JYO

The Moda wheels I had installed on my E320 back in 1999 needed spacers to fit and now NTB is afraid to remove the wheels because of some potential problem with them. I don't mind changing them anyway.
But I'm trying to stay on a budget and want to see if anyone has a good recommendation for some 17" wheels. I prefer a design with a lot of alloy (no thin spoke designs).
Any comments?

E55 KEV

Why is NTB "afraid" to remove a wheel? What does the spacers have to do with it?

There are 56 wheels on www.tirerack.com for your car. How about the classic design of the AMG Monoblock II:

JYO

something about some bolt stripping out. at this point i don't care. the wheels are out of round enough where it's hard to get them balanced well and my tire life life has been abyssmal (i'm not a rough driver) the last few sets. i think some properly fit wheels will help my cause.

raymond g-

Is thin spoke aversion personal aesthetics....or is there some structural thing I'm unaware of? This will be the first time I've purchased rims and was zeroing in on Tirerack.com's Moda R1 and going back and forth over a couple of other models of the narrower blade design.

JYO

just aesthetics..i feel the large body of MB's warrants a wheel with a lot of metal

Whitey

I've done loads of photoshops already, as a few here would know. IMO, thin spokes will look OK on a W210 as long as there are lots of it (like the BBS LMs, carlsson 1/16s and mine) - our cars need a bit of a surface or at least the illusion of it...something too flimsy looking with too many holes would be overwhelmed by the rest of the car.

As for structural concerns, technically yes - they must be of good quality and preferably forged for added strength. Don't even touch replicas or unbranded wheels with thin spokes if that's your choice.

JYO, if a big face if what you're after, how about

Lorinsers:

D-93


RS-1


RSK5


Or/ Carlssons:

1/6


1/6 Evolution (yo Jimmy!)


Or 2/6


For something a little more radical, Lowenharts:

LD-1


LDR

JYO

thanks.....i like those lo's and carlssons's but i don't like the prices that go with them.
do you know if Borbet, Rondell or or Mille miglia make a decent product? Tire rack carries them and they say they try and carry quality wheels that are made from reputable companies in europe.

Whitey

Rondell and MM definitely, not sure about Borbets. Rondell are OEM manufacturers for a number of Benz tuners (not sure which ones, I think Carlsson is one) so it'll be a safe bet....I believe they have some that look like Carlsson 1/5s without the badging. MM are a benz tuner too.

Beware of Italian wheels like SSR, although they are good quality, I've been told Italian wheels are quite soft. On the otherhand, some OZ's are quite strong. How about Opera or Opera II's (not sure of the pricing tho)?:



BTW, all the wheels I've shown are actually on a few member's rides so they do work - visually as well as fitment. Good luck!

E55 KEV

That Carlsson 1/6 is discontinued. So they will be hard to find. I had a set of those in 17X7.5 et30 on my 98 E430. It stuck out a little and rubbed when the front suspension bottomed.

Whitey

I do believe you Kev, but why do these guys still list them 1/6? Outdated site maybe? Interesting.......

West Coast Motor Sport

E55 KEV

It is discontinued. They must have some leftover stock.

auto2freak

Is SSR made in Italy

Whitey

So I was led to believe......never really looked into it but the point is Italian wheels are soft.....

E55 KEV

SSR wheels come from Japan:

www.speedstar.co.jp/

Speedline come form Italy:

www.speedlinecorse.com

auto2freak

Gotcha

Whitey

My bad......remembered wrong.....twas Speedline I meant