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I have an E500 wagon which is not on its original wheels, although they are 18 AMG Mercedes wheels of some sort. I know they're 7.5/8.5 F/R.
I don't know what the specs of the original wheels would have been, and I don't know how much more/less inner room there is with airmatic front and rear versus conventional struts. So I'm struggling to work out where I can go fitment wise regarding width and offsets.
I think I want to stick with 18s but I'd like to go wider/more flush, maybe 9 inch front, 10 inch rears. I would like reasonable tyre wall, no stretch as it's not my thing.
I just want less of a sunken appearance but nothing stancey.
Could anyone suggest/advise me on this? Maybe give me some wheel/tyre sizing options? Thanks.
I have an E500 wagon which is not on its original wheels, although they are 18 AMG Mercedes wheels of some sort. I know they're 7.5/8.5 F/R.
I don't know what the specs of the original wheels would have been, and I don't know how much more/less inner room there is with airmatic front and rear versus conventional struts. So I'm struggling to work out where I can go fitment wise regarding width and offsets.
I think I want to stick with 18s but I'd like to go wider/more flush, maybe 9 inch front, 10 inch rears. I would like reasonable tyre wall, no stretch as it's not my thing.
I just want less of a sunken appearance but nothing stancey.
Could anyone suggest/advise me on this? Maybe give me some wheel/tyre sizing options? Thanks.
How about trying with 5-10 mm spacers with your current tires/wheels to push them out some. 10 might be too much though…
Unless you want wider tires too.
I have 2010 E550 sedan with the Hickey sticks in front like you (would love to have a wagon) and I once had 275 wide tires in rear on the factory AMG rims you have. Looked very nice so just going wider rubber might do it for you.
I assume your tires now are 265 wide in rear. I did not try wider tires in front and there is not much room to play with the strut. Rear has more room for changes.
How about trying with 5-10 mm spacers with your current tires/wheels to push them out some. 10 might be too much though…
Unless you want wider tires too.
I have 2010 E550 sedan with the Hickey sticks in front like you (would love to have a wagon) and I once had 275 wide tires in rear on the factory AMG rims you have. Looked very nice so just going wider rubber might do it for you.
I assume your tires now are 265 wide in rear. I did not try wider tires in front and there is not much room to play with the strut. Rear has more room for changes.
Spacers were my first thought but my insurance company won't allow use of them for some bizarre reason... but they will let me fit wider wheels. Makes no sense, but it is what it is, I guess.
Yes, from memory I think I'm on 245 F and 265 R. Wider tyres are another option I'll keep in mind.
not sure what your stock offset is for e500, but if you can find info on your current setup that would be a good starting point.
If you like overall width just want it a bit more flush get same wheels with lower offset.
If you go wider there are plenty of tire size calculator and offset calculators online that will help you visualize how different specs would affect the look. What they dont tell you is, wider means longer scrub radius, if too wide of a tire you could experience tramlining, hydroplaning is also something to remember. You do get more lateral traction, fuel economy could be affected.
the ratio is as important as the size. probably 245/40R18 fronts, and 265/??R18 rear, maybe 35% ?
His car is like our US E550. In Europe it is called E500 for some reason.
His original setup most likely was the same staggered 265/35 18 in rear and 245/40 18 in front.
By far the easiest is to put 275/35 18 rubber in the rear on the factory wheels. It is about 1% bigger so not an issue. It will move outer wall of the tire out by 5 mm and there really is no room for more to barely fit inside the fender. It looks very good too. I did this many years ago with some Firestone Indy model tire.
I did not do anything in front as there is very limited room between the tire and the strut with Airmatic that I have so for the front a different offset may be needed.
His car is like our US E550. In Europe it is called E500 for some reason.
His original setup most likely was the same staggered 265/35 18 in rear and 245/40 18 in front.
By far the easiest is to put 275/35 18 rubber in the rear on the factory wheels. It is about 1% bigger so not an issue. It will move outer wall of the tire out by 5 mm and there really is no room for more to barely fit inside the fender. It looks very good too. I did this many years ago with some Firestone Indy model tire.
I did not do anything in front as there is very limited room between the tire and the strut with Airmatic that I have so for the front a different offset may be needed.
Ok, thanks, this tells me that there's a little room in the rear for extra width inboard, but not really at the front.
As mentioned above, maybe keeping a similar width but a slightly lower offset might be an option other than the tyre size upgrade suggested.
2016 E350 4Matic wagon, 2019 Ford Expedition, 2019 Chevy Bolt EV
mercedes picks their stock sizes quite carefully, and the suspension is nicely tuned for them. in the past when I've put wider tires on various cars, its made the steering feel much heavier, especially in sharp low speed maneuvers, scrubbing on sharp turns, etc.
Ok, thanks, this tells me that there's a little room in the rear for extra width inboard, but not really at the front.
As mentioned above, maybe keeping a similar width but a slightly lower offset might be an option other than the tyre size upgrade suggested.
Thanks for the posts so far.
I think rear has room for even a bit wider tire but offset change (wheel change) is needed to keep the tire inside the fender unless you want to come out. Personally, I would never have tire setup that would allow the tire to rub on the fender under any condition especially since my car has Airmatic and loss of a spring would destroy the fender if it happened at speed.
2016 E350 4Matic wagon, 2019 Ford Expedition, 2019 Chevy Bolt EV
watch the load rating on any non-standard tire sizes. the standard tires for 18" E350's are 245/40R18 XL, the XL is for Extra Load, and have a load range number of 97, which translates to 1609 lbs each. these are heavy cars, my wife's E350 wagon has a GVWR of 5721 lbs, which is 3219 lbs rear axle, and 2502 front.
I've just bought a set of W221 S600 OEM 18s (8.5 et43 front, 9.5 et43 rear) for my S212.
They come with 255/45 and 275/45 for the S Class. These tyres are obviously being replaced but I'm not sure what size to fit for my E Class Wagon.
My current wheels are 18 x 7.5 et44 and 8.5 et49 with 245/40 and 265/35.
For the new wheels, should I stick with 255 and 275 but just go for a shorter tyre wall?
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