Welcome to our channel, your subscription & participation, are the reasons we exist. Which makes driving and maintaining these vintage Mercedes Benz cars an awesome and amazing experience. Please share, like, comment, and ask your questions. We will do our best to answer. Thank YOU so much!
Hilarious watching Pierre trying not to scream! Very educational video as usual. This video has convinced me NOT to ever change my wheels. God bless you, Pierre.
Hi Pierre, I always thought that there also was a mb mark on Mercedes wheels so that you could recognize them from aftermarket wheels. Thanks for this video! Have a good weekend.
Haha - love it! Just got done putting the Blizzaks on my wifes 300SEL and I got one of my lug nuts mixed up on the rear. Tink, tink, tink... Known issue & both sets of wheels on her's are aftermarket. Couple of minutes to find the longer stud, shaved off a 1/16th on the grinder & back in business. She doesn't drive very far each day, but loves the look of the car & that saves me 10's of thousands$$ in a replacement car. I do think I have 3 sets of steel wheels laying around if you need any! You are a great resource - hope to stop by when I'm down your way. Take care!!
You are damn right on this Pierre. When I purchased my M-B 2014 GLK250 I wanted mags for the set of winter tires (yes here in Québec Province the winter tires are mandatory). After reading information on why purchase a set of OEM mags instead of aftermarket mags, was convinced that it was the best safety and logical step to buy OEM. And many details you mentioned Pierre was in the information. So this video is a very important message for those who are shopping for a set of mags to buy OEM! Thumbs up to you Pierre!👍🏻👍🏻
Pierre ... I feel your frustration (putting the IMPORTANT safety aspect aside) ... I'm not a fan of 'bling' wheels on Mercedes ... my idea of 'bling' is AMG Mono's ...
amg blocks are hard to beat. but for the 50s 60s 70s I love the old steelies with caps . and bbs basket weaves too, on those cars not too big though. 17" max
Once again, I learned something new! I've never bought aftermarket rims, but I know now that I won't!! Never knew about the steel inserts on the 15" rims. Makes total sense! Thanks, Pierre!!
What do you think of genuine centra wheels? I have a stunning set on my 560 sel and absolutely love them. Had replicas of them on my 300 but those where never quite "right" they where offered in the amg catalogues back then
Wow, my first time ever hearing about the seat for the lug bolts. I knew that Mercedes initialed their wheels. Now, I need to check my car, which came with chrome wheels. The chrome fender trim is definitely coming off as soon as possible. Thanks Pierre!
Great channel! I'm in the process of restoring my dad's 83 500SEC euro spec , originally I recall it having 15" Rial matching color wheels , I can't say exactly I was too little to remember. Which german wheel brand u think will be best ? BBS , Rial ? They're pretty rare for 15 dia
Yeah, I can back this up! When I used to put a lot of tires and wheels on customer cars, the aftermarket wheels usually cracked and failed before 50,000 miles. Stick with OEM wheels!
It’s logical that you get what you pay for and not surprising that Mercedes Benz puts as much thought into the wheels as to everything else on the vehicle.
Got the 15 holes, but the lug bolts still went into the parking brake. Had to change the lug bolts to shorter ones. So I still dont get what you mean with that lug bolt protection
I agree. A lot of cars can be improved with careful selection of aftermarket parts. Mercedes - almost never. Even the wheels, nothing looks better than stock.
Rather than replace the original wheels with a set of new ones, Mercedes owners should just have the original wheels refurbished. Although aftermarket chrome wheels may look shiny and classy at first, the chrome tends to tarnish and flake which looks disastrous. It’s better to stick originality
Thank you for the informative video, am a Merc collector and didn't know about the metal inserts. As for ghastly looks over sobriety and function... welcome to 2021. It's a lost cause, don't get angry. Cheers from another fan of originality.
Now I'm worried about the ronal r9 wheels on my 300 sel! They are genuine ronals and I had new inserts inserted as someone drilled out the lugholes for a ford hub years ago. I enjoy them but now second guessing my refurbished set
I sold the OMG rims off my 1994 E280 & replaced them with a set of AMG Monoblocks. You can't do better than that - the best wheels on the best car, no argument!
call handler: 911 dispatch, what's your emergency? benz wheel: hello? yes, this is benz wheel. i was just man handled and violated multiple times by Pierre Hedary. call handler: are you in need of emergency medical assistance? benz wheel: not physically, no... even though he penetrated me, front and rear, in a violent rage..where the lug bolts go... I do come with STEEL INSERTS!! wheel2: got'eeemm!!!
I think you need to do a video series on this topic. You should have shown a genuine Mercedes rim and show an aftermarket Mercedes rim. I miss your videos.
Interesting…I bought an aftermarket set of wheels for my ‘94 C280 for my winter Bridgestone Blizzaks. The wheels are on the car 3-4 months a year whereas the original wheels are on the rest of the year. I actually had a tough time locating genuine wheels even from Mercedes.
I bought the ASA 8 hole replica wheels from Tire Rack and have been fighting vibrations with them ever since. Trying to see if Tire Rack will help me out, despite them being out of warranty, but first I have to spend more money on them to have them tested. Right now, though, it seems I bought 6 to get 3 that are straight "enough." Never again.
Yes I have known about the OEM wheel integrity for some time but beyond that, the dilemma is tires. The tire manufacturers have not only done away with performance tires in 13” - 16” range of tire but left us with the slimmest of pickings for some variation all season rubber in these smaller sizes. Tires, tires, tires are what ride quality and performance always comes down to.
Unfortunately, premerger and 90s amg wheels tend to crack, and after hundreds of thousands of moles and a few dozen paint jobs, I wouldn't trust them either. There are plenty of great aftermarket wheels that look period correct like bbs rs, but they are pricey.
Most aftermarket wheels require a different bolt length as well, I found this out on W201 and W124 cars after buying some and having a flat by the side of the road and trying to change the wheel, in the trunk was a stock wheel of course. Cheapskates buy four wheels not five so you are screwed.............Yep the back wheel locked up as the bolt was too long and fouled the brake and I was going nowhere. My current W201 had a nice set of snow tyres on aftermarket wheels and I had the same problem except after putting the stock wheels on the car the bolts were too short by a tad. Had I not been aware of this problem I would probably be driving around on them now and waiting for a wheel to fall off. There are by the way a couple of good suppliers of the correct length bolts if you seek out the info on the internet.
Mercedes Benz made real cool light weight aluminum wheels that came on 123 diesels with no steel inserts !! These wheels are really light and reduce unsprung weight for better handling .They are getting hard to find .
The reason these particular wheels have inserts is purely because the alloy isn't suitable for supporting wheel bolts. You will see newer wheels that use a different alloy and also all forged oem mercedes wheels do not have inserts. Your opinion on aftermarket wheels is also slightly misguided, because one large factor in the design of oem wheels is cost. You can have a much more expensive, much better engineered aftermarket wheel. tl/dr: cast merc wheels garbage, forged merc wheels good, aftermarket wheels potentially good.
It's incredible how clueless most Classic owners are. In the quest to save a few bucks, they've led to the rise of Chinese brands like Meyle, URO and Wing Ho and whatever other garbage is out there etc. If you love your Mercedes and can't afford genuine Mercedes parts, sell your car to someone who can!
Please dont invent nor lie. Meyle AG is a german company established in Hamburg. I dont know if in your country anyone is sellin crap in Meyle boxes, but Meyle has first quality items all of them made in Europe. In fact they are a rename of the old Wulf Gaertner company.
@@manuelmm No one is inventing or lying. A quick Google search for "Wulf Gaertner Autoparts AG's Shanghai” will highlight the company’s Chinese HQ. All the parts that come from this shit company are made in China.
Apple is North American and makes his phones in China, are they bad? No, because are made with Apple standards. May be (i dont think so) in USA you find crap Meyle parts because quality standard in USA is very poor, but in Spain, Meyle provides parts made in EU with european conformity of quality (CE). Sorry for you. :(
I had a set of Aluline 15-hole wheels that came on my 500sel, one is an octagon on the inside and the wheel bolts stick horribly to the soft aluminium seats. Even if they are "made in Germany", they are junk!
Hes talking bollocks, BMW wheels for example are shite, they pretty much always crack from on the 18" and upwards wheels which are standard M wheels. I've had multiple crack on factory wheels and if you head over to BMW forums you will see that Im not alone.
Maybe cheap aftermarket wheels, but there are plenty of high quality wheel makers, BBS, Ronal, Borbet, OZ, Volk racing, Enkei who also make oem wheels. So I would not agree with after market wheels are junk.
Never understood why people put aftermarket wheels on Mercedes. With the exception of a "few" AMG wheels I've never seen an aftermarket wheel on a Mercedes looking anything other than ghetto.
Steel inserts don't stop ovaling out of the lug holes. Only proper torque on the lug bolts does that. I guess you forgot that 95% of alloy wheels on OEMs don't have the steel inserts including Porsche. Your holier than thou attitude doesn't hide the fact that you are ignorant about wheel design. Propagating the old wife's tale about the steel inserts proves that. Do your research before running your mouth about aftermarket wheels.
Why Mercedes does stupid shit like this drives me crazy you wouldn't be so bad if all the rims didn't look like complete shit. This brand sucks and I will never buy another merc. if Mercedes was so good why wouldn't they just do it right the first time choose something better.
I have lots of wonderful painted hub caps I paid thru the nose for my 2nd set of pullman 15inch paintable hub caps.and the usual stack of 14 in hub caps. I bench polish them and they look fabulous I once used a set of euro 280TE w124 15x6 steelies [steel wheels] on my w123 with the 15s painted to match my murano green Porsche repaint of the 300D SOLDthat car yeara ago with the wheels 😥 Now I've got the hub caps and 2 sets of rare 41mm,and 15x5.5 w115 Limo steelies for my w115 too narrow for my s class cars I need steelies for my w107 and my w126 The sl had alloy 14x6.5 oem 1985 yuck The w126 1989 the flat Grey things yuck I've a set of 5 14x6 steelies I can use on my w123 for now For my w126 I need the proper set of 15inch steelies am Nd my sl I need 14x6.5 steeleies there are companies that make new steelies
Surprisingly did not know about the inserts. Thank you for this.
Definitely a wow moment! Had no idea about this either nor the level of potential damage. Glad I like original so have never had this issue
Just like the genuine Mercedes wheels, my wife married me for my structural integrity-not my flashy looks. ;)
I love your fiery anger and enthusiasm Pierre! Your knowledge is second to none.
Pierre, You never come close to falling short on these educational vids. Can not Thank you enough, So Happy to have found you!!!!
Welcome to our channel, your subscription & participation, are the reasons we exist. Which makes driving and maintaining these vintage Mercedes Benz cars an awesome and amazing experience.
Please share, like, comment, and ask your questions.
We will do our best to answer.
Thank YOU so much!
You have to... just love this guy!!....w124 1991 300E
I now drive a 2011 ford crown Victoria, used to drive a GLK250, but I still watch and enjoy your videos.
I too love origional wheels on these fine Mercedes Benz automobiles. My 74 450 sel has steel wheels with the superb hub caps on them.
Hilarious watching Pierre trying not to scream! Very educational video as usual. This video has convinced me NOT to ever change my wheels. God bless you, Pierre.
Hi Pierre, I always thought that there also was a mb mark on Mercedes wheels so that you could recognize them from aftermarket wheels. Thanks for this video! Have a good weekend.
Haha - love it! Just got done putting the Blizzaks on my wifes 300SEL and I got one of my lug nuts mixed up on the rear. Tink, tink, tink... Known issue & both sets of wheels on her's are aftermarket. Couple of minutes to find the longer stud, shaved off a 1/16th on the grinder & back in business. She doesn't drive very far each day, but loves the look of the car & that saves me 10's of thousands$$ in a replacement car. I do think I have 3 sets of steel wheels laying around if you need any! You are a great resource - hope to stop by when I'm down your way. Take care!!
You can feel his passion. He REALLY wanted to say, "Hey dumbass, do it right, or don't do it at all!"
Pretty much everything aftermarket Mercedes is jnot made in Germany and is junk. Great video as always , have a nice weekend Pierre.
Febi Bilstein is made in Germany and in many cases, is junk.
You are damn right on this Pierre. When I purchased my M-B 2014 GLK250 I wanted mags for the set of winter tires (yes here in Québec Province the winter tires are mandatory). After reading information on why purchase a set of OEM mags instead of aftermarket mags, was convinced that it was the best safety and logical step to buy OEM. And many details you mentioned Pierre was in the information. So this video is a very important message for those who are shopping for a set of mags to buy OEM! Thumbs up to you Pierre!👍🏻👍🏻
Would you mind posting the details of the wheel specialist in Delaware?
Also interested, please post the info
Pierre ... I feel your frustration (putting the IMPORTANT safety aspect aside) ... I'm not a fan of 'bling' wheels on Mercedes ... my idea of
'bling' is AMG Mono's ...
amg blocks are hard to beat. but for the 50s 60s 70s I love the old steelies with caps . and bbs basket weaves too, on those cars not too big though. 17" max
Thanks for bringing this to my attention ! OEM wheels always look best and now I understand why they are superior
Once again, I learned something new! I've never bought aftermarket rims, but I know now that I won't!! Never knew about the steel inserts on the 15" rims. Makes total sense! Thanks, Pierre!!
What do you think of genuine centra wheels? I have a stunning set on my 560 sel and absolutely love them. Had replicas of them on my 300 but those where never quite "right" they where offered in the amg catalogues back then
Hi Pierre. As usual a fantastic video with great excitement. But does this apply to newer cars like the 124 as well?
Wow, my first time ever hearing about the seat for the lug bolts. I knew that Mercedes initialed their wheels. Now, I need to check my car, which came with chrome wheels. The chrome fender trim is definitely coming off as soon as possible. Thanks Pierre!
exellent explanation as always! Pierre
Great channel! I'm in the process of restoring my dad's 83 500SEC euro spec , originally I recall it having 15" Rial matching color wheels , I can't say exactly I was too little to remember. Which german wheel brand u think will be best ? BBS , Rial ? They're pretty rare for 15 dia
BBS RA, RZ, or best of all RS.
@@Mr._1987 thanks! I ended up with a rial N type which I found in near mint condition that came off a C107
@@hamadrajab7645 Excellent choice, that’s probably my favorite non BBS mesh wheel.
i just scorred a free set of centra made in germany 16 1/2 X 14 h2 e30 do you know if they fit W123 or and W115?
Thanks for the great information. I can't wait to see your post on a 500E as I own one.
👍👍👍
From France,
Hi Pierre, suggestion: How about a video on your daily driver?
Okay, you've seen one of them. The 280 SE 4.5. I guess it's time for the 300 d
@@thisisnightshop2037 Yes was thinking of the 300d :)
what about period correct (80's) Ronal mags?
we usually find oem replacements from a mercedes only wrecking yard. no substitute for OEM type. sometimes Ronal made them for Mercedes.
Thank you again, so much!!!
Yeah, I can back this up! When I used to put a lot of tires and wheels on customer cars, the aftermarket wheels usually cracked and failed before 50,000 miles. Stick with OEM wheels!
It’s logical that you get what you pay for and not surprising that Mercedes Benz puts as much thought into the wheels as to everything else on the vehicle.
Got the 15 holes, but the lug bolts still went into the parking brake. Had to change the lug bolts to shorter ones. So I still dont get what you mean with that lug bolt protection
Wow did not know thanks for the information
Great video as always. Thanks Pierre.
Mercedes may be the only mark that appeals only in factory fitment. Aftermarket diminishes the Mercedes aura.
I agree. A lot of cars can be improved with careful selection of aftermarket parts. Mercedes - almost never. Even the wheels, nothing looks better than stock.
Rather than replace the original wheels with a set of new ones, Mercedes owners should just have the original wheels refurbished. Although aftermarket chrome wheels may look shiny and classy at first, the chrome tends to tarnish and flake which looks disastrous. It’s better to stick originality
Great info ! Thanks for these videos.
Thank you for the informative video, am a Merc collector and didn't know about the metal inserts.
As for ghastly looks over sobriety and function... welcome to 2021. It's a lost cause, don't get angry.
Cheers from another fan of originality.
Now I'm worried about the ronal r9 wheels on my 300 sel! They are genuine ronals and I had new inserts inserted as someone drilled out the lugholes for a ford hub years ago. I enjoy them but now second guessing my refurbished set
Did OZ make the earlier AMG wheels?
My question is: Can you take the W210 chassis E55 Monoblock wheels and put them on a 1990-1993 R129 chassis 500SL (NOT SL500) without any problem????
I sold the OMG rims off my 1994 E280 & replaced them with a set of AMG Monoblocks. You can't do better than that - the best wheels on the best car, no argument!
call handler: 911 dispatch, what's your emergency?
benz wheel: hello? yes, this is benz wheel. i was just man handled and violated multiple times by Pierre Hedary.
call handler: are you in need of emergency medical assistance?
benz wheel: not physically, no... even though he penetrated me, front and rear, in a violent rage..where the lug bolts go... I do come with STEEL INSERTS!!
wheel2: got'eeemm!!!
I think you need to do a video series on this topic.
You should have shown a genuine Mercedes rim and show an aftermarket Mercedes rim.
I miss your videos.
What are your thoughts on aftermarket radios in a classic Mercedes?
Interesting…I bought an aftermarket set of wheels for my ‘94 C280 for my winter Bridgestone Blizzaks. The wheels are on the car 3-4 months a year whereas the original wheels are on the rest of the year. I actually had a tough time locating genuine wheels even from Mercedes.
I bought the ASA 8 hole replica wheels from Tire Rack and have been fighting vibrations with them ever since. Trying to see if Tire Rack will help me out, despite them being out of warranty, but first I have to spend more money on them to have them tested. Right now, though, it seems I bought 6 to get 3 that are straight "enough." Never again.
Yes I have known about the OEM wheel integrity for some time but beyond that, the dilemma is tires. The tire manufacturers have not only done away with performance tires in 13” - 16” range of tire but left us with the slimmest of pickings for some variation all season rubber in these smaller sizes. Tires, tires, tires are what ride quality and performance always comes down to.
Michelin defender still comes in an h rated 14" 195/70 fyi
Unfortunately, premerger and 90s amg wheels tend to crack, and after hundreds of thousands of moles and a few dozen paint jobs, I wouldn't trust them either. There are plenty of great aftermarket wheels that look period correct like bbs rs, but they are pricey.
Curious if the new Mercedes wheels have steel inserts. I somehow doubt it
Wow you really hit that home!
Good information, especially with all the Mercedes wheels on Ebay. If you buy something on the cheap, why is it cheap?
Most aftermarket wheels require a different bolt length as well, I found this out on W201 and W124 cars after buying some and having a flat by the side of the road and trying to change the wheel, in the trunk was a stock wheel of course. Cheapskates buy four wheels not five so you are screwed.............Yep the back wheel locked up as the bolt was too long and fouled the brake and I was going nowhere. My current W201 had a nice set of snow tyres on aftermarket wheels and I had the same problem except after putting the stock wheels on the car the bolts were too short by a tad. Had I not been aware of this problem I would probably be driving around on them now and waiting for a wheel to fall off. There are by the way a couple of good suppliers of the correct length bolts if you seek out the info on the internet.
Great info. 👍
Con crappy wheels on my car .... Thanks for the information
Pierre is RAGING lol!
Amen to that brother!
I’m trying to fit 2003 s430 17” 7.5 wheels on my 1992 300ce I hope I’m not dead to you Papa Pierre 😪
Thank you sir... may I have a another!
Thank you!
thanks Pierre!
Thank you
fully agree
why not chromed Mercedes wheels?
Cool
Mercedes Benz made real cool light weight aluminum wheels that came on 123 diesels with no steel inserts !! These wheels are really light and reduce unsprung weight for better handling .They are getting hard to find .
Are you talking about the aluminum steelie style hubcap wheels?
Yes
I love it
The reason these particular wheels have inserts is purely because the alloy isn't suitable for supporting wheel bolts.
You will see newer wheels that use a different alloy and also all forged oem mercedes wheels do not have inserts.
Your opinion on aftermarket wheels is also slightly misguided, because one large factor in the design of oem wheels is cost.
You can have a much more expensive, much better engineered aftermarket wheel.
tl/dr: cast merc wheels garbage, forged merc wheels good, aftermarket wheels potentially good.
Ok, Roger that, 10-4 and all that jazz. Ov'r an out.
It's incredible how clueless most Classic owners are. In the quest to save a few bucks, they've led to the rise of Chinese brands like Meyle, URO and Wing Ho and whatever other garbage is out there etc.
If you love your Mercedes and can't afford genuine Mercedes parts, sell your car to someone who can!
Meyle is a german company.
@@manuelmm It's a Chinese company with a German sounding name. Like MG (British) or Volvo (Scandi).
Please dont invent nor lie. Meyle AG is a german company established in Hamburg. I dont know if in your country anyone is sellin crap in Meyle boxes, but Meyle has first quality items all of them made in Europe. In fact they are a rename of the old Wulf Gaertner company.
@@manuelmm No one is inventing or lying. A quick Google search for "Wulf Gaertner Autoparts AG's Shanghai” will highlight the company’s Chinese HQ. All the parts that come from this shit company are made in China.
Apple is North American and makes his phones in China, are they bad? No, because are made with Apple standards. May be (i dont think so) in USA you find crap Meyle parts because quality standard in USA is very poor, but in Spain, Meyle provides parts made in EU with european conformity of quality (CE). Sorry for you. :(
Why do the lugs on 126's seize so often?
I had a set of Aluline 15-hole wheels that came on my 500sel, one is an octagon on the inside and the wheel bolts stick horribly to the soft aluminium seats. Even if they are "made in Germany", they are junk!
No you should have 90's amg monoblocks lol
We wouldn't have to buy Aftermarket wheels if Mercedes didnt have undersized Ugly wheels
Those “fancy” but poor quality rims should have been prohibited from shelves!
Hes talking bollocks, BMW wheels for example are shite, they pretty much always crack from on the 18" and upwards wheels which are standard M wheels. I've had multiple crack on factory wheels and if you head over to BMW forums you will see that Im not alone.
As I’ve learned, it’s MB Classic or nothing.
You clearly mean "mercedes is junk"
So BBS and AMG got it .
BBS Wheels Much⁉️🤔
😃♥️🤣😂 Mercedes Made in 🇩🇪 1930-2005 ,R,I,P Mercedes
Or Brabus!
Maybe cheap aftermarket wheels, but there are plenty of high quality wheel makers, BBS, Ronal, Borbet, OZ, Volk racing, Enkei who also make oem wheels. So I would not agree with after market wheels are junk.
Short answer: they are not genuine Mercedes wheels
gosh do you have to yell? not everyone is a benz mechanic ok?
Never understood why people put aftermarket wheels on Mercedes. With the exception of a "few" AMG wheels I've never seen an aftermarket wheel on a Mercedes looking anything other than ghetto.
Bad content
Steel inserts don't stop ovaling out of the lug holes. Only proper torque on the lug bolts does that. I guess you forgot that 95% of alloy wheels on OEMs don't have the steel inserts including Porsche. Your holier than thou attitude doesn't hide the fact that you are ignorant about wheel design. Propagating the old wife's tale about the steel inserts proves that. Do your research before running your mouth about aftermarket wheels.
absolute bullshit.
Why Mercedes does stupid shit like this drives me crazy you wouldn't be so bad if all the rims didn't look like complete shit. This brand sucks and I will never buy another merc. if Mercedes was so good why wouldn't they just do it right the first time choose something better.
I have lots of wonderful painted hub caps
I paid thru the nose for my 2nd set of pullman 15inch paintable hub caps.and the usual stack of 14 in hub caps.
I bench polish them and they look fabulous
I once used a set of euro 280TE w124 15x6 steelies [steel wheels] on my w123 with the 15s painted to match my murano green Porsche repaint of the 300D SOLDthat car yeara ago with the wheels 😥
Now I've got the hub caps and 2 sets of rare 41mm,and 15x5.5 w115 Limo steelies for my w115 too narrow for my s class cars
I need steelies for my w107 and my w126
The sl had alloy 14x6.5 oem 1985 yuck
The w126 1989 the flat Grey things yuck
I've a set of 5 14x6 steelies I can use on my w123 for now
For my w126 I need the proper set of 15inch steelies am
Nd my sl I need 14x6.5 steeleies there are companies that make new steelies