Seasons greetings.

I have a slow air leak in one of my tires. I have to add air after the dash light shows the air has dropped low enough to trigger it every so often. Anyway, over this holiday break I decided to drop past Mercedes to let them check the tire for me, since they will check it for free and I get to walk around and check out the new models while I am waiting.

Come to find out that my AMG wheel has a small crack in it right near where the tire meets the wheel. Guess how much Mercedes said a replacement wheel would cost?

$1,900!

Not four wheels, but just one. I would never buy wheels from the dealer anyway, but I was curious what they would cost. So unless when I check this local place I know to see if they can repair the wheel. (Crack is on the inside side) they say they can fix it, I will likely jump on some aftermarket wheels. I can purchase four wheels for what one costs at Mercedes. I see a few used wheels online for $500 to $800, but sometimes used wheels can be trouble.

Anyway, just sharing prices for those that do not know.

 

Ouch ! sorry to hear ... I have never purchased the "wheel insurance product" ... but this makes me think ... good luck in your search

 

I would think that getting the wheel repaired by welding and refinishing would be acceptable especially as the damage is on the inside and the repair won't be noticeable.

 

We had a crack in one of our wheels..AMG. I read so much about cracks in them, and us not having so much faith in a welded wheel at 90 MPH.... We swapped the whole set out for Mandrus wheels. The cost was less than one AMG wheel. We like the way they look, so far it has been a good decision.

We kept the old AMG wheels and they can go with the car when we sell or trade.......if we do. So far this car has been a keeper.

 

A good wheel-repair shop should be able to weld the crack and refinish the inside wheel surface for about $250 or so. If it were me, I'd try that first. They can also determine whether the wheel was distorted by whatever caused the crack.

Alternatively, an aftermarket set of wheels should be fine. Be sure to check that the offset is the same (or very close) to that of your original AMG wheels. TireRack has a good selection of wheels that have appropriate offsets for your car.

Rick F.

 

We just discovered the right front on my wife's 2014 SL550 has a crack on the inside that is causing a slow leak. Still waiting to find out about a replacement. We don't drive it in the Winter, so hoping we can find a new one before Spring.

 

STUNNING!

 

Thank you.

if given the option on future car purchases I would likely purchase a wheel protection plan, unless I knew I was changing out the wheels.

 

I would think so too, but until the repair shop has the wheel in hand I won’t know if it is repairable.

I am hoping it is.

 

Or try searching for "OEM Wheels New". I found this place. 2015 Mercedes Sl400 (autorimshop.com)

There are others, as well. Not sure, but check your auto insurance to see if wheels are covered.

 

My factory wheels are covered under my car insurance policy and I did think about that, but I was worried that my rates would go up if I filed a claim, so probably won’t. My rates are already not cheap, because my former car was hit many times over the years while parked at one of my shops. Although I was at fault for none of the accidents (car was always parked) and the other party always paid for the damages either directly, or my insurance went after them and got payment, somehow my rates went up.

I closed that shop and moved it, so I don’t have to take my SL back to that terrible area. I would end up driving my Range Rover to that area most of the time, but the idiots hit that once too.

Terrible drivers, terrible crime, terrible community spirit, trash all over the streets, terrible attitudes in general. I couldn’t wait to move my business to another area.

Thanks for the ideas, I will check the site you mentioned. I am also gonna call the repair shop today to make an appointment to show them the wheel.

On a lighter note, black beauty saw it’s first snowfall today. Just flurries, but it was pretty as it fell. Missed a snowy Christmas by 1 day.

 

I also have MANDRUS Millenium wheels (made by TSW) on my SL450. I did not like the OEM wheels that came on the car, plus I wanted all-season tires (Michelin) for year round use. I have the OEM set in storage

Attachment 439199
MANDRUS


OEM wheels

I also have TSW's CRAY brand wheels on my 2017 Corvette Grand Sport for fall/winter with all-season tires. The Corvette had two bent OEM cast wheels with summer tires last year that I had straightened. Then a year later, one cracked. I decided (along with the advice from Discount tire) not to repair it, as it was obviously weakened and the OEM wheels were notorious for bending and breaking anyway. I will be buying another set of aftermarket wheels for summer in next few months.


CRAY wheels

 

Kinda related, but I have horrible brake dust on my rims. I probably have genuine MB pads since the car had only 21,000 miles on it when I got it. The pads still look good, but the rotors are in line to be replaced when I need to replace the pads. So, maybe they are genuine or maybe aftermarket, but I'm looking for good pads with minimal dust. Any recommendations? Thx.

 

You need to source CERAMIC pads for low dust.

For example:
POWERSTOP Z16 EVOLUTION CERAMICBRAKE PAD SETS. Replacing brake pads is an investment, so choose Z16 Evolution ceramicbrake pads by PowerStop and enjoy 20 percent more stopping power, a lot less dust and noise - and they'll last longer too

 

My wheels are often full of break dust as well. I get a few days maybe after a cleaning before the black returns. Likely all factory parts.

 

After our second cracked AMG wheel on the R231, we went with a set of Avant Garde wheels and were quite pleased; had them on for two years prior to trading the car with no issues.

 

Agreed! I really did not like my OEM wheels either and went with a multi-spoke as well.

 

Funny, because I actually love my OEM wheels, but just not going to pay that much to replace them.

FYI I have had cracks on aftermarket wheels before, but they were much cheaper to replace.

My Range Rover right now as a cracked wheel on one of my aftermarket nicer wheels. Since it is winter I have the factory winter wheels on now, but come spring I gotta make a choice, before I put back on the nicer looking wheels.They no longer make the aftermarket wheels that I have on my SUV. I think they knew they had a bad design. Looks great, but prone to cracks, so they stopped making it. I purchased the last spare in the country 2 years ago. So now I gotta change wheels. I am hoping to get rid of the SUV next year, so we will see.

 

I can relate. Had several cracked rims on my 2015, fortunately I had the wheel insurance which I highly recommend on AMG rims. Sold the car. If I had to do it again I'd go aftermarket or multispoke like Steamliner's.

I'm no expert on rims, but I kind of think the AMG rims are junk. So so many threads on mbworld regarding cracked AMG rims. People switch and no more issues.

1900 for a wheel is absurd.

 

I actually knew I would probably be replacing my OEM wheels when I ordered my car, so I just got the standard, “no additional cost” wheels.

 

These low profile sidewall tires on 19-20 inch wheels are pushing the envelope as far as streetability in an urban environment goes.
Cracked wheels are a bummer and happen pretty regularly here. I have bent Forged BBS RS 16” wheels with low profile tires! This transcends car brands, as every one of them suffers from the same fate. Hit a deep pothole under braking and time to check wheels! Forged wheels can help, but only to a certain extent. Unfortunately wheels have become consumables 😕
My personal solution is “spares”. I have an extra front and rear wheel in storage. I purchased them off eBay. You should be able to get a like new, never repaired, wheel for $500 or less. If the wheels are not too badly bent I’ll straighten them. You can get wheels refinished/repaired out here in NOR-CAL by a quality shop for $150.00 or so. If they are cracked, welding can be Ok, If repaired by a competent repair shop. But if the crack is pretty bad, or multiple cracks, they may be beyond conscionable repair.

As far as pads. For most SL drivers, brake fade probably won’t be an issue. The things they’ll be mostly concerned with is noise, dust, initial bite and wear characteristics. I believe most noise is an installation issue. You’ll find the number one complaint about ceramics is initial bite, especially in colder climates. If you drive the two pad materials back to back, you will probably notice this. Not everyone will be sensitive to this (or cares). Ideally, I also would like to get two pad changes per rotor change. So an overly aggressive pad will wear rotors faster. I don’t drive my car every day so I don’t mind cleaning them regularly. The real difference in brake compounds becomes more obvious the more you flog the car and fade comes into the equation. So far, I have yet to find a compound for the R231 I’m 100% satisfied with, especially if you factor in dust & fade. I DO like Akebono ceramic pads, as I think they strike a good balance, but unfortunately they aren’t available for the r231. Braking power is more dependent on rotor and pad design/size, so it is going to be about the same regardless of marketing claims.

BTW Below pic is a wheel (foreground) that’s been repaired next to a factory finished original one. It had a slight bend, and curb rash. They did a great job and matched the lathe cut “Diamond” finish perfectly. It balanced perfectly. I wouldn’t hesitate to have a wheel with minor damage repaired by a competent shop. Especially on a car driven normally.

 

Yes, I believe these low profile tires—especially run flats—on larger and larger diameter wheels are ridiculous for the street. I long for the good old days, when even high performance cars came with sensible wheel/tire combinations.

 

Yeah, 18” seems be a sweet spot….
That being said, I will be the first to admit the cornering on these cars really fantastic for their weight class. Partially due to the modern larger wheel, low profile tire trend. I also think it matters where you live/drive your car.

Compromise can be a bitter pill to swallow 😀

 

Anyone have any idea whether these are subject to cracking like the standard OEM wheels? These were on the car when I bought it, not sure if they're OEM or not.

 

Those are cast “knock offs” for lack of a better term, from China. Typically they don’t cast the AMG logo in them and they will not have a Mercedes part numbers cast on the inside of the wheel. Likely, they are more brittle than the factory wheels. But your mileage may vary, as there are a bunch of manufacturers of those look a like factory wheels.