W211 alloy corrosion warranty

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

SL300-24

MB Enthusiast
SUPPORTER
Joined
May 28, 2004
Messages
1,792
Location
Essex
Car
1984 500SL, 2007 E320 CDI Sport Estate, 1995 SL320 R129
My 2003 W211 is 3 and a half years old. The wheels have the usual laquer lift around the bolt hole and all need re-furbishing or re-newing.This is not a result of any kerbing, and I only clean the wheels with car wash/wax, no wonder wheels etc.

I approached my local dealer, who took photos and e-mailed them to MB. He came back and said that they would pay half as a goodwill gesture and that I would have to pay £380 approx.

I said that they should pay the whole cost and wrote a polite letter to MB HQ asking for this. They replied that they would only pay half.

During decussions with the dealer I asked that instead of me paying half......could they supply two new wheels only, my thinking was that I could refurb the other 2 a lot cheaper that £380. This was declined.

I am now wondering where to go on this.
My thoughts are that by me paying MB £380 (half retail) it will cost them nothing to replace them, hence their reluctance to give me 2 rims FOC.
I am sure that others have had full replacements without any payment for this known fault.

The dealer said that maybe because my car was supplied to the first owner in Belguim it would have had a 2 year warranty instead of 3 if it was supplied in the UK, and therefore instead of 6 months out of warranty it is, in their view 18 months out. The car has covered 29,000 miles.

Any advise on my next step? Should I put my request for 2 new rims in writing to MB?
 
write to them and ask them how long they think the wheels should stay looking good ........3 years is not very long ....MB wheels should last a lot longer than that on 10,000 miles per year and looked after as per manual..if they expect the wheels to perform in this way then they should explain this in there presentation blurb when buying a car...
 
SL300-24 said:
Any advise on my next step? Should I put my request for 2 new rims in writing to MB?

Write to DC UK with your proposal for 2* brand new alloy wheels or a cheque to cover their contribution of £380. If they decline it then ask for a written explanation and put them on the spot. From experience as long as you remain persistent and keep escalating at DC UK's end then you will eventually get some where IF you have a genuine point that is.

Also, contact Pristine who used to be MB’s official wheel refurbisher and they have a exchange policy in place where they will swap you all four wheels for like for like that have already been refurbished while you wait on the spot. Cost is approximately £60/70 per wheel depending on your size etc.
 
Hi SL-300,
Why on earth have you left it for the vehicle to run out of warranty. This corrosion takes ages to get to the condition your describing (longer than six months)

Regards,
John
 
glojo said:
Hi SL-300,
Why on earth have you left it for the vehicle to run out of warranty. This corrosion takes ages to get to the condition your describing (longer than six months)

Regards,
John
John,
When I bought the vehicle it was already out of warranty being 3 years and 3 months old, so the corrosion was already there when I bought it privately. I negotiated £1000 of the asking price because of the alloys and a couple of other small bits.
People on this forum and my friendly MB technician said that I may be able to claim under the MB goodwill, as it is a known fault and worth a try.

Prior to making this claim I have bought a set of NEW 16" twin spoke wheels and tyres from E-bay sold by MB of Wolverhampton which I have not yet fitted waiting until the summer.

I do not want to shell out another £380 to MB for the new rims, so I think that I will try and get 2 new ones, and have the other 2 refurbed at my expense.
 
SL300-24: Be firm but polite with DC UK and I am very confident that you shall get two brand new alloys. By giving DC UK two options of either providing you with two new alloys or reimbursing you £380 is very reasonable IMO. Good luck...:)

Stick to your guns and you will be fine by escalating the matter further should they decline the proposal (s). It would be in DC UK's interest to just provide you with two replacements as they get them at a low reduced price from the supplier. Have you got it in writing from them that they will contribute to half of the claim...? ;)
 
SL300-24 said:
John,
When I bought the vehicle it was already out of warranty being 3 years and 3 months old, so the corrosion was already there when I bought it privately. I negotiated £1000 of the asking price because of the alloys and a couple of other small bits.
People on this forum and my friendly MB technician said that I may be able to claim under the MB goodwill, as it is a known fault and worth a try..
It might be worth putting in a claim on the basis that alloys that have not been kerbed AT ALL, should not corrode when they are only three years old, but just remember softly, softly catchee monkee. (I hope no politically correct monkey takes offence) :)

There is a problem with E-class alloys, I have just had ALL four replaced with new wheels. I am informed that Mercedes did, and I emphasis the word 'did' use Pristine to supply refurbished wheels but this is no longer the case. I am baffled as to why the previous owner did not get them replaced under warranty :confused: :confused:. It sounds like you bought the car privately and negotiated a good price because of the wheels, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. We all like to get something for nothing, but none of us are prepared to work for nothing! ;) ;)


Regards
John
 
SL300-24 said:
John,
When I bought the vehicle it was already out of warranty being 3 years and 3 months old, so the corrosion was already there when I bought it privately. I negotiated £1000 of the asking price because of the alloys and a couple of other small bits.
Playing Devil's advocate here: if you got £1000 off due to the wheels being corroded then you're taking the mick a bit by expecting MB to replace them FOC. I'm not saying I wouldn't try too :D but the trouble is that you get yourself into a tizzy when really you've already had the money for the wheels.

MB have started to reject rust claims from people who've recently acquired cars. as there's an assumption that they'll have have done exactly the same as you, and got hold of the cars cheap.
 
Ray personally I think their offer is quite fair considering the situation. I'd take the £380 and get all four refurbed - new ones won't match refurbed ones anyway.
 
stats007 said:
Ray personally I think their offer is quite fair considering the situation. I'd take the £380 and get all four refurbed - new ones won't match refurbed ones anyway.

If it is the Ankaa alloys (twin 5 double spokes) than they have a polished finish which will make the match pretty good and if two refurbs are kept on the same side no one will notice. However, as soon as you drive after cleaning your alloys they immediately gather a bit of brake dist/light film of black coating which will not make any mis-match obvious. If the alloy wheel refurbisher mixed the correct paint according to the code then all should be fine. Pristine IMO are likely to do a better colour match as they were the official MB wheel agent for refurbishing wheels.

The finish/matching of the wheel is defendant on the competency of the body shop/agent carrying out the work.
 
stats007 said:
Ray personally I think their offer is quite fair considering the situation. I'd take the £380 and get all four refurbed - new ones won't match refurbed ones anyway.

Andy....they haven't offered me £380. I have to give them £380 which is a 50% contibution to the retail price of 4 new wheels, otherwise I would snap up their offer.

Regarding the £1000 off the asking price when I bought the car, which was less than 5% off, this was not specifically for the wheels......merely normal bartering on buying a used car, which I am sure most private buyers would try to do.

Flash.......yes I do have the offer in writing from MB.
 
Last edited:
SL300-24 said:
merely normal bartering on buying a used car, which I am sure most private buyers would try to do.

Absolutely...
 
SL300-24 said:
Andy....they haven't offered me £380. I have to give them £380 which is a 50% contibution to the retail price of 4 new wheels, otherwise I would snap up their offer.

Regarding the £1000 off the asking price when I bought the car, which was less than 5% off, this was not specifically for the wheels......merely normal bartering on buying a used car, which I am sure most private buyers would try to do.

Flash.......yes I do have the offer in writing from MB.

Ahh - so they're not offering you any cash at all?
 
I would have them all refurbished myself as it would cost the same or less and you are in control of the process and can choose the finish etc.

I believe you can have them coated differently so there is less chance of corrosion in future.
 
As the car was a personal import it won't be covered under the DC UK warranty banner and as such am not surprised they won't cover the wheels.

Would you cover the wheels if you hadn't had the profit from the sale of the vehicle? I suspect not.
 
stats007 said:
Ahh - so they're not offering you any cash at all?

No mate....just a 50% discount on the retail price of 4 new wheels......
 
Dieselman said:
As the car was a personal import it won't be covered under the DC UK warranty banner and as such am not surprised they won't cover the wheels.

Would you cover the wheels if you hadn't had the profit from the sale of the vehicle? I suspect not.

Not sure how it works, but the doctor that I bought the car from was the
2nd owner and bought it from MB Sheffield at 5 months old with 2,500 miles covered and this I comfirmed with them prior to purchase.
Before I bought the car I contacted them and was told that it made no difference at all coming from Belgium....apart from the 2 /3 year warranty thing.
My understanding was that it is a europe wide warrenty.
Maybe they are being very fair.....I just thought that I would ask you guys.
 
SL300-24 said:
No mate....just a 50% discount on the retail price of 4 new wheels......

Based on this (and I've had similar) you should be able to get them to refurb them for you instead.
 
Just to update you:
I have written to them a couple of weeks ago asking for either: 2 new wheels, £380 cheque from them to enable me to refurbish 4 wheels, or full replacement of all 4 wheels. I have not had a reply, and sent a copy of the letter again yesterday. It seems that they only acknowledge or answer recorded delivery letters, so I will send the next one recorded if a reply is not forthcoming within a week.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom