FOR SALE FREE- 15” ‘Alamak’ (8-hole) Wheels and 3 good tires

[a777fan]

Now having 4 more wheels that I’ll likely never use again, and a lack of space means I’m hoping I can find another enthusiast in the Seattle area and we can help one another out.

You: get 4 OE MB wheels and three tires in good shape

I: get to not move these in and out of my storage shed for the rest of my life.

Details:

Must live in Seattle area, or be willing to ‘come and get em’ from wherever you are. Not gonna ship these puppies. You must take all 4.

15” versions of the ‘Alamak’ (aka 8-hole) wheels, standard on all 1992 (?) non-500e w124s. Here are some pics:






The first pic is of the old tire that will defo need replacement. Its from 1998 (I think). The other three are in good shape and have date codes from the 34th week of 2017. They ran great and vibration free when installed. I don’t have any data on the rim with the tire from 1998, but I can’t see anything that would lead me to belive there is anything wrong with it in the ‘out of round’ dept.

Here is the remaining tread depth on the newer tires which seem to have worn quite evenly:



And some shots of the back of one of the rims for all the ‘data’ should you not already have the facts burned into your brain.








I’d really like these to go to someone who can put them to good use. I hope you’re out there!

 

[luckymike]

I'm trying to figure out how to make this work. My wheels are all losing their clear coat. What is the condition of your wheels? I may see if my sister will come over from Bremerton and get them for me.

Why didn't this come up last week?!

 

[a777fan]

I'm trying to figure out how to make this work. My wheels are all losing their clear coat. What is the condition of your wheels? I may see if my sister will come over from Bremerton and get them for me.

Why didn't this come up last week?!

Mike, if you’d like these we can defo make it work. Happy to transport them over to bremerton if your sister is willing to store them for you!

Only seems fitting that you should have them.

Sorry about the miss, timing wise. The install and mount of the new ones only occurred this past Friday.

Just let me know!

 

[luckymike]

That would be awesome, Jon! I'll see if she'll store them and get back to you.

Oh, I guess it's kind of moot if they're not better than mine. What kind of shape are they in?

Edit: The wheel condition, that is.

 

[a777fan]

That would be awesome, Jon! I'll see if she'll store them and get back to you.

Oh, I guess it's kind of moot if they're not better than mine. What kind of shape are they in?

Edit: The wheel condition, that is.

Well the pictures should give you a pretty good idea…

They are the painted variety, not the polished that came on 1995 models. Not sure if that bothers you as much as it does @Jlaa

 

[dionphaneuf]

Nice Mitutoyo calipers, keep meaning to pony up for some myself.

 

[luckymike]

Well the pictures should give you a pretty good idea…

They are the painted variety, not the polished that came on 1995 models. Not sure if that bothers you as much as it does @Jlaa

Ugh. I'm so sorry. I was trying to do this on my phone. Amazing what you can do with a PC and the picture enlarged. Duh.

They look great and I'm interested but first, could you point me to some info about this polished version you've referred to? Since my car came with those 17" AMG wheels, I just bought some factory wheels off Craigslist and I have a feeling they aren't for 1995 cars. So I don't even know what the '95 wheels look like but would like to.

 

[gsxr]

1995 wheels have a machined-aluminum finish with clearcoat. This was only used 1 year, 1995 USA model year only.

@Jlaa's shop in the Bay area can replicate this finish if needed, and they can convert a painted finish to the machined-with-clearcoat along with making them look like new, etc etc.

 

[a777fan]

Ugh. I'm so sorry. I was trying to do this on my phone. Amazing what you can do with a PC and the picture enlarged. Duh.

They look great and I'm interested but first, could you point me to some info about this polished version you've referred to? Since my car came with those 17" AMG wheels, I just bought some factory wheels off Craigslist and I have a feeling they aren't for 1995 cars. So I don't even know what the '95 wheels look like but would like to.

No worries mike! Dave got you pointed in the right direction. Regardless, here is a pic of a ‘polished’ 1995 wheel:



I, personally, prefer the painted look, but for sure up to your personal taste!

 

[kegmankipp]

Almondine with machined aluminum FTW

Shiny + Shiny

 

[Jlaa]

1995 wheels have a machined-aluminum finish with clearcoat. This was only used 1 year, 1995 USA model year only.

@Jlaa's shop in the Bay area can replicate this finish if needed, and they can convert a painted finish to the machined-with-clearcoat along with making them look like new, etc etc.

@luckymike,

If you want the machined finish, Edgar at West Coat Wheel Refinishing is your man as he specializes in machined finishes. He is in Fremont (local to us) which is good because WCWR does not ship wheels - they have more than enough business that they can take locally. Info here:

Where to get wheels diamond-cut (machined-finish) in Northern California | Wheels and Tires

These guys (Edgar and Kaisha) are excellent: https://westcoastwr.com/services/#machined-finish https://www.yelp.com/biz/west-coast-wheel-repair-fremont?osq=west%20coast%20wheel%20repair&q=machined https://www.instagram.com/westcoastwheel/ I wanted to get two of my NEEZ wheels re-finished. The...

www.500eboard.co

 

[luckymike]

This is such great info.

Jon, I need to research the refinishing cost for mine to see if it makes sense to get and store your wheels. Please don't hold them for me if you have other interested parties and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Emailing pics to Edgar at WCWR tomorrow.

 

[luckymike]

@a777fan Edgar wants $180/wheel to refinish our wheels. I think I'll just hold on everything. I so rarely get up to WA these days.

Great of you to offer these wheels and I hope you can find someone to give(!) them to.

 

[LWB250]

That price is pretty much spot-on for refinishing our wheels. I've got a guy in Tampa that I've used a couple of times that does amazing work, and prices average $150-$200/wheel depending on the finish and style.

Refinishing these wheels with the appropriate paint is pretty easy to do as a DIY project. I've done these and bundts a number of times with excellent results using a rattle can, believe it or not. This style is easier than the bundts because it's relatively flat.

If the existing finish is "tired" but not beat up, you can clean and repaint over the existing finish. Get a cheap deck of playing cars and use them to mask the tire but sticking them in the bead around the wheel. Otherwise, bust the tires off and have them media blasted. There are several places that sell the appropriate wheel paint, I used Würth. After painting them, top coat with MinWax Spar Varnish (matte finish). It does a great job of protecting the finish from the elements and will withstand UV and temperatures the wheels can experience from things like hard braking.

These are one of my favorite MB wheels after the classic color-keyed metal wheel covers of the 50s - 70s.

Dan

 

[Jlaa]

That price is pretty much spot-on for refinishing our wheels. I've got a guy in Tampa that I've used a couple of times that does amazing work, and prices average $150-$200/wheel depending on the finish and style.

This $180/wheel price in Fremont ($5 increase from earlier in the year) is for CNC lathing of wheels and refinishing machined finish wheels. Does the gentleman in Tampa do machined finish wheels too?

 

[LWB250]

This $180/wheel price in Fremont ($5 increase from earlier in the year) is for CNC lathing of wheels and refinishing machined finish wheels. Does the gentleman in Tampa do machined finish wheels too?

Yes, I believe they do. It's am amazing operation with about 10 employees in a big building. They do lathing, repairs of damaged and cracked wheels, etc., etc. Glenn's Wheel Polishing and Repair. I highly recommend. They did a strip, truing and repaint of a set of W124 400E "Special Edition" wheels a couple years ago, and they looked brand new when I got them back. There weren't even any nicks or evidence of wheel weight clips on the edges - they welded them up and machined them out. I think it took them all of two days to do them.

Dan

 

[Jlaa]

Yes, I believe they do. It's am amazing operation with about 10 employees in a big building. They do lathing, repairs of damaged and cracked wheels, etc., etc. Glenn's Wheel Polishing and Repair. I highly recommend. They did a strip, truing and repaint of a set of W124 400E "Special Edition" wheels a couple years ago, and they looked brand new when I got them back. There weren't even any nicks or evidence of wheel weight clips on the edges - they welded them up and machined them out. I think it took them all of two days to do them.

Dan

Wow Great stuff! That's two great resources for machined finish wheels then!

My big thing is that there are lots of places here that say they do machined finish wheels --- but when you watch their operation, you realize that they do the lathe part by hand. That leads to variability and inconsistency. Not so many places laser-scan in the face of the wheel first before CNC-lathe operations.

 

[LWB250]

Wow Great stuff! That's two great resources for machined finish wheels then!

My big thing is that there are lots of places here that say they do machined finish wheels --- but when you watch their operation, you realize that they do the lathe part by hand. That leads to variability and inconsistency. Not so many places laser-scan in the face of the wheel first before CNC-lathe operations.

I can't vouch for the process they use for refinishing machined wheels, but I do know that they are the go-to for all the dealers. As I said, I was very pleased with the work they did on the Special Edition wheels I had them refinish for me.

Dan