CA_Tallguy

Yes, it's yet another wheel and tire thread! I've been scouring the forums for info and want to run my plans by you experts out there to get some advice.

In a few months I'll be doing some heavy mods to my 97 E420 including some widened arches. In the meantime, I've picked up some CLS AMG wheels and will be popping those on my car. Some thread say that CLS rims won't work at all but there is a guy in Iceland who has done this without too much of an issue, and since the ET on the wheels will be pushed out more than W210 spec, that works well for me since I'll be widening the wheel wells anyway sooner rather than later.

Here's a link the guy in iceland's ride...
https://mbworld.org/forums/w210-amg/...heels-e55.html

Here are the specs on the CLS wheels...
fronts are 8.5 inches ET25 A219 401 1102
rears are 9.5 inches ET 28 A219 401 1202

Granted, the guy in Iceland does have an E55, but I think that my fenders have been rolled so should be in a similar boat. Plus, my car is riding high and has NOT been lowered. Looking at my front wheel wells with current 225/40/18 tires there seems to be GOBS of space in there right now.

So I'm feeling pretty confident that 235/40/18 tires and these rims is going to be fine... again, car NOT being lowered, and having the fenders rolled. But I'm wondering if I might get away with 245/40/18 tires on these rims? Anyone have an opinion?

With the ET25 on the front, the notorious suspension bolt on the inside of the wheels should not be a problem -- the only question is the fender arch and the outside of the tires. Will the 245's work since my car isn't lowered? I've got a line on some barely used pilot ps2's for almost nothing but they are 245's.

245/40/18 are E55 spec from what I understand, though that is with an optimal offset. Mine at ET25 with 8.5 width rims is slightly less than optimal I guess, but also, my car is riding higher than an E55's suspension from what I gather. (And my fenders are rolled as are the E55's so that is not a variable here.)

I'm guessing that there is 3 inches right now on my car between the fender lip and the 225/40/28 tires I have on there. The guy in Iceland only rubs on infrequent occasions with 235's -- but I think his car is lowered, so I'm feeling that chances are I won't rub at all with that same size with stock springs and bilstein HD's. And going to 245's isn't a huge leap, only about a quarter inch diameter difference...

One thread that I found enlightening is a portion of this w210 thread talking about camber bolts and rear links. I do plan to have the alignment done with the new wheels, with the camber/repair bolts if needed. I've got to read up on those, and on the rear links I guess too. But I've been running 265/35/18 for a few years without any issues so not sure if I'll need those?
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...d-fenders.html

Any and all opinions greatly appreciated!

raymond g-

if you're planning on the new ETs with the 245 tires, with suspension not having
been lowered, it should work. effectively, you've shifted the rim about .4" towards
the fender....and have widened the tire about .2". this shouldn't cause any
problems with the tire touching any of the suspension towards the inside.

outside, on the arch, since you've stated that it has gobs of clearance, then I
wouldn't worry about that. riding relatively straight, this should present problems.

having said all that, the part that still needs to be verified is when you are turning.
this will move the edges of the tire closer to other potential contact points.

also, when you encounter undulations in the road (e.g. potholes, railroad
tracks, dips, etc) which causes the suspension to compress, depending on
the compression forces, may cause tire to touch as well. so, for example,
if you have MB soft ride style shocks, you may encounter this issue more than
if you have Bilstein HD (which have approx 10% more compression dampening
given their internal valve design)

natch, we cant speculate all the possibilities and tell you yes/no you're going
to have problems or not. so with these considerations, you will need to make
up your own mind if it's worth the gamble.

CA_Tallguy

Awesome. Thanks for the detailed reply, Raymond! I really appreciate your advice as I know that you know your stuff. I'm going to give this a shot as I got the tires this afternoon. Probably will have them mounted in the next few days and then I'll report back in this thread as to how it worked out.

CA_Tallguy

Rims... check! RAD bolts... check! Tires... check!

Painted some AMG rims (see attached pic) I got off of craigslist and am waiting for the paint to harden a bit more before mounting. Maybe tuesday, or wednesday at the latest I think.

BTW, I don't know if I'd try to paint my own rims again. Wow, did this take a lot of time! It wasn't long after I got into it when it started to sound like a much better idea to have them refinished for $100/wheel. But since I started, I decided to see it through. It was kind of a fun project once I put the amount of time it was taking out of my head.

The paint is satin black, Rustoleum paint code 777 from home depot. I considered a lot of different options including engine, caliper and wheel paint but read a few endorsements of Rustoleum 777 on some non-mercedes forums when reading up on painting rims. We'll see how well it holds up! The seem to be hardening into a durable finish leaving the rims out in the sun to bake for a few days.

erikfrancin

i'd love to hear more about widening the arches of the fenders.....

i'm running 19x8.5 up front with a et30 (wheel shop told me they were et32, they were wrong). i was running 245-35-19 michelin a/s sports or something like that... the car is lowered about 2.25" in the front. the tire would rub on the bottom edge of the fender when the suspension compressed with the wheels turned even the slightest bit. i just went with a 235-35-19 nitto 555 and they don't rub anymore, but the tire is slightly stretched... not too happy about that, but it's functional.

my fenders are rolled, pulled, etc.... i really want to go back to the proper sized 245 tires but gave up hope... until i saw your thread

Fabio D

I try the 19" OEM 5 spoke CLS55 wheels in my E55 W210, looks AWESOME! but don't fit at all. touch the rear fenders rub the front fenders and front superior suspension nut, absolutly no way on this wheels. but i see one car with this wheels in 18" with custom of set and they fit, but dont look so good than 19's

Fabio Daniel<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

CA_Tallguy

Hey Erik -- I'm afraid I don't have any elusive info about how you can get bigger wheels on the W210. You are quoting 19 inch sizes but I think the max factory spec was 245/40/18 on the E55. But from what I have read, everything has to be absolutely perfect with offset, lowering, etc and the E55 comes with rolled fenders.

I think the people who have done 19's have gone with a lower profile tire than 245/40.

As far as widening arches, here's a thread by topdeez showing his arches getting done. I think he started off with fiberglass but then they changed up mid-project and did it in metal... https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ear-ended.html

maxwerks

well with 19s you ran 245-35-19 not 40... I am running 255-35-19 F and 285-30-19 R , BUT #1- I am rubbing on dips and as Mark said on deep turns...as my car has two issuse .. I dropped it a bit too much ( I can barely fit one finger above the front tires.. ) but mostly with the wheels I ran , I had to use spacers 10mm upfront to clear the big Brembos I put in .. so the rubbing is on the fender edge not the inside . #2 - It took me forever and dial that setup in and it still needs work ...I know now that if I ran 5mm spacers front ( Clear the calipers ) and raised the car with the MB pads to #3 or 4 pads I should be OK , or better yet , go to 245-35-19 with the latter , I am certain there will be no rubbing .

All and all , unless one wants to go to extremes , it should be fairly easy and safe to plan the right setup by starting from the OEM stock width /offsets , and tire widths, aspect ratio and diameter ....245-35-19 , 275-30-19 is the safest bet given a moderate/reasonable drop not slammed .

erikfrancin

thanks for that link.... i love to see the flares done on a w210... these cars should have come from the factory like that.

CA_Tallguy

Hey guys, just checking in as I just had the tires mounted... 245/40/18 on the front and 265/35/18 on back.

Fit seems pretty much as expected -- the wheels are just a tiny bit too far out, which is fine since I'm planning to flare the fenders and lower the car a tad.

Clearance on the front when wheels are turned looks pretty tight up close to the plastic fender liner so I'll be watching that. Seems like if there is an issue there I can address it somehow. The "dreaded bolt" on inside of wheels is actually a bit closer than I expected, especially on the right side. For some reason that side seems to be closer than driver's side, which I also recall being the case last time I was messing around with wheel/tire sizes. Seems to be barely 1/4 inch clearance there -- I think that is going to be OK? GEEZ I hate that bolt!

So anyway -- this is the initial report and I'll come back with more details after I put a couple miles on the car with this set.

CA_Tallguy

Took me a few extra days to get the wheels and tires mounted as there was ALMOST going to be a change in plans. Was going to sell the E420 and do my little project on an E55. Story is a few posts into this thread. https://mbworld.org/forums/w210-amg/...wrong-e55.html

Wasn't going to put the wheels and tires on the E420 had I won the auction on the E55