While in the Seattle area last week I encountered a concrete curb with the right front wheel. It was at night, a torn up intersection and the curb was hidden by a mound of dirt. It sounded bad, as though I had done major damage. We were only 1/2 mile from our Lodge so went there to inspect for damage. The tire was still fully inflated and I could only find a 7" long area on the edge of the wheel that was scratched rather badly.

My fear was that the tire/wheel would no longer hold air and we would be stuck in Seattle until a wheel was located--mostly likely in Germany! The next morning it still had 32 psi in it so we struck out for home. It held up well and I'm still driving on the scuffed wheel. I have since ground off the sharp edges so no one will get cut and it's barely noticeable.

It isn't cheap--$492 for the wheel and another $150 for mount, balance and front end alignment check so be careful, but know that it is a tough wheel and not a lightweight like many of the pretty ones out there.

We have a tough, and yet pretty, car and the more I drive it the more I like it. We got 23 mpg combined driving and 27 mpg on the freeway coming home with posted speeds to 75 mph in places with only 2000 miles on the vehicle. Does it get better?

 

I'm not proud to say that I had a similar experience - rainy night, difficult intersection, marginal driver judgement (not impaired, just not driving for conditions). I cut across a couple lanes and as I hit it, figured out I was about to launch over a traffic island. For some reason it didn't have those "Keep Left" signs marking it (perhaps a good thing - might not have seen that either). Anyway, I hit this fairly high curb dead-on and launched the whole car over the island. A friend was following me and said I was airborne.

When I landed I figured I was going to have four flat tires, four ruined wheels, and based on other "got air" experiences, bent suspension components. Guess what? Nothing! All I needed was to get the alignment fixed (slight toe-in adjustment) and I was good to go.

The wheels are straight, the suspension is not bent, nothing is scraped, and all is well. The tech at the (Mercedes) dealer told me a story about one launching over a pile of logs that had fallen off a log truck. Four flats but nothing broken! Not sure I believe it, but based on my experience, the wheels and suspension are pretty tough. Not that I want to test it too often!

 

I concur....these are some tough A** wheels.

Here in Michigan we have potholes the size of small cars. I've hit a few that shook the whole car. I immediately got that sick feeling knowing full well that I now had a flat tire, probably a split wheel, and who knows what other damege. Slowly pull over and take a look, what do I find...............nothing! No bent or broken wheel, no damage, and no flat tire. I'd really like to know the composition of these wheels.....they are tough.


I've always heard that Ronal wheels were pretty good, but I had no idea they were this good!

 

Are we speaking of the naturally aspirated or SRT rims?

Who are the makers of both rims?

I curbed my rear driver rim in a Taco Bell drive thru. About an inch and a half, two at the most. I was trying to avoid a huge pile of something gross when I accidently hit the loose curbstone around the real sharp part of the turn. Lord knows how pissed off I was at myself.

 

No SRT's here, onlythe natural stuff!

I found one entry that illustrates how to repair the dings. After I get the new one located and mounted I'm sure going to try and make mine look as good as the one that was repaired. If you can't find it I'll give you the info to get there.

Jim

 

I don't think you guys understand how happy I am to read this thread. As the same with you all, I had recently curbed one of my wheels, hard too. Pushed the whole car to one side. Passenger rear wheel. Was sure I had bent the linkage, rim, or messed up the drivetrain. So far, nothing.

Happy to read that these cars can take some punishment. Not like I want to put it through some.

 

Friendly advice - don't wait for it to show up as uneven treadwear or a bad bearing in your rear - go have the alignment checked and ask them to check the seals for leaks - if they're leaking you might have a seal or bearing failure. It's way cheaper to check than new tires or having something go Ka-Bloo-Y! at speed.

The front on mine seemed OK but the steering wheel was not centered - other than that it seemed fine but I knew better. You don't have any real clear measure of problems on the rear until your tires are too far gone to save or something major fails.