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16 vs 15" Bundt Wheels - Does anyone have any experience with them?

Started by Neil4speed, 31 January 2022, 03:46 PM

BMA

I will definitely order the 16" Maxilite (glossy turned) and I like them a lot. My car is also 172 anthracite and as I just saw above the anthracite car with the 16", it even has amplified my choice. Car looks even stunning with this rims!

Price and quality are excellent and I can increase comfort and safety with modern tires.
I still have the original 14" one with that awful Michelin tyres. In Germany you pay for these original old school tyres 500,- € each! Sorry, that is hilarious.

I will go with my 6.9 in front with 7j x 16 with 205/ 55/ VR 16 tyres
and in the back with 8j x 16 with 225/ 50/ VR 16 tyres

...and soft tyres, in order getting the 6.9 power accordingly to street! :-)

Best Regards,

Björn
happy having finally a 6.9 # 7271 in my garage, ...so nice to cruise!

BMA

Quote from: BCK1963 on 19 April 2022, 12:55 PMEven in Euro the price is still 6-digit:  109.000 €.
I had a look at the car on the Techno Classica. Admittedly in very good condition. In particular the new paint is stunningly even without any orange peel surface.
But there is nothing special about the car which the ad or the salesguy would have mentioned: No restoration, no celebrity ownership, etc.

Exactly that 450 SE car was offered in Germany at mobile.de some month ago,  I spoke with the seller, it is a one hand car and the seller is a trader for classic cars, who organised the new paint, new rims and tyres and some repairs and new chrome parts. It was offered to me under 40.000,- € , which is a reasonable price for that beautiful 450. I refused, because I don't like the automatic shifter on the steering wheel, no Air condition.......and not a 6.9  ;D

Kind Regards, Björn
happy having finally a 6.9 # 7271 in my garage, ...so nice to cruise!

CA116

Just adding onto this thread, I also recently updated to 15" Maxilites (Maxilite Barock Style Wheel 7 x 15). The old wheels needed refurbishment and finding 14" tires didn't make sense to me. The Maxilite rims paired nicely with a new set of Michelin Defender T + H 205/65/15 tires.

The comparison photo shows a noticeable difference in the aesthetics; I wish I could have a true forged 15" Fuchs version but it seems the last known supply went through the MBCC a couple years ago. As a compromise for better/modern tires, these seem great so far.

Importantly, I am careful about torquing the lug bolts I think (72 foot pounds, I think?) as without the steel inserts for the lug bolts as on the originals, there is increased risk of damage to the rim if over torqued.
1980 300SD | 684H Pastel Beige | 204 Bamboo

BMA

did you get the center caps with the mercedes star included?
Bergs, Björn
happy having finally a 6.9 # 7271 in my garage, ...so nice to cruise!

CA116

Quote from: BMA on 07 September 2022, 10:13 AMdid you get the center caps with the mercedes star included?

No, I got new caps, lug bolts, and valve stems from MBCC. The MB caps fit and the colors looked right to me, though.
1980 300SD | 684H Pastel Beige | 204 Bamboo

Neil4speed

A very quick photo that I took when it was mounted. I am a huge fan, in person it looks really good - I am using a 225/55/16 all around, pretty close to the factory diameter.


CA116

1980 300SD | 684H Pastel Beige | 204 Bamboo

johnnyw116

Looks great ! And i know in person it would look even better , which ET value are they ?
JohnnyW116

Rolo

Quote from: UTn_boy on 31 January 2022, 06:29 PMYou haven't been looking hard enough.  Pictures are all over google, and here is a link to a thread on this very forum showing pictures:

https://forum.w116.org/interiors-and-exteriors/15-inch-bundts-available-from-classic-center/

Fuchs, the original manufacturer of the Bundt wheel, doesn't make a 16" version.  Only aftermarket companies do, so buy 16" Bundts at your own risk.  16" Bundts will fit on a W116, but may rub the inner wheel wells in the front when turning the steering wheel very sharp.  Spacers would help in this case, and make sure the offset isn't too different or they'll scrape the outer tie rod ends and the outer part of the upper control arms. 

16" wheels will often require a wider tire, too.  Having said that, ride quality will suffer a bit, but to what degree is subjective to the brand of tire and how well the driver is in tune with things like this.  The trade off is that there is more surface area of tire on the road giving better handling.  Traction will suffer when on wet roads, though. 

+1

I ran 15" Gulis from a 560 for 20 years.  There aren't any good 15" available with an aspect ratio and width that keeps the speedometer accurate. I was going to go with 16" Borbet Classic A rims.  Offset and bolt pattern all fit perfectly.  There are a lot of great tire choices in the 225 X 16" size.  Then I started thinking about the additional lateral grip from current high performance 16" tires the factory never anticipated in designing the suspension.  I just replaced all of the front and most of the rear bushings.  Then I discovered Kuhmo is now making a decent 14" tire.  I'm going back to OEM 14" forged rims.

gurrier

Quote from: Rolo on 16 September 2022, 03:01 PMThen I discovered Kuhmo is now making a decent 14" tire.
Hi Rolo,

Could you please expand on the Kuhmo reference

Bill
1973 350SE

Rolo

KUMHO
SOLUS
215 /70 R14

I've had great luck with this brand on other cars.

BMA

Hi Guys,
I recently installed 16" Maxilite wheels. 7j front with 205/ 55 tyres and 8j at the back with 225/ 50 tyres. I am very happy with the result, it looks stunning in my point of view. rims are polished. Driving experience is sharper with less steering play. Feels more confident with the logical downside, you notice more from the street. Only problem we had were some bolts being a millimetre too long, there was a noise in curves, so we had to shorten them and now everything is fine.
Regards, Björn
happy having finally a 6.9 # 7271 in my garage, ...so nice to cruise!

Neil4speed

That looks fabulous! I have soft regrets going for a square set up.

Neil

Mick74

Those 16" look amazing. I may have to take the plunge, especially as my car seems to sit a bit lower than BMA's car, and I have the front AMG spoiler too. I have modern Mercedes 16" alloys, so I'll put those on to check fitting and clearance, and go from there. Thanks for sharing; this has been very helpful.
1979 6.9 #6475