rooney2006

I have 17"x8" mounted on my 1991 300E with 235/45/17's all around. The wheels are about .5" too wide for my car. I have some scraping on the fenders on bumps and occasionally on the highway. I have read on the forums about rolling fenders for bigger wheels. What is that exactly? And about how much does it cost? Thanks.

bamberger_1

Rolling the fendors means to bend the inner seam of the fendors from 90 degrees (standard) to 10 degrees or so. There you gain about 0.5". The other option is, if only the front wheels rub, to swap the front fendors to those from a E500. Those are only screwed on. The rear fendors a welt, so harder to swap.

The rolling device is a hard plastic roll attached to an assembly which will be applied to the wheel hub and then in serveral runs it is adjusted so the roll bends the fendor seam backwards. In most of the cases you may need to get the fendors repainted, since the paint may chip off during the process.
My guess rolling is about 30-45min per side plus the painting.

ZedStyle

i just looked this up two days ago, there are two or three good threads on the subject, do a search.

you can rent a fender roller and they will usually give you a heat gun too to heat up the paint and minimize cracking.

CDP

It's not the wheels that are too wide for your car - it's the tires. I have the same size and width on my car and I'm using 225's all around with no problems. Minimal rubbing - Now if you're really serious ... 215's stretched in the front will work fine as well.

YNVDIZW124

You can roll the fenders yourself with a hammer/rubber malet and vice grips and if you use 3m blue painters masking tape on the edge of the fender it won't chip as much.

1. Cover the fender edge and lip with 3m blue masking tape.
2. You use the vice grip to ben the lip up
3. Start to hammer from either side of the fender, Do not start from the middle.
4. When hammering try to do alot of small dents on the lip and massage the metal to bend back.

What is the offset or ET on those wheels? I'm running now 235/40/18 in the rear and 225/40/18 in the front with a 18x8 wheel 35mm offset.

rooney2006

They are 17"x8" OE 1996 E320 wheels with a 37 mm offset. The tires are 235/45/17 all around.

ChrisDPham do you have any problems on the interstate when you hit a bump or anything? I get a violent bottom-out sometimes or even in bumps in the road. Not often, but the wheels are nibbling on my fender and they've got some noticeable scrapes.

The dude on the tire thread said that running 17x8 was too wide, it should be 17x7.5 and the tires said that 215/45/17 were the biggest he would recommend. I guess that's not necessarily true cause you guys have some bigass wheels.

rooney2006

ChrisDPham - 225/40/17? or 225/45/17? And you think 215/45/17 would be best? (or at least also work)

CDP

I rarely have problems on the highway while driving. It does rub against the fender sometimes but its nothing bad. My fenders are rolled completely yet so go figure.

I'm using 225/45-17's right now. 215 would be ideal if the rubbing really bothers you. If not - 225's will be the best. 235 is just too wide unless you completely modded all the fenders.

YNVDIZW124

The problem is that 235 is too wide for the front. 17x8 has nothing to do with it.
Like chris said 215-225 45 is fine 40 will leave a gap between the fender and the wheel.

Do you rub in the rear?.. wait that didn't sound right....Do your tires hit the rear fenders?

rooney2006

I don't really notice any rubbing in the rear. I think if I just switch out the front tires I should be ok. Thanks guys. Right as always.

natural_person

AMG recommends 215/45/17's on the front on 17 x 7.5" wheels. If you put those on the front it wouldn't rub, but now you have "staggered" wheels - smaller in the front, bigger in the back. That's OK too, but now your handling will change. SInce you now have bigger tires in the back, it might mean that they grip more, resulting in additional understeer.

I have 215/45/17's on all four 7.5" wide wheels, and I still rolled my fenders AND installed the AMG fender washer kit. Note how the lower corner of the fender now "sticks out" a wee bit.

CDP

Looks good natural_person!

natural_person

Hey Chris, I got the Vogtland springs because of YOUR recommendation. I think we have the same car, in the same colour. It's all your fault : )

CDP

Someone has been sneaking around on the forums!

Glad to see my recommendation for the Vogtland springs came through for someone. Your car is better than mine though ... it's 400E and in silver.

mgw_300e

Chris - you should become a sales rep for Vogtland!

CDP

yeah, I should get commission or something because I know of at least a handful of people who've purchased Vogtlands based on my recommendation and etc.

ptoro01

And im one of those as well, cheers!!

Legoinsaniac

me too, haha

CDP

So that's four people so far who have posted. lol Anymore out there?