W124 wheel fitting

wilfully12

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Hi all

I have a '90 300D which I purchased recently. As I live in Copenhagen I this weekend tried to replace the 8 hole alloys with some steel wheels with winter tyres (same size tyre 195,65,15s) that I got from the dealer when I bought the car. Good chance to look around at the brakes etc while under there - front looks excellent but at the rear one of the nearside links on the suspension has broken -seems to be plastic? Anyway, that's another story.....

When putting on the steels the fronts seemed to go on no problem, but at the rear they were a very tight fit and now the wheels do not rotate freely with the box in neutral and handbrake off. I think there was a sticker showing that these came from an estate. Am I right that there was some difference in the wheels of an estate and a saloon? I think I remember something but cannot find it now. If there is a difference where would the rubbing be occurring? On inspection the inside of the steels does look different to that of the alloys. I have a feeling I am going to have to buy some new wheels but would like some confirmation. Also if someone recognises which link could have broken that would let me know whether it might be oK to run for a while without it until I get a chance to repair (no idea how long it has been broken for).

Thanks

Matthew
 

television

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Ouch,, the wheel bolts will be too long and they have jammed in the rear parking brake shoes, this could have damaged the parking brake, no problems with the front as the hubs are empty
 
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wilfully12

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thanks Television. I'll have another look - it is discs all round, is there a separate parking brake shoe?

One other question, why are the bolts too long, is it due to a different offset of the steel wheels or some other reason? Is there anything to be done or just look for the correct set of wheels?

cheers
 

television

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Steel wheels are much thinner so the bolts have to be shorter,,,with 12mm bolts about 18mm sticking out of the rear of the wheel when the bolt is all the way in the hole.

Yes the parking brakes are in the rear drum part of the disc, you could have done some damage there.

The bolts are known as radius bolts and not taper
 

Waft

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.

This thread worries me somewhat.

Since purchase,my E220 Coupe has had 1 bolt in each wheel which sticks out a good 1/2-3/4" further than the alloy!!:shock:

I'm wondering if this is why the front appears to sit too high now!!

These bolts do seem the same length though,just have a shoulder way further down than the hex head.

Most peculiar.

Still,Iam wondering if I've damaged the parking brake.

Hope someone may be able to assist,and apologies for the thread hi-jack.
I will put this right if necessary by way of seperate post.

Steve;)
 

television

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This thread worries me somewhat.

Since purchase,my E220 Coupe has had 1 bolt in each wheel which sticks out a good 1/2-3/4" further than the alloy!!:shock:

I'm wondering if this is why the front appears to sit too high now!!

These bolts do seem the same length though,just have a shoulder way further down than the hex head.

Most peculiar.

Still,Iam wondering if I've damaged the parking brake.

Hope someone may be able to assist,and apologies for the thread hi-jack.
I will put this right if necessary by way of seperate post.

Steve;)

I think you may have some of the old extended headed bolts that just bring the head flush with the outer face of the wheel.

This has nothing to do with how much of the bolt that sticks out of the rear of the wheel.
 

kth286

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the estates have much thicker vented discs than saloons/coupe that just have the thin solid disc at rear.

this must make a difference to the space required to accommodate the caliper at the rear.
 

Naraic

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the estates have much thicker vented discs than saloons/coupe that just have the thin solid disc at rear.

this must make a difference to the space required to accommodate the caliper at the rear.

It's the length of the bolt that's the problem...not the calipers or anything else. Alloy wheels are thicker and require a longer bolt...end of, simples, etc...

To the OP...if you haven't driven the car with the rear steel wheels on...you may be OK.


If you have driven it, you almost certainly will have damaged your parking brakes...and must now strip down and repair each side with new parts.
 

Naraic

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This thread worries me somewhat.

Since purchase,my E220 Coupe has had 1 bolt in each wheel which sticks out a good 1/2-3/4" further than the alloy!!:shock:

I'm wondering if this is why the front appears to sit too high now!!

These bolts do seem the same length though,just have a shoulder way further down than the hex head.

Most peculiar.

Still,Iam wondering if I've damaged the parking brake.

Hope someone may be able to assist,and apologies for the thread hi-jack.
I will put this right if necessary by way of seperate post.

Steve;)

Think about it...how could a wheel bolt make the car sit higher (or lower for that matter)...

As TV has said, it's not what sticks out the front of the wheel that matters...but what sticks out the back.
 

kth286

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Hi all

I have a '90 300D which I purchased recently. Also if someone recognises which link could have broken that would let me know whether it might be oK to run for a while without it until I get a chance to repair (no idea how long it has been broken for).

Thanks

Matthew

I have the cheap plastic links fitted on the rear anti rollbar.

They go from the ARB down to the lower spring suspension link.

I believe on estates they are alloy instead of plastic
 
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wilfully12

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So I took the wheels off again last night - and it was as identified, the wheel bolts were too long for the steel wheels and were interfering with the internal hub handbrake. As I noticed the fact the wheel got stuck immediately before driving it once the alloys were back on it seems that I have done no harm and it drives as normal.

I just need to go out and find some new shorter bolts now then! Shouldn't be too expensive.

As for the link, having looked at a couple of articles on multilink suspension I can confirm that the failure was on the anti-roll / sway bar link to my offside. That will need replacing but i'm not too concerned driving without it in the short term - all the rest of the bushings look shot anyway!

cheers
 

television

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You should be able to get the bolts from Ebay, remember they are radius and not taper, provided there is enough thread on the bolts longer ones can be cut shorter with a hacksaw easily.
 
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