Smorris

We were showing the car to a friend yesterday, and I realized we have staggered wheel sizes with the 4Matic. 225/45 on the front and 245/40 rear. With every other AWD car I've had, it is critical to have the same size tires all around. While the two sizes are the same in circumference, (835 revs/mile) they will eventually wear differently.

Is the diff smart enough to figure this out?

vcruiser

i need to know this too because
for the summer im gonna get other wheels
and i want them bigger in the back. will anything get messed up?

peabers

I just realized the same thing this morning. I was thinking to myself that the rears look awfully wide (coming from 235's all-around on my TL). According to the discussions so far, I was expecting 225's all-around on my C350W4M.

vcruiser -- you didn't mention if you are getting a 4matic. If not, there should be no issues with staggered widths.

vcruiser

oh sorry man.
yeah i'm getting the 4matic.
and i want to get staggered!

CarGuru

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't 4-Matic a haldex or torsen type All-Wheel drive? In basic terminology there is a progressive biases to the rear wheels, and quite a bit of slip is required to engage the front? At any rate I believe staggered wheel sizes puts a parasitic difference on the drivetrain.


-Ryan

Stiggs

I was told at the dealership you can't have staggered wheels on the 4Matic.

amdeutsch

You've been around long enough to know better than to post stuff like that. Especially with pdf links to wheel fitments posted all over the W204 forum.

aowhaus

The website and brochures states that the wheels for the 4matic are all of the same width. And also that the optional 18" AMG wheels are not available for the 4matic (probably because they are staggered).

chilledbenz

The staggered width wheels are not an option from the factory as they would presumably tear up the differental in the car. The w204 uses the new version of 4matic which is a 50/50 split, its no longer a 40/60. If you use the MB build your own site, you can get 18' AMG wheels that are the same size front and back, but it sets you back 3k instead of the 1k for the factory option.

peabers

Canadian brochures state staggered wheels for both the C350 and C350W4M. But P225 all around for the C300 and C300W4M. They also list C230's and C230W4M's with P205 (but they are not selling the vehicle -- yet).

cdn_mb

My C300 4Matic Sport has different front and rear tire sizes .

front: 225/45 R 17
rear: 245/40 R 17

I think the C300 4Matic Luxury would have the same sizes front and rear.

peabers

So the specs on the web-site and brochure are wrong...

http://www.mercedes-benz.ca/index.cfm?id=6541

cdn_mb

[QUOTE=peabers;2488195]So the specs on the web-site and brochure are wrong...

I think those specs reflect the C300 Luxury model, since the Sport package is a no-charge option. They should give more detailed specs for the Sport, but they don't.

ora12

Okay I'm confused. I'm picking my C300 4matic in a few more days and I dread the standard 17s. I was hoping I could later switch it the the 18" AMGs but am I understanding I won't be able to do that as well?

It will be a US model (New York)

MBTex

You can get the 18 AMG's for your car....you just probably won't want to get staggered wheels for them, that's all.

chilledbenz

There is an option for the 18'' AMG wheels under the build your own page for the c300 4matics that says you can get them in the same size for front and rear but it will set you back $3,290 without tires included instead of the $1000 option with tires included on non 4matic cars.

kfm999

Ora12 - did you get yours from MB of Manhattan?

same specs same exact prices?!

ora12

Might as well get aftermarket rims...

peabers

Good point... I completely forgot that the Sport Pkg is a no-cost option for the C300.

Based on the fact that the Sport model 4Matics are coming with staggered wheels, I don't think that you are going to have issues with putting on P245's in the back.