kennyv

any suggestions on wheels, i like to upgrade to 18 on my 00 e320 4matic, i prefer a staggered setup. is 18x10 too aggressive or should i stay with 18x9. and any tire size suggestions too. thanks, mbw newbie

E55Cent

Many of us have 19x10 in the back. I would put 10's in the back as long as the offset is right. You might have to roll the fenders in the back. Is your car lowered? If yes then I would test fit the wheels first.
Good luck
Mario

lexrex

Don't run staggered wheel sizes on your 4Matic unless you're willing to risk wearing out the central differential in your transfer case (several thousand $$$ repair).

AradBenz

I want to get some too on my 2002 S500

E55Cent

I'm sorry, I didn't read that your car was a 4matic. I'm not sure if it makes a difference since the wheels height will be the same, but I'm not familar with 4matics

lexrex

You're right that it won't make a difference if there is no difference in tire diameter front and back.

The problem is that staggered arrangements are not exactly the same.

Most AWD manufacturers, including Mercedes, say that differences in tread wear should be avoided. This means you can't have, say, new tires on the front and old tires on the back, even if the tires are otherwise exactly the same. This is all in the manual.

If several 1/32" of an inch difference from treadwear causes a problem, then think about what can happen when the difference in staggered sizes is even larger.

Staggering can be done; you just have to make sure that all four corners are EXACTLY the same. And you don't get the benefit of rotation to keep things even, which means you may have to replace all 4 of your tires much more often (every time 2 wear out).

The center differential is not made to tolerate continuous difference in speed between front and back. Just like the rear differentials, it can take transient speed differences.

The wear to the center differential from staggering is akin to a rear differential being in an endless left or right turn.

zam2000

I second Lexrex. I was told that 4 matic should always use tire w/ same tread-rate, and same size.

kennyv

thanks very much for your insight. it helped me decide faster and now i can go ahead and place my order for all fours.