Hi guys,

I have had Calrssons on my car for the past one year. They look very nice and classy, however they are extremely heavy. The car feels sluggish with them, and the ride is a bit harsh.

If anyone has a recommendation for good looking wheels that are also not too heavy on the wallet, that would be much appreciated. Looking for wheels to weigh under 20 lbs. each, 18" or 19" diameter, and somewhere around 5-6K in cost (wheels only).

Thanks

Zee

Hey Zee,

20lbs isn't that heavy for rims as I think the average is around 25lbs. The "Showier" rims such as the likes of Giovanna, Asanti, Lowenhart, etc.. are in the high 20's to low 30's in weight.

If you're looking for light weight, you're probably better off looking at O.Z.s, BBS, Volk Racing and the likes. You should look at the Renntech Monolites as they are one of the lighter rims out therel; but it's a love/hate in terms of looks. They're under about $1100 USD per rim (and I believe they are manufactured by O.Z.).

Was the 5-6K cost in Canadian dollars?

Someone not too long ago posted a link to a website where they compiled all the weights to the rims that are on the market and you can search and list by weight, mfg, sizes. I don't know it off the top of my head but I can see if I can find it later.

Hope that helped.

Definitely extremely helpful.

Living with Carlssons for one full year, I have come to realize that more weights generally deteriorates the ride quality. Car feels very heavy as well. Yes these wheels garner a lot of looks and thumbs up signs, but I will not compromise the ride quality and feel for the looks alone.

Right now I am running my winter 17" OEMs, and the difference in ride is astounding. Car feels light and very fast. I am seriously contemplating going to AMG 18", maybe the ones that come with the new CLK63. I have had bad experience with Carlsson in terms of after sales service, and I hate to ship back and forth the wheels to get their problems sorted out. But then AMGs do not look as classy as Carlssons . Guess life is not perfect.

So so far it could be either Renntech Monolites or AMG rims. Renntechs have the same problem as Carlsson; risk of not having a proper sales place here in Canada and consequently going through the long distance possible hassle. The other choice is AMG, dealer is right here and there is peace of mind if something goes wrong. Anyone knows what is the weight of the new AMG rims. I am specifically looking for Style IV and Style VI wheels. Can't find this information on the AMG website. http://www.mercedes-amg.com/

Comments are most welcome.

You should be able to purchase AMG rims from your dealership and should be about $2500 for the set. However if you want a lighter rim I suggest the Renntech over the AMGs as they (AMGs) weigh about the same if not more than your current rims.

If you pm me with your email I can send you a pdf file with the weight that I mentioned earlier.

HRE Competition Series?

Hi there, PM sent.

Regards

Zee

U can get them custom made for the w209. you can choose any style any color, any size, chrome, painted i mean anything!! worth every $$$$$.

In my opinion, wheels not made specifically for a particular car, will not give the same ride quality as the wheels made specifically for that car. And the culprit in my opinion are two things: Weight of the wheel, and if applicable, that thing called spacer.

Spacers do correct the mismatched offsets, but I have had some wheel installers swearing to me that they can never eliminate all vibrations when spacers are involved. In my own experience, I have had very minor vibration coming from the Carlssons. I was able to eliminate 98% of that by custom fitting the spacers in the machine shop; but still I hate to see that minute vibration rear its ugly head on some highways.

I do love the wide profile of the rear wheels, and I am absolutely not a fan of thin wheels that are buried deep laterally within the wheel well. But from all my problems during last two years with Carlssons, as well as discussing it with wheel shops, it is my opinion that spacers are a no-go. Feel free to comment here if you feel otherwise. Obviously aftermarket wheel industry is huge dollars; and a lot of them would not be doing the business if everyone feels the way I do.

That being said, the quest for a new wheel continues. I am not looking currently at HRE. AMG new 18" (CLK63) and Renntech Monolites remain at the list right now.

Thanks

Zee