TheVazha

In my past experiences with the E55, I found that 19" wheels suited the car PERFECT. It looked great and retained most of the performance.

What is the common consensus on the CLS55? I currently have 20's and they look amazing. The performance is great too. Is there a world of difference between 19's and 20's on the CLS that is as noticeable as it is in the E platform? What I mean is that on the E, there is a night and day difference between running 19's and 20's. Just by looking at the CLS, the 20's seem at home.

What's your experience been?

Also, can we get some pics with 19's??

5280CLS55

Don't do it! 20" ftw

djrabbi

I had 20" for 1 day, was scared **** less as it feels like I will blow out the tire ASAP. But then again that is NJ. I would just get OEM 19s and slam that *****.

tuomkiti81

"

tuomkiti81

Here is a picture of my cls 350 cgi. Wheels are amg VI 19"

TheVazha

Thanks for the discussion guys, and thanks tuomkiti81 for posting a picture (LOVE the 350 CGI).

I think I'll need to have a set of both 19's and 20's. Just need to decide what to sell in order to afford it!

95viper

I have been spinning in circles for months on wheels and just sold my 20's because I couldn't fit a 35 front 30 rear sidewall setup.

My latest plan is 19x8.5 and 19x10 with 245/40/19 26.7 diameter and 285/35/19 26.9 diameter running stock height as this diameter will fill the gap nicely.

CLSED550

Same here I decided to sell the aftermarket wheels and decided to go CLS63 wheel. Factory strength/durable finish with decent sidewalls of a 19inch. I am getting to old to stress about bending wheels, And car just looks bad *** and retains the AMG Attitude!

I have a brand new in the box 20" Incurve wheel set sitting in my garage. Going up for sale soon .

TheVazha

Do you think there's as noticeable difference between 19's and 20's as there is between 18's and 19's?

Mbenz528i

I am also very curious about the OP's question, 19s v 20s . My CLS came with 20s and while she looks great, I wonder if I am not missing anything major not having the stock wheels. Considering going back to the 030 wheels.

CLSED550

If your worried about ride comfort then hands down 18" is the way to go. As you go up in size each inch will increase the sensitivity in steps. I have driven all the sizes with a cls and depending on the road conditions big wheels can be a nuisance and annoyance. If you have nice roads you could go with a 20 with minimal difference.
just remember big wheels magnify roads imperfections and road defects including road noise.
If you go from 18 to 20 you will feel a noticeable difference. But if you go from 18 to 19 or 19 to 20 its not as noticeable.

95viper

Great points by CLSED550.

Another factor is whether 245/40/19 & 285/35/19 would be used (which barely fits the front) or if 255/35/19 & 295/30/19 would be used.

Big difference in sidewalls and therefore ride on those.

I am personally going to shoot for the first combo above because it fills the fender gap without being lowered. My debate now is what size rims (I assume 19x8.5 and 19x10) and what offsets.

TheVazha

IMHO, it's nice to have rubber. If you're low or stock height, get as much rubber in there as you can with out rubbing. Performance wise there is a certainty that a 20" wheel will be more sluggish than a 19" wheel. The 19 will be more sluggish than an 18" wheel.

The best combo of performance and looks is the 19" wheel. I think everyone here would agree. The problem with the CLS is that the 20" just looks at home here. So no matter how bad you want to roll the 19" and get all the bonuses of performance and looks, you cannot beat a 20" in the CLS format. I've just realized this in the past two weeks of wheel shopping. In the E, the 19 is IDEAL. It's not so simple on a CLS. The offset on these cars is ridiculous and unfortunately a 19 just doesn't cut it for 100% aesthetics..

E55Jess

Imo keep this wheel on !

95viper

The offset on these cars is ridiculous and unfortunately a 19 just doesn't cut it for 100% aesthetics..

What about 19's with a 245 in front and 285 in back and offset of 20 on each? I was hanging string lines on the fenders yesterday and this seems to be a nice offset to get the edge of the tire just inside the fender.

djrabbi

I have ET15 rear with spacers and honestly think I can make it into ET5.

95viper

ET15 wow. 20x11's? 305/25? If you tape a string to the fender with a weight over the wheel does it touch?

What is your front et?

djrabbi

No that is a stock wheel at 19x9.5 of ET25...put a 10mm spacer in the front. Front ET is 20 with 5mm spacer

95viper

So u r running a 19x8.5 et20 and 19x9.5 et15?
Tire sizes?
I will owe you bigtime if you tape strings above the fenders and see if they touch.

Dumb question...OEM rear is et28. With a 10mm spacer you should be et18.

djrabbi

Ughhhh sorry ET18!

I am running 19x9.5 all around so fronts are ET23 and rears are ET18. And no they don't touch. I have a good 10-15mm before they touch

95viper

djrabbi, One last question I swear. What size tires u running?

djrabbi

255 35 19

295 30 19

Bullwheel

djrabbi,

So you use the original rear wheels also on the front axel?
The 5mm spacer were needed to get clearance inside or to push the wheel out as max as possible?
295/30 on the rear wheels...does it look much different to the original size 285?
Do you have more photos of your car with this setup and would you mind posting?

CLSED550

I have 255 35 19 front and 285 30 19 rear . Factory sizes for CLS63.
I have seen some cls's with 275 rear & 245 up front , looks too small in my eyes.
I like the tires size on my car now, would like to try a 295 on factory wheel. My Tires are potenza re 050a they have nice wheel protector on sidewalls.

P.S. example: when you change from " 285 30 19 " tire size to "295 30 19" it will change the width by one size wider but it will also change the height even though the "profile 30" stays the same. It will be a minimal, but it does change.

Djrabbi post some pics of rear wheel & tires from your car, curious to see how tire fits that size wheel.
Thanks

CLSED550

This is a 305 25 20 & et19 (11" wide) didn't rub , photo was taken a little on an angle, so it appears to stick out. This is as aggressive as you can get with a 11inch wide wheel and a 305. There is no where else to go.