cleanslate

Hey blackbenzz, what size are you running up front? How much of a drop are you getting from the Kleemann suspension? I'm going to need tires in <10k, what brand do you use or which do you like the most?

CLKonDUBS

I've ran both before but it all depends on your offset and rim size. Either set never gave me a problem but I seriously suggest a 265 though.

DCarrera

I have a set of 265/18's on my Porsche's 'trashed' set of wheels. They are just gathering dust in my shop and the tires on my CLK are utter sh*te. I'm hoping that the 265 will fit OK on a 430. Maybe not though? Does the 55 have flared fenders compared to the 430? I know my 500E's fenders where much larger than the 400E fenders of the same year (well, of course that was not all queue evil laugh )

This is something I will try today at the tire shop if it's even sane to attempt. Most of the pages I've read show 255 as the widest that will fit. Then again, they have lawsuits to protect themselves from, right?

What I might need to do is check the rolling distance difference to see if my ABS/ESP/EI-EI-O will freak out.

The tires are Toyo T1Rs (sh*te tires too IMHO.. but they are better than the Tiawan tires the previous owner put on my CLK, plus I do not ever plan to run them again on my Porsche, it deserves far better than those Toyo crap tires.

Front: 225/40R18
Rear: 265/35R18

Stacked atop each other, the front/rear diameters look just about identical.

UPDATE: I cought a break from work and took it down to the shop. They are trying to fit the 265's on my 430 right now. I can see it in the bay from the coffee shop here... no call telling me they do NOT fit. Fingers crossed.

DCarrera

The 265 fits no problem at all. I'm not sure that 275 will fit without rolling (or with) but as noties the sidewall/shoulder construction of the tire becomes a go/no-go factor.

What manufacture of tire have been succseffully fitted and what size front tires did you run to keep the rolling diameters close, so ESP/ABS did not freak out?

Chappy

I have Toyo T1Rs on my CLK55 (235/40-18 front and 265/35-18 rear) and have no problems with the cruise control, etc. FWIW, the W208 CLK55s come with rolled fenders from the factory, but do not have bulged fenders (like your 500E).

The same size PS2s, Pilot Sports and Nittos will fit as well.

DevilsAngel

I have 275/30/19 on the rear, and have no problems at all, thats with an aftermarket bumper, but even when I had my stock AMG bumper I didn't have any problems at all. The front is the typical 235/35/19. I had 265's before thats why I went a little wider, and love it, very aggressive back end.

DCarrera

It took a while for my to pry my eyes off your avatar, but I was eventualy able to read your post. Sounds like 235 up front is doable. That's good to know, the wheels I have are properly utilized with the 265 in the rear but the 225 up front leaves too much rim exposed and I've already done some rashing too it. (still getting used to the car's dimensions I guess).

It's much better than the 245's on there before AND the quality of the tire is much better (it had some Tiawan made MAXXIS from the car dealer.. cheap *******s) That's a whole other story though. I can't believe tires that bad are allowed to be sold in the US. Really.. they were horrible. HORRIBLE.

DevilsAngel

Ya I get a lot of feedback on that. Its just a pic I found that was similar enough to me with out it actually being me.

235 up front is great, to me I think it fits perfect. I had to get used to the size of the car to, so I rashed the rims a tiny bit as well!!! But I was driving an Audi TT before the Benz, so there is bit of a change there.

I was told once to be careful of where tires are made. Even though, I go the cheaper route and use generals for my car, they're great and they're cheap. But I did research on them before I bought them. It just doesn't make sense to me to spend alot of money on tires when the generals get as good of a review as some of the higher name brand tires.