louie2637

I recently purchsed a package set of staggered 18" MANDRUS MILLENNIUMS (wheels and tires, mounted and balanced) for a 2001 CLK 320 (W208). Took them to the Benz dealership to get put on as I need to get wheel alignment, oil change and state inspection. Turns out that dealership says that the rear tires and wheels rub on the inside of the car. Question is - has anyone had this experience before and if so, how did you fix it? The front ones are fine and YES I would like to keep the staggered look. Any help/advise is greatly welcomed!

Setup:
2 front 18X8.5 (225/40/18)
2 rear 18X9.5 (255/35/18)

ROLLNNN

Do you mean that it rubs the inner wheel well? you just have to do some fender rolling and/or trimming depending on how bad it rubs.

Do you know what the offset of the wheel is?

W203E35

Inside? You mean not on the fender right? I would say then you will need spacers. But if you are rubbing (fenders) then you will need to roll the fenders as Roland mentioned.

are you rubbing here?

0/--------0

or here?

/0---------0

louie2637

I'd rahter not do spacers. Mandrus claims that they specialize ONLY in MB wheels so this strikes me as odd. I haven't seen exactly what the problem and am only going by what the dealer is stating. The folks who I bought the rims from state that they have heard of these issues on the CLK models and suggested that I take it to a regular tire shop and have then "push in" or "bang in" the inner wall of the rear wheel-well. Before I do that, have you heard of such a thing and heard it worked?

W203E35

They might specialize in MB wheels but different MBs have different Offsetts. I honestly have not heard of someone bang in the inner wall of the rear wheel well. But how much do they have to bang it in to make it fit? Was it rubbing like crazy? I personally would go with spacers but if you don't want to take that route then your only option is to do the "banging in the wheel well" but I personally wouldnt do that. What if you change your mind later and get different rims? Atleast with spacers you won't have to touch the car.

Can anyone else chime in?

W203E35

By inner wheel well you mean this right?



0/--------0

================================

If it is rubbing here (look below) then you need to roll the fenders.

/0---------0

(where the red slash is that's where it's rubbing)

rachmaninoff_2

I've spent a long time searching for an answer to my wheel issue, but couldn't find it anywhere. Hopefully you can help. I have an 02 C240 and I bought 17" OEM wheel/tires from a 2009 C300 4 matic sport. My mechanic says my bolts need to be a different size. What do I need to order and do I need anything else?
225/45r17
245/40r17
Any expert advice will be appreciated!

Glyn M Ruck

Ask FrankW - you are going to need spacers approx 10mm all round.

FrankW

W204 has way shorter bolts then W203 and they are 14mm bolts. you would need spacers front and rear. most likely 15mm spacer on the front and 10mm in the rear.

I would suggest just sell them and get something that fit better.

FrankW

what offset.

W203E35

Hey Frank, how about Louie's question. Have you ever heard of Banging in the inner wheel well? If the wheels are rubbing is there enough space to bang in the wheel well? I don't think this would solve the problem will it? What do you think?

FrankW

when you have offset that is too high that makes the wheel sink into the wheel well too much. it would rub on the wheel well carpet when suspension travels. can also be caused by if the car is lowered and it has crap load of negative camber.

who the hell bangs on the inner wheel well? get spacers, fix the camber, or get different wheels.

LinDenKid

NegroC230

I am about to purchase a set of 19" wheels, is 32 front and 35 rear correct offset for our cars? wheels width are 8.5 front and 9.5 rear...thanks....after looking for first 10 pages on " all you need to know about wheels" i couldnt find an answer to my question...

glocati

Those are good offset numbers. You should be fine and you should clear big brakes as well.

I am runnnig the same offsets with my 18x8 and 18x9.5's and am clearing coilover perch.

neofelis

I am running 8.5 +30 and 9.5 +33 without problems and still have a little room to play with. You are fine with those offsets

NegroC230

thank you guys!

FrankW

please ask the question in the wheel thread if you've already "read" it.

and YES, the answer are in that thread. I know because I answered'em.

SunnyRayToronto

I'm no expert,... but here's my advice anyway,...

Mercedes C-class (W203) have two bolt sizes:
-long- M12x1.5 thread, R12 ball seat, 39.9 mm shank, 17 mm Hex (for OEM alloy wheels)
-short- M12x1.5 thread, R12 ball seat, 20.6 mm shank (for winter "steelies")

Mercedes W204 (2009 C class) uses:
M14x1.5 thread, R13 ball seat, 26.7mm shank, 17mm hex

In addition to what FrankW says about shorter bolt size and different thread,... the ball seat are different as well. W203 have R12 ball seat which have 12mm radius like an American quarter. W204 have R13 ball seat which have 13mm radius like those odd US dollar coin (with indian woman and child) that nobody uses. If you use bolts with R12 ball seat on wheels requiring R13 ball seat, the bolts ball seat will be too small for the ball seat area of the wheel and will not hold your wheels properly. You can get wheel vibration at high speed and hard cornering and eventually bolts breaking off.

Your ideal bolt would be:
M12x1.5 thread (to fit your W203), R13 ball seat (to fit your 17" OEM wheel/tires from a 2009 C300 4 matic sport), shank size would be about 26.7mm plus spacer thickness (but do confirm that length of threaded end of new bolt sticking out of wheel & spacer is same length of threaded end of old bolt sticking out of W203 wheels).

This thread might have some more info for you:
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...55-wheels.html

If you are still trying to figure out where spacer thickness numbers come from, look at your offsets:
http://www.mercedeswheels.net/
http://www.alloywheelsdirect.net/inf.../mercedes-benz

phanwill

If you're intrested call me at 818-335-5329 or email me at phanwill@hotmail.com $1000 obo
Local pick up only I won't ship. I'm in upstate NY.

butthead713

haha well let me strt off by sayin welcome to mbworld.org

its funny how ur first post is a thread and ur thread is something u wanna sell lmao.

but neways y do u want to sell them?

BigBodyBenzC240

Have you ever thought about changing the look of those wheels by painting the faces black and keeping the chrome lip? But anyways bump for a good price. GL on the sale.

butthead713

black would look good on those rims.

Emin

lol, how are you in NY with an 818 area code?

krisv420

We could all say the same thing about you... Hmm

call him out =P