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I recently bought a used 2022 GLS 450 and overall like the vehicle with the exception of the 23" AMG Wheels that it came with being that I am in NJ. I have started looking at 21" aftermarket wheels (would like to keep them staggered) that I can pair with all seasons so I can drive this beast in the winter, but haven't found anything that I am liking and am having a tough time picturing what it would look like. So, I am reaching out the community to see what aftermarket wheels you have put on your GLS and if you can share some pictures and where you got them from.
What is your gripe with the wheels? Just the ride? Or do you not like how they look? I had a 23 450 with the 21" 5 star wheels on it for about 6 weeks while MB had my car and today I got a 22 450 with the 23" wheels and the only difference I can really tell is that they are a fair bit noisier than the 21's. Ride quality is damn near the same. By the way, I live in Michigan and NJ roads are a huge upgrade trust me.
I didn't like the look of these wheels though so I bought the 23 AMG 63 wheels in black today with the machined lip since I already have 23" tires. I know that doesn't help you much but I personally would never put some janky aftermarket wheels on any of these cars. There are usually enough choices within the vehicle line to get you the look and ride you are looking for.
I love the way it looks, but know that there is no snow or all season tires for these wheels. I am just looking for as options on what people have done so I can make a more informed choice. Can you send a picture ?
I am just looking for options on what people have done so I can make a more informed choice. Can you send a picture?
Here's a photo of our GLS450. We opted for the 20" Twin 5-Spoke (code R33). We liked the black accents, and we liked that the 20s are non-staggered with the ability to rotate tires.
One thing to note, since this photo was taken, I paid BenzNinja to do some special coding. One of the things he did allows me to change the default ride height, which is now -1, irrespective of "comfort" or "sport." The car sits noticeably lower, and I think the 20s look even better now within the wheel well.
I love the way it looks, but know that there is no snow or all season tires for these wheels. I am just looking for as options on what people have done so I can make a more informed choice. Can you send a picture ?
I am aware of that, yes. But I think whichever 23" tire you have should be should be sufficient for most winter driving. With that being your concern though I would still stick to a factory wheel. There are tons of takeoffs on eBay in 20 & 21" and then you can just rotate them out depending on season.
I will for sure post a pic once I have them mounted.
I do not want my 23 P-Zero tires anywhere near snow, that's for sure. I have noticed that many in the US have a more laissez-faire approach on this, but in Europe (fine, Germany), people are told that once temperatures go below 7C (47F), summer tires are out of their depth, and I am sure they weren't talking about high performance summer tires. I am okay with A/S tires, but there seems to only be one pair for 22s that I can recall. I'd rather fit 20" wheels for winter, but I can't find anyone who can tell me which wheels I can get...
I do not want my 23 P-Zero tires anywhere near snow, that's for sure. I have noticed that many in the US have a more laissez-faire approach on this, but in Europe (fine, Germany), people are told that once temperatures go below 7C (47F), summer tires are out of their depth...
I can attest to the fact that summer tires = DANGER in cold temps, even if the road is dry.
A few years ago, I took my S550 in for maintenance early one November morning and was given a C43 AMG as a loaner car. I proceed to drive it 20 minutes on the freeway, and then I took my usual freeway exit, which includes a long right sweeper (270° turn). Almost immediately, the ESP was doing all it could do, and my butt cheeks were doing all they could do, to keep that C43 from drifting into the tall grass and seriously ruining my day. It's honestly the closest I've ever come to losing it behind the wheel, and I mean that in the ways you imagine.
When I pulled into my office parking space a couple minutes later, still sweating and thinking only in swear words, I looked in the glove box and found the window sticker, which included "SUMMER TIRES" as one of the options. The outside temperature registered 33°F.
Lesson Learned
Last edited by mercedesbuff; 11-15-2023 at 05:45 PM.
Reason: typo
I can attest to the fact that summer tires = DANGER in cold temps, even if the road is dry.
A few years ago, I took my S550 in for maintenance early one November morning and was given a C43 AMG as a loaner car. I proceed to drive it 20 minutes on the freeway, and I then I took my usual freeway exit, which includes a long right sweeper (270° turn). Almost immediately, the ESP was doing all it could do, and my butt cheeks were doing all they could do, to keep that C43 from drifting into the tall grass and seriously ruining my day. It's honestly the closest I've ever come to losing it behind the wheel, and I mean that in the ways you imagine.
When I pulled into my office parking space a couple minutes later, still sweating and thinking only in swear words, I looked in the glove box and found the window sticker, which included "SUMMER TIRES" as one of the options. The outside temperature registered 33°F.
Lesson Learned
Summer tires like "sticky" and "tacky"! You'll never get that at 33°F!
What is your gripe with the wheels? Just the ride? Or do you not like how they look? I had a 23 450 with the 21" 5 star wheels on it for about 6 weeks while MB had my car and today I got a 22 450 with the 23" wheels and the only difference I can really tell is that they are a fair bit noisier than the 21's. Ride quality is damn near the same. By the way, I live in Michigan and NJ roads are a huge upgrade trust me.
I didn't like the look of these wheels though so I bought the 23 AMG 63 wheels in black today with the machined lip since I already have 23" tires. I know that doesn't help you much but I personally would never put some janky aftermarket wheels on any of these cars. There are usually enough choices within the vehicle line to get you the look and ride you are looking for.
So Michigan also suffers from 1/2" to 1" deep potholes too? Don't forget the occasional trip to NYC where some of the worst highways in America are located (i.e. Cross Bronx Expressway, etc.)!
The roads are so heavily salted in winter that I'm surprised cars don't corrode more than they do!
mb and tirerack have pirelli scorpion winter in your 23" wheel size. it's $2.4K for a set. tirerack has a nice set of 20" rims which will work for you. about $1K for a set and tires in 20" are about $1K as well.
Michigan doesn't even call them potholes anymore, they are just holes. In addition to that we have the ever popular separating pavement and not for the faint of heart concrete falling from overpasses in disrepair. It's a real treat here let me tell you. I live about halfway between Detroit and Ann Arbor and it doesn't snow much here anymore with the global warming and what not but the salt here is copious once it starts to be below freezing consistently.
As far as I am aware based on research as recently as this week nobody makes a winter tire in this size. And unless I am also mistaken Mercedes is the only one who uses this particular size and I know that the Michelin's are coded as such with a MO signifying it's a MB tire.
I understand the summer tire concerns on paper but I drove a CLS 450 4Matic all last winter with the stock summer tires and had no issues other than a ****ty ride. The only unsettling thing I have ever noticed about these tires is that if a road was patched with that rubber sealant that will make the tires a little squirly but that is the case if it's snowing or 80 and sunny. This GLS I just got yesterday does the exact same thing on those types of road repair material.
Does anyone else find it extremely annoying that Mercedes hasn't worked with the tire manufacturers to come up with winter/AS OEM tires for customers to purchase for these big-rim staggered setups? It would be nice if on the ordering guide you could choose, summer, AS, and winter tires like some other car manufacturers do.
Does anyone else find it extremely annoying that Mercedes hasn't worked with the tire manufacturers to come up with winter/AS OEM tires for customers to purchase for these big-rim staggered setups? It would be nice if on the ordering guide you could choose, summer, AS, and winter tires like some other car manufacturers do.
I thought the same thing until I looked at the production #'s for the GLS. Since they have produced the X167 they have never sold more than 24,000 units. Of those only a small percentage carry the 23" wheels, they are even an option on the 63. So, I think it comes down to it just not being cost effective to offer multiple configurations. It would be nice for either Michelin or Pirelli to take the leap and make one but I don't see this size being adopted by any other manufacturers anytime soon.
I would like to see someone give you more information so you can make better decisions. Like the 23" wheels are awesome, but if you are planning on driving in the snow you will need a second set with proper tires to handle that. Didn't realize the production #'s were so low .
I thought the same thing until I looked at the production #'s for the GLS. Since they have produced the X167 they have never sold more than 24,000 units. Of those only a small percentage carry the 23" wheels, they are even an option on the 63. So, I think it comes down to it just not being cost effective to offer multiple configurations. It would be nice for either Michelin or Pirelli to take the leap and make one but I don't see this size being adopted by any other manufacturers anytime soon.
The 21" and 22" staggered setups (on GLS and GLE) also suffer from the same selection issues as the 23". I wonder if you include those production #s worldwide?
If I were in your shoes, @rhinoman, I would find a set of 20" rims and mount dedicated winter tires. You can enjoy your 23" wheels for 8-9 months of the year, and then switch over to the 20s for winter driving.
I just bought a set of Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV from Costco, which fit the 20" wheels. I loved them on my W166, so I didn't even think twice about getting them again.
In case it's helpful, these are the 20" wheels that were standard/optional on the X167:
@mercedesbuff , you gave me good food for thought with your first post and I have been looking at 20" wheel options and getting all-season tires. Just need to find the right set now. Thanks for all the information.
@rhinoman There are no all-season tires available with the stock tire dimensions for the 23 rims. BUT there are all-season tires that are a little bit lower profile. For example, see Pirelli Scorpion-Zero-All-Season 325/30R23 (30 instead of the stock 35). See https://www.pirelli.com/tires/en-us/...ero-all-season
If I were in your shoes, @rhinoman, I would find a set of 20" rims and mount dedicated winter tires. You can enjoy your 23" wheels for 8-9 months of the year, and then switch over to the 20s for winter driving.
I just bought a set of Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV from Costco, which fit the 20" wheels. I loved them on my W166, so I didn't even think twice about getting them again.
In case it's helpful, these are the 20" wheels that were standard/optional on the X167:
Good luck!
By the way, keep in mind that the staggered wheels for the GLS are actually taller (larger diameter/circumference) than the non-staggered wheels. The difference is so much that the 20 GLS wheels have a lower profile tire than the 21 GLS wheels. This is very counter intuitive because usually when you increase the size of the rim it decreases the thickness/width of the tire, which is referred to as being lower profile.
I remember this totally surprised me when someone else on this site pointed this out because it then follows that the 21wheels should then provide a smoother ride then the 20 wheels because there is more rubber between the pavement and the rim.
UPDATE: I cannot remember if the anomaly is between the 20 and 21 or if its between the 21 and 22 but a while back I did confirm by using one of those tire calculators to determine the diameter of the tires.
Last edited by joejones81; 11-16-2023 at 08:56 AM.
By the way, keep in mind that the staggered wheels for the GLS are actually taller (larger diameter/circumference) than the non-staggered wheels. The difference is so much that the 21 GLS wheels have a lower profile tire than the 22 GLS wheels. This is very counter intuitive because usually when you increase the size of the rim it decreases the thickness/width of the tire, which is referred to as being lower profile.
I remember this totally surprised me when someone else on this site pointed this out because it then follows that the 22 wheels should then provide a smoother ride then the 21 wheels because there is more rubber between the pavement and the rim.
That's interesting. I'm going to have to look at some tire calculators to see how much of a difference it is.
I just circled back through eBay and there are a nice selection of 21" and 22" GLS takeoffs both with tires and without tires. I still think you are best served to grab one of these sets with a winter or even an all season tire you are happy with. This will help with resale too offering two sets of OEM wheels.
11-13-2023, 05:24 PM
