xr650rguy

I just changed my OEM staggered double-10 spoke 18" wheels and tires for a set of 17" fat-five OEM's w/ new 245/45-17 Michelins PS2's.

The replaced tire/wheel combo was Nitto INVO in 245/40-18 front and 275/35-18 rear on the original (3/06 build) E500 sport wheels. I guess the wheels used in the later built 06's are the same as the 20 spoke (dual 10 spoke) that the newer E350 sports use. Tires had about 90% tread left (3,000 miles use)

Ok, here's the weights:

Front OEM 18" wheel and tire was 54.5 lbs.
Rear OEM 18" wheel and tire was 56.5 lbs.

New 17" wheels and tires are 43.5 lbs each


The car feels faster and smoother! Apparantly removing almost 50 lbs of unsprung and rotating weight can really help the ride and acceleration!

18's be heavy!

gaazmon

Damn !!! Those wheels weigh that much??? F*ck. I'm guessing the ones you put on are the ones that look like mine. I love my wheels, just wish they were 18's. Damn, those double 10 spokes weigh a lot. I never liked those, too many spokes, too hard to clean IMO.

stickygreen

Wow, does that mean that the factory cast fat-5's weigh only 19.5 lbs each? That's very light for a cast wheel meant to carry such a heavy car.

Tirerack lists the weight of a 245/45/17 PS2 at 24 lbs.

KL2DC

Damn the 18" double-10 spokes weigh a lot!

I'm not at all surprised, I changed remounted the factory wheels the other day and was struggling to lift them up and position them on the hub. I thought they weigh even more than the 18" setup on the 3 series (E90) with the heavy factory RFTs.

W211 Ryda

good info! I miss my fat-fives and my ride!

erifly

Are you referring to the 18" 10 spoke rims that come on the 07-08 w211s with sport package?? Those are 42lbs each(Actually lighter..thats what they weighted in a box). I weighted them and they were weighted at a UPS facility.

EDIT: Didn't notice that weight was with tire. Yeah with tire it could be that high.

xr650rguy

Yes, those wheels.
My build date was 03/06 and my E500 sport came with those wheels from the factory.


H

my2001s2000

xr650rguy - will you be selling your 18"s?

cstrait37

I have an easier way to remove 110lbs. of unsprung weight......

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

Costs a bit more, but WELL WORTH it....

Benz-O-Rama

Pretty funny.....

On a side note, a set of 19" VIP Modular VR05's wrapped in 245/35 and 275/30 Toyo T1R's weigh in at 50.0lbs per corner. On the flip side, my 18" OEM E63 (P030-2piece) wheels wrapped in 245/40 and 265/35 Falken's weight in at 59.0 lb's per corner. Sucks gaining 40lbs of weight when going to smaller wheels.

VIP's FTMFW!

007_e350

I recently did a brake job and came accross porforated aftermarket rotors ... I didnt weigh them, but it was 2/3rd if not half the weight of OEM rotors .... I think I can get away with another 8 lbs per rotor atleast (32 lbs) ... those were $150 each thou

CLEK500

when i have my Brabus Mono VI 1 piece, my car ride VERY smooth, now with Maya 19" it feel heavy again. BUT I"M STILL SELLING THE BRABUS !!!!

MBNUT1

Sorry but that would be sprung weight.

559EVO

Im going back to stock next week before a long trip planned. I look forward to the better ride and power, dam 20's are soo heavy.

SAguirre

There are a lot of benefits from removing unsprung weight, this is a fact. My 17 inch 5-spoke 245s weigh in at 52.5 lbs! My 16 inch 225s (now tire set) weigh in at about 48 lbs. I can always tell a remarkable difference between the feel of the two. Of course, the summer tires are crisper and handle better, but there is an improvement in other ways when I drive with the lighter rims.

I can cut about 4 lbs. per tire by switching tire brands when I replace the summer 245 17s. I will do that for sure. Another thing that people don’t know about unsprung weight that spins that eliminating it actually increases the brake efficiency by a lot! Depending on the unsprung weight you eliminate (spinning dynamic versus not spinning static), one pound of unsprung weight equals up to about 9 pounds of sprung weight! This all makes a difference for people who are capable of telling and appreciate it.

What is keeping me from going bigger than 17s is that I hit A LOT of pot holes in this area. I really don’t want to go bellow a 45% aspect ratio (yet).

Thanks for the post! You are bringing up a very valid point that is often overlooked.

Steve