Replacement Wheels

[MIW615]

The wheels on my E-class (Avantgarde) which are the diamond cut type are suffering AGAIN from corrosion, which is really annoying as they were re-furbished only 11 months ago.

My question is, what alternative alloy wheel (aftermarket) would you guys recommend that has the same offsets etc that I could fit, and where would you recommend I purchase them

Thanks in advance

MW

 

[jberks]

All alloy wheels are laquered. They corrode when that laquer is damaged and moisture seeps through to the metal below. This damage can be caused by road damage, stone chips, kerbing etc and made worse by the use of corrosive cleaning products. So, they tend to go where weights have been attached, where the bolts are (scratched), at the edges (kerbed) and where the centre caps go (again - scratched).

There is some argument that MB wheels weren't laquered well enough, scratched and chipped too easily and that's what caused the initial corrosion but you've had yours repainted so that shouldn't be relevant now, unless the refurbishers didn't do a decent job of repainting. So, I have to say, probably most alloys would suffer the same way if they live the same life as your existing ones.

Since getting this car, I've made sure that there is always a good coat of thick wheel wax on my alloys and that I very rarely use anything more agressive than a car wash brush to clean them. I also only have stick on weights (though with the width of the edge I suspect clip ons wouldn't fit anyway). As a result, despite a few scuffs, and covering over 25k on the salt infested pennine motorways, my MB alloys remain corrosion free.

Lots of people seem to have problems with non MB wheels causing vibration etc. Personally I'd perseve with the ones you have.

 

[MIW615]

Thanks for your detailed reply, my wheels have never been kirbed and have no marks or stone chips, it seems the problem starts from where the wheel bolts are - what do you think of painting them silver and laquering them?

 

[jberks]

really depends on what finish you can get. The problem is that once you've done it, there's no going back.
As they've only lasted 11 months, what's the chances of getting a deal from the people who did it last time - as a goodwill gesture?

 

[MIW615]

really depends on what finish you can get. The problem is that once you've done it, there's no going back.
As they've only lasted 11 months, what's the chances of getting a deal from the people who did it last time - as a goodwill gesture?

I have thought about that, the problem is at the moment I cannot do without my car - they would need the wheels for around a week:sad:

 

[television]

Clear laquer is very weak in its own right as it does not contain any pigment.

the other problem is that there are limits as to how mant times you can re cut them. One alternative is to have them finished in the chrome laquer, the same as what Volvo uses on its new cars, the finish would be almost as good and they are not over bright, I though that they were polished until I knocked one the other day and I saw that it was silver paint.

As you say it starts around the wheel bolts, that edge is very sharp if that edge was rounded off around the hole as some other wheel maker do, that would also stop the problem.

Malcolm

Ps who did your wheels

 

[MIW615]

Clear laquer is very weak in its own right as it does not contain any pigment.

the other problem is that there are limits as to how mant times you can re cut them. One alternative is to have them finished in the chrome laquer, the same as what Volvo uses on its new cars, the finish would be almost as good and they are not over bright, I though that they were polished until I knocked one the other day and I saw that it was silver paint.

As you say it starts around the wheel bolts, that edge is very sharp if that edge was rounded off around the hole as some other wheel maker do, that would also stop the problem.

Malcolm

Ps who did your wheels

Hi Malcolm - Thanks for info reference rounding off thr hole profiles - good tip and I will mention this to the company that did the work when they re-do the work.

They were repaired by BJV Engineering in Herts. and can been viewed at ....
www.wheelrefurbishing.co.uk