Replace OE alloys with After market alloys ?

[Panju]

Hi guys,
I have diamond cut alloys OE. It has some curb rash and scuff marks, was thinking on replacing them with aftermarket. Should I replace them or it’s worth repairing ? Or should I get Mercedes original ones ?

Was told by a mate that aftermarket alloys won’t perform well and won’t have same comfort as original, would it make huge difference?

 

[Scooby_Doo]

Nothing worse than non OEM alloys , looks wise , don't know about quality. There's an Aussie video on yotube comparing aftermarket & OEM alloys, a bit frightening.

 

[AMGeed]

If you like the OEM alloys, have them refurbished with a powder coat finish instead of diamond cut.
Diamond cut never lasts once the lacquer finish has been damaged and the wheels go milky.

 

[Panju]

If you like the OEM alloys, have them refurbished with a powder coat finish instead of diamond cut.
Diamond cut never lasts once the lacquer finish has been damaged and the wheels go milky.

What’s roughly costs of repair ?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Personally I would refurb, and have them diamond cut again.

If they’re painted black at the moment, considered Himalaya Grey, they look great, with a softer contrast to the diamond cut sections

What’s roughly costs of repair ?

It could be less than £200 if you shop around. A place in Birmingham does them for even less if I remember right, and reviews seem fairly good from what I have seen. I think this is it:

HOME | citywheelrefurbish

www.citywheelrefurbishment.co.uk

Price depends on size and finish though, as well as where you take them. You can spend quite a lot more if you want to.

 

[AMGeed]

Depends what size, but around £40 - £50 per wheel which is cheaper than a set of aftermarket ones.

 

[bolidemichael]

My diamond cut have gone milky due to the lacquer being chipped particularly around the bolt holes. I have them for summer alloys though, and they look great, so I'll just refurb them every couple of years.

 

[KennyN]

Did away with the DC standard 18" AMG wheels on my CLS as i was quoted £100 per wheel to refurb them , sold them for £300 and purchased a set of new FOX MB003 19" wheels for £500.

Nothing wrong with a set of decent (branded) aftermarket wheels , cant be any worse than the soft yet brittle standard Merc ones.

Before :

20160815_094901_zpsi19wkviw by Kenny Niven, on Flickr

After :

20170323_164827_zpsldptijjw by Kenny Niven, on Flickr

K

 

[bolidemichael]

Thank you for releasing genuine sets of alloys into the market!

 

[Gazwould]

My diamond cut have gone milky due to the lacquer being chipped particularly around the bolt holes. I have them for summer alloys though, and they look great, so I'll just refurb them every couple of years.

Not as simple as that as the diamond cut finish can only be redone a few times as material is removed .

Powder coat .

 

[bolidemichael]

Not as simple as that as the diamond cut finish can only be redone a few times as material is removed .

Powder coat .

Oh dear, I did not know that. I presume that the alloy refurbishers would be in a position to advise me as to whether I had achieved the limit of cuts?

 

[Panju]

Personally I would refurb, and have them diamond cut again.

If they’re painted black at the moment, considered Himalaya Grey, they look great, with a softer contrast to the diamond cut sections


It could be less than £200 if you shop around. A place in Birmingham does them for even less if I remember right, and reviews seem fairly good from what I have seen. I think this is it:

HOME | citywheelrefurbish

www.citywheelrefurbishment.co.uk

Price depends on size and finish though, as well as where you take them. You can spend quite a lot more if you want to.

Cheers will look into that

 

[Abb]

I tend to change my wheels for aftermarket ones when they need a refurb or if I think the car would look better with different wheels. Wheel choice is definitely a personal choice, no wrong or right answer IMO, just preferences.

 

[Carabind]

I have similar in the past and recently had them powder coated for £240 all in.(That’s for 4) It would have been £320 to have them diamond cut. I had a couple of tyres replaced too At the same time, and by getting them delivered to the paint guy, saved the fitting and balancing costs too, that I would have normally paid as a stand alone job.

It was a good job too, as I have noticed that the quality varies, even from job to job from the same guy, just make sure they powder coat And paint the WHOLE wheel and not just the visible side , which Saves them time and paint
Also, I would Ask to see sample of completed wheels...not what’s on display in their office , but an actual job in progress .

if you can afford it, they do freshen the car

 

[MrGreedy]

I'm currently having my E350 alloys diamond cut. It's the second (and so last) time they can be done, but the first time I've had them done since buying the car.

I'm using a place in Birmingham, who have messed up a bit and I'm taking them back for rectification tomorrow; one of the technicians used an old 'steel wheel' tyre fitting machine instead of the touchless tyre machine, so has marked the inside face of the rims in the four clamping positions on each wheel. They will fully refinish them, but because they have just been done, the re-diamond cutting (3rd cut) will only be the lightest of tickles to clean up the face, whereas the 2nd cut needed to be a good fraction of a millimetre to clear the kerbing on the alloys when I purchased the car. Once this is all sorted, I will be doing a factual write-up on the forum.

Next refurb will have to be powder coat.

Prices for what are often regarded as 'the best job' places to refurb alloys for 18"/19" seem to be a consistent £65 for straight powder coat, and £85 for diamond cut. Both of those using single tone, no super special effect coloured paint/powder coat.

 

[Panju]

I have similar in the past and recently had them powder coated for £240 all in.(That’s for 4) It would have been £320 to have them diamond cut. I had a couple of tyres replaced too At the same time, and by getting them delivered to the paint guy, saved the fitting and balancing costs too, that I would have normally paid as a stand alone job.

It was a good job too, as I have noticed that the quality varies, even from job to job from the same guy, just make sure they powder coat And paint the WHOLE wheel and not just the visible side , which Saves them time and paint
Also, I would Ask to see sample of completed wheels...not what’s on display in their office , but an actual job in progress .

if you can afford it, they do freshen the car

Where the place ?

 

[Carabind]

The last one was in Bolton, I’ve also used one in Preston

 

[AMV]

When i bought my c63 W204 with the optional 19inch rims. I had read and heard of peoples experiences with the wheels being bad and that they are susceptible to cracking.

Therefore i took them off immediately and replaced with a set of replica 507 wheels from CMwheels.

Now the argument that replica wheels are any weaker then original is a flawed argument in my opinion. Manufacturers don't actually make their own wheels. Any wheel as far as im aware sold in europe required certain safety standards to be met.

I also would of thought if replica wheels were causing any danger we would of heard about it on big scale. Just look at how many listings are on ebay.

At the end of the day its down to you, personally i wouldn't want to refurb a wheel which needs a diamond cut and then put them back on.

In regards to wheel refurbs, i have of good things from Lepsons.

 

[bolidemichael]

personally i wouldn't want to refurb a wheel which needs a diamond cut and then put them back on.

Could you please elaborate further on this?

 

[MrGreedy]

Now the argument that replica wheels are any weaker then original is a flawed argument in my opinion. Manufacturers don't actually make their own wheels. Any wheel as far as im aware sold in europe required certain safety standards to be met.

I also would of thought if replica wheels were causing any danger we would of heard about it on big scale. Just look at how many listings are on ebay.

I agree with this.

I'm sure care in driving also affects likelihood of damaging alloys.

Some people, and I'm speaking from experience as a regular passenger so I'm not going to name them, have zero mechanical sympathy. They slam on the brakes, drive over (rather than avoid) potholes, smash over speed bumps without slowing or straddling the narrower humps (whilst people in the back get shaken about like rag dolls), smash the clutch out on every gear change and crash into kerbs whilst parking.

I try to drive with much more awareness, am prepared and looking for potholes to avoid in good time, slow right down for and evenly straddle speed humps, have never kerbed an alloy and have opted for an automatic so said other driver can't smash the clutch and DMF to bits on my car.

When I have very tentatively tried to raise a casual observation on why (for example) the wheel on the other car has become buckled an needs to be replaced, I'm met with strong opinion and resolute belief that the driving styles are the same.