I am considering these used Mercedes wire wheels for my 84 300D.
Any opinions on wire wheels as for the construction and quality. Trying not to make a mistake. They are on craigslist.
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pts/1403027453.html

Thanks for any comments.
Jimmy

Think about cleaning the

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1981 300TD "The Green Lantern"
1980 300TD
1983 300D Euro "China Cat"

Yea , I was thinking about that, that's a con for sure. Might be spending the rest of my life cleaning wheels.

I've seen a few older MBs with those wheels. They look like they belong on a Lincoln, but to each their own.

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Good point

I think they look pretty cool! If you get them make sure you post a pic with them on your ride!

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1982 300 CD "The Shady Lady"
Silver Blue Metallic
Pacific Blue Interior


1984 BMW 633 CSi
Bronzit Beige Metalic
Perlbeige Leather

I think they look OK when I see them on our cars. They are at least period correct.
However, I could never fight through trying to keep those clean.......

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Switch to ceramic Akebono pads - available at the above "Buy Parts" link. My bundts have never been as clean.

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Charles
1983 300D, bought new, 215k+ miles, donated to Purple Hearts veterans charity but I have parts for sale: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-cars-sale/296386-fs-1-owner-83-mb-300d-turbo-rebuild-parts.html

they're not zenith's, but they still wouldn't be too bad. actually they'd look good with whitewall tires and not too much fender gap

they look like western wheels.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

There's a post in this thread with a 123 wearing wire wheels -

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w123-e-ce-d-cd-td/1361608-whos-running-aftermarket-wheels.html

Sixto
87 300D

Hmmm I was going to reply with "why would you put those on your benz?" but after seeing the pic it doesn't look that bad.

Cleaning them isn't a problem if you decide to go with them, just get wheel cleaning acid and let it sit for a FEW SECONDS because that stuff is strong, then rinse and you're good to go!

I can see those rims on a low rider any day jou noe what i'm saeing mai'n?

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2007 BMW 328XI

Just say no.

I've never heard good reports from an enthusiast. You tend to end up with vibrations/wobbles/uneven tire wear - you can never get rid of. I've known a couple old farts who never go over 50 who think they are just fine on their SL's.

Those look heavy. Back in the late 70's early 80s there was a company selling wheels called "True-Spokes". Cadillac dealers pushed them along with vogue tires. I rode in an Eldorado with them, and it's wheels wobbled at low speeds. Most people took them off.

But I suppose quality varied depending on manufacturer. For a couple years Lincoln sold cars with real wire wheels, but I think they had aluminum rims, rather than chrome plated steel. I didn't hear many complaints, but that could be because I didn't know many people who owned Lincolns.

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1979 240D, 4spd manual, Power Sunroof, manual windows, 147k miles, Pastel gray/Black MB Tex.
1991 300D 2.5 - Smokes like it's on Crack!

Wire wheels are very cool, but they have there own maintenance issues... A friend had a '54 Buick Skylark with factory Hayes wire wheels and my mom had a '83 Lincoln Continental with them, too. Cleaning is an issue if you allow them to get dirty and allow that to build up, biweekly cleaning would minimize that along with ceramic or low dust pads. The main issue is spoke tension (adjustment) which if out of specifications will cause wheel wobble, you will need to find a wheel shop that knows how to adjust them (since they are rare wheels even in the '50's and 80's good luck finding an oldtimer that can do this!). If your not putting them on a daily driver go for it, otherwise pass.

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'03 E320 Sport. Bril Silv/Gray, Active vent, heated, Active Bi-Xenon, 17” whls, Wht gauges, Blk birdseye, Airmatic, and Pano roof.
'83 300D "Katherine" Anthracite Grey/Java 151,000 miles Blown Engine RIP - rust free car - SOLD

Mein Auto ist umweltfreundlich!

(Oo{=|=}oO)