Autotechnica

Hey guys, just purchased a set of CLK55 AMG 18" wheels. The 1 peice type 4's. The guy who sold it to me mounted the wrong tire size. Obviously I knew I would have problems, but the front tires don't even move. They are completely wedged under the spring perch. The tires are 245/45/18 all around. The rims at ET37/35 F/R and 7.5/8.5" F/R. The rears fit fine, although they are very close to the fender. Obviously, the rears should be lower profile. Should the rears be 245/40/18 or 255/35/18? I've seen both sizes being used, so just want to make sure what's OEM and what size will clear for sure. The fronts have me worried. Obviously if I run the 225/45/18 as opposed to the current 245/45/18 I will have better clearance, but will it be enough? Do I need spacers or to run a 225/40/18?

any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

Bryan

Saaboteur

Got any links to deets on your other cars? As you can tell from my screenname, I'm an ex-Saab driver. V. cool that you have one of the few official Euro-spec E36 M3s in the country.

The stock rears on a C55 are 245/35/18s. I just ordered a set of 255/35/18s, there is about 1% difference in rolling diameter. 1010tires.com's tire size calculator is very useful, and recommends less than 2% difference.

PM or search member 'kent246', he has a lot of experience with wheel and tire fitment on the car. I believe he told me once that 245s up front won't work. This is on a C55 though, it'd be nice to compare a C32 to a C55/CLK side by side to check out if there is any additional fender clearance because of the CLK front end versus the regular 203 fenders.

I think Kent runs 235/40/18s up front, and 265/35/18s in the rear, stock height, but with SL55 wheels. I think that's probably quite aggressive already, and it would be even more so if lowered, then you're getting into needing fender rolling and such. I think your current square set up is probably too wide in the front to be comfortable, and too high in profile at the rear to keep the speedo within tolerances.

Viper98912

Yea, 45 series is definitely huge to be running up front and no wonder it hits the perch. It's all a tight fit even at the factory specs.

Stock is 225/40 and 245/35, but 255/35 fits better and is even stock on the CLK55. People have been known to squeeze in 235/40 and 265/35, but that's as tight as you can go.

Lenin

I run 225/40 front and 255/35 rear on the CLK55 rims. 38 psi all 4 corners. My car is also very low. No rubbing.

Autotechnica

Good stuff, looks like I'm going 225/40 and 255/35. Seems to be the same size for the BMW 335's. I'm going to go all out and get some Michelin Pilot Super sports

BTW, so according to the specs, are they indeed the clk55 wheels? ET 37/35 and 7.5/8.5? I'm just worried the front will have offset issues if they were maybe mounted on a different car (E55, S55, etc). I'm not sure if there were differences between them. My car is on the C55 suspension, but that shouldn't make a difference with spring perch/tire clearance.

Thanks for all the help guys.

bry

PC Valkyrie

On stock C55 rims (7.5x18 ET30 front, 8.5x18 ET34 rear), I use 225/40 in the front and 255/35 in the rear.

On CLK63 rims (8x18 ET34 front, 8.5x18 ET30 rear), I use 235/40 in the front and 255/35 in the rear.

Absolutely no problems on the street or on lapping days at a track. I'm on stock C55 suspension.

Autotechnica

No links to info on my cars. Both the BMW and Volvo have way too much stuff done to list. The SAAB wasn't too crazy, just exhaust, RICA ECU, water/meth injection, BSR intake, Koni/eibach suspension, EBC GD rotors/pads, goodridge lines, etc.

BTW, are you in ontario?

Autotechnica

Can anyone confirm the part numbers? What I have is the following..

Front A2094014802 ET37 7.5x18
Rear A2034013902 ET34 8.5x18

My mistake, previously I indicated the rears were ET35 when infact they were ET34. According to what I found, the SLK55/CLK55 uses ET37/ET30 F/R and the C55 uses the setup I currently have, ET37/ET34. Is this correct?

PC Valkyrie listed the C55 stockers at 7.5x18 ET30 front, 8.5x18 ET34 rear, or was that a typo? I'm really confused now.

PC Valkyrie

The C55 had front rims that were SPECIFIC to the C55 only, not shared with any other model at the time. Yes, I can guarantee that the stock C55 front rim is 7.5x18 ET30. The 7mm decrease in offset compared to the C32 is the main reason MB claimed the front track of the C55 is 14mm wider than the C32.

Autotechnica

So do I have a CLK55 front and C55 rear? Regardless, the fact that you run an ET34 front w/ a 235 width with no rubbing should mean that I would be fine with a 225 width and an ET37 correct? I would still like to find out exactly which car my rims came from, or if they are being mixed and matched.

thanks.

PC Valkyrie

Absolutely, 225/40 on a 7.5x18 ET37 rim should fit with no problems. The front rim you have probably came from a CLK55 and should fit a C32/C55 with no problems as long as your tires are the correct size.

Saaboteur

You can see my Saab in my sig link below. I never did mess with the newer ones. I'd like to get one of the 300hp, AWD V70Rs for winter but we'll see. I'm afraid of their expensive suspension components. I miss the cargo capabilities of the Volvo wagons.

I'm in Edmonton, actually. Go Oilers!

I've got a set of early W209 CLK staggered AMG 17s for winter use. I can't recall the offset at the moment, but they are quite conservative, especially at the front. Looks dopey. Once ,y new rear tires arrive, I'll be back on the stock 18s. After that, once I finish counting pennies, I want to grab a set of 18" Forgestar F14s. This offset discussion will be useful, see how aggressive an offset the car can handle.

Lenin

The rear CLK rim is A2094011502. The are visually a bit different than the C55 rims.

kent426

A 235/40/18 is the largest tire you can fit upfront with adding spacers, trimming fenders and discarding the fender liners. You could go to a 255/35/40 up front too on the 8.5 rim with no issues. The recommendation for tire diameter is to keep them within 1-2% of each other, doesn't matter that much however little or over stock they are.

Viper98912

I have CLK55 rims on my car (on the inside it says A209....etc). Front is ET37 and Rear is ET30. C55 rims is ET30 front and ET34 rear. So technically, you want C55 fronts and CLK55 rears I would love to have an extra quarter inch in my front wheels, they look too tucked in as they are now.

Autotechnica

Hey guys, just a quick question. I'm not sure if anyone can answer this as it's specific to my setup. So I have front 225/40/18 w/ ET37. I also have a set of H&R 5mm wheel spacers installed. My question is if I go for the H&R steer perf coilovers, will my setup clear the pearches? I'm just looking for something a tad stiffer as I plan to do more track days now. Are the H&R coilovers a good choice for occasional track use? I realize not too many people attend lapping days on this forum, so I'm sure a lot of opinions will be from people who run them on the street. I'm mainly interested in track performance. I can get H&R's at a very good price, which is why I'm considering them over KW or Bilstein. I've run PSS9's and KW V2/V3's in the past, just never tried H&R.

thanks.

kent426

I used H&R's on a previous benz, they were nice but I track car my but don't want it lowered so I was looking at buying Koni's for better damping. I think most of the coil over kits are for better ride at a lower height.

Autotechnica

The main reason I buy coiilovers is because the valving on the struts/shocks are valved properly for the springs that come with the kit. I'm not a big fan of mixing and matching springs/shocks unless I can get some linear springs and get the KONI's revalved. That's a bit too much work. Just looking for something a bit stiffer than my current C55 setup.