sifu128

Hey everybody, I need some help here. I recently went to a performance shop where I ordered some TSW Catalunya rims.

18.8
5 x112
I cant recall the offset.

Ok so here is where your help comes in. TSW said that these rims would fit the car and the fronts don't because of the cap. The performance shop is going to order a set of 5mm spacers for the front. With those on there, the backs are going to be off by 5mm, and I understand that you should keep them all the same so you dont throw anything off. One recommendation was to put 15mm on the back for a different look and it wouldnt hurt?

1. Will the spacers cause any problems?
2. Will smaller spacers in the front and bigger ones in the back cause any problems?

Any recommendations here??
TIA

Harris

Your questions should be answered by the "performance shop". I think they are a bit irresponsible and their knowledge on Mercedes is pretty poor. Anyways, I'll try to give you my take: You can put A LOT of wheels on a CLK320 without adding spacers. Your car doesnt have big calipers like the 500 or 55. I really dont know why you need to add spacers in the front unless your wheels have a ET40 or above offset (sorry, I am not too familiar with TSW wheels, I dont know their offsets). Adding spacers is generally not a good thing 'cause not a lot of companies make high quality spacers. A spacer even with very slight wrap or curve could cause the wheels to vibrate. Make sure that the shop is getting you the very best ones. If there is no need to add spacers in the rear to begin with, why bother adding a 15mm spacer to it. A 15mm spacer is VERY thick. Getting different thickness of spacers for the front and rear is not a problem. Its just I dont think its necessary.

Hope it helps! Good luck!

sifu128

Thanks for the reply, this helps alot. I wasnt sure about the back ones and I will make sure that they dont go on.

I dont know what the problem was but TSW said that these wheels should fit this model with no problem, just not the 500 because of the calibers. My take is that I think they sent the wrong offset rims for the front.

The reason for putting the 5mm spacers on the front was to allow enough room so that way I could fit the rim centercap in. Right now with out the spacer the cap on the wheel pushes out the centercap.

If I have to put a 5mm on there and nothing on the back, wont this through things off just a bit?

The way it looks now, I should go for a different rim. Better to be safe than sorry.

BlackC230Coupe

I dont know what they ordered, but they make TSW Catalunya that clear the CLK55 brakes. So you dont need spacers........

Verb04

What do those TSW look like?

U2fast4me

Maybe they accidentally ordered you an 18x7" ?
http://www.tsw.com/new/productline_passenger.php

sifu128

I did check out the rims and surprisingly enough they are in fact 18.8 all the way around.

I actually posted the link with them on the car.

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class-w209/107113-new-rims-my-2004-clk320.html

For some reason with the clk320 the center cap on the car pushes out the cap on the rim, so I had to use a 5mm spacer on the front to allow the rim cap to fit. I did go to a 15 mm on the back to fill out the wheel wells, and I have had no problems. I actually pushed the car pretty hard around a few turns and had it up over 100, no problems.

The spacers that I used were from H & R so I know they are good. I know a few other people that have used them as well and have had no problems.

I can tell you that the car handles so much different now than it did before.

Sifu