hi - first post (please be gentle if this is the wrong forum)

I'm currently looking into maybe buying new wheels for my 1987 300E (w124). I think maybe this time I'll go for new wheels instead of second hand - and I found this site with genuine(?) MB wheels for all models Mercedes E Class 124 alloys | Alloy Wheels Direct Ltd

Thing is - I want the car to be close to original. I want 15" and ET must be min 49, or according to norwegian regulation (max 15mm change in totalt) I can run ET42.

That narrows it down to either the 15-hole rims which I have today (but they are not straight(?) any more) or the 8-hole rims. Does any one know whether the 8-hole rims were available in 1987? I'd love to get my hands on a option brochure for 1987 if such a thing existed.

Larry

I'm no wheel expert but if you're wanting to keep an original look to your car your best choice will be the 15" 8-hole wheels. When I wanted to upgrade my '87 300D a few years back I went that route and got lucky and scored a very nice used set of factory 8-hole wheels from a '94 E320 on Ebay. They did wonders to the car (see pics below). They fit perfectly with no adjustments needed. I forgot what the offset on those wheels were but rest assure they fit my car fine, and as long as you get factory (or genuine) wheels there shouldn't be fitment issues on your 87 300E. That website you provided DOES say they DON'T sell 'Replica' wheels and only 'Genuine' products but it wouldn't hurt to double check with them or find some reviews if possible.

Here's my (now sold) '87 300D with the 8-hole wheels:

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*1985 300CD, 214K miles, Pearl Black/Palomino MB Tex-Stuck in FL
*1985 300D, Smoke Silver/Palomino MB Tex, 280K miles--Dad's car--Sold May 2015
*2014 VW Jetta SportWagen TDI Premium Pkg, Platnium Grey w/Black VW Tex- Dad's new car- 55k
*2017 Chevy Cruze LT Diesel, Silver w/Black leather, 26k miles, brother's new car
*2017 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 Crew Cab, Pepperdust w/Black leather, 15k miles, my new ride

Thanks. I agree the 8-hole wheels look good. I kinda get the feeling they are newer than 1987, not that it matters THAT much, just being curious.

Your (ex-)car looks very good BTW!

larsko, I have the painted 8-hole wheels on our 1991 300CE and like DieselClan's car they dress it up nicely, not to mention they are much easier to clean/maintain. As you mention 8-hole wheels were not introduced until 1993 or so, but they still look fine on any 124 car. You can buy new 8-hole wheels at your local MB dealer if you want to go that route.

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Fred Hoelzle

The 8-hole wheels was not available in 1987.
But looks good on all w124s.

The 15" 8 hole wheel was introduced on the W124 line with the 92 400E.
It was exclusive to the 400E until the 94 facelift, when all models got the 8 hole wheel.

The 95 version was polished with a clearcoat, vice silver paint on the 92-94 versions.
The polished version seems much more prone to corrosion and clearcoat failing.

If you are really picky, there are also two versions of the 15 hole "flat face" wheel, forged and cast.
Early production had forged wheels, late had cast wheels. Cast wheels were introduced in 1989.
You can tell the difference by looking closely at the holes, the forged wheels have a larger radius on the four corners of each of the 15 openings.

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

Thanks Jim! Good info. Since last I have found a 1988(?) Special Equipment brochure listing all options. The 15 hole wheels are the only wheels listed. And on the front page they are pictured with the big-round-ish holes. I need those wheels!!

I had an extra set of 8 holers from one of my '92 400e's & put them on my '89 260e & like the above poster stated, they will transform the look of your car compared to the 15 hole wheels. I guarantee you'll like them and they are usually quite a few used ones available for sale at decent prices. Go for it.

The next thing I'm going to try to figure out is whether the 15" AMG Monoblocks (used) that I recently bot will fit the 260e. I'll let you know when I have time to fool around with them.

Commenting on an old thread but...

Does anyone know if the offset is different between the cast and forged 15-hole W124 wheels? Or did that not change?

(EDIT: After some searching, I found the forged early W124 15-hole wheels are 6.5Jx15H2 ET49. Which is suitable for my purposes on a 1988 190E looking for an intermediate upgrade from the stock 6Jx15H2 ET49 cast 15-hole wheels.