C32 AMG, C55 AMG (W203) 2001 - 2007

Wheel Upgrade; 18inch vs 19inch

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Old 07-27-2006, 02:11 PM
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C32 AMG
Wheel Upgrade; 18inch vs 19inch

as the topic says

what do you guys out there reckon? or keep it stock?

almost every c32 owners in this forum are rolling on 19's though....

Y.J
Old 07-27-2006, 02:29 PM
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04 C32
I just upgraded to 19s, and the car feels significantly slower now. If I could do it again, I would go with 18s
Old 07-27-2006, 02:40 PM
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c32, 190e 16v turbo
i would definetly go 18's over 19's. less unsprung weight, tires cost less
Old 07-27-2006, 03:30 PM
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ML63
I have 18's.. and I really like them.. I have considered 19's but haven't been able to justify the additional cost of 1 more inch + extra tire expense.. Besides the ride quality goes down a little..
Old 07-27-2006, 03:52 PM
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I vote 19's. Yes you do lose some performance (braking included) but if you're going to spend money to get wheels get what looks good. In my opinion 18's just look too small. Everyone thought my stock 18" AMG wheels looked small including myself.
Old 07-27-2006, 04:05 PM
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everything and anything
Tough call...

I think most people here will recommend 19's for the looks.

I have 19's on my car, but It's not a daily driver for me. I kept the original rims, so when I take the car to the track....no biggie.
Old 07-27-2006, 04:06 PM
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04 C32
The loss of responsiveness is something that is not emphasized enough when moving to 19s. I went from stock 17s to 19 Bremmas. I honestly thought something was wrong with the car, it felt like a slug. The car still goes, but the throttle responsiveness is gone.

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Old 07-27-2006, 04:22 PM
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C230 SS
I have 18's but was thinking of upgrading to 19's, but do not want to pay that much more for tires and also the increase risk of bending them. Yes 19's looks way better, but if it is a daily driver, I prefer 18's.
Old 07-27-2006, 04:48 PM
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W203, W211, W219, W212
AMGV6K, my question is, what kind of upgrade you'd like to get with 18"? If your answer is appearance upgrade, then go 19". Just like most people say, 19" looks better.
Old 07-27-2006, 05:21 PM
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c32, 190e 16v turbo
performing good is MORE important to me..than the look if an added 1 inch. if you have the right stance 18's look just as good.
Old 07-27-2006, 09:46 PM
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2002 C32 AMG K
I went with 18s and the ride improved!
Old 07-27-2006, 09:59 PM
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04 C32
I moved to H&R springs and 19" Bremmas, and there was no noticable difference in ride quality, even on Chicago streets
Old 07-28-2006, 12:46 AM
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2017 C43 Sedan
I went from the stock 18's to 19" TSW Bremmas (19x8.5 and 19x9.5) with 235/35 and 265/30 tires. I like the way the car feels better with the 18's. Ride is smoother, accelerations and cornering feels more responsive, etc...so I put my 18" stock wheels back on after 3 months of driving around 19's.. with 225/40 and 255/35 tires. Just my 2 cents.
Old 07-28-2006, 02:02 AM
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C55AMG W203; 330i E90
My C55 has been on stock 18" for two years. Recently, I mod my new 330i E90 to 19" (very light Rays rims) and have since been a big fan of large rims. While I almost wanted to replace my C55 with 19", I was lucky enough to finally determine that 18" is the best and most sensible specification for a sports sedan as it looks more balanced with the car in physical appearances. I like the feeling of more meat in the tires and the 19" thin ties just did not give me that nice feeling as I feel I am riding on solely on the rims! So my next rims replacement for the C55 will be to choose 18" very light forged rims. Some 18" rims with spokes extended to the outer edge will make the rims look big. Performnace degradation with 19" is not my issue. My C55 has 52kgm of torque and even I go with 20" it will be more than enough for the streets. But I will vote for 18" forged rims. I am looking at Japan Dronells or Japan BBS RG-R forged which are weighted less than 8kg each.
Old 07-28-2006, 02:08 AM
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C230K, downgrade :(
I have stock everything, still loving it!
Old 07-28-2006, 02:28 AM
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Let me just say that if you own a C55 the ride is already pretty harsh stock. 19's don't worsen the feel all that much. Slight drop in performance is the only difference I noticed. That I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is regret when I look at the wheels I just spent a pretty penny on and they look too small.

If the choice of wheels are 3 piece or stepped lip you will have to get 19's. You lose too much face area and 18's would look way too small.
Old 07-28-2006, 05:03 AM
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C32 AMG
thanks for the input guys, the car is daily driven, so now the decision is to get 18 or 19 inch that weighs less or maybe equal to the OE 17inch

i hope by doing this (keeps weight down), it'll keep the car responsive even though with the bigger wheels
Old 07-28-2006, 01:23 PM
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I vote for 18s if your running stock suspension height.
19s look good...ONLY if your dropped.
Old 07-28-2006, 02:21 PM
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I'm still running the OEM 17" rims. I'd like 18" RENNtech Monolites, but I'd rather spend the money on other mods for now. The 17" rims are just fine with a nice fat PS2 on them, and I got major improvements in both looks and handling from RENNtech springs. I'd strongly suggest spending the relatively small amount of money for springs (or PSS9s or KV2s) FIRST. Then, you'll know whether it is even warranted to step up the rim size.
Old 07-28-2006, 03:41 PM
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03' E39 M5, 10' CLS63 AMG
i think the amg wheels looked really nice on ur car! but thats just my thoughts i would go with 18" if u go with 19" get the 2 Piece amg wheels with the studs. they will look really nice and are light weith to help keep ur performance

Originally Posted by sdsilverm3
I vote 19's. Yes you do lose some performance (braking included) but if you're going to spend money to get wheels get what looks good. In my opinion 18's just look too small. Everyone thought my stock 18" AMG wheels looked small including myself.
Old 07-28-2006, 04:43 PM
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there is not going to be that much difference in performance but think about the harsh driving on 19s.
Old 07-28-2006, 07:55 PM
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04 C32
Originally Posted by Acecream
there is not going to be that much difference in performance but think about the harsh driving on 19s.
I just picked up my car today. I went from stock to stage 2. I put 19s on right before I took the car in for the power upgrades. I was pretty disappointed, the car felt much quicker when it was stock with the 17s. I'm sure that in reality, the car is now much quicker, even with the 19s, but it is not nearly as fun to drive as it was before. I'm seriously considering selling the 19" Bremmas and going back to the stock 17s
Old 07-28-2006, 10:48 PM
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ML63
Originally Posted by jgsx
I just picked up my car today. I went from stock to stage 2. I put 19s on right before I took the car in for the power upgrades. I was pretty disappointed, the car felt much quicker when it was stock with the 17s. I'm sure that in reality, the car is now much quicker, even with the 19s, but it is not nearly as fun to drive as it was before. I'm seriously considering selling the 19" Bremmas and going back to the stock 17s
I went from 17's to 18's and my handling/ride is better. How about some 18's from c55? That was my 2nd choice after the SLK55 wheels.. Maybe the Bremmas are just heavy..
Old 07-29-2006, 12:11 AM
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04 C32
Originally Posted by amgmark
I went from 17's to 18's and my handling/ride is better. How about some 18's from c55? That was my 2nd choice after the SLK55 wheels.. Maybe the Bremmas are just heavy..
I just got back from a night out. I reset the throttle, but didn't notice any significant difference. I'm starting to think something is wrong with the car. I put H&R springs and 19s on the car and it suddenly the acceleration felt like a honda civic. I just added pulleys, SL55 splitter/hoses, headers, intake manifold spacers, and ecu flash. I was expecting the car to be noticably quicker, but it still feels significantly slower than bone stock w/ 17s. I think I'm going to try putting the 17s back on just to see if it feels better, but I won't have time to do that for about two weeks.
Old 07-29-2006, 01:29 PM
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ML63
Could it be your intercooler pump? I hope everything works out..


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