Wheel fitment query
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 49
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From: UK
VW Golf GTD
Wheel fitment query
My car is a C250d AMG-Line with Airmatic, with the 19" multi-spoke wheels (it's a coupe, not the sedan - I'm posting in this forum as it gets more traffic). I'm trying to find a set of winter wheels that (a) aren't horrifically expensive and (b) look good. This rules out the OEM Mercedes ones, as they are anything but cheap, and also steers me in the direction of 18", not 17". I'm in the UK, so there's not a huge amount of snow. Having scuffed a wheel already (I've only had the car 7 weeks!), I'd like to try and keep the wheels in decent condition (a trip to the repairers will be scheduled for the end of the year).
The standard winter tyres that Mercedes sell are 7.5x18 ET 44 front and rear. Having spent hours and hours on various wheel web sites, the range in this width is limited to say the least (mainly due to point (b) above). If I go up half an inch, the choice is much better, but I'm outside MB's recommendations.
The wheels I have my eyes on are the Rial M10s, which in 8.0x18 are available in three different offsets - 38, 43 and 48. Using "willtheyfit.com", the outer face of the 38s will be 12.4mm further out than the 7.5 ET 44s that Mercedes offer. This seems quite a lot to me, and risks looking a bit too aggressive. With the 48s, the inner edge is 10.4mm closer to the suspension strut - again, this seems to me to be a big difference. Obviously, the 43s are somewhere in the middle (inner 5.3mm closer, and outer 7.3 further out).
Ruling out the 38s, will I have any trouble fitting the 43s or the 48s to my car? Rial's configurator tells me that the wheels will fit if I enter the type approval number ("e1*2001/116*0431"); I've also attempted to decipher the "gutachten" document. Do these take into account the presence of AMG Line and air suspension? I don't want to buy these wheels only to find that the things foul the strut come winter time. There seems to be sufficient space between the rim and the suspension if I put my hand behind the wheel, but I thought it best to check with people who (unlike me) know what they're talking about.
The standard winter tyres that Mercedes sell are 7.5x18 ET 44 front and rear. Having spent hours and hours on various wheel web sites, the range in this width is limited to say the least (mainly due to point (b) above). If I go up half an inch, the choice is much better, but I'm outside MB's recommendations.
The wheels I have my eyes on are the Rial M10s, which in 8.0x18 are available in three different offsets - 38, 43 and 48. Using "willtheyfit.com", the outer face of the 38s will be 12.4mm further out than the 7.5 ET 44s that Mercedes offer. This seems quite a lot to me, and risks looking a bit too aggressive. With the 48s, the inner edge is 10.4mm closer to the suspension strut - again, this seems to me to be a big difference. Obviously, the 43s are somewhere in the middle (inner 5.3mm closer, and outer 7.3 further out).
Ruling out the 38s, will I have any trouble fitting the 43s or the 48s to my car? Rial's configurator tells me that the wheels will fit if I enter the type approval number ("e1*2001/116*0431"); I've also attempted to decipher the "gutachten" document. Do these take into account the presence of AMG Line and air suspension? I don't want to buy these wheels only to find that the things foul the strut come winter time. There seems to be sufficient space between the rim and the suspension if I put my hand behind the wheel, but I thought it best to check with people who (unlike me) know what they're talking about.
