Forum Newbie

[Richie]

Howdo all!!

I'm Brand new to the whole Merc "scene". My Dad and myself are about to become the proud owners of our first ever classic 1974 350 w116.
I've no doubt I'll have lots of questions as time goes by but the one is like answered first is what correct size and where to get a set of "Mexican Hat" alloys for her?

Thanks in advance

[daantjie]

Welcome

I am sure the UK guys will chime in but you can always score a set of nice "Bundt" (also know as "Baroque" in EU) style wheels on ebay for the most part.  If you want to open up more tire choices you can go for the 15 inch ones.  BTW you can still find the real deal Fuchs brand ones from the MB Classic Centre.  Not cheap though.

Cheers

[robertd]

Welcome Richie

Your 1974 W116 is most likely a 350SE the longer wheelbase "SEL" was made in much lower volume, total of only 4,266 compared to 51,100 for the "SE"

Being a V8 it left the factory with 6.5 X 14 inch wheels. they were either Steel with metal hubcaps or the Alloy Bundt's of the same size.
you can still find the correct size tyres for these being 205/70 X14 but availability is limited. 

As daantjie indicated if you upgrade to 15inch wheels there will be more choice of tyres although the 15" Bundts will cost you a lot more.

enjoy the hunt

Rob

[ptashek]

Welcome Richie.

I too have to say that you'll be better of long term in terms of tire choice with 15", than 14". It's a bigger upfront cost, but pays off within the second set of rubber. Well, unless you want to go with the original Fuchs 15" alloys, then it's about 4x the price of ATS or ARC copies (both of which are good).

If originality is key, stick to the 6.5x14H2 rim, with a 205/70VR14 tyre on it. These are plentiful on eBay, and the smaller Germany-specific eBay Kleinanzeigen. You should expect to pay no more than 350EUR for a perfect set of four original, forged Fuchs 14". Anything above that is overpriced, so negotiate hard! A very good set of four ATS or ARC in 15" is about 750 - 850EUR.

I'm driving my 450SE on 15" ARCs, with Dunlop Sport BluResponse tires in 205/65R15, and would not switch back to the 14". But there's as many opinions as there's owners. The original rims, both 14" and 15" are forged, while the ATS and ARC copies are cast. They do provide different road feel and handling. Ideally try both and decide which combo suits your needs best.

[floyd111]

Without wanting to crash the party, my 2 cents would be not to think about alloys at this stage, but reserve whatever disposable cash you have available and drive the car for a while, and rid it from the (maybe) costly array of issues you will very likely find.

[Richie]

One more question and I'm sure it's an obvious one for u guys but not for me. Can she run on unleaded ??

Thanks

[robertd]

No Problemo Richie,

Mercedes has been building their motors to accept unleaded from the late 1960's

the valves on you 350 are sodium filled to better disperse the heat of combustion and the valve seats in the heads are also hardened to withstand the higher impact of burning unleaded.

no need for additives or lead substitutes

cheers

Rob

[Richie]

That's great. Thanks Robert.

[ptashek]

One more question and I'm sure it's an obvious one for u guys but not for me. Can she run on unleaded ??

Thanks

Yes, these engine were specifically designed to run on premium unleaded, or standard unleaded with slight ignition timing changes.