Richard / E320

I have a 2001 E320 (W210 chassis), which is totally stock and the original 215/55-16 tires and wheels. I do not want to make any alterations or modifications to the vehicle itself but would like to go to 18” tires and wheels. I know nothing about wheels, so I was hoping someone could give me some feedback or direction.

I found a set of ‘ASA ST4’ wheels at The Tire Rack, 18x8 for the front and 18x9 for the rear. The wheels are available chrome plated or silver with machined lip. The suggested tire size is 235/40-18 for the front and 235/40-18 or 265/35-18 for the rear.

Additionally, on eBay I found a set of ‘MB Splitz Rims’ in the same sizes in silver with I assume a machined lip. Chrome would be a $500 option but I think I like the silver finish best. Mercedes-Benz wheel caps can be used on these wheels.

The Tire Rack has the advantage that I can order both the tires and wheels together but I’m not sure if I can install M-B wheel caps on the ASA ST4’s.

It would be great if someone could tell me if these wheels have the proper offset, which brand is the better of the two, the most durable finish and the best tire size to select.

Thanks!

lexrex

ASA is an excellent brand for BBS and AMG replica wheels. Their manufacturing process is actually licensed by BBS. ASA uses low pressure casting with shot peening, which makes for a stronger, lighter wheel. Most knock offs are gravity cast, which is the weakest and heaviest. I'd venture to guess that the "MB Splitz" rims on eBay are cheap knock offs. (The strongest, lightest wheels are forged instead of cast, but those are super $$$.)

Click here for pictures of a forum member's car with the 18" ASA ST4s.

Any wheel listed on TireRack for your car has the proper offset. Proper offset for the W210 is between 30-40, with values closer to 40 being closer to stock. No need to worry about fitment if you order from Tire Rack.

Does the eBay seller guarantee that the MB Splitz will fit your car? Besides offset, one of the concerns with Mercedes wheels these days is lug size. The older cars like our W210 and the new C- and CLK-class use 12mm lug bolts. The newer cars (except for C and CLK) use 14mm lug bolts. Installing a wheel designed for 14mm bolts on your car with 12mm bolts is a serious peril to your life!

The tire sizes listed by Tire Rack are optimal. You put 235/40/18 tires on 18x8 wheels (front and rear) and 265/35/18 on 18x9 (optional rear). If you use the 18x8 wheels on all four corners, you can rotate your tires. If you use the wider 18x9 wheel on the rear, you can't rotate your tires.

Mercedes center caps fit ASA wheels. In fact, Tire Rack will automatically include genuine Mercedes center caps with your order.

If you're considering chrome, get the ASAs. The ASA wheels are chromed from the factory, which means the chrome finish will be much more durable.

Keep in mind that going to 18" wheels changes the ratio of the wheel well gap to the sidewall height. This means that your car will look "jacked up." This is a matter of personal taste, but most end up lowering their cars to correct this. See pictures and the ensuing discussion from this thread to see what I mean. If you do not like this effect and do not plan to lower the car, I'd suggest getting 17s instead. The car will ride better too.

As for tire recommendations, I have the Pirelli PZero Nero M&S and love them.

Richard / E320

Wow! Excellent information and just what I was looking for, especially when you mention that it will be ‘jacked up’ using 18” wheels. Maybe I should stick to just 'plus one', 17”s.

The main reason for upgrading is I don’t like the look of the factory wheels and thought as long as I was spending money go for the 18”s but I don’t want to modify the chassis in any way.

I really appreciate all the information you posted, including links to vehicles that I could see as a reference.

I’ll look through the Tire Rack wheel selection again; I’ve been watching for special sales but it never seems to be on the wheels that I like best.

Thanks again…

Richard / E320

lexrex;

I looked at a lot of wheels online today on eBay, Tire Rack, Discount Tires, etc. A lot of the really nice looking wheels are 18" and 19". I found some great 18" AMG wheels on eBay and kept looking at the images that you referenced, so I have a few questions if you don't mind.

1. Is that your E320 at the bottom of your reply? If so, what size wheels do you have on there and did you lower the rear? To me your vehicle looks great.

I used a tire calculator to compare the OEM tire and wheel vs. the AMG 235/40-18 front and 265/35-18 rear wheels. The difference for the overall diameter in front is -.1 and +.9 for the rear. Is that why you get a vehicle that looks like it is 'jacked'? I used a couple of websites that allow you to see what your vehicle looks like with the wheel and wheel size that you select; changing from a 16" to a 17" to a 18" and back. To me, it didn't look like there was a change in the gap from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fenderwell but then it's just a computer image.

If you compared my stock 16" 's to the AMG 18" 's, would I see a noticeable gap for the rear wheel setup? It seems like the best senario would be to find a full set of 235/40-18 's, which would be -.1 for the front and -.1 for the rear.

Thanks again for your help...

lexrex

Yes, that's my E320. I have 17" AMG wheels, and I didn't lower anything. I didn't lower for two reasons. I have the 4Matic system and lowering kits for the 4Matic aren't readily available. And like you, I didn't want to touch the suspension anyways.

I chose 17" wheels for three reasons. (1) I didn't want to sacrifice very much ride quality. The shorter the sidewall, the harsher the ride. (2) The 17" wheels/tires are less likely to get bent/flattened by potholes. The roads where I am are pretty lousy. (3) The fender gap issue.

Here are pictures of my car. You can see form some angles how the car looks like it rides a little bit high. Keep in mind the 4Matic rides about half an inch higher than the regular E320.

Sorry, I should have been more clear about this. The effect is entirely a visual illusion. It's all about proportions.

The car does not physically ride any higher with 17", 18", or 19" wheels. The actual gap between the top of the tire and the bottom of the fenderwell remains basically unchanged.

What changes with larger wheels is the size of the gap relative to the size of the tire sidewall. The larger your wheel, the shorter your sidewall. The shorter your sidewall, the larger the gap appears. From what I've read, the gap looks best to most people when it's one half the height of the sidewall.

Here are some more pictures of 18" wheels without lowering: (These are 4Matics, so the gap on your car will actually be smaller.)
https://mbworld.org/forums/showpost....93&postcount=8
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w210/113586-my-2001-e430-4matic-18-lm5-s.html

I think the gap would look about the same front and rear with or without the staggered setup. If anything, the 265/35-18 rear would have a smaller gap because of the larger slightly larger tire diameter.

I wasn't trying to discourage you from 18" wheels. I just wanted to make sure you are aware of the gap issue. If it looks good to you without lowering, that's all that matters!

Also, keep in mind that tread life for 17" and 18" (performance) tires is usually around 15k-30k miles.

Richard / E320

lexrex;

Great informtation along with the photos; I like the looks of the 18" 's but of course you have a good arguement for the 17" 's. I priced a set of AMG 5-spoke in silver finish along with the Bridgestone Potenza RE750 tires at the Tire Rack: $1,872.87 delivered to the front door. And of course they actually do fit properly, no surprises.

eBay has some great deals but you sure have to watch out! I had found a cool set of 18" AMG wheels. The seller's listing states they fit both the W210 chassis and the W211 chassis. Huh? I questioned him on that and his reply was "the only difference is the W210 takes a 12mm lug bolt and the W211 takes a 14mm lug bolt. you need to replace the the lug bolts with a 12mmx1.5 lug bolt with a 14mm radius ball seat. we are out of these right now but will have them in the middle to the end of this month."

I'm not even sure what that means but it's not exactly 'right-out-of-the-box' wheels like I'm thinking...

Here's a few pictures of my stock '01 E320; I bought it new and it only has 3,200 miles on it. The only thing that has been changed is the gear-shift knob. My wife hasn't let me spend any money for new wheels because she complains I never drive it, so what's the point? I say 'cause it would look way better than the stock wheels.







Here is the eBay link for the AMG wheels that I like if you want to check them out and comment on them:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3ARTQ%3AUS%3A1

E-Klasse

I don't aggree with points 1,2, or 3

(1) Ride quality is not that different from 17" to 18" if the correct tires and air pressure is accounted for. The suspention is still the same only handling is better with the wider tires that you can get from an 18" set.

(2) If the correct size tires are installed and the air pressure is correct, this should not be an issue either.

(3) Fender gap should be the same because the outer diameter of the tires should be the same if the correct tire sizes are installed. otherwise your speedometer would be off as well.

The differences might be greater for a 4Matic because you have to keep all 4 wheels the same. This gives you less tire sizes to pick from.

I have had all 3 sizes and find that the 18s are the best.

Richard / E320

Oh, no! Just when I was trying to talk myself out of the 18" 's! I know a lot of the 'issues' are subjective and what looks great or rides great to me might not be someone else's idea, especially since I don't want to modify my vehicle other than upgrading the tires and wheels. No question lowering the vehicle would make it look at lot better, I just don't want to go that route.

Maybe you could check out the eBay link and tell me what you think...

Thanks for your imput-

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3ARTQ%3AUS%3A1

lexrex

If the "suspension is still the same only handling is better" with larger wheel sizes, why not go straight to 19" or 20" wheels? The fact is that the suspension is not the same. The overall suspension spring rate includes both the spring constant of the coil springs AND the spring force constant of the tire sidewall. The tires do a lot to dampen rode irregularities. Less tire = less dampening. Period.

Don't just take my word for it; this is what Edmunds.com has to say: Ride Quality: A low-profile tire such as a 50 or a 40-series looks great, but can be harsh over bumps or potholes when compared to a 55 or 60. In general, a lower profile tire also exposes the wheel to damage more easily. Lower profile tires also have stiffer sidewalls, which improves handling but increases rides harshness. It's all about compromise and there's no such thing as a free lunch.

All other things being equal, a 215/55-16 tire will ride better than a 235/45-17 tire will ride better than a 235/40-18 tire. I do have 17" wheels, so I do not have direct personal experience with the ride quality with 18". If the ride quality change from 16" to 17" and 17" to 18" are both "not that much," that doesn't mean that the change from 16" to 18" won't be significant.

18" wheels are not necessarily wider than 17". My 17" wheels are 8.5" wide, which is wider than many 18" sets, which are 8".

If you lower the tire pressures on 18s to compensate for the stiffer ride, you run the risk of making your wheels more easily damaged (#2).

If you bump up air pressure to protect the wheels, then ride quality suffers. (#1).

I never said the actual fender gap would be different. Read what I wrote about the proportion of fender gap to sidewall height.


Personal experience with all three is certainly worth considering. However, we all have different handling and ride preferences. I drive in an area in Michigan with terrible roads and potholes that could swallow Mini Coopers. I'd imagine your roads in Arizona are fairly smooth. You'd probably perceive little ride quality difference between the sizes until you got on a bad road.

lexrex

The eBay seller is right. You need custom "hybrid" lug bolts to bolt the wheels to your car safely. A number of people have done this. The only problem is that the bolts are expensive. I think they're normally $30 per wheel ($6 x 5 bolts). Here is an illustration courtesy of E-Klasse:



The middle section of the bolt is the seat. This needs to be a 14mm ball seat design to grab the newer wheels properly. The bottom section needs to be 12mm to attach to the car.

Those wheels look nice. Be sure to factor the cost of mounting tires on the rims into the total price if you buy wheels and tires separately.

There are pros and cons for the 17s and 18s. I had exactly the same dilemma when I bought my wheels. I am a fan of the 17s, and E-Klasse obviously prefers the 18s. But in the end, you're the one who will drive and look at the car. It sounds like you really want the 18s...go for it!