JHouse

I've looked around the net and on the forum a lot, and can't find this info in any comprehensive way, or all in one spot.

I had a bad experience in my youth with a recommended tire/wheel combination that didn't fit, and sliced the hell out of some expensive tires, so I don't want to do that again.

The car has 17" wheels on it now, with 225/45 on the front and 245/40 on the rear. Where do I go to find out what the wheel width for those tires are? (or can I just measure them?)

It handles and rides great, so I really don't need to screw with it, but if I want some updated 5 spoke wheels I guess I would go with 18's just to fill the wheel wells I little more. So what tires would that require to keep from rubbing somewhere? And will the ride get noticeably harsher?

Mka77

I guarantee that if you use the "search".... you will find the exact fit here. Welcome to the group.

dynomite05

Welcome. Search for "wheels" "tires" and "wheels and tires", you should find plenty of info.

JHouse

OK. I searched. More confused than ever. I don't want to drop the car. I don't want to change the suspension. I don't want to the handling or ride to deteriorate. I know it is easy to just tell me to leave it alone. But surely someone has had roughly the same priorities and some specific results.

Here is some of the info I copied:


HRE540, 19/8.5f, 19/10r

HRE is the most popular brand these days, AMG, Brabus, Carlsson (back in 2004)


Given the correct offsets, you should have no problem fitting 19's on the CLK. Wheels size should be 19x8.5/9.5, tire sizes are 235/35/19 and 265/30/19.

I think with 18x8.5/9.5 ET 23-35 you should be good. Depending on how flush you want them you could always use spacers. As for tires, 235/40 and 265/35 is what I use.


18x9.5" +10 265/30/19
18x8.5" +28 235/35/19

you can run 265/35/18 without a drop

Wheel size 19x8.5 front and 19x9.5 rear. Tires are 235/35/19 front and 265/30/19 rear. I have the OEM E63 rims and they look the same as the OP's, but mine are 18". Picked them up from USARIMS, model #615. I bought my wheels from them too. They also go by Eurotech Wheels. These are not C63 reps, they're more like E63/CLK63 reps. I have the OEM E63 rims and they look the same as the OP's, but mine are 18".

The most common wheel size is 19x8.5 front and 19x9.5 rear. The tires are 235/35/19 front and 265/30/19 rear. I am running these now with 10mm spacers all around and have no issues with the fenders. I do rub a bit against the front plastic fender liner on tight turns. That's probably because of the combo of the 10mm spacer, 235 tire, and being lowered on PSS9's. so what is the offset on your wheels? ET25 now with the 10mm spacers. ET35 before.

o clear the bbk, you need to look at the size of the rim and the offset of the rim. For example on the AMG 6 pistons, your rim need to be at least 18" not the 17" stock. As for the offset of the rim, I would think you need at least 30 offset to be safe. It all depending on the rim "spokes" design i guess because, mine 19x8.5 rim with 35 offset wouldn't clear my stock front caliper.

fronts are 7.5 x 17
rears are 8.5x17

you can swap them, you won't rub but you'll have even more understeer than normal, and even less traction when accelerating.

i have the 8.5 x17 on all 4 corners of my car.

How can I verify that increasing the wheel size wont cause me any problems with rubbing while turning and bumps?

http://www.alloywheelsdirect.net/inf.../mercedes-benz

What does it take to get the speedometer set so its accurate after the increase in wheel size?

Keep the diameter of the new tires and wheels the same (with in a small %) as the OEM set-up.

I assume, this was taken into account in the above link.

You can verify as follows.

Example for a 205 55 16

Multiply the tire width by the aspect ratio.

205 x .55 = 112.75

Multiply by 2 (upper and lower side walls).

112.75 x 2 = 225.50

Change the wheel diameter from inches to mm

16" x 25.4 mm/" = 406.4

Calculate total diameter (wheel + both side walls).

406.4 + 225.5 = 631.9

Larger wheels will require a tire with a smaller aspect ratio

JHouse

I don't even know what some of these words mean. Here is part of a chart someone linked to but it is hard to follow because the chart formatting didn't copy over. Is this even the right car (the A/C thing threw me because it isn't a W)?

car type CLK Class (A/C209)

front/front&rear rear only Approved by Notes
size offset tyre size offset tyre

16x7 37 205/55R16 Mercedes-Benz
16x7 37 205/55R16 16x8 32 225/50R16 Mercedes-Benz
17x7.5 36 225/45R17 Mercedes-Benz
17x7.5 36 225/45R17 17x8.5 30 245/40R17 Mercedes-Benz
17x7.5 37 225/45R17 AMG
17x7.5 37 225/45R17 17x8.5 30 245/40R17 AMG
17x7.5 37 225/45R17 17x8.5 34 245/40R17 AMG
17x8 30 225/45R17 17x8 30 225/45R17 Brabus
17x8 30 225/45R17 17x8 30 245/40R17 Brabus
17x8.5 30 225/45R17 17x8.5 30 225/45R17 Brabus
18x7.5 37 225/40R18 AMG
18x7.5 37 225/40R18 18x8.5 30 255/35R18 AMG
18x8.5 30 225/40R18 18x9.5 18 255/35R18 AMG
18x8.5 30 225/40R18 18x8.5 30 225/40R18 Brabus
18x8.5 30 225/40R18 18x8.5 30 255/35R18 Brabus
18x8.5 30 225/40R18 18x8.5 30 245/35R18 Brabus
18x8.5 30 225/40R18 18x9.5 35 255/35R18 Brabus
18x8.5 28 225/40R18 Carlsson
18x8.5 28 225/40R18 18x8.5 28 255/35R18 Carlsson
18x8.5 28 225/40R18 18x10 30 255/35R18 Carlsson RA: 1, 4, 9, 11
18x8.5 28 225/40R18 18x10 29 255/35R18 Carlsson RA: 1, 4, 9, 11
19x8.5 29 235/35R19 19x8.5 29 235/35R19 Brabus
19x8.5 29 235/35R19 19x9.5 35 265/30R19 Brabus
19x8.5 29 235/35R19 19x9.5 35 255/30R19 Brabus
19x8.5 29 235/35R19 19x10 35 265/30R19 Brabus
19x8.5 29 235/35R19 19x10 35 255/30R19 Brabus
19x8.5 28 235/35R19 Carlsson
19x8.5 28 235/35R19 19x10 29 265/30R19 Carlsson RA: 1, 4, 9, 11
Key to notes (FA=front, RA=rear)

• FA1 Bend in and flare the wheelarches
• FA2 Steering limiter required
• FA3 Plastic wheelarch liners require work
• FA4 Flare the wheelarches
• FA5 Front section of wheelarch requires work
• FA6 Replace the plastic wheelarch liner bolts with self-tapping bolts
• FA7 Cut the front plastic wheelarch liners in front of the wheel at full lock
• FA8 Seal the exposed bodywork surfaces
• FA9 Limit steering lock to 15mm at steering mechanism
• FA10 Flare the wheelarches with additional bracing
• FA11 Grind the wheelarches in the housing
• FA12 Plastic wheelarch liners require work (1)
• FA13 Plastic wheelarch liners require work (2)
• FA14 Install 12mm bump limiter - not for code 486/489
• 18 Speedometer recalibration
• RA1 Bend in the rear wheelarch lips
• RA2 Flare the bumper
• RA3 Plastic wheelarch liners require work - seal exposed surfaces
• RA4 Bumper requires work in the rear area of the wheel housing
• RA5 Flanks require work
• RA6 Remove the plastic wheelarch liners
• RA7 Extend the inner wheelhouse to the outer shell
• RA8 Seal the wheel housing
• RA9 Corners of the bumper require work in the area of the bumper
• RA10 Flare the wheelarches
• RA11 Bend the wheelarch lips upwards
• RA12 Plastic wheelarch liners require work in the area of the bumper attachment
• RA13 Wheelarch liner requires work in the area of the damper
• RA14 Paint if necessary

dynomite05

If you want to go with 18's, the most common sizes are 18x8.5 235/40 front and 18x9.5 265/35 rear. Those are the same specs that I run.

Clkboi

Dyno quick questions for you.
i just ordered some Eibach springs from a member here and will install as soon as tey come.

Any idea how much a spring install should cost? Not trying to get raped.

Will the drop require a different tire size for when i get 18" as it would without the drop?

dynomite05

Congrats. I think a decent price for a spring install should be around $150. The tire size should be the same. Stick to the 235/265.

JHouse

Thank you very much. So to confirm: These will be a straight change out with no complications or further work required? Ride not much worse and handling hopefully a little better? Same overall diameter so speedometer is accurate? No rubs? No spacers? No whatever else?

BTW I was looking at new tire I had to have replaces (wife and curb) and Discount tire has the rotation backwards. I also noticed that the two fronts are both Michelins but different types and the rears are Yokohamas. How screwed up is that?

dynomite05

You should be ok with those specs. The offsets of the wheels will also affect rubbing and spacer issue. Since you have a 320, anything ET35 and below should be fine.

JHouse

Thanks very much, and Just googled that to figure it out:

"ET is just the offset. Imagine you are looking down on the top of the tyre; a wheel with a ET of 0 is exactly in the middle of the mounting plane (where the nuts go into). The bigger the ET number the more 'inwards' the tyre is.
Changing ET changes the track, and also messes about with the suspension and steering geometry. 10 mm isn't a /massive/ change though."

dynomite05

Check this link, good info on offsets.

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...-me-crazy.html

JHouse

also found this about offset: http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=101

lowpost

I propose someone start a sticky where we all post our wheel setup specs and 1 pic of our car from a front angle showing how te wheels sit. I'm tired of people PM'ing me for my wheel specs when it's fairly common. don't get me worng, I like to help, but typing the same info over and over again gets a little tired.

Black_CLK

I was thinking about 19x8.5 et35 and 19x9.5 et35 with some 225/40/19 and 255/35/19 I know it stretches a lil but i think it will look good haha

ahmadk

I have 225/40 front and 255/35 rear on my 18s ...

dynomite05

+1. Unfortunately we can't decide what is or isn't a sticky.

JHouse

If the moderators really are after hits, they should encourage informative stickies so that the board can become a useful and widely known resource instead of just a disorganized chat room. Every time I Google a term I end up on that other MB board.

And I'm sure glad I didn't pm anyone.

lowpost

no worries - like tupac said, "i ain't mad at ya". I just keep thinking a page with everyone's specs and setup would be cool.

Clkboi

+1 on the sticky. It would help all of us

JHouse

Update: had discount tire flip the wheel rolling backwards. Took it to a different store and he knew the other manager by name and said he was going to call him up and shame him. I thought that was a good idea.

He tried to sell me some wheels, so I found some 5 spokes in silver that were just about what I was looking for and he said "Nope. Can't do your size or staggered." What kind of tire/wheel store is that?

M-bENZ

lol " i ain't mad at ya"

JHouse

No kidding, it wasn't me. I haven't pm'd ANYONE. REALLY.

I think I want something that looks like this:



Or this:

MANUMB

There is a replica wheel at www.oemwheelsplus.com that looks pretty close. The mb514

I just got it in 18"s, staggered

I put 225/45's and 255/35's as I didnt want any rubbing issues.

I needed 5 mm spacers in the front because of the 35et, and i put 10m spacers in the back (H&R) for looks.

With that set up, I still needed shorter bolts in the rear to clear the e-brake. The stock wheels have ball seat bolts... these wheels also require ball seats.

It took me quite a while of lurking on the boards, reading multiple posts, but still having a wheel/tire shop that was professional and helpful is a must. On paper, with a 10mm spacer in back, I dont think I should have needed shorter bolts, but I did.

JHouse

Great info. Extremely helpful. Thank you very much.

May I ask what year your car is? I have seen some vague indications that the 04-05 are a little different than the later models as far as space available for tires/wheels. Can anyone affirmatively confirm or refute this?