venom_55

Hey guys,

Does anyone have an opinion or advice on choosing a wheel / tire package for my E550?

Can a 275 tire work well on a 10" rear wheel? Or will this be too stretched and compromise ride quality and protecting my rim?

19 x 8.5 et40 front with 245/35/19
19 x 10 et52 rear with 275/30/19
Michelin Pilot Super Sports

I may lower car afterwards if the wheel gap looks bad after going to 19's, but Toronto roads are horrible so not sure...

Any thoughts / opinions/ advice on wheel and tire size selection?

nawlinstornado

Umm... I have 285 on 9.5 which is within tire specification. Works fine for me. Don't know why you'd go with a 10" wheel for 275s.

FYI, I have ET40 front, ET45 rear. No rubbing, clearance, or other issues.

venom_55

Thanks for the quick response.

The wheel guy is recommending 10" or 11" rear wheels. I would go max 10" but also wanted 275 tires as I can get Michelin PSS in that fitment. They don't have 285/30/19 for PSS and I love this tire.

So either I need to
- go to 9.5 wide wheel and choose 275 or 285 tire?
or
- go with a bigger tire on 10" wide wheel and find another tire brand other than Michelin Pilot Super Sport?

Did I summarize that properly?
You are suggesting 275 rear tire will not work well on a 10" wheel?

nawlinstornado

According to Michelin's data for PSS tires, the 275/30 can go on any wheel from 9" to 10" and, based on the advertized section width on a 9.5" wheel, that would appear to be the recommended. size.

The 10" wheel will work with the PSS (per Michelins specs) but personally, I would stick with a 9.5" or step up to a 285-295. At that point, though, with 245 on the front, you may start to create understeer issues. All depends on your driving style.

FYI, when my Contintental ExtremeContact DWS' wear out, I'm going to Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position tires. They make the 255/35 and 285/30 sizes and they seem to be rated very highly.

venom_55

Good advice. Thanks!

I may consider a 295 tire in the rear and 255 up front. I enjoy spirited driving, so that may help if 10" wide wheel is only offered in the rims I like. I just don't want to blow away the recommended tire specs > 3% rolling diameter rule and have my speedo way off.

Time for more research.

nawlinstornado

With my setup, I have less than 1mph error. 295 on a 10" will likely be about the same but will also depend on tires.

What wheels are you looking at?

venom_55

Using the tire size calculator on 101 tires it shows the 19" 285/30's in the rear compared to stock is 2.74% diff in speedo. The 275/30's are 1.84% and the 295/30's are 3.62% off for speedo. Overall diameter differences are slightly different than the speedo, but in the same ballpark

Not posting this info to look like a know it all (cause I am only learning), just wondering if I am not considering all the variables. Please let me know if you feel I am over thinking this.

I am going to go with BC Forged HB29 brushed with polished lip (or that's the plan anyway).

Suggested setup from the forum vendor is:

19 x 8.5 et40 front with 245/35/19
19 x 10 et52 rear with 275/30/19

Can I / should I go more aggressive offsets?

uptempo115

Nawlinstornado did you drop your car? It looks great!

nawlinstornado

I used the same tools, including http://www.willtheyfit.com/. Since these calculators are based on theoretical tire sizes, they aren't entirely accurate. 285/30-19 ExtremeContact DWS on 9.5" rims has a speedo error of less than 1 mph @ 80mph, whereas the calculators said it would be more than 2 mph error.

No, you're not over-thinking, just not taking into account the variation between tire brands and models.

Those are good looking wheels.

Your front offset is almost dead-on. I have 255/35-19 ET40 8.5" fronts - with 245s, you'll probably want an ET35 to get the same "poke."

I have 285/30-19 ET45 9.5" on the rear and the fitment is absolutely perfect. While I *think* the vendor recommendation will fit fine, it will not bring the tire flush with the fender.

If you want to see what my setup looks like, go to https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-c...hopefully.html. You can imagine the front with 5mm less poke and the rear with 12mm less.

BTW, I'm no expert, either. I figured this out through the expensive trial-and-error process.

nawlinstornado

Nope, just swapped the wheels and tires. The front really needs to be lowered by a half inch, so I'm considering the RENNtech digital suspension lowering module.

venom_55

Thanks for the information and the follow-up.

The forum vendor said he will work with the manufacture to see if they can come up with ideal size for my car to fit flush and no fender mods. So that is encouraging I may have options to improve the initial recommendation.

Your setup looks great, and thanks for sharing pics. Gives me a good idea on offset comparison. It seems like a fine balance between sitting flush and sticking too far out / in, but it all comes down to basic math once you understand what good looks like.

nawlinstornado

Yep, and different tire profiles make the fine-tuning difficult. You'll figure it out. At least you didn't just accept the vendor recommendations. They tend to be very conservative because they don't want to mess with their reputation or returns.

Although..... I was really surprised to learn your vendor recommended 10 inches or larger. Ballsy...really ballsy.

venom_55

Since the vendor and manufacture are open to working with me on ideal size offsets, any recommendation on what that would be?

I am ok with a 10" rear wheel as long as I don't have to roll my fenders. I also may lower with Eibach springs, as they seem very conservative and others here with E550's have done it without complaints. I would also consider 255/285 or 245/275 for tire options. Not sure if 245/285 would cause understeer issues or not.

Any size and offset suggestions for my setup for a nice flush mount?

MrH

From 43-50 et depending on the tire width

nawlinstornado

Talking rears only, if you go with 285 on 10-inch, ET45 will be great. If you're more concerned with stance than traction, I'd go for a 9.5" ET45 with 275s. That will ensure more clearance.

venom_55

Thanks guys! Greatly appreciated. I'll let you know what they come back with.

venom_55

They suggest running a 19x8.5 et30 and a 19x10 et50.

D2FORGED

Would you consider something like this? Either CV15 (Gran Coupe) or CV11 (GTR) would fit that car nicely. Custom made, perfect fitment, flush with the fenders.

venom_55

What offsets would you recommend someone if they went with E550 coupe, lowered on Eibach (1.2 drop), and wanted the option of running 245/275 or 255/285 tires (8.5 front and 10 rear)?

I already decided on 19" BC Forged HB 29's. Your rims are absolutely stunning. I just can't afford them.

venom_55

Ok, so going with 19X8.5 +35 and 19x10 +50.
+30 in the front seemed too agressive if I wanted to go with a wider tire.

GerryMac

Nice choice.

I was recommended a very similar fitment to your original: front 19X8.5 et 39 and rear 19X10 et 50 using the 245/275 tire setup.

I ordered the wheels as proposed and am waiting on delivery, hopefully in the next two weeks or so.

venom_55

Excellent. Please post pictures when you get them. Very interested in seeing your setup. Thanks for posting!
I am going to run 245/285 tires

nawlinstornado

That sounds like a very reasonable setup. What size/model tires are you going with?

I'm definitely interested in seeing pictures when it's done.

nawlinstornado

Oops, missed this one. Please forget my question.

venom_55

I am going to try 245/285 with Toyo PROXES T1 SPORT. Read lots of good reviews, especially wet road handling, and they have so many size options in 19.

I used to have T1R's and loved them so figured I would give tire this tire a try.