would w126 15 hole alloys fit to a C126?

[mccrackenj]

Hoping for a quick answer from the resident 'beards'

I have a 1986 500SEC with 6x14 'Mexican hat' alloys (ET30). I've only just acquired it recently and although it had a full MOT at sale the tyres are basically done. I certainly wouldn't be happy using the car with them on, especially in cold or wet weather.

But, as you may know a new set of 4 x Michelin XWXs will cost an arm and a leg, only price I found online was almost £350 each, plus delivery then fitting - so around £1500 all in. There are a number of alternative options involving cheapo Chinese brands in 195/70s instead of 205/70, but none of these are in a V rating, so I'm thinking that a better option might be to find some suitable 15" wheels.

I don't want anything that would look out of place so the only real option seems to be a set of either 15 hole alloys from a later C126 or W126 saloon, or maybe 8 holes from a later W126.

My question is - would a set of W126 15" X 7" 15 holes with an offset of 25 fit the car?

Online offset calculators suggest that inner clearance would reduce by 8mm and the rim would protrude an additional 18mm. I can live with the extra 18mm and don't think it will be a problem but would the reduced clearance to the strut be an issue?

I don't have the rims in my possession and can't try them before sale, hence my hope that someone here can advise. (I also do't physically have the car 'to hand' right now either, but that's another story)

Of course an alternative is Falken FK07U in 205/70/14 from Black circles at just under £280 fittted, but these are only H rated. Any opinions on those?


Cheers all

John

[somnv]

Hi John, if your car is a 1986, it's series 2 car which means it shouldn't actually have mexican hat alloys, they were series one only. Maybe someone swapped them at some point in the past. Either way, W126 / C126 alloys should be interchangeable as far as I am aware as long as you get the right tyre size. If you go for the 15 hole ones that should be 205/65/15.

I'm actually looking to buy mexican hat alloys so in case you want to sell yours, give me a shout. [e-mail]

Norman

[mccrackenj]

Hello Norman

Thanks for your answer, I'm not an authority on C126s by any means so that's interesting. The car was registered on 10 Jan 1986, does that still mean it is series 2 or could it be series 1? When was the change?

If it is a series 2 then that implies it should have 15" 15 holes doesn't it? If so, what width and offset should they be?

Do you know what the acceptable range of offset would be for say a 7" wide rim to fit the car properly? I'd be happy if they protruded a bit further out of the arches but the main concern of course would be that they don't foul anything behind the rim.

[r129sl]

John, your car is definitely a series 1 car because it has ribbed Sacco panels. The change over from series 1 to series 2 was about August 1986. Anyway, 15 x 7J ET 25 wheels will fit a series 1 car perfectly. The correct tyre size is 205/65 R 15 V 91 although Mercedes later approved 225/60 R 15 but I think this size makes the steering a bit heavy at slow speeds. If you want to maintain the series 1 look, you might want to keep an eye out for Mexican hat wheels in the 15 x 7J size. These are still available new but very expensive. They come up on German Ebay quite frequently. ATS also made a quality replica in that size.

See here for an example: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Mercedes-ATS-40396-Barock-7...

And here: http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_odkw=mercedes+bundt...

I also think that if you want to stick with the 14s, then the Falkens are probably an acceptable compromise unless you're going to spend a lot of time north of 130mph.

Fulda (which I believe is Goodyear's second tier brand) certainly used to do a reasonably priced 205/70 VR 14 tyre (Carat Assuro) but they don't seem to be available any more. These people purport to have them in stock but who knows: http://www.performancealloys.com/tyre-details.aspx...

I'm fairly sure that the 280 SE was supplied on 195/70 R 14s. There is more choice in this size but most are H rated. The Fuldas are available in that size V-rated: http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?s_p=Fuld...

Edited by r129sl on Friday 15th November 20:24

[mccrackenj]

Thanks Jonathan

If the car is a series 1 (and if you say so then I'm sure that's correct) then I would wish to keep the Mexicans. What I'm trying to find out is what rims I could fit as a stopgap over the winter until I get the Mexican hats refurbished and re-shod.

I suppose rather than trying to figure it out I should just wait until I have the car back and fit a couple of spare sets of alloys & tyres I have to see what works. I have a refurbed set of W124 15 holes with brand new Continental Premium Contact 5s fitted, but the offset on those is either 44 or possibly 48/49 so I don't think they will work. I also have a set of 15x7 rims with a 37 offset already fitted with winter tyres, so maybe they'll work?

Those 15" Mexicans in that link are lovely, but 875 euro + postage? Maybe not. Maybe when I've had the car a few years and decided that it's a keeper, but far too early to say that (especially with the prices of 5.0 R129s at the minute . .)

Cheers

John

[r129sl]

You should be able to get 15 x 7J ET 25 series 2 wheels with (used) tyres fitted on Ebay for less than £500. I used to have a daily search on Mercedes 126 and they came up all the time. Eg here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126-400-3002-124400302-S...

I don't know whether the 124 wheels would fit. On a 7" rim, ET 44 leaves a lot less room for brakes and suspension than ET 25 (19mm less to be precise).

[somnv]

Jonathan is correct, if the side panels are ribbed then it's a series one, but must have been one of the very last. They stopped building them in 1985 but yours being a Jan registered car must be a late one.

In case you are interested, there is a great little W126 club with lots of help and info, and the forum itself is free - http://126-sclass.com