Are the W213 alloys still soft and prone to buckling / cracking?

reverend

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I recently bought an S212 and have been reading about issues with a lot of the alloys on those being prone to cracking or bending / buckling easy and either needing repair or scrapping.

Are the W213 wheels still as bad or were they an improvement - I can't really find many reports but wondered what peoples experiences were please.

I like the 5 spoke 18 inch AMG wheels from the 212 era but have been looking at 19s which seems to be bad news for our roads.

I've got the factory 19s on the 2006 Lexus LS460 I have and that's never been an issue.

From what I can read between the lines the AMG wheels especially are soft and quite often require a lot of balancing weights.

I've only ever had one wheel catastrophically fail on me and that was an 18" VW wheel which hit a pothole and caused a resonance which caused the entire wheel to crack away from the hub and sent us off the road.

It sounds like I may be better finding a good refurbishment place to sort out my factory 17s!

The diamond cut seems another matter and from reading the Mercedes WIS / EPC they blame acid wheel cleaners for that.
 

Blobcat

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Hello and welcome

It’s the roads that’s the issue rather than the wheels. I had no issues with the standard 17”s I had on my W213 (nor did I have with my w211 also on 17”s)

48k miles in the W213 and 100k in the W211
 

LostKiwi

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^^^^ this^^^^

The bigger the rim, the less sidewall therefore the less cushioning for the rim on bumps and pot holes and the more likelihood of damage.
 

Tony Dyson

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I recently bought an S212 and have been reading about issues with a lot of the alloys on those being prone to cracking or bending / buckling easy and either needing repair or scrapping...

The diamond cut seems another matter and from reading the Mercedes WIS / EPC they blame acid wheel cleaners for that.

Interesting comment about the acid wheel cleaners! I periodically use a commercial grade Hydrochloric Acid in a home Aquaponics system to regulate the pH of the system water, and with the understanding it dissolves carbonates, considered it's use in cleaning the more stubborn carbon deposits from car wheels until I read the MSDS sheet which clearly warns against its use on all metals and specifically names Aluminium and other alkaline earth metals, it's also used to burn the oxides off, and pickle steel!
Not sure if it's a component in the products used by the car wash installations but I have seen it in concentrates up to 6% included in some wheel cleaning products which, I have been uncertain about. Now I'm sure I won't be using those!!
 

Blobcat

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Interesting comment about the acid wheel cleaners! I periodically use a commercial grade Hydrochloric Acid in a home Aquaponics system to regulate the pH of the system water, and with the understanding it dissolves carbonates, considered it's use in cleaning the more stubborn carbon deposits from car wheels until I read the MSDS sheet which clearly warns against its use on all metals and specifically names Aluminium and other alkaline earth metals, it's also used to burn the oxides off, and pickle steel!
Not sure if it's a component in the products used by the car wash installations but I have seen it in concentrates up to 6% included in some wheel cleaning products which, I have been uncertain about. Now I'm sure I won't be using those!!
I've seen 38% used in hand car washes...
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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MB seemed to have had real problems with bigger sized alloy wheels circa 2015/16 but things seem to have improved since then probably due to their suppliers improving the product. My son has a 16 plate 213 saloon with 20in wheels and one of those loses 10psi a month he’s had it checked over and they found nothing wrong so we can only assume it’s very slightly buckled or light corrosion is causing the pressure loss.

I wouldn’t let the car wash boys anywhere near my alloys with their alloy wheel pre wash treatment it’s to aggressive and probably acid based
 

Tony Dyson

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I've seen 38% used in hand car washes...
38% is the maximum commercially available concentrate you can buy legally and is very corrosive, it is cut 1-4 parts water to burn the cement snots off freshly laid brickwork!
 

JBell

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The diamond cut seems another matter and from reading the Mercedes WIS / EPC they blame acid wheel cleaners for that.

It is due to the lacquer being applied too thin and on every spoke edge / wheel centre is a weak point, the slightest chip will let water under the lacquer causing the marbelling effect.

MB can blame anything they want, the fact is they are only fit for purpose in very dry environments, the UK is not
 

Blobcat

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38% is the maximum commercially available concentrate you can buy legally and is very corrosive, it is cut 1-4 parts water to burn the cement snots off freshly laid brickwork!
Yes, yes it is...

Which is why I use IMO / ARC carwashes and not the hand jobs...
 

John Laidlaw

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38% is the maximum commercially available concentrate you can buy legally and is very corrosive, it is cut 1-4 parts water to burn the cement snots off freshly laid brickwork!
Correct, it’s also in bulk supply grade in that concentration and cannot come into contact with metal of any type ...
 


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