C Class wheel corrosion

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That corrosion is typical of any clear lacquer, it has no pigment and therefore no strength . the holes all around the center should have been rounded off as water can sit in all the holes and the chemical reaction kicks off. there is no or next to no lacquer on the edges of those holes, or indeed in the holes at all.

Other car makers do replace the wheels, BMW do often when a car is in for service, my brothers wife's car had all the wheels changed without asking when in for service.

This cannot be your fault so make a fuss
 

JBell

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My parents have done the same, I am pushing for a re-furb in powder coat instead of replacement as the new ones will do exactly the same
 
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BlueGriff

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Took a wander round a car park yesterday, found two other similar age C class with the same corrosion, seems to me that it may actually start from the wheel nuts.

The Dealer tells me it is my fault but was not clear as to what I had done or not done. I guess it will also my fault that the paint has failed on the other ones I saw as well.
 

JBell

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The Dealer tells me it is my fault but was not clear as to what I had done or not done. I guess it will also my fault that the paint has failed on the other ones I saw as well.

Well it couldn't possibly be MB or the dealers fault, they can walk on water!!!
 

littlebrooklyn

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Took a wander round a car park yesterday, found two other similar age C class with the same corrosion, seems to me that it may actually start from the wheel nuts.

The Dealer tells me it is my fault but was not clear as to what I had done or not done. I guess it will also my fault that the paint has failed on the other ones I saw as well.

We have a similar thing on our car too, I'm not sure exactly how old it is but we bought it just under 2yrs ago and I think it was only a few months old at the time.
 

andy66

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my c class is a 2002 and the wheels were in a bad state when i got the car and i have seen many others with badly corroded wheels so i don't think you are on your own,,had them all refurbed for £200 and it made such a difference to the overall look of the car
 

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Mic

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So far as MB are concerned wheels are not bodywork and any warranty expires when the wheels are three years old so they are deemed by MB to fall outside any Mobilo considerations.
I was surprised to learn that this was MB's position even if wheels have obviously corroded without the aid of ''outside influences''.
It is very disappointing (I was disappointed when I got rebuffed over my corroding wheels) when your wheels corrode through poor protection; there is no doubt that road salt will find any and all weaknesses.
Sadly MB are are not unique in supplying wheels inadequately protected from the elements and/or road salt.
I can only assume that many motor manufactures consider stove enamelling to be commercially unaffordable !!!***???

Mic
 

JBell

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It is purely down to the finish used on the wheels, they are painted with polished faces and lacquered, as soon as moisture gets under the lacquer it lifts it giving the "Marbled Effect".

A simple solution to this would be to only put Powder Coated wheels on which would last much longer and is a nice finish
 
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BlueGriff

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In my case the car is nowhere near 3 years old and they still declined the claim.

I could have all four refurbished for about 250 quid but that is not the point. It was sold to me as a premium brand with a premium warrantee.
My plan now is to get the wheels off the car and fit some cheap aftermarket ones so I can continue to use it without degrading them any more. Then I will pay for an independent paint expert to determine why the coating has failed and if it was originally fit for purpose.

Then I will simply hand the details to our legal people and unleash them.

The grown up thing to do is to walk away and simply not buy another Merc. In this case however both the dealer and the Merc themselves have rather annoyed me so I am set for a fight.
 

television

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I have had these wheels, and the problem is what I said above, there is no paint in the holes for the wheel bolt and no paint in the small holes, water sits in the holes and eventually it gets under the clear coat that has no strenght and the chemical reaction starts off. It is not your fault and nothing could have stopped it. with powder coating all the wheel gets covered, but you cannot have that diamond cut finish with powder coating.
 

JBell

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I have had these wheels, and the problem is what I said above, there is no paint in the holes for the wheel bolt and no paint in the small holes, water sits in the holes and eventually it gets under the clear coat that has no strength and the chemical reaction starts off.

There is also the problem of stone chips, water will get in the tiniest hole and lift the lacquer.

In all honesty they are "not fit for purpose" in the UK's climate it is simply too wet.

There is also no point in having a new set fitted as exactly the same thing will happen.
 

Rory

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In my case the car is nowhere near 3 years old and they still declined the claim.

How long have you owned the car? I'm pretty surprised they've declined the claim while the car is still under warranty and can only think they thought the wheels were already corroded when you bought it, or that you've let them get too bad (although apparently they don't refurd wheels anymore anyway, they replace them with new ones).
 

television

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There is also the problem of stone chips, water will get in the tiniest hole and lift the lacquer.

In all honesty they are "not fit for purpose" in the UK's climate it is simply too wet.

There is also no point in having a new set fitted as exactly the same thing will happen.

You cannot have stone chips in the center of all the wheels,,, it is as I said, no paint is the holes for it is not possible to spray paint into a hole, the back pressure blows it all out again, believe me I have studied this for years, the photos clearly show that the corrosion set in around all the holes.

In any case you should never spray onto bare aluminium, always an etch primer, but an etch primer cannot be used on a diamond cut surface, for it would defeat the object.

This particular wheel must be one of the last still using this clear coat diamond cut finish, most wheels are now painted differently.

There are some AMG wheels finish in this way but the wheel centers have paint with some pigment, they also coat over the whole wheel with 2 component.
I am working on a set of these and will be putting up details soon.
 

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