Hi guys.

Have an sl550 with amg rims.
I recently had a pot hole damage my tire, luckily it didn’t crack the rim or mess up suspension While I was out of town..put a small hole on the side wall...had to get a flatbed tow...on a Sunday and wait for discount tire to open Monday etc. of course they didn’t have a super sport 4s in stock, so had to wait till end of day

i was thinking of getting a donut spare for at least when I travel out of town.

it seems the new part number for the donut is: 21240002029040
Is that correct?

also, will the full size amg wheel and rim fit in the trunk in the event I have a similar issue in the future?

Thank you.


Thank you!

Yes. You can also buy this (or similar) - https://www.ebay.com/itm/W218-W212-M...QAAOSweP9dw1xR - for about 1/2 price of the new wheel and tire.

This is how it looks in SL's trunk: https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...re-33b0cjb.jpg

Can't confirm the 'donut' part number, but a full size 19" tire/rim won't fit in the 231's trunkl....You would need to stand the tire/rim up vertically inside the car on the passenger's seat. For that reason, I recommend carrying a beach size towel inside the trunk suitable for seat protection just in case you do have a flat. Having a 12V air compressor in the trunk is also quite essential. Unless the air loss is severe, a compressor will usually allow you to re-inflate the leaking tire, and keep it inflated long enough for you to drive to a nearby tire dealer who can then repair your flat tire,

Thanks for the info both of you!

yes, i Always have a wheel repair kit and compressor so I can plug a hole etc. even the slime stuff too. This one wouldn’t hold air and the slime did nothing. It had me thinking the rim was cracked bad!

I was afraid the full size wheel and tire wouldn’t fit in the back. Kind of defeats having the donut...what do you do with the rim and tire you take off if you have a passenger with you....

Call an Uber to pick it up? Lol

take a look here: https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...pare-tire.html

lol, memory lane! I hijacked that thread like a terrorist, sorry!

It is such a shame that owners of $100K+ luxury cars have to play a very serious game of “Twister,” if they get a flat. All of this in the name of Run Flat Tires. ALL passenger vehicles should come equipped with a spare, along with the necessary jack & tools, which would enable most anyone to make the change and be back on the road in short order. In addition, whatever factory supplied wheels & tires came on the car, the space holding the spare, compact or otherwise, should accommodate one of them. I know, I know, with everything packed into these cars, it would be a difficult thing to accomplish, but amazing engineering is what we pay MB for. They certainly have the engineering expertise to design the car in such a way, but when someone waved the white, “RFT” flag about ten years ago, the engineers took the lazy way out and gobbled up all that space and never looked back. Now we have very expensive cars that, at least in this respect, are inferior to every econobox out there that carries a spare and has a place to store the full size flat. Isn’t progress wonderful?

I guess if the wife is in the car, you have her hold it on her lap?

I have never tried it, but could the flat be placed in the trunk, top up of course, and then the trunk lid held partially closed with a bungee cord, or would the trunk lid, cargo cover mechanism not allow it?

The problem I foresee with that is the electronic trunk closer will still try to close the trunk lid despite any kind of obstruction preventing it......(i.e. There's likely a risk of damage to the 231's trunk closing mechanism)..

My trunk latch mechanism broke recently, and I was still able to force it down. Every time I'd start the car I'd get a warning that trunk was open, and when I drove over bumps it sounded like it was open. It even looked like it wasn't fully closed, but it stayed down for the week or so until my appointment for my $900 oil change came up....

Yes that would be one way with an other is putting the stock flat wheel/tire on a shelf behind the seat in an appropriate storage bag to preserve the interior. (In both cases, drive very slowly). Third option, unless one lives on an uninhibited island, is to call a friend/relative (even dealer-service-department) with a car having a real trunk to pick up the flat. Worst case, wheel can be left behind and then replaced (its only a few pennies on a dollar compared to car's initial sticker).

I guess the main point of a spare is avoiding being stranded even in a perceived safe location.

LOL

That's a good idea - any recommendations for an air compressor?

fwiw, I bought a Viair 77P portable air compressor from Amazon for $46.60. I tried it this weekend, and it worked fine -- quieter and faster than expected, and most importantly, it fit in the hidden trunk storage area. I would have bought the DeWalt DCC0201B for $99, but it is too big for the space. Hopefully, I'll never have to use it.