Close to perfect flush wheel/tire fitment (IMHO)
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Close to perfect flush wheel/tire fitment (IMHO)
After a couple months of experimenting, I think I finally nailed that perfect flush non-lowered set up I was looking for:
The end result is 245/40-19 on 19x8.5 et30 (et35+5mm spacer) front and 275/35-19 on 19x9.5 et38 (et48+10mm spacer) rear.
Above "translates" to the following stock fitments:
1. Square: 8" width et43 (18", 19" or 20" does not matter) wheels should be "pushed out" front 15-17mm and rear 20-22mm,
2. Staggered: front same as front above (15-17mm), rear 9" width et49 wheels also should be "pushed out" 15-17mm.
The only downside for stock W213 wheels with 15mm spacers is 60mm R14 ball seat bolts are required. For 20mm only DRA type spacers should be used which means stock bolts are used to attach stock wheels to spacers and DRA's bolts attach spacers to vehicle's hubs, otherwise for non-DRA spacers 65mm bolts are required.
The end result is 245/40-19 on 19x8.5 et30 (et35+5mm spacer) front and 275/35-19 on 19x9.5 et38 (et48+10mm spacer) rear.
Above "translates" to the following stock fitments:
1. Square: 8" width et43 (18", 19" or 20" does not matter) wheels should be "pushed out" front 15-17mm and rear 20-22mm,
2. Staggered: front same as front above (15-17mm), rear 9" width et49 wheels also should be "pushed out" 15-17mm.
The only downside for stock W213 wheels with 15mm spacers is 60mm R14 ball seat bolts are required. For 20mm only DRA type spacers should be used which means stock bolts are used to attach stock wheels to spacers and DRA's bolts attach spacers to vehicle's hubs, otherwise for non-DRA spacers 65mm bolts are required.
Last edited by threeMBs; Jun 7, 2019 at 09:20 PM. Reason: After 20 years, E owner no more.
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Wheels are MB OEM from my '15 R231 SL White Arrow Edition. Same wheels were also used by MB on facelift C218 CLS ('15-'18) with Night Package 19" option. For SL 20s are a better fit IMHO, but these are good enough for daily driven E (had them on '14 E and CLS before, so this is the fourth car they were tried on).
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Anyway, slammed (a.k.a. ghetto) look, when a good portion of tire's sidewall is under fender, is not for me. IMHO the car, as is, looks significantly better than when was delivered with stock 18s which were 15-20mm "in".
BTW, thanks to "nycebo" and "Raphie". I added my own tricks based on what they've done.
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This is on R231 SL white arrow (note huge fender gaps at the rear - hence only 20s can do at the rear):
And on former CLS (with 15mm front and 25mm rear spacers) which I traded for W213 E:
Last edited by threeMBs; Jun 7, 2019 at 09:20 PM.
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This is how they were on former '14 E550 with 255/35 front (a slight poke of about 3mm due to wider tires) and 285/30 rear a bit "in"(but 5mm could not be used on rear of W212 while 10mm produced a noticeable poke over 5mm, again due to wider tires, I did not like):
Last edited by threeMBs; Jun 7, 2019 at 09:20 PM.
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Only MBs - the best or nothing
Originally, tried these 20s from my SL. Front (20x8.5 et38) needed a 5mm spacer which is not a problem and maybe 255/35 instead of 245/35, but rear poke of about 6mm due to wider rear wheels and tires (20x10 et38 with 285/30), killed that. So I'm on 19s to stay. Until rain/hurricane season, when I'll switch to original 18s with H&R 15mm DR spacers for the front and 20mm DRA spacers for the rear. For 20mm DRA spacers original 45mm bolts protrude by almost 1mm so can not be used, hence I'll be using H&R 43mm R14 Mercedes ball seat bolts.
Last edited by threeMBs; Jun 7, 2019 at 09:21 PM. Reason: H&R spacers and bolts.
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Only MBs - the best or nothing
Stock 18x8 et43, with 15mm spacers front:
and 20mm spacers rear:
Top of tires are totally under fenders, but just so. Since these OEM tires are "grand touring" and are H speed rated, sidewalls do bulge a bit as compared to UHP tires. So with a performance (non-touring) tire without a significant rim edge protector, even lower offsets by at least additional 3mm are doable. This is of course with stock's hight, but if lowered, there's an additional 5mm widening possible.
and 20mm spacers rear:
Top of tires are totally under fenders, but just so. Since these OEM tires are "grand touring" and are H speed rated, sidewalls do bulge a bit as compared to UHP tires. So with a performance (non-touring) tire without a significant rim edge protector, even lower offsets by at least additional 3mm are doable. This is of course with stock's hight, but if lowered, there's an additional 5mm widening possible.
Last edited by threeMBs; Jun 7, 2019 at 09:21 PM.
