Hello everyone,

Are there 16" wheels for a 2012 C300 Sport in US?

My wife has been starting to complain the ride is too harsh. Without getting a new car I think getting 16" will make her happy. But I am having a hard time finding a set to fit. It seems some Euro W204 came with 16" wheels but not sure if they would fit on a Sport model. I also saw the W203 came with 16" wheels, but again not sure what would fit 2012 Sport, you know making sure they clear the rotors, proper back spacing, etc...

I know this is the exact opposite of what many of us try to do going from 17" to 16" but if anyone has done this, it would be a huge help if you could share your story with me.

thank you - Joe

I went from AMG 18s to 17s with Pirelli Centurato tires and the difference pleased my wife greatly. So downsizing can work very well. Almost all Mercedes wheels use 5 x 112 bolt spacing, so the main compatibility variables are tire diameter and offset. Tire diameter is critical in front for clearance under the spring perch. The offset is not as critical, it simply locates the wheel and tire relative to the wheel hub. A simple way to evaluate is this formula:

Wheel width x 25.4 mm/inch / 2 - offset (also known as the "ET") = how far the outside edge of the wheel is from the hub.

For example, the outer edge of a 7.5" wheel with an offset of 45 is 50.25 mm from the hub surface. Knowing this you can compare to any wheel or wheels you might be considering to check where the outer edge of that wheel falls. In my case, my OEM wheel was 51.60 mm from the hub, so going to a 7.5 / ET 45 meant I would be only about half a millimeter different. Being within a few millimeters of an OEM fitment is close enough to ensure no interference with the fender (or anything else) and to look virtually the same.

There are a zillion used Mercedes wheels and wheels sets on EBay, Craigslist, here on the Marketplace, etc. And by all means, look at the tire types and ratings on TireRack. There are some all season tires like our Pirellis that have dramatically better ride and 'comfort' scores than ordinary tires.

Tires go a long way, maybe yours are starting to wear out

How long have you had the car? If you had it for awhile and everything was fine until recently, maybe it is soemthing in the suspension that might need to be replaced. I have the OEM 18" AMG wheels and I find the ride pretty compliant, but everyone is different. I would think if you are riding on 17" wheels it would be even more so. But, if the wife isn't happy.................

My came with 17 inch wheels and ride was silky smooth , now I have 19 inch and it still rides well , maybe if you try downflate tyres a bit it would help. My 17 inch were 33 psi always.

Did the 2012 Sport actually have bigger rotors? Looking on Rockauto.com, all of the front rotors are 295mm - it seems the only difference for Sport vs non-Sport is whether they're cross-drilled or not. If that's correct, then you shouldn't have any issues fitting 16" wheels. My gf's '14 C250, which has the same 295mm rotors, runs 16" wheels in the winter. I'm not sure what brand they are, but they seem to be knock-offs of an MB design. I'll try to remember to look when I get home.


That formula is only correct if you use the actual width of the wheel, which is ~1" wider than the advertised width of the wheel. Advertised wheel width is measured bead-to-bead, not lip-to-lip; when you account for the width of the inner and outer lips, your 7.5" wide wheel is really 8.5" wide.

[(7.5 + 1")/2]x25.4 - 45mm = 62.95mm. Your comparison was still valid, since the same 12.7mm error is included in both calculations.


That's what I was thinking, too.