philster

Does anyone have any insights as to why the 2003 CL55's now come with 265 width rear tires as opposed to the 2002 model's 275's?

This is puzzling to me as I would think you would want more rubber back there with all those extra horses.

AndrewEclipse

Doesnt make sense to me........I'll be changing the rims/tires the first week though.

Xanoth

AndrewEclipse, i was just woundering..

what are you going to change in the size of the wheels tires.

and one more thing is it possible to fit in 20 X 10 inch wheels with 285/30 tires , without any modification (cutting the fenders)

my car has also moved ONE month to 1st of january 2003.

but hey i can take the pressure.

AndrewEclipse

I was thinking 19's at first....but now im leaning towards 20's to avoid a funny looking gap because the wheel well is huge.

20x10 seems like it would fit with 275's.....285's would be cutting it close, but im still pretty sure they will fit.

Im going to start doing some research in the next couple weeks. so ill let you know if I find out any new info.

What rims are u looking at? i think im going with the Lorinser LM-5's

jl88

285's can fit the CL unless you're car is dumped completely to the ground.

And 20's definitely. The car is just a few inches shy of the S class in length.

victoryroad

good question about why 265's. My 2002 has 275's on the 220 model five spoke wheels, which are quite different from the five spoke wheels on the 03's. The spokes of the new wheels are flush with the oute edge of the rims, unlike the inset spokes of the 02 wheels. Both are 9" in the rear. Could it be that the new style can't accomodate 275's? What would prevent one from mounting 275's on the new wheels without a fit problem?
I may put 19" wheels on my 03 CL55, with say 10" rear width and 9" front, but need to check if they will in any way affect the ABC calibration or rub on the inside of the wheel wells at the extreme. I assume that 285's in the rear would be the correct width on 10" wheels. 20" diameter rims are probably subject to easy damage. For that matter, 19's will be a lot more vulnerable than 18's to road damage.
I am very disappointed that the 03 55's are being delivered with the five spoke style wheels and not the twin spoke style in the brochure. Are the twin spoke wheels an optional item?

AndrewEclipse

Victory,

I too was thinking of going with 19's. However, after seeing a CL with 19's, there is nooo way I can do it. There is just too big of a gap and it looks funny. I even saw an S yesterday with 20's and noticed a gap. 20's are the way to go for looks, however, the complications might outweight the aesthetics and further research is needed. Would u drop your car? How would you solve the gap problem with 19's?

The wheel well size on these things are huge.

victoryroad

I would explore lowering the car to European specs on the ABC. MB dealers probably will not accomodate us on this. I think that Brabus or perhaps Lorinser and Rentech have lowering modificaitons, but they are likely ridiculously expensive, given that they only involve software changes in the ABC module.
The problem with 20" wheels is that they ride so close to the road surface that relatively small holes/bumps can cause them to bend and large holes can cause failure of the wheel/tire.

E55 KEV

Anyone know which tire brand and model is spec'd on the US 2003 CL55?

Xanoth

AndrewEclipse

currently i am thinking of lorinser RS-6 wheels 20x10 rear 20x9 front, but the only prob. is that i have not seen them on the car.

hmmm. I wounder how it can look.

if any body has this set on a CL pls send in photos.

hey andrew pls send in some photos when you get your 55

so that it can let me live untill 1st of 2003.

victoryroad

I asked my MB sales person about the reason for the 265's on the 03 CL vs the 275's on the 02. He will ask the MB regional rep in the next week or so. I also asked him if I could use the SL wheels and tires on the CL, as they are wider in front and back. I am very reluctant to put 19's or 20's on the car due to their fragility on less than perfect roads. Have any of you run 19's or 20's on your cars? If so, what is your experience with them in terms of damage? The roads in south Florida, where I spend a lot of time, are not great and the roads around Boston are quite hazardous. There is a good wheel straightening shop near Boston, but I would rather not visit it too often.

Ferrari

Roads are not as great in the New York Area as well. You just have to be real careful. I plan on also going with 19's, I have seen CL's with this setup for 19's:


(f) 245/40 19x8.5

(r) 275/35 19x9.5


setup is actually pretty good, wheels look nice and agressive, much better than stock. No mod's neccessary

victoryroad

Ferrari
Two questions: which wheels will you use and can you post a picture of your black/java CL? My 02 CL 500 Sport is Alabaster White/Java and I have decided to spec my 03 CL55 in Black and am leaning towards Charcoal for the interior, but am still considering Java, as I like it in my 02.

Ferrari

The wheels that I am getting are 19" AMG, the ones that are on the 2003 CL55, I was gonna get the Lorinser LM5 but I think the car looks to sporty and plus my CLK has it and that would look stupid if I had two cars with the same rims.

With the CL I am going for the classy and luxury look, not gonna make it look to sporty. I'll post some pictures this weekend!

victoryroad

Ferrari
Are the AMG spoke wheels in the 19" version the same style as on the 03 CL55 and Sport models? The pre-03 wheels have spokes that are inset, not flush with the outer edge of the rims, as on the 03 model. The AMG 19" model 215 wheels in 8.5 and 9.5" widths on the Tire Rack site appear to be the older version.

Ferrari

I am not followin you on what you said, but here are the rims that I am getting

jirutenberg

I have found out that the reason they have made the tires smaller is to lower the dynamics of the car and put it closer to the ground to give it a more aggressive stance and better stability. When you lover the size from 275 to 265 is also lowers the side profile in proportion, even thought the diameter is a 40 series, it makes the side wall smaller as well!




2003 CL 500 Sport Bordeaux/Java

Mach430

My guess as to why they come with 265s instead of 275 or even 285 is for the gas guzzler tax. It costs more to drive with a 275 than it does with a 265, and thus to lower the tax, they change the tire. This is the same reason why many manufacturers always recommend setting the tire pressure about 5psi above where it should be; you get better gas mileage.

VroomVroom

so why did MB choose to ship the cl55's with regular wheels instead of twin spoke?

fvellani

i saw an 03 cl55 last weekend, and it had the new twin-spokes

FC Corp

Where are the new wheels?

smc22

What gap are you guy's refering to, i have a cl 500 sport coming this month and i to have been thinking about going to 19" wheels the one i am going to use are the ones there using on my 2003 sl 500 sport there the amg wheel called cl 215's tht's what tirerack call them.

victoryroad

Brian
The AMG 215's are not like the ones pictured on the 03 CL 500 Sport pictured above your post. They have narrower spokes that are inset from the outer edge of the rim. I am hoping that my CL55 will be produced with the new twin spoke version in the brochure. The 215's are, however available in 19" and can accomodate 285's.
BTW, the 265's are only three tenths of an inch smaller in diameter than 275's on the 03 CL55/500 Sport, so the car rides only 0.15" lower than on 275's on 18" wheels. MB could have easily lowered the car by recalibrating the ABC, as in the Euro-spec version. So the 265's remain a mystery to me given the huge increase in torque on the CL55 over last year's model.

awiner

This may be why the Split Spoke 18" wheels aren't being used yet in many cases:

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...threadid=22978