with the 2008 standard 19" wheels the back wheels kind of sit inside wheelwell. Has anyone put on rear spacers to give more aggressive look?

If you want a more agressive look, switch to 20" AMG's-What a difference in ride quality and handling! Not to mention looks!

i would love to put the 20" amg wheels on but they are way to expensive..plus tires


your truck looks great with those wheels

Thanks for the kind words BMW-
Retail is over 5k for the set of AMG's but there are a few sets around as take offs for around 3k or so...
Haven't seen anyone running spacers on the OEM wheels though...

This is my vehicle with stock 19" rims, 25 mm spacers, amg flares.


These pictures were taken earlier, but the front grille is now black with chrome with the distronic glass emblem.

[QUOTE=wonsuk_utmb;2732931]This is my vehicle with stock 19" rims, 25 mm spacers, amg flares.

Thanks for posting the pics so fast. i was thinking of 25 mm spacers minimum for the rears. I think the amg 19's are 8.5 wide. The ml350 wheels are 19x8. Not sure of offset but 25 should make a difference. What kind of spacers did you purchase and from where did you order them. Thanks

Here is the link to a previous post. I only came out 25 mm because I had amg flares, Otherwise if not consider only taking out the rims by 10-15 mm.

https://mbworld.org/forums/m-class-w164/231692-ml-wheel-spacers.html

BUT THE AMG WHEELS ARE 1/2 INCH WIDER. 10-15 mm is nothing. I had 15mm on a bmw 3 series. Im thinking 20mm minimim 25 max.

have you had any problems yet?

WONSUK UTMB,
Thanks for sharing the pics after you raised it back up-hope your wife likes the ride height now. Last you posted pics it was lowered and did not have the spacers-Looks good!!! I'm getting the fender flares too.

The following is how I came about getting 30 mm spacers for my car. I had just installed amg fender flares on the vehicle, and it really looked awful with the wheels at there stock position. I just measured the ML63 car width versus the stock ml550 76.8 inches versus 75.2 inches. That was 1.6 inches or .8 inches the wheels needed to come out on both sides. The amg wheels also come out .4 inches more than the ML550 wheels for a total of 1.2 inches when compared to the ml550 wheel. This lead me to get the 30mm spacers. Here is a pic before the spacers, and lowered. It actually reminds me of a hippo's ***.

ML550 can tell you that the AMG 10" inch wheels go past his fenders a little. If that's the look you want then go with the 25 mm spacers. Otherwise, I would probably max out at 20 mm. In terms of spacer safety, I have had no issues since they were placed on with them coming loose. Periodically, I will go around all 4's and check bolt tightness and no additional torquing has been needed.

lol a hippo's ***. I busted out laughing on that one. so now you have 30mm spacers? Do you have any good side angle shots. Now im thinking 25mm minimum. Do you know the offset on the 19" amg wheels. Im almost positive they are 8.5 wide vs my 8" wide. A 1/2 inch difference is about 12mm. I dont plan on adding the fender flares or lower it. Truck sits so high in the rear it would be impossible to rub in the rear even if the tires stick out past fender
thanks

I have the 20'' AMG Wheels with fenders flares, and the wheels still seem to be tagged in. I am also thinking of installing spacers (10mm), however I have been told that there is a good chance that the spacers will cause some kind of axles to break. Any thoughts on that? Has anyone had such problems?

wow axles breaking? havent heard that. im still uncertain if i should put rear spacers on due to the weight of the ml350. Read above someone has 30mm spacers and has has no issues

Wonsuk, thanks for the great info and pics as I have the exact same problem. Hope you still frequent this board. Did you consider wider tires also? I'm thinking 275 tires instead of stock 255 to give 10 mm and then just 20 mm spacers. Not sure about the bulge tire look thou..!

Also, what did you do on the front?

maybe i'm looking to much into it. but would adding spacers to the rears only have a chance of effecting the 4matic? somewhat changing the offsets and the wheels may track oddly? the rears would be pushed out farther than the fronts?

Personally, I like the looks this way..
I have also lowered my car using H&R springs on the factory fitted absorbers. The optic is great but the ride is -at least- dangerous.... It is jumping like kangaroo, as I mentioned in another post.. So, how did you lower your ML ???

regards

I haven't lowered mine. At the moment it would definitely have the hippo rear if I did!

I think I'm going to run with 20 cm spacers only for a while while I budget for the 21' AMG wheels. At least if the ride seems bad I can quickly undo