2009 Rusty wheel nuts??!!

[oceanblue1]

I am a new owner of a 09 plate C Class that seems to have rusty wheel nuts on all 4 alloy wheels. I use normal soap and detergents to clean the car and I just can't understand why the wheel nuts will look so rusty so soon.

Has anybody else experienced the same problems?

Does it suggest that something is amiss with the previous owner?

Mercedes have agreed to replace them under warranty, but what can I put on the new ones to prevent it happening again?

 

[BlackC55]

This has ben a problem for years. Silver hammerite is the answer

 

[tiger]

Yas mine are the same and will be getting replaced under warranty also....

 

[219]

They all rust , unfortunately .

 

[st4]

Just wait till the wheel arches start to rust..........
































Ducks for cover

 

[Gareth]

I am a new owner of a 09 plate C Class that seems to have rusty wheel nuts on all 4 alloy wheels. I use normal soap and detergents to clean the car and I just can't understand why the wheel nuts will look so rusty so soon.

Has anybody else experienced the same problems?

Does it suggest that something is amiss with the previous owner?

Mercedes have agreed to replace them under warranty, but what can I put on the new ones to prevent it happening again?

Normal soap and detergents to wash the car??

 

[219]

Mercedes have agreed to replace them under warranty, but what can I put on the new ones to prevent it happening again?

The only thing I could suggest is painting them with clear laquer once they are fitted .

Bear in mind the first time a wheel wrench goes near them the seal will be broken and they will need painted again .

No guarantee that it will work , but worth a try .

You can buy a clear laquer touch up stick in Halfords which would be enough to do them all several times over .

 

[oceanblue1]

So you guys are actually saying this is common, what the hell??

I had a 6 year old Mondeo that doesn't display any wheel nut rust. Never mind a similar age BMW.

You guys are having me on right; that the pinnacle of German auto engineering cannot manufacture a simple wheel nut to be at least as good as a Mondeo?!

Think of the safety implications; rust would make it lose tensile strength.

Surely if this is even effecting 10% of owners, there will be uproar in the motoring press and from consumer groups!

Plus, if they have to skim on something that probably cost them a tenner to make, what else are they compromising.

Stop pulling my legs. What could have the previous owner done to the wheels to cause this. I remember using an abrasive acidic wheel cleaner on my Mondeo alloy and it was fine so it can't be just that.

 

[st4]

We ain't pulling your legs....

MBs rust like Alfa Romeos. We've had 2006 E classes with rusted tailgates.

There is plenty of uproar on here...just search for W210 rust. You'll be sometime. A rusted wheelnut, you should be thankful!!!!

 

[219]

MBs rust like Alfa Romeos. !

Well , to be fair , modern ones do , older ones were nowhere near so bad .

Some of the older ones are rusting now that they are 20 , 30 or more years old , but when they were the ages some of the newer stuff is now rust was unheard of .

There are plenty of rust free W201's , W124's . W126's and a few others running around .

 

[BTB 500]

You guys are having me on right; that the pinnacle of German auto engineering cannot manufacture a simple wheel nut to be at least as good as a Mondeo?!

They used to fit wheel bolts that had a stainless steel end cap - I have them on my SL (on the right below, standard one on the left)

They stopped doing them on cost grounds

You can buy aftermarket bolts that are better quality than the current M-B ones e.g.

Alloy Wheels Direct Ltd | Wheel Bolts and Locking Bolts | RAD Bolts

 

[A140driver]

The wheelnuts on the A140 were replaced under warranty and we did them with spray lacquer at the time and waxed them and they still look relatively ok. They are starting to rust a little now, but they're acceptable.

 

[robertc43]

I've just bought a set of these:

Alloy Wheels Direct Ltd | Wheel Bolts and Locking Bolts | RAD Bolts

If you do go for this option and you want to protect your wheels from theft, you might want to order the locking bolts as well:

Alloy Wheels Direct Ltd | Wheel Bolts and Locking Bolts | RAD Locking Bolts

The RAD bolts didn't match my McGard locking bolts as the McGard bolts have a much shinier finish. That wouldn't do, so I've ordered the locking nuts incurring a second £7 postage fee...

 

[oceanblue1]

OK, this is a further blow to my illusions about Life this week. First it was Capello on over £6 million plus bonuses making a complete pigs ear of the WC. I expect this guy to live and breathe football for well over 30 yrs yet make poor management decisions that even my Grandma wouldn't have done i.e. Send in Heskey when we needed a goal with minutes to go???!!

Next, it's the FIFA president who I expected to be wise and experienced but still refuses the blatantly obvious need for technology with the refereeing. Then there are the top directors in multi BILLLION banks and top financial institutions all graduated from Ivy Leagues like Harvard and Oxford who I expected to be 100 times more intelligent than me, yet have been found to be no more than simple gamblers and very bad ones at that.

Then there are world leaders who controls the fate of billions and expected to be the top specimen of the human race to lead us poor average sods yet can't even formulate simple sentences with the correct grammar (Bush) despite having top speech writers to help them or completely ruining a nation's finance despite supposedly having top economics degree (Brown and all the other near bankrupt EU nations like Spain, Greece and Portugal).

And now, Mercedes Benz, I am told cannot manufacture a simple wheel nut in the 21st century that would not rust! All my illusions are shattered and these so called leaders, top university graduates and hi tech companies are a con. They are not more intelligent. They are just better at marketing and spin!

OK, enough ranting I am just peeved at the England World Cup thing and need to let off steam but even though its tongue in cheek, you gotta admit there are some truth ...

 

[Howard]

I would sell the car .

 

[jimbob35]

Had the same problem on my 2003 w203. Took the bolts off and cleaned them up with a wire brush bit on a drill, they look like new.. Not sure how long it will last, should be fine for a year though. Do one bolt at a time and you don't need to take wheels off..

 

[oceanblue1]

Thx jimbob for listening to my rant

My dealer have replaced the nuts and assure me these new ones use a new manufacturing process (all techno mumbo jumbo I did not understand) that would completely stop the rust. So hopefully its not BS and it would be all ok now.

If not, I will give the wire brush method a try.

Somebody on another forum have explaned to me its because of the ban on using Hexavalent chromium which is too poisonous. I knew there must be some reason as it is inconceivable that Mercedes will penny pinch on something so important.

 

[jimbob35]

Hope the new bolts last

Whatever happened to plain old good quality stainless steel? It seems to stay shiny and rust free on exhausts well enough! and has a much harder life than any measly bolt! heh

 

[s88]

Well I blame it on the tyre fitters!!
How many times have the wheels been off and on.

Suppose if they were brand new you could pack with vaseline.

 

[oceanblue1]

wonder if these alloy wheel wax I see at Halfords would be any good ...