Big H3

I noticed a few posts regarding the subject but wanted to ask you Guru's
about my car; thanks in advance for the patience!


I had a 2005 CLK 500 and hated the offset wheels because it caused abnormal wear on tires.


My wife talked me into buying her a 2009 CLK550 Cabriolet this past week but she wants black wheels. Car currently has AMG 18x8.5 front and 18x9.5 rear.


My question is can I buy 18.9.5 on the front and rear without any modifications or mechanical issues?


I heard I might sacrifice some handling in curves but at 46, we are too old to get too crazy! I just want the same width tires on the rear to get as much traction as possible.


It is about economics and being able to rotate tires every 5-6k miles so they last longer.


Is this a viable option or should I just plan on using the same size wheels that came with the car?


Thanks for any advice you may offer.

mrbobby

I'm on my 3 W208 and W209 and have never experienced any long term rear wheel fast wear. I suspect the alignment is off and before changing the tire/wheel configuration I would do a 4 wheel alignment at either a good Indie or a trustworthy dealer.

Big H3

Thanks Mr. Bobby, appreciate the insight.


We loved the 1st CLK500 we bought back in 06 but it seemed like every gasket on the car started leaking at about the 4 year mark. I suspected it was due to the car sitting on the lot for over a year without being sold; we bought the last 05 they had left.


Oil pan gasket, transmission seals, and several other oil leaks developed and my wife was religious about getting it serviced so it was well taken care of.


She loved that car and I have been on her crap list ever since I got rid of it! I got her the 550 to get out of the dog house and hope that the gasket issue I had with the first CLK was due to dry rotting due to sitting so long.


Have you heard of any gasket issues with these cars? This is only our 2nd CLK so just wanted to check with the pros.


Thanks again for taking time to respond; much appreciated.

lowpost

I think the 9.5 on the front will be too wide.

Since I purchased my car in 2004 I've never had uneven wear side to side, even with my car lowered. My rears do wear faster than the fronts but that's normal.

Yidney

I get 13,000 miles out of a set of rear tires before they are nearly bald. I tend to push away from stops pretty good - no spinning - but I'm not going to drive like grandma just to get a few more miles out of some tires. I just view it as a cost of the ownership, like buying more gas. Your rears will probably wear on the inside first as MBs often have a lot of negative camber, but mostly the torque of the 550 engine tortures them to death.

sweet jones

You can fit a squared 18x9.5 setup but you will sacrifice the front tire size as you will also need at least a 10mm or 15mm spacer to clear the calipers. I fit a 225/35 on my front 19x9.5 but would be able to fit a 235 or 245 with some fender work if you wanted to go that route. I was able to fit mine without any fender modification but that limited me in what tire sizes i was able to fit. I also am using a spacer in the rear so i also converted to wheel studs just to make things easier. I attached some pictures so you can get an idea of how a 19x9.5+20 with a 225/35/19 looks and fits on the front of the W209.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask and just send me a private message. I am more than willing to help and can share my limited knowledge of what i've tried and works.

mrwhattie

Sweet Jones, may I ask what method you used to convert to wheel studs?

sweet jones

I used a 90mm kit for a BMW from http://www.apexraceparts.com/.

the install was pretty straight forward and easy to do at home as well.