S211 Avantgarde strange but true story

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glojo

Hardcore MB Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 15, 2004
Messages
14,652
Location
Torquay
Car
S211 Sprinter 213CDI, & the new T-class
Yup,
As the title suggests, a strange story.

In February of 2004 we took delivery of this car and in the first three years we had all four wheels replaced under warranty, not once but twice and all because of that horrible furry wheel corrosion. Unfortunately for us, after the three year warranty expired that was the end of getting any free replacements and by 2010..... I could stand it no more, this third set of wheels were really looking ugly, so.......

I found a site on the Internet that were selling brand new 211 Avantgarde wheels that they were importing from Germany. In for a penny, in for a pound, we bought four of these wheels and yup, they were as described, the identical wheels to those on our car. Off with the old, on with the new and now TEN years later, those wheels are as pristine as the day we purchased them???

Now I may be daft, I may be silly but how? why? Yes these wheels were imported from Germany, but surely the wheels on our S211 were imported from Germany?

A2114016302
Nice Blue centre caps A1704000025
 
Have you changed the way you wash your car by any chance? Or changed your tyre fitter?
 
Have you changed the way you wash your car by any chance? Or changed your tyre fitter?
:) What are you suggesting :)

The car has done less than 60,000 miles in total, so I am guessing for all the warranty wheel exchanges, they were the same tyres, and no, we are not guilty of putting an acid like substance on the wheels (I am NOT suggesting for one minute you are accusing us of putting yukky material on those wheels)
 
:) What are you suggesting :)

The car has done less than 60,000 miles in total, so I am guessing for all the warranty wheel exchanges, they were the same tyres, and no, we are not guilty of putting an acid like substance on the wheels (I am NOT suggesting for one minute you are accusing us of putting yukky material on those wheels)

I wasn't referring to the make and model of the tyres, but to the fact that careless tyre-fitters often scratch the lacquer, which then results in a 'rush' spreading once moisture went under the paint and the alloy starts corroding, which can take months to develop. That said, if all 4 wheels were corroded to the same extent, it's unlikely to have been caused by tyre-fitters.
 
Probably coincidence more than anything. Perhaps less road salt exposure etc...

BTW - not sure why you didn’t just get your wheels powder coated or refurbished rather than purchase new ones?
 
Not at all surprised.
Manufacturing methods and standards improve over time. What was acceptable as a new design in 2004, is not the same as what will be sold in 2010.
I'm constantly looking at "old cars" remanufactured these last 20 years and saying "that's nothing like the quality standard that those cars were built with "back in the day."
 
I wonder if the ‘new’ wheels from Germany had actually been refurbished/refinished to a better standard than new prior to your purchase :)

Otherwise, perhaps a different batch to the ones you had from new. You can check the year and manufacturer (eg BBS, Ronal etc) on the reverse side of the wheels.

BTW, welcome back :thumb:
 
Could it be down to poor laquer on the original sets of wheels, flaking off and then the unprotected alloy then corroding.

Is laquer water based? Mercedes paints had the known water based problems in the early 2000's. Just a guess.
 
It could be poor lacquer??? it could be a duff batch but our dealer had commented that quite a few customers had made claims for new wheels and Mercedes never quibbled regarding any claims. I guess it would be interesting to hear from 211 Avantgarde owners that still have the original wheels and they are in pristine condition.

Our Sprinter has alloys and they are in 'as new' condition so it cannot be the salt from the roads causing the issue or the fact we live on the coast. Tis weird
 
I had a 2004 S211 Avantgarde. I bought it in 2008 and the wheels looked fine - I assume they were the originals. A couple of years later bubbles started appearing on the spokes - interestingly it was only 3 wheels that were affected. I had other wheels with winter tyres and fitted them so I wasn't under pressure to get the wheels fixed.
On the 3 corroded wheels, I did a home job of chipping off the corrosion, sanding down, spraying with a rattle can and then applying lacquer.
I had the car for a total of 8 years and the wheels were ok after that right up to when I sold it.
 
Hi Steve
I can't help but wonder if the previous owner might have had the wheels replaced under warranty, then you bought it, and the cycle repeated.

I forget the terminology used by Mercedes when swapping these wheels but the wheels looked like they were corroding from within. As it came to the surface, it was like the corrosion we see on a battery lead.

It would be interesting to hear from anyone who owned a 2004 Avantgarde 211, owned it for the first four years and had absolutely no issues with the wheels. I am emphasizing the Avantgade purely because the AMG and Elegance had different wheels
 
Hi Steve
I can't help but wonder if the previous owner might have had the wheels replaced under warranty, then you bought it, and the cycle repeated.

I forget the terminology used by Mercedes when swapping these wheels but the wheels looked like they were corroding from within. As it came to the surface, it was like the corrosion we see on a battery lead.

It would be interesting to hear from anyone who owned a 2004 Avantgarde 211, owned it for the first four years and had absolutely no issues with the wheels. I am emphasizing the Avantgade purely because the AMG and Elegance had different wheels
Alloy can become porous. Maybe this is a factor?
 

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