley jack and tools in the cubby under the boot floor and have a zipped bag in the boot with the spare wheel in.
I have the regular 19" wheels and regular tyres and the ride is very comfortable.

hyperion667

WHAT is this recent trend with EVERYONE starting their sentences with the word SO??? It is really incredible how this caught on and is so 'popular' now LMFAO!!

MBS63AMG

I hate it when people do that! I always think they are about to tell me something bad.

hctruong

Unfortunately, yes. It's the combination of low-profile rims on a big heavy car, and I'd like to think the stiffer sidewalls of run-flats have something to do with it as well. Three of my 19" AMG wheels were bent and caused vibrations while driving. About 200 miles after I got them repaired, hit a big pothole (again on a New Jersey road) and effectively undid the repair.

Never got any bent rims on my old W221, which had conventional tires mounted on 18" rims. That car had much less tire noise as well.

Streamliner

Overall, I much preferred my 2013 W221 S550, for the following reasons:

1. The Panorama Roof was optional.
2. It came with a jack & spare, tucked away under the trunk floor, where it belongs.
3. The standard 18” wheels were beautiful, much nicer than any W222 18” wheels, IMO.
4. It came with conventional tires.
5. The overall exterior design was unique, beautiful and quite distinctive, compared to the “cookie-cutter” design philosophy that MB spread across all sedans, making the fabled S Class look pretty much like an C or E Class. The S should be distinct and easily recognizable as an S.

Mitch Alsup

I have not had any bent rim issues with my S-600
After a year of RunCraps I changed to conventional tires.
If I were to get different wheels (and I am considering doing so) those wheels would be 18" diameter ones.
18" diameter tires have 1" taller side walls, more comfort, lower overall weight, AND more traction, compared to larger wheels.

I never will be able to understand the desire for such large wheels and such short sidewalls. In Endurance racing larger wheels means bigger brakes, and someone can redesign the suspension for the tires with virtually no sidewalls. But in passenger sedans this is all just silly. They did not increase the rotor size, all they did was to decrease comfort, add weight, and make people use tires that ride like crap.

So, they look cool ! But only to those who don't understand how wheels and tires work.

Nimesh Pat

that spare works? My dealer told me a spare wouldn't work on my car because my rims are staggered? Is this true?

Streamliner

I don’t know, my wheels are not staggered.

roviw1

I also carry a w221 space saver spare in the boot of my S500 AMG line as I would never want to be caught out on the road.
As a get you home you can fit the wheel on any corner of the car as the stud pattern is the same, what you do need though are a spare 5 wheel bolts as they are shorter than the Normal ones for the alloys, I think from memory they are 27mm long but without uncovering my car I cannot check the spare bolts I keep with the jack and tools under the boot floor.
I do not have runflats on mine , the wheels are standard 19” staggered and they have normal tyres fitted. I have no issues with comfort at all.

MBS63AMG

It will work. Had to do it once. No problem.

roviw1

I replied to this thread yesterday and now have just looked through it and saw that I also replied back last May as well, oh well , I guess it is an age thing haha