kngreene

It’s that time of year again! The leaves fall and the temperature does the same. I’m doing research on what winter tire to use for my ‘18 E43. Unfortunately I seem to have a big problem.

I have the 20 inch wheels. I haven’t been able to find a single winter tire that matches all of the MB oem specs (load rating, speed rating, etc.). Anyone have any help? Thanks in advance!

ua549

Your best bet is to buy wheels and tires that match the revs per mile of your existing tires. With a taller profile tire the wheel can be an 18".

kngreene

Thanks for your input but I am looking to see if anything will work on the 20inch rims. Downsizing is always an option, but I would rather not. Similarly, I don't think that 18's fit over the AMG brake calipers. I would probably be 19s.

knoppe01

Best bet is to check out Tirerack for winter tire wheel combo - did that for previous E55 and S63 and was very happy in both cases. Just need a place (garage etc0 to store the stock wheels.

c4004matic

Visit tire rack for available options, there are not many at all. Though UA is correct in recommending 18's I went with 19 in as well. I opted for the run flat sottorezo winter which are high performance rated (much better on cold dry conditions). They are expensive as hell, almost 400 each. Even with aftermarket rims (only one choice) I ended up with $2800 bill. However compared with mercedes 18 in OEM rims, it was still a steal, with MB rims it would have been almost 5K.

kngreene

Which rims did you get? I have been looking at a lot of wheels on elementwheels.com. They seem to have a wide selection of good looking wheels that supposedly fit.

Also, thanks for being so active on these forums. Great to have the community helping each other out!

c4004matic

For the 19 inch their configurator only showed the Hannover Quad at about 200 each plus 50 for tpms. Im sure there are other options out there but you have to be careful since though the rims may be the same size, the offset may not. I really trust tire rack since they have served me well many times. Another plus is that hannover come in 3 colors, they gray matching nicely with my gray flat paint. My tire shop already has then but I'm not installing till next week.

ua549

Rim offsets for E43 vary by tire size. Bolt pattern 5x112, thread size M14x1.5 and center bore 66.6 are the same for all wheels.

245/40ZR19 / 275/30ZR19 8Jx19 ET20 / 9Jx19 ET49
245/40ZR19 / 245/40ZR19 8Jx19 ET20 / 8Jx19 ET43
245/35ZR20 / 275/30ZR20 8Jx20 ET20 / 9Jx20 ET49

78degrees

In the linked pdf you can see what MB actually approves for your car.

The pdf is in german but kan be translated with google translate or your preferred translating service.

It's correct that you will need at least 19" rims from what I can read.

https://m.mercedes-benz.de/content/m...mbi_170216.pdf

kngreene

Thank you for this! I hadn’t been able to find the necessary offset info.

worn22

I have a problem with my winter rims to my E43 AMG, Im looking for 19' ones but in my country its really hard to get anyone. Can you tell me if any of these will fit on the car?
https://www.wheelmachine2000.de/shop...amg-112-5.html I already have the Michelin PA5 XL 245/40/R19 prepared to put on. MB dealer have offered me one rims, but they don't know when they will be available.

petee1997

Where are you?

c4004matic

Forget the 19s just get 18s and done. 245 18 all around and done. Much cheaper and better snow performance, they are for crappy winter weather anyway.

hotrodu2

This is a easy one. Stick with your 20's if you want. Go with the Blizzack LM-32 and enjoy. Literally the best winter tires I've ever run. They were designed originally for Aston Martin. I've been running them on a 500hp Jaguar in Wisconsin on 20in wheels for two seasons now and couldn't be happier.

kngreene

Thanks for the help guys. Ended up staying on the 20's and added the older Pirelli Sottozero Serie II. They were the only, I repeat, the ONLY winter tire that fit the 20 inch rims.

Wolfman

I got the Pirelli Sottozero III's for the 20" wheels. Stayed with a staggered setup on the original forged rims. 255/35/20 front & 295/30/20's rear. The load ratings per MB spec. Original front tires were 265/35/20 which is marginally wider (1 cm) but now the wheel diameter is exactly the same.

Also in Mpls. just in time for the snow

jditty725

where did you find the Sottozero Serie II in a run flat? I have been searching everywhere and cannot find them. Tirerack told me that they were discontinued by Pirelli which i confirmed by calling the Pirelli distributor in Georgia. Any help would be appreciated as i have been told the only way to get this tire is from a supplier who has them in stock. I drive too much to take the risk of installing a non-run flat tire.

I have found the Sottozero Serie II on European websites but cannot get any of the companies in Europe to respond to emails asking for a price to ship them to New York.

Tirerack recommended the Michelin PA4 but that is a non-run flat option.

c4004matic

Unfortunately it is what it is, when you have a low volume car choces are few. I have found the sottozeros to be a very good cold season high performace tire. The snow performace is satisfactory, thus, its a tradeoff. One thing I have figured out is that they are very, very directional in the snow, that is, snow traction is very good in a forward direction but in reverse not so much. Futhermore, on the 43, the rear bias, which is mostly transparent on dry conditions, becomes obvious.

kngreene

My dealership got the sottozero serie II for me. Not sure where to find them if you are trying to go solo. Call your dealership they might be able to hook you up!

kngreene

They absolutely work. I'm just spoiled by having Michelin Alpin PA4s and Blizzaks previously. They made my E350 feel like a tank. That said the Sottozero's have much lower road noise and way less sidewall flex in the corners.

c4004matic

I wanted PA4's, they don't come in the appropriate size, its basically a Porsche only tire.

c4004matic

Im ok with the lower snow traction but I have to relearn that the snow traction limits are lower. On the other hand they are superb for a "certified" snow tire as far as handling, noise, comfort are concerned. I have a "standard" snow tire test, I wait for 2 inches of snow and drive to the closest hill which has about a 35% incline about 1/8 mile long. I stop half way and climb the rest of the way from a stop. The Pirellis passed perfectly. They do meet the expectatios that their snow traction is way superior to any all season tire just not as good as hard core snow tires. As anyone who lives in snow country, snow is a loose word, there are many different types of frozen precipitation on which a particular snow tire may excel or not. A good example is solid ice which in my experience blizzaks fare the best, tires that don't have their "microcell" structure (spongy rubber) don't do as well, but, that also makes them loud and fairly bad in dry cold conditions I hate how they handle and feel. The X ice is an in between and of course the sottos are the sportiest of all.

ua549

Haven't the PA4's been replaced by the PA5's. They will fit an E43 with 19" rims.

kngreene

Maybe, but if you want to continue to run the optional 20inch wheels (as I did) then the sottozero serie II is the only available tire.

eas43