123 400 13 02 stamped aluminum rims

[moby dick]

Hi,
I would like to replace the 14X6 steel wheels on my w108 280se with the 14X5.5 or 14X6 pressed aluminum wheels that were optional on some 240d and 300d vehicles- they weigh 11 lbs as opposed 21+ lbs. So far I have 3 14X5.5 wheels that I've acquired from salvage yards one at a time. I am going this route as I want to use my stock wheel covers. To me lighter colored W108s look wrong with anything else.

As I'm about to complete my set, it finally occurred to me that these are 30 year old wheels meant for lighter / smaller W123 cars. Should I be concerned? Would they hold up under a 3500lb W108?
Narayan

[t walgamuth]

I am sure the factory wuould say no....but really, a 240d with all options probably weighs 3500 too.

I have a set on my 123 wagon at the moment.

[Palolo]

From various online sources:

123 240D, 3208#s

123 300TD, 3780#s

108 280SE, 3,400#s

108 300SEL 6.3, 4,000#s

Given those weights, it would appear that a wheel made for the 123s would have plenty of safety factor built in (especially given it is MB we are discussing) to handle the few extra pounds of a 108. I mean, imagine taking mother-in-law in the 123... That gets you very close to 108 weight right there. Add her sister Philomena and Uncle Herbert in the back seat and you're approaching 6.3 territory.

FWIW, I have a set of 14x5.5" stamped alloys wearing 195/75-14s on my 108 as my alternate set of wheels for when I take off my primary 15x7" alloys with 225/60-15s. They seem to work just fine, and I highly doubt they will fail me, but heck I'm just a shade tree car enthusiast.

[moby dick]

Thanks. I guess I should go by the max weight too. Since my w108 won't be fully loaded, it will probably be comparable to a fully loaded 240D. These wheels will also lower the rated curb wight of the w108 by >50lbs, although that weight isn't resting on the wheels...

[moby dick]

Update: I cleaned up 2 of these rims and weighed them. Everything I read on the internet said they should weigh 11 lbs. One rim weighed 9lb 10oz and the other weighed 9lb 14oz. That's much lighter than I thought they were going to be! I used an infant scale that is accurate to 1oz and reads in 1/2 oz increments...

That's very light. Is this aluminum or a magnesium alloy?

[Stretch]

To the best of my knowledge they are aluminium.

Your measurement of 9.9lbs compares favourably with funola's measurement in this thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/wheels-tires/277873-240d-aluminium-rims-2.html