Hey guys,

I have been very busy behind the scenes with my ML63 over the past few months as the transformation has slowly been taking place. I wanted to greatly improve the overall look & feel of my ML63 while improving its overall performance. However, I did not want to take the normal route as I wanted to improve the vehicle dynamics as much as possible in the least intrusive and expensive way possible.

One thing that always bothered me about the ML63 was the stock wheels. Their offset is totally wrong, they look small & dated, and they are stupendously heavy (hence the rough quality ride).

I did more research to see what I could do to freshen up the look of the car but do so on a budget. I loved the look of the ADV1 5.1 monoblock wheels, but they were stupidly expensive for an SUV and honestly were overkill for what I was looking for. They were however significantly lighter. I wanted to stick with the same 20" diameter wheels in order to retain the stock tire size for direct comparison purposes.

I finally concluded that the Forgestar CF5s were the closest thing to the ADV1 5.1 wheels but at a small fraction of the cost ($1800 shipped w/ custom bolts vs. $5000+)

Stock Wheel Weight: 36lbs Each
Forgestar CF5 Weight: 27lbs "
Weigh Reduction: 9lbs " , 36lbs TOTAL !!!

The main purpose of the wheels was to reduce the unsprung rotating mass of the car. I always loved my car but felt it rode way too rough. I went on a mission to reduce the unsprung mass of the car as MUCH as humanly possible (I am going to do a whole thread writeup on this topic soon after this so look out for that, it will be a fountain of knowledge).

Also, I realized the reason the stock wheels looks so small was not b/c of their size, but because of their actual design. I also wanted more offset to push the wheels out so that they were flush with the fenders and gave a much more aggressive stance WITHOUT THE USE OF SPACERS! This meant I had to use custom offsets:

Stock offset: 46mm on 20"x10" width
Forgestar CF5: 40mm on 20"x10.5" width
Total offset change: 12mm

I decided to go with a 20"x10.5" option for two reasons. First, Forgestar deep concaves only come in 10.5" or 12" width. Second, I also wanted the option to run 315mm Pilot Supersports down the road if I choose to do so (steamrollers all around).

that additional half inch gives roughly 6mm additional on each edge of the wheel (12mm / 2 = 6mm). So not only did the custom offset push out the wheels 6mm, there was an additional 6mm from the increase in width, but zero change in offset on the inner edge of the wheel (perfect OEM fit as far as inner clearange).

Also, by increasing the offset by 12mm per wheel, the entire track width of the car has increase by a full 1 inch. It may not sound like much, but it has significantly improved the handling crispness & responsiveness of the steering inputs. It amplifies all the stock steering inputs without any modifications to the suspension at all.

Another added benefit of these wider wheels is it fully utilizes the full tread width of the tires and stretches them out a bit for a much better look (they look almost like Pilot sports, even though they aren't).

Driving Dynamics:

I cannot put into words just how much the car has been transformed by these wheels. It honestly is one of the best modifications I have ever done. 36lbs of unsprung rotating mass reduction feels like I lifted 300-400lbs out of the car. EVERYTHING is more responsive, the brakes, accelerator, handling, traction. (more on this in my weight reduction thread coming very soon).

The AMG Air suspension is extra sensitive to weight reduction with rotating/unsprung mass (even moreso than conventional spring/shock setups). It is especially responsive on the shock rebound sensitivity and the wheels/tires seem to much more accurately follow the road surface.

Furthermore, the ride quality is drastically improved. In full comfort mode now the car honestly rides like an S-class now with the lighter wheels, brakes, & tires. The car has been totally transformed and feels like a 4100lbs car instead of a 5300lbs car. It handles like it too!

Overview:

If you are looking to get a set of wheels for your ML63 AMG that will drastically improve the look, handling, braking, throttle, ride quality of your ML63 ... you really do not need to look any further... these are honestly the single best option in my opinion.





Special Thank You!:

I would like to thank World Motorsports (MBworld sponsor user: Staff@World) for assisting me in the difficult task of finding the right set of bolts. I wanted a super strong set of bolts that would handle track duty so they sourced me a set of high strength anodized black steel bolts manufactured by Rays Engineering out of Japan (not the cheap chineese chrome bolts). They were fantastic and the 28mm conical bolts were a PERFECT fit for my applications. Plus the black bolts match the black CF forgestar center caps perfectly.

Be sure to contact them for all your bolt needs, they even shipped me out one bolt FREE OF CHARGE just to test fit before I ordered a full set, nobody else would have done this so I give them a perfect 10/10 for customer service! Bravo!

 

Stock Wheels (notice the bad offset from the front view.. too far inward)

 

After Pics (Totally different car) ...


What is amazing is these wheels are EXACT SAME diameter as stock, yet because of their design everyone says they look like 22". Also, due to the larger wheel openings you get to see the upgraded 2-piece brakes much more. It gives the car a much more aggressive look

 

Nice upgrade! Reminds me a little of my OZ Canyons.

I may have to look into those as that price is awesome! Did that price include rubber too!

 

Hey guys,

I forgot to mention that I sold my stock wheels for $600 (and not in perfect shape either, you could get much more). That means the overall net cost of the wheels was only $1200! It's an absolute no brainer at that cost.

Tires were reused from stock wheels since they still had plenty of tread left even after 4-5 track days.

Thanks

 

All you need now to finish off your ride ...... LOWERING LINKS!!

 

Looks awesome.. Forgestar FTW.. Definately lower it though

 

I have heard nothing but negative things regarding the lowering modules and etc on these air suspensions. Apparently the ride quality suffers greatly. I also like being much higher as the roads can be terrible so I like being higher up. I do agree it would look better, but it's not worth the sacrifice to me.

 

Those forgestar definitely complement the car much better than the stock ones,do you need new tyre sensors for the new wheels ?

 

hubcentric?

 

Nope, I just swapped over the stock ones from my wheels making sure each corner stayed at its proper corner. Other then that it's piece of cake.

 

The hubcentric rings are included free of charge, I have had zero issues. In fact they feel better than stock wheels.

 

 

I don t know about other systems but the lowering kit from Vath in Germany offers the best of both worlds: in c mode the car stays up and soft. And on sports mode the car is lowered and much tighter settings this is for the w166 ml but i remember testing this system on a modified w164. The sports setting was insane in s mode! The rims were 21 and the tires 295 front and back and boy this ml almost felt like a go- kart

As usual thanks for this great post with so much usefull info & explanations!

 

They look great, only downside in my opinion are the centre caps. They stand out significantly, do you know if the wheels take MB centre caps?

 

No it does not take Mercedes center caps. I actually love them now. At first I felt same way, but they really grew on me. Plus they match the black anodized Lugnuts much better so it ties everything into each other much better. Zero regrets