no you don't annoy me,but read (R-E-A-D) my posts carefully. You will notice I say that the difference in Driving feel is what I am alluding too ( word not too big for you is it?). I don't care if the owner is wanting to fit steel wheels or why but I am attempting to tell him ( and you have spent far too much time on Forums so you won't know yourself) is that the car will not feel as nice to drive when he DOWN GRADES to steel wheels. Whether or not you feel I am attacking him or you for your personal tastes is not the issue here. What is going on is that you are a self opinionated cyber bully who needs to turn the PC off and get a life outside of your own crappy little world and stop labelling people and judging others . I am only here to offer advice based on real experience and if that is too much for you to bear well,thats just too bad.
Am I still annoying you? great!!

Thanks MTUpower! Your right; I just happen to think the steel wheels with their painted hubcaps look better.
And mercmad6.3, I can't feel that the alloys are any better unless I push the car, and I don't do that very often. But of course Your right about the unsprung weight. For me it's not a big issue though, because I have standard suspension and tires. My guess is that Mercedes brought the alloys to market not only for the improved driving, but also for looks.
It's all about opinions and feeling: I think the steel look better and You think the alloys drive better. Fair enough.

No hard feelings,
Polarbear

Both my W123 240Ds ('81, '82) have OE 14" alloy rims that look like painted steel, with hubcaps. On a W123, they should interchange with the bottlecap/buntd rim without problems, except possibly the lugbolts. I believe the hubcap rims use shorter lugbolts
For Fintail owners wishing to upgrade fom the original 13" wheels/tires, there is an early 14" steel rim used on early Pagoda SLs / early W108 sedans that have the three nubs to accomodate the small hubcaps Mercedes used up to '68

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

You are not annoying me. Your childish attempt at insults are entertaining actually. Downgrade has more than one component in it's meaning- you are referring to the performance aspect of individual rims. There are alloy rims that take hubcaps, but that is not the point. If a person wants to drive a performance car then they will not likely be driving a w123. Your individual knowledge or lack thereof involving MB's is not the point either. Downgrade or upgrade to the thread was originator was based on his personal opinion of the wheels looks, which you failed to comprehend. So go have a vegimite sandwich and a VB, and I'll continue going to work as a captain on this boat ...
"in my crappy little world":

To echo Mark's comment: make sure you get the short lug bolts for the hubcap steel wheels. Threadsize is same as lug bolts for alloy Bundts, but Bundts are thicker and bolts therefore are longer. Putting the longer bolts in front with steel rims is no problem (at least on my car), but in the rear, they will interfere with (hand) brake system.

I went from Bundts to steel wheels with hubcaps on my coupe too. I do not feel a difference in driving (38 year old daily driver cars have enough rattles and squeaks to mask almost anything ) , but do see a massive cosmetic improvement (my personal and also my wife's opinion) . Plus I have less maintenance. The Bundts would blacken up over time from brake dust in the front, whereas the steelies keep the dust hidden behind the hubcaps.

Scrap yards are a good source (still). I got mine for $10 each (with bolts) from local yard and got the hubcaps in the exact same color as my car from Ebay. Did not have to paint a thing, and all in all it was less than $100.

Don't know about W123, but make sure you get the sort bolts. You can ruin your rear brake system with the long bolts.

Bert

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'70 111 280SE/c 3.5 (4 spd manual) - sold
'63 MGB
'73 MGBGT V8

Very cool info, I guess I should ask for early '80's 240D alloy hubcap wheels when I post my WTB posting. Let me know if you know of a place locally to get some though.

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Nathan
'74 280C - gone to a new home for the finishing it deserves.
'64 356SC
'74 914 2.0

did they ever make these in 15" or only 14"?

also, just how wide did they make them?

thanks

Bundt's were made in 15", but they are very rare. I've had a few of them and the center cap seat if quite weak: both of mine were ruined when removing the tire on it.
For everyone's info I bought a set of ALLOY wheels with the lugs and hubcaps in great shape today with two so-so tires and two bare for under $100. No performance decrease and personally pleasing for my wife's w123 300TD.

I have them on my 83 240/300d. I like them a lot. Very light weight which helps the ride and handling. The only drawback is if you slide into a curb on ice, snow or in rain they bend pretty easily.

When my kids were driving my cars I always made sure the right front had a steel rim in the winter if I could.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

[quote=mercmad6.3;2024581]The only alloy plain rims came on W126's and can bought new from mercedes . W108's and W109's never came with any alloy plain rims and Alloy light weight wheels ( bundt) were an option only in the last part of W109-108 production. The Wide steel rims are 6.5 as fitted to my 6.3. I run 225x14" tyres but will soon go to 15's as 14" tyres are being edged out by manufacturers and high performance 14's haven't been made for years.
ALL the large hubcaps are stainless, even the small finny caps were stainless,I have never ever seen a chromed mercedes Hubcap on a post war mercedes.
quote]


Disagree.

Alloy wheels which accomodated hubcaps DID come on the models I mentioned. When I referenced V-8 models, I mean the late production M116/M117 versions, as finding a 6.3 in a junkyard would be a rara avis indeed. My 69 6.3 had steel wheels and stainless wheelcovers. Alloys may well have come on W126 cars as well, but those were pretty much universal in their bundt fitment for USA delivery.

You may of never seen a chromed steel full wheel cover, but I have two sets of them..... They came from a 68 and 69 220D W115. They are obviously chrome over brass over steel, as the chrome is poor and you can see the brass, and the backside is pretty rusty.... None of these characteristics reveal themsleves on the later stainless wheels covers, of which I also have a couple of sets.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

The "bundts" came in 6" wide "standard" version and 6.5" wide "sports handling" version used on the V-8 W107 models.

Also on V-8 models of the W116 and W126 (85 and earlier).
All W123 cars had 6", although I've heard (but never seen) of 5.5" bundts being on the early 4 cylinder cars.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

Stick to boats...it's more your style,and world of knowledge.
Those of us will real world experioence with Mercedes cars will do the real work. You can stick to fishing or posing in the marina.
Heres my a couple of my cars and SOME pictures of the work I do for a living.

Full resto culminating in a 5000km shake down drive over two full weeks



So lets end this ridiculously childish crap with the last word,this is me...


On any day at my work.