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Indeed. I've had the 20" AMG RZW Night wheels on my build, but this video has been swaying me to reconsider the 21" wheels. They are gorgeous. But the practicality of them? The front sidewalls are 45 series, but the rears are only 40! The 18" winter tire setup on my S4 are 40 series but that is a midsize sedan. How comfortable is a 40 series tire going to be on a 5,000lb SUV?
I've always swapped between summer wheels and winter wheels. This MB was making me consider all seasons for the first time mounted on 20's.
The thing is because the series number (aspect ratio) multiplies by the width of the tire to determine sidewall height, a 315/40-21 has a theoretical sidewall height of 126mm; compare this to a 255/50-19, which was stock on some ML & GLEs, with a sidewall height of 127.5mm (virtually the same). Because the V167 has larger tires they can go with a lower aspect ratio for similar cushioning. That being said, the 20s will give even more sidewall height. And given that you live in Idaho, I would still recommend Winter tires.
Last edited by GregW / Oregon; Dec 8, 2018 at 11:05 AM.
Indeed. I've had the 20" AMG RZW Night wheels on my build, but this video has been swaying me to reconsider the 21" wheels. They are gorgeous. But the practicality of them? The front sidewalls are 45 series, but the rears are only 40! The 18" winter tire setup on my S4 are 40 series but that is a midsize sedan. How comfortable is a 40 series tire going to be on a 5,000lb SUV w/o Airmatic?
I've always swapped between summer wheels and winter wheels. This MB was making me consider all seasons for the first time; mounted on the 20's.
i see curbing a wheel to be a potential issue with the 21’s. With good suspension-either Air or E-ABC the ride should be good with the 21’s and they are great looking. I wonder how much and how long it would take for a replacement wheel?....20’s for me. I didn’t check but I thought all the tires were AS. I will still run winter tires on mine even if it comes with AS. They are just that much better, IMO.
i see curbing a wheel to be a potential issue with the 21’s. With good suspension-either Air or E-ABC the ride should be good with the 21’s and they are great looking. I wonder how much and how long it would take for a replacement wheel?....20’s for me. I didn’t check but I thought all the tires were AS. I will still run winter tires on mine even if it comes with AS. They are just that much better, IMO.
Per my post above, curbing is no more an issue with the 21s than with smaller wheels on the W166, but 20s would be better. Ride will be good with 21s. And at least the GLE still comes with a spare! All tires are All Seasons, which is what I have been running 8 1/2 months a year. I like the extra security of studless Winter tires for snow/ice though.
My take is that the Tesla has more advanced software at this time but since we haven’t got the GLE yet....
I've th distronic Plus on my current M and while it helps on long distance driving. It however does not steer (except for auto parallel parking). I'm not clear of the driving assist version in the GLE 2020 as compared to what the S class has to offer. Additional information would be appreciated.
Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon
It seems like the more basic question is if you want an electric vehicle; to most that would be more important than nuances of autonomous features (that and if you could live with those stupid Falcon doors). The Mercedes EQ C launches next year. https://www.topgear.com/car-news/fut...dy-fight-tesla
Thanks for the info Greg. I'm not really interested in the BEV...yet.
There was a good shot in that video of the 21" 14-spoke wheels though. This is the front, which is plenty beefy, but rears are 40mm wider!
Why do manufactures do staggered wheels? I've never owned a vehicle with different wheels widths front to back. I will only be able to rotate side-to-side.
I've th distronic Plus on my current M and while it helps on long distance driving. It however does not steer (except for auto parallel parking). I'm not clear of the driving assist version in the GLE 2020 as compared to what the S class has to offer. Additional information would be appreciated.
The optional Driver Assist Package Plus on the 2020 GLE is a Level 2 Autonomous system. This video demonstrates it's capabilities:
There are a couple of those I wouldn't mind having, but way too much Activity & Assistance for me. I like to drive; I might have a different attitude if I did a lot of long-distance or high-traffic driving.
Last edited by GregW / Oregon; Dec 8, 2018 at 11:56 AM.
The thing is because the series number (aspect ratio) multiplies by the width of the tire to determine sidewall height, a 315/40-21 has a theoretical sidewall height of 126mm; compare this to a 255/50-19, which was stock on some ML & GLEs, with a sidewall height of 127.5mm (virtually the same). Because the V167 has larger tires they can go with a lower aspect ratio for similar cushioning. That being said, the 20s will give even more sidewall height. And given that you live in Idaho, I would still recommend Winter tires.
Thanks for the quick math.
I'm in Philly, but the nonetheless your point isn't invalid. Just wondering if it's worth the hassle of swapping out all the time.
Per my post above, curbing is no more an issue with the 21s than with smaller wheels on the W166, but 20s would be better. Ride will be good with 21s. And at least the GLE still comes with a spare! All tires are All Seasons, which is what I have been running 8 1/2 months a year. I like the extra security of studless Winter tires for snow/ice though.
In some cars the compact spare is not rated to handle front axle mounting and they recommend moving one of the rears to the front if you have a front flat and mounting the spare to the wheel. I wonder how this woul work on the 21" staggered setup of the GLE....of course all of that assumes the spare cannot be front mounted in an emergency.
Why do manufactures do staggered wheels? I've never owned a vehicle with different wheels widths front to back. I will only be able to rotate side-to-side.
My understanding is that In RWD cars with a lot of power and that have a tendency to oversteer the wider rear tires help induce a little bit of understeer to keep you in-line better.
Here are a couple of 20” wheels I’m considering. One is billet, both are chrome but there are 3 finishes available. Would run these in the summer and put winters on the factory wheels. Every couple of years I will have the tires switched on the wheels for the winters and just rotate the others that will be on the same offset wheels. Both are made for Mercedes so a Mercedes center cap will fit.
I was able to finalize changes to my order this AM, at least it seemed to go through OK. A new DOG is still unavailable. The Brown Walnut trim is still unavailable so I switched to the Ash Walnut. There are still only 3 optional trims available....H35 Ash just mentioned, H64 Metal Weave and I think the other was H18 Linden. Basically nothing has changed in 2 weeks since I ordered.
Thanks for the quick math.
I'm in Philly, but the nonetheless your point isn't invalid. Just wondering if it's worth the hassle of swapping out all the time.
Sorry - got you confused with Ron. IF you have a garage, then things are much easier. Just need the Winters on a spare set of wheels (you can store on something like this, https://www.griotsgarage.com/product...ks&from=Search, or on wall racks), a jack (preferably a floor jack), lug wrench, mounting stud & torque wrench. Cordless impact wrench optional. Takes me 45 minutes to do all four twice a year. It's an initial investment that pays off in the long run. You can get 3-4 years out of the Winter tires only running seasonally, and of course the life of your Summer (or All Season) tires is extended.
Originally Posted by buddy0329
In some cars the compact spare is not rated to handle front axle mounting and they recommend moving one of the rears to the front if you have a front flat and mounting the spare to the wheel. I wonder how this would work on the 21" staggered setup of the GLE....of course all of that assumes the spare cannot be front mounted in an emergency.
On my ML and most the spare will work front or rear. The exception might be a car that has extremely large front brakes, which the regular GLE does not.
My understanding is that In RWD cars with a lot of power and that have a tendency to oversteer the wider rear tires help induce a little bit of understeer to keep you in-line better.
Well, a little understeer can help unskilled drivers, but it's generally not desirable. Biggest reason for staggering (like on my M4) is to get more rubber on the ground for the driving wheels. On the GLE I believe it is pure looks to have those big 315s on back. I think in this case understeer will not be appreciably increased.
I have all the things to change my own wheels except I’ll need a Guide stud. Is it 14mm x 1.5 or the 12mm Greg? Another option for some is to buy your winter tires (and maybe wheels) from someone like Discount tire. They will rotate, change out winters/summers and RF balance for free. The local shop I use are professional, fast and will price match anyone including Tire Rack. Costco has a similar program except they don’t price match and they don’t have RFB.
An inexpensive tire storage option is the heavy duty steel rack sold by Costco, usually available in spring. I used the half with rollers for one set and then bought a second set of rollers for the other half. I put one rack to the bottom and the other to the top and just sat the 5th piece on top of one. This is handy because now you have the shelf as storage above the wheels. So I have storage for both vehicles tires-on rollers for about $100 give or take $10. Depending on the size of your tires you might need a piece of lathe as a shim to keep them in place. My truck tires fit like a glove. The Audi don’t fit tight so I zip tied 1x4 lath as a bumper. The oversized 21” wheels might not fit all 4 but the 20’s will fit.
Flipping the racks upside down would increase the vertical clearance and the wire brace might be enough to hold the tire in place. I just saw that option looking at it today.
Sorry - got you confused with Ron. IF you have a garage, then things are much easier. Just need the Winters on a spare set of wheels (you can store on something like this, https://www.griotsgarage.com/product...ks&from=Search, or on wall racks), a jack (preferably a floor jack), lug wrench, mounting stud & torque wrench. Cordless impact wrench optional. Takes me 45 minutes to do all four twice a year. It's an initial investment that pays off in the long run. You can get 3-4 years out of the Winter tires only running seasonally, and of course the life of your Summer (or All Season) tires is extended.
On my ML and most the spare will work front or rear. The exception might be a car that has extremely large front brakes, which the regular GLE does not.
I've always had winter tires on a spare set of wheels. Hassle is minor I agree. The main sticking point is the practicality of staggered 21" wheels with such narrow sidewalls on an SUV. I worry about potholes on poor country exurban roads where I live, and limited tire selection should something go awry.
My final decision is to stick with the 20's on the order and evaluate them from there. I can always pick up a set of oem 21" and convert the oem 20"s into winter wheels.
The Brown Walnut trim is still unavailable so I switched to the Ash Walnut.
Ron, my build includes the walnut trim. My dealer had to work directly with a person in Distribution who entered my build into Netstar5. That person confirmed everything I requested (including walnut trim) and emailed the dealer screen shots of the order. So it's odd that your dealer is unable to select walnut trim for your build if you want it.
Ron, my build includes the walnut trim. My dealer had to work directly with a person in Distribution who entered my build into Netstar5. That person confirmed everything I requested (including walnut trim) and emailed the dealer screen shots of the order. So it's odd that your dealer is unable to select walnut trim for your build if you want it.
I was under the impression that is was an available option when you ordered 2 weeks before I did. Are you saying that your dealer called the first time to get it ordered or that they confirmed it later.
As of this morning there are 3 that can be ordered and 3 that aren’t available. I just assume that they have orders committed for all available Brown Walnut or are trying to get a balance by taking it off for now. My dealers system worked flawlessly by outward appearances. Fast to respond and quick to show conflicts but that doesn’t mean it’s right.
I’m OK with what I ordered but will ask them to call if it will help. Let me know....has anyone else been able to order recently???
I was under the impression that is was an available option when you ordered 2 weeks before I did. Are you saying that your dealer called the first time to get it ordered or that they confirmed it later.
My initial build did include walnut trim but I changed it to black ash when I wanted to change my build to the AMG Line Interior. When MB Distribution called my dealer to let me know I have to drop the Driver Assistance Package Plus, I had them drop the AMG Line Interior instead and switched back to walnut trim.
These 21" wheels are so HAWT....BUT look at the practicality of the 20's:
What's the likelihood of finding these 21's in stock somewhere if I breakdown with a flat in the middle of nowhere?? Somebody tell me zero (please to help me stay with the 20's!) I could probably find 275/50 20's almost anywhere, right?
Do I really want an SUV with 21's?
The Cayenne I drove was fantastic with 21's *!#$*!%@$!@
The 21's would look menacing on an AMG package black car with the Night package!
What are we assuming for an up-charge from MB for the 21's? $1,000?
Anybody have a sense what a set of 4 of either wheel may cost at the parts desk?
With a steel suspension would you stay with 20's to be safe?
These 21" wheels are so HAWT....BUT look at the practicality of the 20's:
What's the likelihood of finding these 21's in stock somewhere if I breakdown with a flat in the middle of nowhere?? Somebody tell me zero (please to help me stay with the 20's!) I could probably find 275/50 20's almost anywhere, right?
Do I really want an SUV with 21's?
The Cayenne I drove was fantastic with 21's *!#$*!%@$!@
The 21's would look menacing on an AMG package black car with the Night package!
What are we assuming for an up-charge from MB for the 21's? $1,000?
Anybody have a sense what a set of 4 of either wheel may cost at the parts desk?
With a steel suspension would you stay with 20's to be safe?
Buddy.....you have one of those wild & crazy Buddy vs practical Buddy situations going on. You have the issues sorted out very well and $$$ will solve any of them. My vote is to “throw caution to the wind”...get it how you want it no regrets that way.
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