ghaffar23

I finally got the time to post pictures of my babe...it rides beautifully on the Pirelli PZero Nero's, but the 225/40's on the front are a bit rough. I'm running 255/35's on the back. I may put 235/40's next time. Any suggestions? I will have more pics soon. I had to take the 5% tint off the front so when my dad uses my car, he can see :p . I bought it back in Feb. with 49200 miles Starmarked. It is so hard to find this color combo (Blk and Tan interior), so I snagged it up real quick

vraa

Wow that car looks really good!

BklynBenz

looks good man , now you just gotta drop it

i have the same wheels on my clk and im running 265 rubber in the rear, why do you wanna go down to 235 from 255?

vraa

perhaps he has skinner rims?

What wide rims do you have ghaffar23?

lexrex

Gorgeous car! I have the black/tan combo...love it!

Just a word of caution - be careful with staggering tire sizes on the 4Matic! It's doable, but you have to be very careful. The Mercedes manual says all four tires must be exactly the same diameter. Many other AWD manufacturers say to keep the circumference (not diameter) of all four tires within 3/32" of each other.

If the tires don't wear evenly, the tractional control might start giving you trouble.

ghaffar23

I have 18x8.5 in the front and 18x9.5 in the rear.

vraa

Staggered. Brave man.

18x8.5F -- 235/40/18
18x9.5R -- 265/35/18

That's what I'd run in your situation.

ghaffar23

Yeah...I got these rims from my mom's CLK500 before she traded it in for another Benz. That 225/40 and 255/35 set-up was from the CLK, so next time I get tires, I will run that set-up. Sounds like it would be a little smoother as well.

vraa

It's what's specified here in my little book.

ghaffar23

That's some interesting book you have there

vraa

It's pretty tight, even gives me the offset of a lot of rims and what will fit and what not

I need a better imagination.

BklynBenz

thats exactly what im running on my clk

lexrex

Have you ever run that setup on a 4Matic? That setup above has a 0.4% diameter difference and 1/3" circumference difference b/t front & back .

His current 225/40/18 & 255/35-18 setup is only off by 0.2% w/ a circumference difference between 1/5" and 1/6". Not perfect but probably okay.

The center differential can tolerate transient differences in angular wheel speed, but if your wheels turn at different speeds constantly (b/c they're different diameters) it can burn up the differential. Obviously the bigger the speed difference, the more strain on the differential.

Moving to the larger sizes listed above would double the size difference and consequently put double the strain on the differential. Is that amount of strain okay? I don't know, and I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. But IMHO if Mercedes is concerned about small differences in tread depth, I'd be wary of even bigger differences in tire size.

Here's an extreme case of what can happen from someone with an AWD Jeep.

mysticblu999

no offence, but dude, you have to lower that thing about a foot.....

vraa

No, I've never put staggered setups on a 4matic. I'd never do it. I just listed the tirespecs as what I would do if I had to run staggered. It's the correct tire sizes suited for the width.

mysticblu999

the dude is brave running staggered

ghaffar23

The thing is, I don't really see a problem if I don't use it in slick environments i.e. snow. Otherwise, I am not a spirited driver in it; I have a Camaro SS for that. Another thing is, Porsche thought of a staggered set-up in their Carrera 4S's. I feel that I am okay, but if something fails...well, I'll fix it. I spent full retail for these wheels and I felt that it would be a waste to sell them, so I am using them. Oh, and yeah, I wish I could lower the car, but it is expensive on a 4Matic. After all, with 4Matics, you win some and lose some.

EMBZ

they look nice ...yea it would look alot better lowered alittle, cut the springs so its lower LOL jp ....damn them tints are dark what precentage is that?

lexrex

I wonder if you can swap in thinner spring pads? That might drop the car a bit... Just food for thought.

my E430 rocket

nice looking whip u got there

ghaffar23

If there is a cheaper method to lower this car so that I can fit the factory set-up on there as well, then let me know guys! I heard that it was expensive, but if there was another way...

BTW, I have 35% on the front and 5% on the rest. I had 5% all around, but it looked too 'mafioso' and my parents drive the car sometimes as well, so I can't have it as dark. Plus, the interior reflects light so bad that I can't see out of the side mirrors.

Little

Bro, i'm havin the same problem, i wanna put a drop on my '01 e430 4matic as well and everyone says it can't be done. If i can't drop this sucker, then i'm goin to consider selling it. If you find something out, drop me a pm.