EmE247

What is the preferred wheel size for a W220?

Looking mainly for ride comfort then looks.

Thanks in advance.
EmE247

tusabes

Both 19s and 20s you will probably be using 35 series tires so comfort isnt going to be much different. 19s will be a bit lighter.

18s will be noticeably more comfortable if that is primary importance.

Of course the factory 16/17s will be most comfortable

I think 20s fill the wheelwells better.

Texas993

18's. not in poll.

sinyo1

20" and tire is cheaper

my06clk

These cars should have come from the factory with 20's on them IMO.

tusabes

I dont think the typical new car buyer of a w220, who was in their 50s/60s or even older, would appreciate the ride or susceptibility to damage that is inherent to 20s.

With the factory rims, you could rub them against the curb when parking, and the wheel would not usually hit the curb, because the higher profile tire provided cushion and is the first to rub the cement.

With a 19 or 20 , your metal rim is usually first to come in contact with a curb, there is little or no protection by the tire. You have to be extremely careful.

my06clk

Point I guess. LOL except the "old mans car" imaage for the w220 has been gone for a while. You've been reading all of these arguments between traditionlist and teenagers with 220's. THose "elite" days have been gone for some years now.

Also remember the w220 has been retired for 4 years.

Did you know that since 2007 the W221 has come with 19" and 20" wheels?
the new GLK even comes with factory 20's. it's not the "old men"that made that determination it's the simple fact that the old stuffy men in German don;t "get it" till everybody else thows it in their face. look a the Audio and Telemechanic of these car for example. What took so long. Then what they did offer was limited to the point that it may irritate you..LOL ( speaking about the dvd video on the facelift US models)

As far as the curb thing, IF you can't drive you can screw up any kind of wheel no matter what the size. My S arrived with the 18" staggered AMG wheels and before I sold them I had to get them derashed and there was plenty of tire there.

I think the only thing thtat gives 19' or 20"s a bad rep on this car is the setup.

These guys want to throw any old offset and any old tire size on their car and then have all of these rubbing issues and have to do all these mods and it just turns people off. That's what I think. For me I've got a good thing going with my setup that's been working well for me so I'll just leave it at that.

300SDLguy

I had 19" Lorinser's for two seasons on my S600, and wanted 20's for an even better look, but with the HORRIBLE potholes in Pittsburgh I had to replace 3 rims (2 front, 1 rear) and two Michelin Pilot Sports, got a bit expensive. That being said, I went back to 18's, not as aggressive now, but the wheels are 9.5" in width, so with the 255/45/18's tires, it handles awesome, and the higher sidewall makes most potholes a non-issue. It looks more pedestrian for sure, but like anything, it's all about tradeoffs./compromise

tusabes

yeah it just seems like theres way more damage issues with 19s and 20s than 18s, although the bigger rims look better

I have also heard that some tires resist damage better than others, but I dont know which ones. I know some are labeled "reinforced" but dont know if that is whats key to preventing damage

my06clk

The larger tires 19" and 20" will have a much sturdier sidewall that an 18" due to the fact that the there isn't much sidewall to begin with.

There are variations in how much the sidewall is reinforced and that all depends on the brand. and not necessarily the price of the tire. Some brands I just won't run on my car ever again.. then there are some bigger brands I won't run because the sidewalls are too hard.

I think in a nutshell with all low profile tires there is a greater risk of wheel damage than a "normal" tire. The key is to be mindful of the fact that you are running low profiles and try to avoid bad streets and bad driving situations.

BTW. IMO. I know there are plenty of members who have suffered wheel damage from potholes, but I also feel that there are many who are a little paranoid about every little distortion in the road.

Really the fact is, you'd have to hit a pretty deep hole at a pretty good speed to damage a rim with low profile tires. I've hit some good "bumps" in the road here and had no damage but again it all depends on the brand and type of tire.

I try to stay with all seasons as much as possible because they tend to have stiffer sidewalls than many summer tires no matter who makes them.

RC01S430

I have 20's AMG wheels on my S430 (245 35 F 275 30 R) and they looked PHAT! I purchased 18's for winter driving - 245 fronts - 275 rears. The comfort ride was night and day and really do prefer the 18's for comfort. The 275's in the rear fill the well up quite nicely but had some inside fender rubbing and had my mechanic take care of that. He had also said that the front end do take a beating because of the less rubber on the wall. It's all preface.

Good luck and have fun with it.
Ray

Bob727

I just put 18" double spokes with Kumho Solus tires on my '01 S430. The ride is a bit harsher than the factory 16"s but it looks soooo much nicer that I don't care at all. The car was a one owner silver cherry and is now a real head turner.

Skylaw

...And with wheel wells properly sized, and a suspension properly tuned, for them.

Your observation on setup problems is also a good one. Of course, the first thing some folks seem to want to do is put 20's or 22's on it, lower it, completely altering the suspension geometry - so it can't be aligned. Then they start complaining about tire wear.

Many folks making these alteration simply have no clue what the car is about, or what they are ultimately doing to it.

benz1613

i've used 18's,19's 20's and 22's without any mods.The 19's ride nice,
but the 22's look the best,and the rides not bad.

Whisler

What do merc fit as standard to the W220? Bought my first merc 2 weeks ago. 80 000 miles 2004 S320 CDI. Just noticed it has 3 different makes of tyres on it which would suggest as to why I get wobble when accelerating slowly, foot to the floor is no problem, just when accelarating slowly. The problem only occurred after I had done 100 mph, now it does it all of the time

ibeforreal

My wheels are 18" AMG. The ride is great. I run 245/45 tires in the front and 275/40 in the rear. Plenty of size to fill up most of the wheel wells in the rear. Only problem is tires can't be rotated. Believe it or not my car was in for service at the MB dealer and dude actually rotated my tires. As I retrieved the car I noticed the tires in the front were sort of sticking out from the fender well and upon looking at them I noticed he had moved the back tires to the front. So now whenever I have anything done with my wheels or tires I make certain that they are in the proper positions with the arrows going forward.

I have a brother-in-law who had 22's on his W220. Notice I said "had". On a trip from NC to NY he hit a real serious pot hole and blew out both wheels on the passenger side. Needless to say, he is back to the 18's.

Whisler

I don't wanna do-it-up, I just wanna know what the set up would have been when it was knew. I like it to original, not very adventurous with cars these days

tusabes

there were many wheel options from the factory

the base level was 16 inch rims with 225 60 16 tires
there were many 17 and 18 inch upgraded options from the factory

Whisler

Pretty sure mine are 17 inch upgrades, 5 spoked wheels

Bob727

Hands down the best ride will be with the original 16" wheels and it will get harsher as you go up in size. I compromised with 18" AMG knock-offs and love both the looks and ride. But no matter what size you choose, the most important thing is to get the mismatched tires off your car. You can't begin to get it set up correctly with odd ***** at all 4 corners. I also think it may be dangerous driving 100mph with treads you don't know anything about.

wallyp

My 2003 S430 came with 225/55R-17 on 8.5" wheels.

The info that I have says that the 2003 S600 came with 245/45R-18, and that these were optional on the S430/S500 4-Matic w/S55 Package.
The S55 AMG had 245/45R-18 front, 275/40R-18 rear, and these were optional on other cars with the S55 Package.

A friend with staggered wheels/tires (larger on rear) was told that on cars with such a set-up, the tread-life warranty of the tires (Michelin run-flats) was cut in half. His 30,000 miles tires just became 15,000 mile tires. Rotation is your friend!

Skylaw

I don't have any data on the S320; the SWB was introduced in the U.S. for the '06 model year, as an S350. That car was equipped with 17" wheels and 225/55-17 tires, as were the standard S430 and S500.

In the U.S. the '00-'03 S430 and the '00-'02 S500 came standard with 16" wheels and 225/60-16 tires. Beginning in '04 for the S430 and '03 for the S500, they were 17" wheels and 225/55-17 tires. Either of these provides a very comfortable ride.

As tusabes and wallyp have pointed out, the wheel sizes varied with upgrade packages, and some went to 18"; and in some years, upgraded wheel sizes were a separate option, not dependent on being part of a "package."

xlr8tin

Geez! That sounded like a brilliant idea...22's are for SUVs, and even then way too big. I bet they look horendous too.

Well, here is my set up in my sig...factory 19's 245 front and 275 rear. The ride is great. By the way, to all those that haven't had low profile tires, they help in handling too. So if you get the right tire like you will notice cornering improvement due to a stiffer sidewall.

I'd like to try 20's soon. I couldn't imagine having 18's or smaller. Sure, you'd notice less bumps, but with the weight of these cars, it would feel too much like a boat.

Welwynnick

Definitely 245/45/18/96Y on 8Jx18H2

Nothing else.

Nick

Busta Riles

I have 19's on for the winter with Toyo Garit KX snow tires...and the car is lowered about 2".

I have a set of 20" AMG 5-spokes ready to go for summer.

In a perfect world (for me) there would be some good 21" options with reasonably priced tires. 20s aren't quite big enough for my liking and 22s are too big.

The factory 18s will sit in my garage until i sell the car.