W204 centre caps

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roobler

Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2016
Messages
35
Car
C220
Hi,

I'm looking for some W204 centre caps, I have looked on eBay but I'm reluctant to spend money on a set of copies. what is the best place to get these?

Roobler
 
I got mine for my W203 C55 AMG from Mercedes Benz (have you tried them ?) They were about £11 each.

They were (obviously) colour perfect and fit 100%.
 
Always bought them from the bay of dreams.

Never had any issues and, to be honest, for £7 or £8 a set I'm not really bothered if I do. :)
 
I've had two sets of cheap ones from eBay. They've both corroded in just a few months. My current ones are about a year old and are just round brown things at this point.

The genuine ones cost more but they lasted far longer. (years).
 
Here is one of my eBay centre caps after 3 years on the car. The other 3 are the same and are in better condition than the wheels:doh:
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I got mine for my W203 C55 AMG from Mercedes Benz (have you tried them ?) They were about £11 each.

They were (obviously) colour perfect and fit 100%.

I didn't realise they were that cheap, I will just go direct. Thanks.
Do you have to go to the local dealer or can you buy online?
 
I didn't realise they were that cheap, I will just go direct. Thanks.
Do you have to go to the local dealer or can you buy online?
look through my posts, on one of them there is a close up photo of genuine MB part which will last for years.

I just walked into my nearest MB dealer and bought them.
 
Mine are genuine MB and lasted only two years before corrosion set in, guess it's pot luck.
 
I have today taken delivery of a set of black centre caps off of the bay for £8 delivered and replaced the original blue centre caps which had all corroded. The car's only 3 years old.

Either the previous owner (I bought it approved used via MB) had done the same at some point, or the OEM ones aren't great quality, but i put the old and new ones next to each other and both seemed of identical quality, rubbish plastic quality.

For the 5 minute job it took me to change them i'm happy to run these £8 centre caps for a few months, or however long they last, and then repeat.
Rather than £40 odd for an OEM set that sound like they'll do the same.

I'm thinking of replacing the bonnet emblem to match the black instead of blue now. But again, OEM seems to be plastic and £40+
 
As above changed my blue corroded originals with black £8 ones from eBay. Quality the same, and I'm very happy with them.
 
I have today taken delivery of a set of black centre caps off of the bay for £8 delivered and replaced the original blue centre caps which had all corroded. The car's only 3 years old.

Either the previous owner (I bought it approved used via MB) had done the same at some point, or the OEM ones aren't great quality, but i put the old and new ones next to each other and both seemed of identical quality, rubbish plastic quality.

For the 5 minute job it took me to change them i'm happy to run these £8 centre caps for a few months, or however long they last, and then repeat.
Rather than £40 odd for an OEM set that sound like they'll do the same.

I'm thinking of replacing the bonnet emblem to match the black instead of blue now. But again, OEM seems to be plastic and £40+

Mine were original and corroded... replaced them with new originals.
 
Mine were original and corroded... replaced them with new originals.



It'll be interesting to see how long my cheap plastic ones last compared to the a new OEM one.

So is it £11 ish per centre cap, ~£44 for the set?
 
It'll be interesting to see how long my cheap plastic ones last compared to the a new OEM one.

So is it £11 ish per centre cap, ~£44 for the set?

Bought 2 for £14 each and 2 for £8 each (different dealers).

But I then saw this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0183TKE3W/?tag=amazon0e9db-21

They are claimed to be 'original' (and the photo shows original ones).

They used to have them in blue or black, seems only the black ones are left now...
 
Over the years I've found the genuine MB ones to better but in either case they'll last longer if you give them a couple of coats of wheel wax/sealant before fitting.

I used to use Poorboys Wheel Sealant, which lasted about 3 months but since the C-class has been finished in Gtechniq, the wheels & centre caps are now coated in C5 Wheel Armour and that's lasting well.

Point is, without protection the metal edge of the centre cap will succumb to corrosion but a few minutes applying some protection will help - I know the caps aren't expensive but corroded caps ruin the look of the wheels and who wants to be replacing 'em every year?

Mark
 
All three of our vehicles have the same M-B 'chrome star' caps ... they're all around 10 years old now and still look pretty good. Not sure if the problems others have reported have been with this type, or other designs?
 
This seems to be a common issue with the post-2009 blue laurel wreath caps, but less so with the older plain silver ones.

I think the blame lies with both the caps' lacquer finish and the detergents used in car wash places.

MB would say the wheel cleaning detergents are too strong, but then again other marques do not seem to be affected in the same way...

I suppose the proper way of describing it would be that the new caps are not as resistant to strong wheel cleaners as they could be and should be, so require to be cleaned with a milder solution.

This is the same issue incidentally that MB traditionally had with the rusting wheel bolts... MB blamed acidic wheel cleaners, which is probably true, but again only MB cars seem to be vulnerable to this issue, so clearly they could have used more resistant bolts, but for reasons known only to themselves, they chose not to do so (and preferred to replace the rusting bolts FOC under warranty for the first 3 years instead) .
 
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LOL I have rusty wheel bolts on the Vito but the centre caps are ok :D

Of course M-B did wheel bolts with stainless steel tops originally (my SL has them).
 
LOL I have rusty wheel bolts on the Vito but the centre caps are ok :D ...

Are these the 'new' blue laurel wreath caps, on the old plain silver ones?
 
Are these the 'new' blue laurel wreath caps, on the old plain silver ones?

They're the ones with a chrome rim and star (MB also make basic ones that are all-over silver).
 
Here's what the £8 ones I put on yesterday look like. We'll see how long they last
6f1a1761fdfec00d22bc313bc30ea0c7.jpg
 

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