My car was at the dealer today. All four AMG rims were bent, 200 bucks a pop to straighten them out. They are only going to get bent again though unfortunately as I live in Rhode Island and the roads are loaded with bumps and pot holes. So If I'm going to keep this car I'm thinking I need steel wheels for around here. Anybody done this? I'm thinking maybe go down to 17 or 18 inch with higher profile tires and the car will ride better and the wheels won't bend and vibrate eventually. I realize the trade off is the car won't corner as well and won't look as good, but might it will be worth that trade off to not have to worry about every bump I hit, After this past winter all the roads in the Northeast are pretty bad, there will be a lot of road work this summer to repair them.

I may end up just selling this car, it is not a very practical car in a place where the roads are a mess and will remain a mess.

Can't comment on the steel wheels, but that's quite the decision to ditch the car after 2 hours. Unfortunately, any city that gets snowfall will have potholes. That's why you need an AMG, so you can react fast and steer it away from harm.

maybe an ML 63 for you?

The AMG is just bad car for around here, it's fine in Florida, I live there Winters, maybe the best solution would be just to leave it there and bring my VW Golf Wagon back and drive it in Rhode Island.

You can't always avoid pot holes, it's impossible, if you did you might do worse and crash into somebody in the other lane, at least around here. I think a lot of people don't even realize who have low profile tires with alloy wheels the damage the bumps are doing to them, most are out of round in a short while in a area with a lot of ruts and bumps. It's a big problem. Another thing, it may be hard to find anyone to put on non OEM wheels with higher profile tires as the car does not call for that and it could have negative implications, hence my thoughts on possibly selling the car. If I do so I'll probably just drive my VW and Pickup truck. It was not a good feeling at the dealer yesterday forking out 800 bucks for wheel repairs knowing they are just going to get screwed up again.

You'll have an awful time trying to find steel rims that will be big enough to fit the brakes, and look decent. Steel rims are an awful idea.

You might try finding alloy rims one size smaller and fitting a higher profile tire to give you a little more protection.

Good suggestion, I've thought about going with 18 inch amg wheels, the wheels currently are 19 inch. The other thought is now that I've got rims all straight I wonder if possible to put higher profile tires on these rims? I don't care if the car is a little higher and does not handle as good. Is there enough fender clearance? Anybody?

It's not a good idea to do that as the tire diameter and circumference will be different from the oem size. The speedo, gearing, and others will be impacted. It's better to reduce the wheel size and get new higher profile tires...

Yes, I think you are right, just asking for trouble on a car like the AMG. I think I've decided to just leave this car in Florida and drive it there, I'm there around 7 months out of the year, this will keep the miles down on the car too, driving it back and forth and all around Rhode Island I'm putting too many miles on the car. I think in a couple months I'll swap out the benz for the VW and drive the VW in Rhode Island. The Benz is just too nice a car for these horrible roads, no sense in beating the crap out of the car.

I would go this route if I were you because the 18" oem W212 amg rims are available and will not change the handling characteristic. The higher profile tires on those might possibly overcome the pothole problems.

Are the OEM wheels forged or cast? Forged wheels are stronger and generally lighter than cast, and should hold up better against pot hole damage. That would be your best bet. In general, however, the potential for rim damage is always one of the downsides of very low profile tires.

Twin five spoke forged

10 sspoke cast by BBS in germany