SL-Class (R230) 2003 -- 2012: Discussion on the SL500, SL550, SL600

SL/R230: 19" rims - do any of you lower the car?

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Old Dec 25, 2002 | 06:59 PM
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19" rims - do any of you lower the car?

I noticed there is a pretty noticable gap with the sport package. I'm thinking of the 19" Style IV amg wheels, and was wondering if any of you loweed your car. If so, how does it affect that Suspension Height feature. Will just installing 19's without lowering fill up the gap, or will it look too high.

If any of you have SL's with 19's, can ya please post some pics?
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Old Dec 26, 2002 | 02:28 AM
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Overall diameter of 17", 18", 19" and 20" wheel/tyre combinations are virtually the same, otherwise gearing will go for a loop. Bigger wheel means lower profile tyre, with a lower aspect ratio, so that the height of the correct 19" tyre for this car is virtually the same as the height of the 17", etc.

Very important to fit the correct (approved) tyre for this car when fitting 19" rims. Even so, due to increased width of especially the rear rim/tyre (10"/285), it's necessary to do some very slight modifications when going to the 19" Styling IVs (shortening the bolts fixing the wheelhouse cover, and checking to see that the fender lip does not foul the tyrewall at full suspension deflection. (Both easy to perform).

But don't think of lowering the suspension. You'll be in for some major bodywork modification.

The 19" rims give the impression that they fill the wheelarches better, but it's an illusion, as the tyres are lower profile.

The IVs look good on especially the silver car. Less cluttered and glitzy than the Brabus, imho.

Regards,
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Old Dec 26, 2002 | 03:18 PM
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Don't forget the car lowers itself at speed, so the clearance you see at rest is greater than the clearance on the move. This is done to reduce drag and reduce aerodynamic lift.

Lowering the car is not just a case of hacking around with the springs. The suspension is much more complex than on a normal car and changing the ride height requires changes to the ABC controller programming. Brabus do this as part of their modifications but as well as changing the at rest ride height, they also change the points at which the car lowers itself.
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Old Dec 26, 2002 | 05:59 PM
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Why go through all this trouble? Just slap 20"'s on this thang with 255/35/20 tires and call it a day. The thicker tire will fill up the space. Otherwise go with 245/35/20. Bigger rims give the illusion of the car being lower without it actually BEING lower.
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Old Dec 26, 2002 | 07:21 PM
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I'm want to acheive the following look with 19" rims, perhaps with STYLE IV amg, or BBS LMs....








Does this car look lowered, or just larger rims added?
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Old Dec 27, 2002 | 12:53 AM
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Those look like 20" rims. But it could be a combination of both.
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Old Dec 27, 2002 | 01:12 AM
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Yes that car is lowered. I dont know if they are 20's or not but i think not because BBS LM's do not come in 20".
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Old Jan 6, 2003 | 03:04 AM
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those arent LMs... these are LMs
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Old Jan 6, 2003 | 07:22 AM
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Originally posted by CLK4SALE
those arent LMs... these are LMs

They are BBS LM's made for Inden Design.



Edit: Actually the SL above could have 20" rims, i just checked the Inden site and they DO offer a 20" setup for the R230.

Last edited by Tezta; Jan 6, 2003 at 07:24 AM.
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Old Jan 6, 2003 | 07:31 AM
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The 19" monoblock V brabus wheel has so much style on the new SL, it's much better than the LM BBS.
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Old Jan 6, 2003 | 07:43 AM
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Those wheels are pretty, but impossible to clean.
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Old Jan 6, 2003 | 08:25 AM
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I have been writing to Inden.
THose are BBS LM's in 19" x 11" rears and 19" x 9.5" fronts. The car is lowered via an electronic lowering module that costs about 1200.00. Inden also stated that all 4 fenders required to be rolled to prevent rubbing.

-Shank
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Old Jan 6, 2003 | 11:30 AM
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Those wheels are nice looking
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Old Jan 6, 2003 | 05:59 PM
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As heard before, bigger rims will not reduce the gap.

It definitely looks better to lower the car; maybe not as much as in the earlier pics, but by about 1"-1 1/2" .

Here is another option that will not void any warranties like some of the 3rd party lowering units.

Bring the car to Mercedes and tell them to lower it! I had done this on our CL500 and they lowered the car by 1" within specs. This is all done on a laptop; the ABC has an upper and lower limit and many are set towards the upper end by default.

That why you see many "same model" Mercedes look somewhat different on the ride. I was told that it can be lowered more when using the AMG software version, but never asked for that.

Depending of how nice the service manager is, this maybe covered under warranty and you pay nothing (I didn't)

Wolfman
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Old Feb 2, 2003 | 12:24 AM
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sl shank

im guessin the highest u can go without hittin the frame are 20"
but on my sl im gettin a sports package which comes with 18" instead of the regular 17" and there is quite enough space to put 20" but the car lowers when u reach a certain speed....i would put 19" just to be safe...nice choice on the rims have fun with ur car
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Old Feb 2, 2003 | 10:59 PM
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Re: sl shank

Originally posted by ano0oj
im guessin the highest u can go without hittin the frame are 20"
but on my sl im gettin a sports package which comes with 18" instead of the regular 17" and there is quite enough space to put 20" but the car lowers when u reach a certain speed....i would put 19" just to be safe...nice choice on the rims have fun with ur car
i thought 19's were the max till you got fender rolling..

i'd go for 19's also .. 20's seem.. well weird, i'd rather have a lower car and 17's or something
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