2 year old wheel corroding from the centres

[Superspec]

Hi Guys

I have a C220 Sport with the 18" upgrade wheels fitted. 3 out of the 4 wheels is corroding from the centre. I have only ever cleaned them with normal car shampoo, Meguiars Hot Rims or Auto Glym Wheel Cleaner.

Do you think MB will do something about this for me under warranty? Anyone have any experience of dealing with them over this?

Cheers
Richard

 

[markjay]

Tough one. MB replaced all my rusting wheel nuts under warranty, in spite of denying that this problem was endemic to MB (which it is) and blaming use of wrong detergents as the cause. Not sure how willing they will be when the entire wheel needs replacing/refurbishing... only way to find out is go ask the dealer.

 

[Superspec]

Oh yeah, the nuts are rusted too.....really badly, on all 4 wheels!!

 

[markjay]

Oh yeah, the nuts are rusted too.....really badly, on all 4 wheels!!

he he.. have a look around you, most Mercs suffer from corroded wheel nuts.

And there are several threads about this on this site.

The owner manual actually sates that you should not use strong detergents on the wheels etc etc, but as you found out this happens regardless.

On the plus side, as said MB replaced all 20 nuts on my car inc. the locking ones, I think this is the minimum you can expect.

 

[Dryce]

Do you think MB will do something about this for me under warranty? Anyone have any experience of dealing with them over this?

Speak to your dealer. My wife's SLK had corrosion on the alloys within the 3 years and the dealer took photos and a few days later we were told they were going to replace them.

(Sadly exactly the same thing is happening again - just over 3 years on - to the replacement set.)

 

[Superspec]

Update on this.....

Mercedes replaced all 4 wheels today, no problem at all. Dealer took photos and sent them to MB. Took a couple of weeks to get authorisation but the man from MB, he say yes!

Sealing them when I get the car back with Gtechniq C5. They are diamond cut and more prone to corrosion. C5 will protect them better than any of the other wheel sealants out there. In terms of cleaning I'm only using Meguiars APC now, just to be on the safe side!

 

[Simon_M]

I will be taking your route soon as one of my C63 diamond cut wheels is corroding from the centre. The problem is the lacquer splitting when the wheel is put on the hub and that allows water in.

It serves Mercedes right for selling all these diamond cut wheels in the UK, they rarely last longer than 2 years, my wheel is going after 8 months!!!

S