GhettoMD

Hey guys,
What do you guys think about staggered wheels for e5004matic.. i asked a professional shop, they think its ok as long as i keep the air pressures the same in all 4 wheels... i got 255/35/18 in rear and 235/35/18 in front... thanks in advance for any feedback~

brlazar2

I have an e500 4matic and was advised against it as it messes up the system. i have gotten a few conflicting reports, but majority sez "dont do it"
you can ask Luke @ tirerack in wheels and tire section too.........keep me posted if you get advise otherwise, or if you go for it...............let me know how it worked out!

Kev04C320

When I asked Luke about it, he said it's technically doable, but wouldn't recommend it

slk55lvr

I've heard the same thing, and I was just going 235 in front and 245 in rear. I'd hate to see you find out it was a mistake after it broke and needed a 5k suspension repair.

AWDman

the tires you stated have differing overall diameters that will cause damage. at very least you have to keep the OD the same ie 235/35- 18 same as 265/30-18.

or..did you make a typo with the sizes?

GhettoMD

Thanks for pointing that out, i have 235/40/18 in front and 255/35/18 in the rear, went to another professional wheel shop today, they said also, to keep all the tire pressure at the same.. i mean, they pointed out that a lot of the cars on the market has been doing this already... 911 turbo, the new x5 sport versions, and does not compromise performance, let alone cause damage, but make sure check pressures weekly so that the suspension does not wear out as fast...

ATS

These cars ship like this.. There will be more grip with the staggered on the rear wheels and I could see this messing up the 4 Matic system, making it think the fronts are always slipping..

aceman

Couldn't you have ordered the E500 4matic w/ AMG sport package which have staggered wheels? What about the new sport package - i think you can on that one as well..

Aceman

AWDman

in the 911 the slightly larger front is deliberate to as to maintain a rear torque bias and rear wheel drive feel....until they start slipping thne the dif sends torque to fronts.

for 4 matic you have to keep them at same overall diameter. the will be some cushion in 4 matic to allow for tire wear. ie you could end up with 1/8" less tread in back theoretically......

well........i went to MB's site and built a 4 matic with staggered wheel option and it allowed it. it never allowed this to happen in past..........

LJTC55

I put 19 inch staggered on my wife's E500 wagon and it's fine and looks insane.

SAguirre

I don't know where it is written, so I could NOT show this to you if you ask me to prove it, though I still believe that it is written somewhere since I have read this before.

On all of my Quattro cars and on this 4-Matic, it is NOT recommended to do anything else but to change all 4 wheels at the same time when you have one flat tire. Even though the system can manage a little bit of treat depth difference it WILL make you center differential/transfer case work harder or simple fail. Not to mention, the ESP sensors also read wheel velocity.

I have never just bought 2 new tires on any of my cars, but it is not recommended. Unless you can totally assure that the diameter of both the front and the rear wheels and tires (I guess tires in the end are most important) then don't do it.

If you do it, keep your OEM wheels and tires so that if you have any problem you can put them back on the car and avoid the dealer scapegoating the staggered wheels as the cause of the problem. But personally, I would not do it.

Steve

ATS

The reason for staggered wheels is for more grip on the power wheels. Since you have 4Matic, put all 4 wheels at the enlarged width...

Long Islander

235/35 x 18 height is 621.7 mm, whereas 265/30 x 18 height is 616.2, a difference of 5.5mm, or about 1/4 inch. I'm not sure whether that difference is significant in terms of your traction control, ABS and AWD systems' operation, as all three measure differences in in speed between the various wheels. The difference in height will cause the rear wheels to be detected as rotating faster than the the front wheels by just under 1%. Unless the heights were exactly identical, I wouldn't do it unless the car came from the factory that way, as in the case of a 911 -- in the case of mine, there's a 1mm differnce between the rears and the fronts.

LJTC55

Everyone is freaking out about this and it's rediculous. Look at the accessories page on mbusa and you'll see staggered wheels for the 4Matic. You will not burn up anything by such negligible difference in rotation. Get over it.

IluvS500

at one point, i know the s-class it said in small print...if you ordered amg package with 4-matic it would be same size wheels all around.

SAguirre

CORRECT!

SAguirre

Will you guarantee his differentials if something goes wrong? 1% difference is a considerable amount is slippage that the center differential has to compensate for over 10 of thousands of miles. This will wear it out prematurely.

Steve

Long Islander

LJT is correct. The accessories page lists "AMG Style III 5-Spoke Wheel (Staggered), 8 x 18 ET30 245/40 R18 (Front) 9 X 18 ET39 265/35 R18 (Rear)" as an E500 accessory, so at the very least, that combination has to be acceptable. The heights there are 653.2mm front and 642.7mm rear, which is a difference of 10.5mm.

brianhn1

Isn't the center diff an open diff? So it wouldn't matter only ESP would detect it and cause unnessesary braking.

skip2929

I have aprx. 30K miles with 8x18, and 9x18, AMG dual spoke wheels with no problems. Tire size, 245/40 18 front, 275/35 18 rear. This size keeps the diameter at 25.7" front and 25.6" rear.....as close as you can get and the same diameter as the stock wheels. When searching for a tire, my highest priority was quiet/comfort! The first set of tires were the Yokohama AVS dB S2......okay for the first 1000 miles, but became extremely loud and probably the worst tire I have ever owned. The tire I have on now with aprx. 15000 miles is the KUMHO ECSTA ASX......the most comfortable and quiet tire I have ever had!!!!! Price is right also.

SAguirre

Open differentials still get HOT if they are always slipping. Theoretically, you could also tow an AWD car with one axel on the ground and the other one up, but that WILL burn up the center differential (even if it is unlocked).

The point is that if the center differential is always adjusting for different diameter wheels it WILL wear out prematurely. This might not show up for 10s of thousands of miles of driving, but it will be expensive when it does fail.

Would you put different diameter wheels on the rear axel of you car? The rear differential is also open. Obviously a little slippage (like what would occur when a small spare tire is used) is OK and will not damage anything if done temporarily, but would you permanently drive like that?

I think that if your (other posters) ESP and other sensors are OK with a little diameter difference that is great, but it does not mean that the center differential is not being taxed in a way that it was not designed to be used.

I personally would not do it and I have given my reasons, however in this respect, we are all free to do what we want.

Steve

brlazar2

after initial question and 19 responses, it seems somewhat split as too whether or not staggered setup is ok. i asked this question a few times to service manager, board and luke at tire rack. bottom line, it isnt recommended, it isnt suggested, the mbusa site does not show staggered for 4matic, it does show amg wheels,( I STILL WANT TO DO IT)..........................HAS ANYONE PUT THIS SET UP ON CAR THAT HAS ACCUMULATED ANY REAL MILES SO TO SPEAK? 15K +, please let us know.............car would be soooooo much sweeter with nice deep offset rears and such.................all i want is a difinitive answer, i'll never get.................................sorta like askin if youre marryin the right girl...........lol !!!!

benztech70678

staggered tires on a 4matic e class, will reslut in damage to 4 matic system as well as a delay in shift points.... dont do it!!!

lkchris

No matter how desperate you are to do this, take the above device.

No matter how desperate someone at a tire dealer is to sell you something, take the above device.

If you're ever looking at a used Mercedes 4matic that has staggered tires, don't buy it.

Untertürkheim

4Matic systems are not meant for differently sized wheels or tires, period. The AMG package on 4Matic vehicles has 4 equally sized wheels&tires for a reason. Just because people have done it and not suffered yet proves nothing.