Previously, I asked whether or not these wheels fit:

Lowenhart LD5
Front: 19x8.5 ET34
Rear: 19x9.5 ET31
*5mm hub-centric spacers now considered*

I have a couple of my questions figured out just from jacking my car up and performing a visual analysis.

One, the wheels fit without spacers, and two, the lug bolts that fit for these Lowenhart LD5 wheels are cone/tapered bolt with the original ET31 and ET34, rear and front, respectively.

My remaining question is, if I am fitting 5mm hub-centric spacers all around, what length bolts should I use if the resulting offsets are ET36 and ET39? I'm looking for anyone that knows what they're doing before I pull the trigger for the spacers and bolts. Thanks.

 

ouch...you have that backwards. if you add 5mm spacers to them, the offset
will be MINUS that of the original. so your 34/31, plus 5mm spacers, will be
29/26 front/rear. chances are high that your 8.5" rims, with whatever tires
you select, will rub up front. w/o spacers would be your best best and both
ends just might work.

in respect to bolts, the hidden detail comes down to the wheel thickness at
the bolt. what is the measured cross section? your bolt should probably
protrude through the wheel...and when measured, should be about 3/4 to 1".
best gauge is to measure your CURRENT rims (they are OEM, right?) and see
how far your OEM bolts protrude through the OEM rims. your new wheels and
bolts should protrude no less, and no more than the OEMs

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try that as soon as I can get some free time and post the results.

 

you try the 19's
look into what you will need to do and spend to make the car safe.You will need camber bolts in the front.You will need a rear camber kit installed.If not your alingnment is going to be so far off as to be unsafe.Your tire life will be about 6 months and those 19's get pricey to replace every few months.Your ride quality will be trash.Get some 18's do it right,spend the money to make it proper.
ohlord

 

Hi Ghaffar,

When you say the rims fit without spacers, did you actually bolt them up and drive with them? If you did, then all you need to do is find bolts that are 5mm longer

As far as the spacers are concerned. I have 18x8.5 +35 wheels all the way around. I have 5mm spacers on the rears, but I don't have any on the fronts.... That being said, I know that if I wanted to, I could put 5mm and probably even 10 mm spacers on the fronts and not worry about any rubbing. I can't speak to the rears because of your staggered setup though.

The good thing about spacers is that if they DON'T work, then you're only out a few bucks. You don't have to go out and buy BRAND NAME spacers when you're only talking about 5MM.... Just make sure they are HUB-CENTRIC spacers.... These ones are fine: Ebay Link

It's when you start thinking about spacers (usually larger than 10mm) that require additional hardware that I would definitely not skimp on.

With a 5mm spacer, you'll still have enough room left on hub center so that your wheel will seat properly. But then again, you do have Lowenhart's so, do you have Hub Centering Rings fitted into them? If you do not, I would suggest getting them ASAP... If you don't, your ride quality will probably suffer since your wheels will not be seated properly and all will be using the lug bolts to center themselves rather than the hub.

If you don't need camber bolts or camber arms now, you won't need them after putting on the 19's or the 5mm spacers.

If they had made my rims in 19, I probably would have gotten them... but at the same time, based on how little sidewall I have on my 18's, I'm sure the ride quality will probably be rougher with 19's....

Which brings me to another point... I'm on 235/40/18's and have plenty of clearance between my tire and the infamous "bolt" in the front... There have been debates about people hitting that bolt.... BUT if you say that you have TEST-FITTED your wheels already (I'm assuming they have tires on them)then getting the spacer will increase that gap even more so the chances of you rubbing on that bolt are even less!

Good luck!

 

Lots of quick and helpful response...thanks! For one, I might consider purchasing a camber bolt kit as ohlord suggested because I have been experiencing some ridiculous wear on my rears when I switch from my winter tires to my Lorinser 18's. My fronts wear okay, but I don't think that it would hurt to have a bolt kit in the front as well. The wear stills occurs to this day with my winter tires, despite having an alignment every time I change my wheels.

As long as I have had my car, no one really told me about a camber bolt kit; I am a bit of a newb when it comes to them. I knew that my tires weren't supposed to wear within 10,000 miles in the rear. For God's sake, the OEM wheels are wearing on the inner half of the tires now...I know that's not right.

Now, camber bolt kits allow for more adjustability of the camber, correct? Having never done that, I would probably go to a reputable shop to have them install the bolt kit that I bought from an internet shop that one of you fellow mbworld members pointed me to . Where would I find a good bolt kit? Is it different for 4Matic models?

Another interesting note that I want to add would be the fact that I have a 4Matic model...yes, I have heard many frown upon my staggered set-up, but I have looked around at the Tire Rack forum, and Luke has stated as long as the tire heights are the same, then it should be fine. Also, 4Matic models have the infamous lack of ride height adjustability. I'm not concerned with that at all either. Yeah, I know it will look like a 4x4 (which it is anyway...haha), but I am just glad that I don't have to deal with rubbing issues My next car will be lowered and have a more polished look. I promise

As far as the 5mm spacer is concerned, I suspected that the front bolt that turbobunny was referring to might hit the tire, but when I test-fitted (didn't drive around though) it looked fine. I don't have any hub-centric spacers yet, but I was considering H&R, since they're as cheap as the eBay ones anyway. I just didn't like the way the rims sat 'inward' with regards to the body. I wanted them pushed a little bit outwards. To put things into perspective, I also have a set of 18" Lorinser's with an offset of 31mm all-around (ET37 - 7mm spacers = 31mm...Thanks for the correction on calculation, raymond!). Those were pushed out a bit, and they never rubbed. Granted, I was running 225/40 in the front and 255/35 in the rear. Those are pretty low-profile, and I didn't mind the ride quality. I just watched the potholes a lot, and haven't had a single bent or cracked rim. Ironically, my OEM 17's had a crack in them a couple weeks ago and re-welded it, but not my Lorinsers! Chicago roads are terrible in the winter...

I looked at my new-to-me Lowenharts, which apparently came off of a C-class, and they came with practically brand-new Pirelli PZero Rosso's all around. They're 235/35/ZR19 in the front, and 265/30/ZR19 in the rear. The sidewall seems about the same height as the 18's, so I really am not concerned about the ride quality. I just want to have the wheels fit properly, have even tire wear, and look good.

The only gripe I have about the Lowenharts are that they have cone/tapered bolts as opposed to OEM ball-seat, so I haven't gotten to test-drive on them. I have to buy the bolts first, and then the spacers. However, now, it sounds like I should invest in a camber bolt kit for both the front and rear. Would any of you be so kind as to point me in the right direction for these kits? I've done some brief perusing, but so far have been fruitless. Thanks for the help so far guys. You all have been lifesavers!

 

has the front camber bolts,The rear camber arm kit is an adjustable link not eccentric bolts like the front.More work more money.
K mac or speedybenz
http://www.speedybenz.com/
others have them if you google w210 camber kit.
No matter what it is going to cost you big.
4 matic even with the same tire height you are going to have a vastly different contact patch thus traction is going to be different,after all staggered tires is a fancy way of adjusting tire push and affects oversteer ,if you stagger I cant figure how it could not affect the 4matic traction distribution.Some how some way some tire is going to be pushing and holding traction when the others are not,something has gotta give
put the meatiest tire you can on all 4(same size)drop it with the h/r springs and pads,bilsteins sport shocks,camber bolts,rear camber kit ,alignment and 18's

jimmydagreek had a diy a while back on his rear camber set up maybe on benzworld.org w210 section
some debate over the merits of the 2 kits kmac is factory bushings and stronger speedy is custom and cool you decide
stick with 18's stiffer shocks and springs camber bolts up front and you may be close enough in the rear to get by.Sell the 19's to the guy with the home built camber kit cuz he bein in da no bout ho ta driv fas into da turnswith his rusty rotors

 

What I might do is buy my spacers and use raymond's method for buying the bolts. Next, I am going to get an alignment done with the wheels on there. I'd have to inform them of the tire wear on the rears, and to be sure to take that into consideration. As you have mentioned, ohlord, the proper procedure is expensive. If the wear is too excessive, even after the alignment, then I am going to invest in the camber bolt kit and the rear camber arms. Yes, it is expensive, but from what I've seen in other posts, it makes rear alignments much easier for the technician. Again, thanks for the input.