So I finally started modding my car and I understand why everyone goes for such monstrous tires.

I'm thinking I want 295s on a 19" wheel... And after some research I see some say 295/245 some say 295/255? How thick of a sidewall?

 

285/30/19 and 255/35/19 are a good combo. When you go 295 you're stuck with 30 series bring 2% taller than oem and 25 series being 2% shorter.

 

If it's 2% taller what is the result?just a speedo that's off? Don't a number of folks run 295 or 305 on here?

 

What width wheels and offsets are best for the 285/30/19 and 255/35/19 combo?

 

If the front and rear are too far off you'll have ESP issues. Unfortunately I don't recall how much of a diameter difference will cause the fault.

 

9" fronts, 10.5" rears. Someone else will have to chime in on offsets since I no longer remember that either.

 

well i run a 275/35/19 in the rear and no fitment issues. and run a 255/35/ 19 in the front.

I am changing it up though. Going with a 255/35/19 front with a 285/30 /20 rear.

 

I'm running
275/30/19 on a 9.5" in back
245/35/19 on 8.5" up front

with some room to spare

 

Bagman, what make/model wheels are those?

 

Sonic tuning st181

 

I'm running the exact same sizes

 

My former SL55/CLS55 19" wheels that came with those tire sizes are:
Front: M-B # A2194011502 19x8.5 ET25
Rear: M-B # A2194011602 19x9.5 ET28
Most Tire Brands say the:
255/35/19 should be on 8.5"-10" wheels,
285/30/19 should be on 9.5"-10.5" wheels.


When I bought my E55 in Texas, it had:
Front: 235/35ZR20 on 20x8.5 ET32 with 1/2" spacers with 8/32" tread,
Rear: 275/35R20 on 20x10 ET43 (no spacers) on rear with 6/32" tread.
Those tire specs said fronts were 26.5" diameter (stock 18" tires were about 25.7"), and rear was 27.6" diameter (stock 18" tires were about 25.9") - these 20" rears were about an inch larger diameter than the fronts!!
Speedometer was off about 3 MPH at 60 if I remember correctly, but no issues with ESP.

Shortly after, I purchased as set of SL55 OEM wheels with Pirelli P Zero Summer tires:
Front: M-B # A2194011502 19x8.5 ET25 with 255/35R19 rated 25.4" diameter (Continental and Michelin spec their 255/35ZR19 at 26.0" diameter.)
Rear: M-B # A2194011602 19x9.5 ET28 with 285/30R19 rated 25.7" diameter,

Most brands state the rim range for 285/30ZR19 should be 9.5"-10.5", and 295/30ZR19 should be 10.0"-11.0", but others have put 295/30s on the 19x9.5" wheels. Some have put even 305s on the rear, so I want to try going with rear 295/30ZR19, and stay with front 255/35ZR19 when the winter wheels come off (both 26.0" diameter - just .3" larger diameter than the original 18" tires.)

P.S.
pdjv answered my question of if he had tried mounting his SL55's rear 295/30ZR19 PSS onto the rear of his 2011 E550? "No - never tried the SL wheel/tire setup on the W212 E class. Just eyeballing it, I'd say they wouldn't clear."

So I'm out in the garage comparing my 'winter' 18x9.5" ET33 wheels (with 285/35R18 Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D Performance Winter/Snow tires), and my currently tireless 19x9.5" ET28 wheels. The outer wheel lip of the 19x9.5" ET28 wheels extends 1/4" further out than the 18x9.5" ET33 wheels, so 'pdjv' may be correct. (The specs state Dunlop's section width on a 10" wheel is 11.4", whereas the Pirelli P Zero Summer 285/30R19 that I had on the 19x9.5 ET28 wheels is 11.2". While the Pirellis are gone and I have nothing currently mounted on my 19x9.5" ET28 wheels, I do believe my Dunlops are closer to the outer fender lips than the Pirelli's were.)

Regarding 295/30ZR19 tires:
the Michelin Pilot Super Sport have a 11.9" section width measured on a 10.5" wheel,
the Continental Extreme Contact DWS Ultra High Performance have a 12.2" section width measured on a 10.5" wheel.

Mounting either of these on a 9.5" wheel WILL pull in the section width somewhat, and MAY be just enough to allow the 10mm wider tread width of the 295, but it WILL BE CLOSE!

Checking further....

 

Youre a fcking genius... So I am going to go for the 295s on my 9.5" wide wheels I think. How do you find the section width of tires?

 

Section width is a published spec from every tire manufacturer. It should be easy to find on their respective websites and tech sheets. The challenge is in figuring out how it applies to your specific wheel choice as it will vary somewhat depending on how wide or narrow the rim is....

I will also tell you that there's probably more to the discussion that simply finding the tire with the "biggest treadwidth" number that fits. I've seen some cars claiming to be running a 295 or even 305mm treadwidth, but the tires they used don't really seem to be all that wide when you see the actual photos of the car. Part of that is from the "stretch" that people do to clear the fenderlip, but I think some manufacturers are being deceptive and don't accurately represent the true section width of their tires.

Case in point: I run a 275mm Michelin PSS on the back of my car and they are absolutely MASSIVE in width when compared to the Conti 265mm tires that were on it originally. (I've posted the photo comparison in the past). I don't know if Michelin is sandbagging their sizes, or if other manufacturers are measuring the width between treadblocks that actually wrap around to the sidewall area (and can't possibly touch the road anyway)

When you look at the E55s with REALLY wide spec tires, it seems like they all use the same 1 or 2 tire manufacturers to get the fitment to work. And I don't think they are tires with a reputation for amazing traction to begin with........ ultimately, you might get "the number" by using certain tire manufacturers, but if traction is the goal you might be better served by picking the stickiest tire you can find and then working on a fitment based on the available sizes they offer.

Just my $.02


-G

 

Thank you Greg for answering the Section Width question, and further comments regarding differences among tire manufacturers. I like using TireRack.com for quick tire specs, reviews, and comparisons.

Another good thread is: https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...res-brand.html

My tire guy (Mike at Mavis - formerly in Rhinebeck, now in Kingston) is bringing me in the following two brands in 295/30ZR19 100Y XL so I can measure "the real thing" with a 9.5" wheel in a day or so:

Continental ExtremeContact DWS Ultra High Performance with Rim Protect.

Michelin Pilot Super Sport (30k mile Warranty as Denroll has spoken well of at least here, although staggered sizes reduces it to 15k miles). I believe these have Rim Protect, too.

So I should have some actual "295/30-19 on a W211" details soon...

 

The DWS run narrow for their size and I believe the Michelins run wide. Even though they're both 295/30, the Michelins will have a bigger footprint.

 

it looks like the hankooks might be just what I need... in some of the other sizes they run smaller than what they list, so while a 295 is suggested for a 10" wide rim, it should fit the 9.5" rim fine.

 

Well, THAT's for sure!!! (A full inch difference!!)

I just measured both 295/30ZR19 yesterday...
Both tires unmounted had a bead-to-bead width of 11.375"...

Continental ExtremeContact DWS: Tread Width was 11.0", Section Width was 12.0"
Michelin Pilot Super Sport: Tread Width was 12.0", Section Width of 12.75"!

I don't believe the 295/30ZR19 will fit my E55 when using my 9.5" ET28 rear wheels (the Michelin PSS being a full inch wider tread than the 295/30ZR19 Continental DWS!!), but if the Michelins all hold to their wider trend, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 in 285/30ZR19 might still be wider than the 295/30ZR19 Continental ExtremeContact DWS.

As it looks now, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 may be my best summer choice (unless I shave off some offset from my rear wheels so I can stuff those massive 295/30ZR19 PSS in there).

They didn't have a 285/30ZR19 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 in stock, so I'll get that measured next week.

(I added a TireRack survey comparison and summary between the Conti DWS, Michelin PSS, and Michelin PS A/S 3 over in the other thread.)

 

An update: After many interruptions, I finally got my new summer Michelins mounted this month.

Even the Michelin 285/30ZR19 would definitely NOT fit my 2005 E55, so I went with Michelin 275/35ZR19 PS A/S 3 mounted on my SL55/CLS55 19" wheels M-B # A2194011602 19x9.5 ET28. I knew even those would be tight, so I rolled the rear fenders with a fender roller - which gave me another 1/4" of outer clearance. Even with that, the RH Rear 275/35ZR19 Michelin on the 19x9.5 ET28 will occasionally rub in Sport 1 mode over a hard bump. (The Pirelli 285/30ZR19 PZero on the same wheels never rubbed - even without the fenders rolled!) These Michelins are about an inch wider than other brands with the same size spec.

The front fenders were tougher with the fender roller as they flex more before the lip starts bending up. I mounted Michelin 255/35ZR19 PS A/S 3 on the SL55/CLS55 19" front wheels # A2194011502 19x8.5 ET25 and I've heard them rub once, so for the wider Michelins, 245/35ZR19 would be a safer size on these low offset front wheels.

 

So the a/s 3's (285/30/19) with (245/35/19) won't work for my 4matic wagon not lowered at all?
Because this is the only tire with the 245 35 front combo that has the same rpm and overall diameter front and back that I could find in a A/S tire in order not to mess with my 4matic..... Et25/et28
Please confirm as I'll be ordering them the 24th