Help.. Complete wheel noob
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
Help.. Complete wheel noob
Im 21 and im very educated in cars in general. i had a 202 for 2 years and did everything on it. The only thing that ever stumped me on it was wheels. For that fact i kept stocks on it for like 8 months and hated it. Then i took the leap and did research on wheels and bolt patterns and all that good stuff and found a set of brabus replicas and got them. i didnt look into what the other specs were besides the 5x112 pattern and i guess i should have because i had nothing but problems. they were very wide, messed with my hubs when i used the stock bolts and replacing a hub assembly later i ended up converting to studs and the whole thing was expensive. So long story short i want to make sure this time. I have had my 203 for about 2 months now. replaced the conductor plate and tensionor pulley. I am saving to get it wrapped because the paint needs work and im horribly ocd. Besides the paint everything is great but i want wheels. a nice wrap wont look as good without wheels. Due to the price of the wrap though im not trying to spend a forture on wheels.i havea deal on some c63 replicas but i want to run everything by you guys to make sure. They are 5x112 and hub centric and thats where my knowledge ends lol then it says they are 18.8.5 correct me if im wrong the 18 is because the are 18s and the 8.5 is the width? looking through the threads it seems 8.5 is the common choice. i will most likely lower it i just dont want any trouble so is there anything else i should find out about the wheels that could help like if i need studs or if i can use the factory lugs which is what i want.
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2005 C230 Sport Sedan
18 inch circumference, by 8.5 inch width, yes. What's the offset?
(Offset is usually listed as a plus or negative sign followed by the number ie. +32 or be listed as ET followed by the number ie. ET32)
(Offset is usually listed as a plus or negative sign followed by the number ie. +32 or be listed as ET followed by the number ie. ET32)
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
Thread Starter
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 173
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
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Joined: Feb 2009
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From: fort worth, tx
06 C230 SS 6spd
It'll work fine only thing is the lug bolt lengths. To measure the size you need what you do is remove a OEM wheel and place a lug bolt in it and measure in mm how much the bolt is sticking out the back side. Using the same lug bolt place it in the new wheel and see much you need to add or subtract to get it to the length you need to match the OEM wheel length. From there you can get the shaft length you need. OEM lug bolt shaft length is 39.9 or 40mm to round up. Radusadirect sells lug bolts for our cars also make sure it's ball seat or acorn for the new wheels. Also from initial start of threading the bolt down it should be 6 full rotates from start to the bolts being tightened.
Stud conversions are cheap now 100 or less and takes like 30mins tops to do now. I did mine and love it because I've gone through too many wheels and got tired of having to buy different lengths.
Stud conversions are cheap now 100 or less and takes like 30mins tops to do now. I did mine and love it because I've gone through too many wheels and got tired of having to buy different lengths.
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Joined: Apr 2013
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
It'll work fine only thing is the lug bolt lengths. To measure the size you need what you do is remove a OEM wheel and place a lug bolt in it and measure in mm how much the bolt is sticking out the back side. Using the same lug bolt place it in the new wheel and see much you need to add or subtract to get it to the length you need to match the OEM wheel length. From there you can get the shaft length you need. OEM lug bolt shaft length is 39.9 or 40mm to round up. Radusadirect sells lug bolts for our cars also make sure it's ball seat or acorn for the new wheels. Also from initial start of threading the bolt down it should be 6 full rotates from start to the bolts being tightened.
Stud conversions are cheap now 100 or less and takes like 30mins tops to do now. I did mine and love it because I've gone through too many wheels and got tired of having to buy different lengths.
Stud conversions are cheap now 100 or less and takes like 30mins tops to do now. I did mine and love it because I've gone through too many wheels and got tired of having to buy different lengths.
great so you think the 35 offset is fine? and i looked up the stock width and i looks like it is 7. so thats an inch and a half more so you dont think it would need spacers? just longer lug bolts?
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From: fort worth, tx
06 C230 SS 6spd
on our cars I usually suggest an offset of +25-+38 on wheels but it all depends on the design of the wheels and if you have the larger big brake calipers that come on the C32 or Sport models. Since you say you have a c320 I'm assuming you don't have the larger calipers so you'll be ok with +35 all around without doing anything except getting the right lug bolts. Most do a staggered setup if they don't have the 4matics with 8.5 in front and 9.5 in rear. Depending if you're really going to lower it or not you'll have to roll the fenders in back but with 8.5 in back you'll have a lot of room in the fender and not have to worry as much like those running 9.5 in rear so you're offset can get pretty low to get a flush look. If you want a flush look the largest front spacer I would recommend is 10mm and in back you can all the way up to 20mm, maybe even 25mm spacers and be ok because since you're running a square setup and not a 9.5 rear you have an extra 25mm of room to work with.
Just make sure you have the correct lug bolt length or you'll mess up the parking brake mechanism.
Just make sure you have the correct lug bolt length or you'll mess up the parking brake mechanism.
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
on our cars I usually suggest an offset of +25-+38 on wheels but it all depends on the design of the wheels and if you have the larger big brake calipers that come on the C32 or Sport models. Since you say you have a c320 I'm assuming you don't have the larger calipers so you'll be ok with +35 all around without doing anything except getting the right lug bolts. Most do a staggered setup if they don't have the 4matics with 8.5 in front and 9.5 in rear. Depending if you're really going to lower it or not you'll have to roll the fenders in back but with 8.5 in back you'll have a lot of room in the fender and not have to worry as much like those running 9.5 in rear so you're offset can get pretty low to get a flush look. If you want a flush look the largest front spacer I would recommend is 10mm and in back you can all the way up to 20mm, maybe even 25mm spacers and be ok because since you're running a square setup and not a 9.5 rear you have an extra 25mm of room to work with.
Just make sure you have the correct lug bolt length or you'll mess up the parking brake mechanism.
Just make sure you have the correct lug bolt length or you'll mess up the parking brake mechanism.
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From: fort worth, tx
06 C230 SS 6spd
With the rears, they actually have different pad numbers to adjust the height of the car. The pads range from 1, being the thinnest to 4 the thickest. So you can pick up the rear with a 4 pad if you don't have it. To tell you can pick up the rear and remove the wheel and if you look at the top of the springs you might be able to see some little dimples or nipples. You can count to see how many you have and that's the pad number.
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
With the rears, they actually have different pad numbers to adjust the height of the car. The pads range from 1, being the thinnest to 4 the thickest. So you can pick up the rear with a 4 pad if you don't have it. To tell you can pick up the rear and remove the wheel and if you look at the top of the springs you might be able to see some little dimples or nipples. You can count to see how many you have and that's the pad number.
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
alright yea that sounds good so you think 235/40 in the back and 225/40 up front. will the front stretch or is 225 the right size and 235 will just be fatter.
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From: fort worth, tx
06 C230 SS 6spd
225/40 does a very light stretch. believe I have pictures when I had cls wheels on in my thread when I had 18x8.5 with 225/40/18. it'll give the car a good even look from side view with the natural forward rake the w203s have. plus having a wider tire in back will help with traction more and the rears do tend to wear out faster than the fronts.
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
225/40 does a very light stretch. believe I have pictures when I had cls wheels on in my thread when I had 18x8.5 with 225/40/18. it'll give the car a good even look from side view with the natural forward rake the w203s have. plus having a wider tire in back will help with traction more and the rears do tend to wear out faster than the fronts.
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From: fort worth, tx
06 C230 SS 6spd
yeah I'm mad stretched now... i'm running 18x9 +15 215/40/18 and 18x10 +17 245/40/18 (fixing to do 235/40/18 after the rears go out). pulled and rolled fenders a lot and grinded down bumper tabs.
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: fort worth, tx
06 C230 SS 6spd
if you click on the BUILD in my sig its on the first couple of pages. theres a side shot of the 225/40 on 18x8.5. pics dont do justice how those wheels look on our cars. those and the sl500 5 spoke wheels are nice on our cars.
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
Thread Starter
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Joined: Apr 2013
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From: Treasure coast Florida
96 Imperial Red r129 SL320 and 17 MK7 GTI
