Hey everyone. I changed my wheels and tyres to the worst combination imaginable (based on what I've heard on this forum anyway) and I wanted to share my experience (and photos of course!). Bonus, some advice if you are in CH and you want to import car accessories from Germany.

The before
These were the summer rims the car came with. Tyres are Yokohama Advansport. Not great, not the worst. I didn't really like these wheels because of their weird inside taper, which along with the thick tyres gives them a rather bloated look. Still, these look waaaay better than the "other" 18s I got with the car (with winter tyres on them).

Old wheels. 18" bog standard

Now, I live in Switzerland. This means that if you want to make ANY non-standard modification to your car, it has to be declared to the Strassenverkehrsamt (DMV) and if you don't... well, you just don't do things you are not supposed to do in CH because they will find you and the fine is going to be substantial (heaven forbid if you get into an accident with a non-declared/illegal modification). For example, you are allowed to put aftermarket wheels but they need to be certified for the car/wheel combination for safety reasons. Not only that, but the market for used (original) wheels here in CH is very limited unlike in neighbouring Germany. So I found a (reputable) seller near Stuttgart where MB's HQ is. He had quite a selection of wheels, including some nice AMG ones and of course that's what I landed on initially.

I asked him about the whole shebang of certification and legality and he told me that according to the CoC, since my car is not an AMG, these wheels require "code 776" which is a little piece of plastic that is attached on the fender. Getting the plastic thingie wasn't a problem, but getting the code somehow added to the car's record is, including visits to the dealership, then to the DMV for certification and all that, is too much trouble. So I bailed.

The after
Instead, the dealer had another option, one that the car was available for sale with in CH (meaning, no need to go to the DMV). These are the wheels I ended up with: These are 20 inchers and they already had tyres on them!

Wheel close-up (with minor chip in view)

I live just outside of Zürich and the seller was 200km away. Initially I wanted to combine these wheels with Pilot Sport 5 tyres, but I'd either have to pay the seller in advance (a bit problematic, since I didn't know him personally and might have been an issue with the customs; see below for the procedure if interested) or go there twice. So I opted to take the wheels with the tyres already on, some Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 MOE, DOT2019 (that is, made on the 20th week of 2019). The tread was about 7mm, plenty good for another year (or two even). However, I knew MOE meant runflats, and I was a bit apprehensive after reading a few posts in here, but since I got a good deal for the tyres I thought that I could replace them if I hated the experience and they wouldn't have cost me too much.

Here's the car with the new wheels:

And another, after I parked.


The driving experience
So, how bad was it?
Honestly? Not at all!
* Noise: I can say that I noticed a little bit of extra road noise, but when I say a little bit, I mean it. I could tell the difference, but barely and not at all in the highway (with speeds just before the wind becomes audible).
* Roughness on good tarmac: The road felt just slightly rougher driving in the city, but I could barely tell the difference in the highway.
* Roughness on imperfections: Some imperfections (like changes in tarmac layers or bridge links) were communicated more intensely. Not to an annoying or very different degree, but juuuust a tad more intensely.
* Feeling on very high speeds: Well, German Autobahn . I managed to (legally) reach 237 km/h (147 mph) at some point during my return (on an empty 3 lane stretch of the road) and I was mostly driving between 150-180 km/h. I didn't notice any difference either in noise or roughness compared to when I was going to the shop with the old wheels & tyres.

Please note that that the tyres I had on my 18" wheels were at about 275kPa (about 39 PSI), these ones were at 300kPA (~43.5 PSI) which probably contributed to the difference. Also, I don't know to what extent this was due to the 20" wheels or the runflats, I suspect it's a combination of both.

All in all, I was worried that the ride would be horrible, but it proved to be more than acceptable and I am not in a hurry to change the tyres. The 20" look great, compared to the 18" because they are 20s even if they are not more stylish like most AMG rims. I really feel like 20s is the minimum size for this car, for summer wheels (winter ones are a different story).


Bonus. Exporting car accessories from DE to CH
Feel free to skip this one, but since I did the research, here it is, for anyone interested. The reason you'd bother to do this whole process, is because 1) it's the law, 2) because you can get the VAT difference back. The VAT in CH is 7%, in DE is 19%, which means you can get 12% of your money back when you export something from DE to CH (since CH is not in the European Union, you go through customs every time you cross borders). The way it works is the following:

1. You pay the full price to the German retailer, which includes the 19% VAT. It has to be a retailer, a private seller won't charge you VAT (and you can't get it back from the borders).
2. The retailer fills in the following form: https://www.zoll.de/SharedDocs/Downl...heinigung.html signs it and gives it to you
3. The retailer mounts the wheels with the tyres on the car. This is important! German export law states that car parts are normally not excluded from VAT when exported, UNLESS they are permanent accessories of the car and they are mounted on it when exporting it (so, an ISOFIX seat wouldn't be tax-exempt, but wheels are). Note that this might be different for other countries (e.g. for Italy I think that the opposite is actually true).
4. You get both the receipt and the form and you go to the German customs office in the border. Since you are exporting as a private individual, you just need a stamp. Believe me when I tell you that you will find customs employees that hate their job so much, they may not even want to bother to do that. Just insist and smile, get the stamp and get out.
5. You then go to the Swiss customs office and you pay the 7% of the net price. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. First, we're talking about Switzerland, which means that when it's time to do the yearly inspection (called MFK here) they might ask you for proof of purchase. Probably not on wheels that are included in the CoC, but quite possibly on aftermarket wheels or aftermarket anything really. Even if that doesn't happen, it's usual that the two offices (German and Swiss) give tips to one another (especially for something that has quite a bit of cost attached to it) and if you are stopped by the Swiss border police without having paid the VAT for the import... well, your purchase is now going to cost a lot more!
6. Send the stamped form to the retailer. Note that the retailer is not obligated to give you the VAT back, so make sure he agrees to do that in the first place!
7. Wait for your money!

Thanks for reading!

 

The new wheels look perfect for your car - classy and luxurious. Glad you didn't notice a large difference in ride quality. I like your fender badges, but not sold on the door handle inserts!

 

They kinda remind me of one of the BMW wheel styles on some previous 7 series.

 

Thanks for the kind words! I actually stole the badge idea from you (thanks for that; looks great and isn't tacky) but I had no idea that the chrome covers in the handles is actually an add-on. The car came with it and I never paid any real attention to it.

As I said, they weren't my first choice, but I think that by virtue of being 20" I can tolerate and even like the design. I think if my old wheels were similar but in a 20" form, I wouldn't have replaced them.


On a sidenote, I left the car to the dealership for service. They gave me a replacement vehicle, a CLA. I have to say, while the S and the CLA are very different beasts, the relative loss of comfort coming from the runflats and the 20" wheels in the S is nothing compared to the lack of comfort (and overall visibility, but that's a whole other topic) that the CLA has. I felt every imperfection on the road!

 

1. I think that those new wheels are a nice improvement
2. Check the air pressure in your tires, 300kPA (~43.5 PSI), there is a thread here: (check inside fuel filler door)
3. The chrome inserts
   1. My wife has these on her new (2022) GLS, a part of the package
   2. I don't have them on my 2019 S450, and there is quite a bit of scratching from the previous owner behind the door handle. It's going to take some work to clean it up.
   3. While I'm not a huge fan of lots of chrome, I can see the benefit of them!

 

So glad I live in the USA where we don't have all the certifications, VAT, customs, etc. mentioned above.

However, for anyone who likes to buy and sell wheels, parts, etc. using services like EBay, be aware that the law for 1099-K reporting was recently changed in one of the big COVID relief bills. The reporting threshold was lowered to $600, which will scoop up lots of people who only sell stuff occasionally. I have six wheels to sell and if I use Ebay, that will definitely trigger a 1099-K. Some legislators are trying to restore the old threshold before the new law goes into effect, but until they do, the number is $600 a year ...

 

Certifications and compliance cut both ways: when you buy a used car in central/western Europe, it's usually in a better condition compared to somewhere where relevant legislation is more relaxed.
I think there is a VAT equivalent in the US but at a state level, right?

Thanks! I don't wear a ring, so I can't imagine damaging that area. Still, I don't mind them that much so I guess they'll stay there. As for the pressure, my gas cap says 36 PSI front - 38 PSI back for normal load and 41 front - 42 back for higher load. Since these are runflats and 20s, I guess one shouldn't have them too deflated... right?

 

Thats a loaded question, and I am sure that you will get different answers (I used to have Jeeps, and there were lots of opinions and threads about what tire pressure should be and methods to check it!)

Like you, I am on 20s with run flats, and I picked a halfway point between Min and Max pressure, I haven't done many miles since doing so, therefore I don't have much data with which to form an opinion. Most of my driving is local, not on the highway, and short distances.

 

From the USA. I think your new wheels are outstanding they make the car look like it's worth well over $100,000 USD The wheels are also very rare compared to what's on most S560"S and it ads some class. The only other choice are the solid dish Maybach but OEM are in the $4,000 range. You may find the Goodyear tires (noise & comfort) are not as good as Michelin's and I say that because I had the same setup and just switched over to the Michelin A/S 4's.

As for the rules and regulations. Wow half the or over half the people in the USA would not be able to even complete the paperwork. I would assume that is why Europeans are really a lot smarter than Americans. Our country (USA) started a decline in the 60"s to accommodate those that couldn't keep up and every day the standards of excellence get eroded away by those that don't want to or care to keep up to the rest of the world. It's a shame but that's what's happening.

 

Hey, thanks for the kind words! I was going to go for the following ones initially:

A2224011200
... but there's this whole trouble with homologation I mentioned above. Also, since my car is merely a 560 and not an AMG, I generally prefer to go for "class" (to whatever extent I can) rather than "sport", so these wouldn't go 100% along with my "vision". However, The ones I chose were not really my first option, but I got a deal on them and they look way better than I initially expected from the photoshop mock ups I made prior to buying them.

You are right about the tyres. I went to Liechtenstein last week (about 120km from Zurich) and i noticed the road noise and tarmac imperfections a bit more than I expected. There were some stretches along the roadwhere I was hearing really audible rumbling (without any vibrations or tarmac imperfections) and I was surprised; rather curious to see how my previous tyres would react there.
I am going to change the tyres, but I will probably wait for one more year; they still have 7mm of tread left. I have the Goodyear Asymmetric 6 in sight as well as the Pilot 5, but none of these come in the correct sizes as of today; here's to hoping that by next year their size range will have expanded a bit, otherwise I'm going for Sport 4 (probably not 4s).

You are a bit unfair. The USA is a huge, federated country (like Germany, or even Switzerland, though CH is actually a confederation) with different cultures that are combined under some common ideals and characteristics: usually that's language & national identity. But if you meet someone from the French here side they are usually completely different people to someone coming from the German side. I assume that's the same in the US (e.g SanFran vs the bible-belt). It's even more complicated when you see different behaviours within the same communities; you can have *******s and you can also find angels within very small groups. I think the only reasonable choice we have is to associate with people we want and to avoid judgments of groups.

I've seen Europeans acting stupid to degrees you wouldn't imagine. Most European countries tend to have stricter laws and regulations, sure, but then you see people like an Italian colleague of mine who got fined for speeding like 5 times within a year! Fines in Switzerland are serious business (similar strictness to the ones in Virginia); merely 20 km/h over the limit means that it's registered as a criminal offence and god save you if you go e.g 60 on a 30 zone; you risk actual jail time and court-appointed psychiatrist sessions ). He was forced to sell his car...

 

If you want to remove the chrome cover handles. Easy to remove using some low test fishing line. Use a length of about 18" and start it between the cover and the door shell. Put the line under the back of the cover using an up and down sawing motion working your way forward with a sawing motion. This will separate the adhesive from the foam. Clean the remaining residue using a liquid adhesive remover by 3M. Take your time and don't force the covers because they will scratch the paint.

 

Thanks for the information! It sounds like a bit too much trouble, plus... you guessed it. It's part of the configuration and it appears on a VIN check. If I removed it I'd have to register it with the DMV (probably).

 

Nice upgrade, thanks for sharing your thoughts as well . I like the fact that you went for bigger wheels the run flat tires and what's even nicer is that you are happy with them in general .
What a shame you would not put those wheels that are nicer but overall your upgrade is well worth it
Happy Driving

 

Thanks for the kind words! I think that putting bigger wheels on a car is very illogical; the ride quality gets worse, the noise is higher, you spend extra money, the resiliency with pot-holes or other imperfections is worsened, you never really see them when you are driving the car...
... but when I was going to or leaving from the car, I would see my 18" and get displeased with how the car looked. Now it's the exact opposite, so... screw logic I guess!

Still, after the honeymoon period and a few more trips with these, I can confirm that there is increased noise and decreased comfort compared to my 18". The thing is that it's not as bad as I expected from others' experiences. The runflats are getting replaced with non-runflats at some point, and then I'll be curious to see the level of improvement.

 

Its all about balance. I think the 20s look great, and the 18s look terrible. 19s I think are a good balance between looks and comfort.

 

Great write up and review. And thanks for the education on what modifications take to accomplish- I had no idea that even existed. Here in the states (and some in particular) you can so wildly modify your vehicle that they become downright dangerous to even be on the road with. (Looking at the idiots with Carolina squats pointing headlights to the sky and lifted trucks that put bumpers at eye level etc). How would you characterize your overall road conditions, especially highly traveled ones? Knowing you go through a full 4 seasons, your climate and its potential effects on roads should be roughly similar to the US Northeast. Here in NY an S class on 20's can expect to go through a few new tires during pothole season (that is defined when you are no longer able to find road between potholes). Even my BMW 550i on 19's went through 11 tires and 5 rims in 18 months. (and I'm a pothole dodger). I know you run smaller rims/winter tires during winter months so I'm just curious what the overall roads are like.

 

I did consider 19" in the beginning, but then I was all "in for a penny...". i was looking at most 19" images and I couldn't tell much of a difference with the 18" and so I wanted something that would look very different even if there were a price to pay for comfort or noise. Then again, I've had friends of mine not being able to see much of a difference between 18 and 20s in the photos, so i guess it's in the eye of the beholder!


Interesting. Almost all vehicles in the EU (and Switzerland) are subject to yearly inspections for compliance as well as mechanical aptitude. There are ways around it, like paying the tech to look the other way, but it's almost never worth it and carries lots of risks (being reported to the cops, being stopped by them etc). Generally speaking, modding is allowed, as long as it's reported, certifications exist and the vehicles are then tested.

Regarding the road conditions, it really depends on the country. Western Europe tends to have excellent roads, whereas Eastern Europe has more roads that are in not in great condition, usually more rural or city roads. Motorways are (often) in good condition.
Roads here tend to be maintained well (everything is closer), but it's common to see quite a bit of roadwork going on, all the time. Swiss as well as German city roads & motorways have almost always been in excellent condition as far as I remember (excluding any roadworks). Eastern France is similar as was western Austria that I remember. Italy can be a bit hit or miss (the Autostradi / Motorways are almost always in excellent condition, in the cities I've had to be careful at some points). Greece is a bit worse even in its motorways, even though it rarely sees any serious seasonal change; but it's way better than it used to be in the past (though Greece's problem is that they have tollbooths effin' everywhere).


I've honestly never heard the term pothole season before! These numbers are quite a bit shocking to me and if that were a common occurrence here, I'd search around for separate wheel insurance. In southern Europe (e.g. Italy & Greece) people usually use all-season tyres, because it's not snowing that often and it's very uncommon to see ice on the roads. As you move north, switching tyres, or wheels becomes the norm, though it's not uncommon to see people only using all-season tyres and not bother switching. Winter wheels are usually of a smaller diameter or even made of steel, in some lower tier car models.

 

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In person though the 19s look much better because they are staggered and are much wider.

 

IIRC, in CH, the inspection from different cantons doesn't count and you have to get a new one. Which is totally pointless, but it is what it is and it reduces the possibility of sidestepping the check even more. In Greece (as a comparison) I remember that the inspections are not as meticulous as in CH, but they check quite a few things. Thing is, it used to be very easy to grease the tech's palms and afterwards you could go and happily crash on a pole or something because of your 95% tint on your windscreen. I'm told this situation has changed now, but still...

Well... the EU (and Switzerland and Norway who are in the European continent but are not part of the EU. They do have bilateral agreements with it though) has one significant difference compared to the USA; national identity (for better or worse). My understanding is that an American feels American first and his state comes second. People in the EU feel closer to their country first and Europeans second, which is why it's sometimes difficult to pass laws across the union. But you are right in terms of taxation & infrastructure, they differ and it's not always the richer countries that charge more.

Thanks for the facts about the roads of NY; I always find these fascinating! Now, I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I remember watching a talk show at some point that indicated that US's infrastructure is getting old, fast and something has to be done soon. Unfortunately, it's not glamorous work and doesn't win you votes, so the responsible politicians tend to go for more populist measures that will get them re-elected. Corruption aside (which really needs severe punishment, but good luck with fighting systematic pains like that), pouring concrete into the pot-holes and expecting everything to be A-OK is really bemusing. If I lived there, I thing I'd never go for 20s.

But, if that happened here, since the Swiss tend to have a very decentralised mentality, due to the way the government is structured, the mayor responsible for that would never get elected again. Then again, you have people that spend all day looking out their windows with a camera, waiting to take a photo of anyone who may step on the yellow lines of their private parking, in order to issue private fines (nope, not even kidding).

 

happyeds...your comment about rules and regulations pertaining to people in the USA is spot on. American standards have indeed been deteriorating, unfortunately.

 

Wow! Looks great! I have a W222 with those exact 18” rims. The car is loaded with executive rear seat plus (4 person seating) and nearly every other imaginable option other than night vision, but crappy looking rims and 18” tires. I had sport plus one package on my W221 with 20” and never felt them noisy or harsh. I feel like I have less grip on these 18” and I just don’t like how the rims look. I’m interested in getting 20” multispoke rims that were an option. I know this is going to sound like a dumb question - but is it as easy as buying the 20” rims and appropriate 20” tire and installing them? Because the car had 19” and 20” options, will those work without other adjustments provided they have the right lug pattern?

 

As far as I know yes, it should be fine, as long as the tyre diameter is changed to match the new wheels (so that the overall diameter stays the same) and you are not changing the offset. I would probably still do an alignment, which I do when I change the tyres + wheels every season (not strictly required, but recommended).

I feel that those 18s could look nice, were they bigger to begin with. as they are, they have been relegated to winter wheels duty, since it's generally a good idea to have thicker tyres during the winter

 

After 2 months and about 5K Km spent mostly in a couple of roadtrips, I am reassessing my position a bit on the 20s and RFTs.


Looks: In terms of looks, I am not going back. The 20" rims look better and I am guessing that the 19s wouldn't appeal to me that much either.

Comfort: I won't lie, the ride is slightly harsher. It doesn't bother me, because I'm used to driving way harsher cars and this is still an S-Class level of comfort. However and as expected, the smaller and harder sidewall makes a difference for the worse.

Noise: Well... It starts seriously getting on my nerves. There, I said it. In the beginning I wasn't noticing it too much, but the more I drive the car with these tyres it becomes progressively more annoying.
Not sure how much of this is caused by the rim size or the RFTs but I'd bet these are the main culprit. If I were to replace them with something else, what would you recommend as being the best deal in terms of safety, noise, comfort and economy (in this order)? Would it make sense to wait until something like F1 Assymetric 6 or Sport 5 becomes available for my wheel sizes (245/275, non-AMG).


One final question. I am planning on getting the lowering module and decreasing the height about 25mm, not so much for looks, but rather for making the car more stable on higher velocities. I understand the ride quality will become harsher, but would the car actually become more stable? Oh, will it also become noisier?

Thanks!

 

Hahaha, shocker.

Get 19s. Its a good balance between looks and ride, and you get the staggered fitment in the rear which makes the car look much more aggressive.

Just going to non runflats will help your ride though.