AMG Alloy Wheel Corosion

[MrRandom]

Hi,

Is there anyone else out there that has suffered corrosion of their alloys?

pic.twitter.com/BidGVnTbxv

My car is still in Warranty but Mercedes Benz have told me they can't look at them in the UK! I need to buy new alloys, they will send these to Germany to be "analysed" and they then MAY refund me if the issue was not my fault.

Any one else had a similar problem?

Thanks.

[richyt]

Hi, not sure if it was the same kind of corrosion, but we had this on a much larger scale on all 4 wheels of our 07 e class, we left it how it was assuming it was just from the salt during the winter. Especially as we never cleaned the car..

[StephenP]

Isn't that the effect you get when moisture finds it's way beneath the lacquer? It looks very similar to the way my AMG alloys when on the bits that were polished rather than painted.

[ecain63]

It can be done in the uk. Milton Keynes Mercedes is the only place will do AMG alloys as per factory according to the info I got from the dealer who sold me my car. Give them a bell.

[MrRandom]

ecain63 said:

It can be done in the uk. Milton Keynes Mercedes is the only place will do AMG alloys as per factory according to the info I got from the dealer who sold me my car. Give them a bell.

I have tried MB customer services, all I got from them is that I need to buy new alloys. Are you talking about refurbishing the alloys?

[ecain63]

MrRandom said:

ecain63 said:

It can be done in the uk. Milton Keynes Mercedes is the only place will do AMG alloys as per factory according to the info I got from the dealer who sold me my car. Give them a bell.

I have tried MB customer services, all I got from them is that I need to buy new alloys. Are you talking about refurbishing the alloys?

Not sure. All i know, Milton Keynes apparently is the only dealership in the UK that has the ability to refurb and repair AMG alloys. Thats what the dealer told me when i asked about repairs etc.

[StephenP]

I wonder if MB Milton Keynes send them to Pristine Alloys (http://www.pristinealloywheels.co.uk/)? This is the company MB Lincoln sent mine to as an approved repairer.

[Ocdbeemer]

There are plenty of companies who refurb and diamond cut the AMG wheels. Pristine wheels are based in Woburn, about 15 mins from MB UK.
If the car is under warranty and you are the only owner the dealer should sort the wheels.

[MrRandom]

Ocdbeemer said:

If the car is under warranty and you are the only owner the dealer should sort the wheels.

Yes that's what I thought, MB customer services want me to buy new ones so they can send them to Germany! I Feel very let down by MB customer services.

[T5R+]

4 year old W212 with AMG style 18" - 2 out of the 4 need refurbishing. The corrosion is around the centre wheel bolt area and not at the perimeter of the rims nor along the spokes.

Most definitely a processing/manufacturing issue as my GL alloys have not suffered to date and that is 6 years old.

[SimNugget]

This is so common on polished alloys.

This article from AutoExpress may give you some ammunition. Corrosion from the centre when the lacquer is broken placing/replacing the wheel on the hub and moisture getting in.

[MrRandom]

Thanks for the article, they are my exact alloys. I'll try customer services again.

[AddledDad]

I have the exact same alloys on my c class coupe with the same central corrosion. MB World is currently waiting for approval from German HQ in order to replace them for me. Photos were taken by the service dept last Friday and sent off. Hoping for a swift resolution as I was told that these alloys are known for pitting.

[MrRandom]

AddledDad said:

I have the exact same alloys on my c class coupe with the same central corrosion. MB World is currently waiting for approval from German HQ in order to replace them for me. Photos were taken by the service dept last Friday and sent off. Hoping for a swift resolution as I was told that these alloys are known for pitting.

Sounds like your doing better than me, it took MB Stratford upon Avon 5 weeks of pestering for them to even get back to me and tell me I needed to buy new ones! Then I raised it with MB customer services who took another week to reiterate the same line. When I complained they just told me to take it to the ombusman Motor Code! Let me know how you gt on.

[RBrown]

I had the same problem with a previous merc. After weeks of "discussion" with the dealer, they reluctantly agreed to refurb the alloys under warranty. They came up well, but took alot of hassle to get to that point.

I now have a 6 month old ML and I noticed the same problem this morning starting on an alloy!!!

My other car is an audi - I clean both cars weekly and use the same alloy cleaner. Interesting to note that no problems with the audi's wheels!!

Hopefully somebody from MB sees this thread to highlight that there is a problem here. Fear they are maybe penny pinching on their alloys!

[JimmyR1]

This was a common problem with the 19 inch alloys on the BMW E46 M3. BMW played it the same way as Mercedes - once you were out of warranty forget it, if you were lucky enough that it happened in warranty AND there was no evidence of kerb damage you had some chance, with lots of pestering, to get a replacement wheel.

[MrRandom]

Would any go with the route suggested to me by MB, buy new alloys so that they can send them to Germany to be looked at and be refunded if they find a manufacturing fault?

[SimNugget]

No chance, once they have your money you will never get it back!

[Buster73]

Had the same problem on an E class in 2005 , noticed the lacquer coming of on all 4 , but the osr was the worst , I mentioned this when in for service.

They rang back a day later saying that MB had ok'd the osr replacement , they hadn't even checked the other three , I had to go back for them to inspect and agree replacement.

It's not a new problem .

[goldblum]

ecain63 said:

Not sure. All i know, Milton Keynes apparently is the only dealership in the UK that has the ability to refurb and repair AMG alloys. Thats what the dealer told me when i asked about repairs etc.

MB Derby will also refurb AMG alloys. They did one of mine under warranty.