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Depends on if they are ball seat or conical seat wheels. Mercedes uses ball seats, aftermarket wheels could use conical. 5 mm is 3/16” which is relatively negligible. The stock bolts should be the correct length, but it’s always a good idea to check from stock wheel to the aftermarket.
Realistically those wheels could use 15mm front and rear spacers, and look better. Without the spacers it won’t change much from what you have now.
Depends on if they are ball seat or conical seat wheels. Mercedes uses ball seats, aftermarket wheels could use conical. 5 mm is 3/16” which is relatively negligible. The stock bolts should be the correct length, but it’s always a good idea to check from stock wheel to the aftermarket.
Realistically those wheels could use 15mm front and rear spacers, and look better. Without the spacers it won’t change much from what you have now.
Thanks. I have 15mm H&R spacers for the front and rear from a previous setup and want to avoid spacers which is why I put my original wheels back on. I had chrome 2006 CL500 rims on there. I didn't have issues but I just felt unsafe driving around with aftermarket bolts and spacers- which is why I'm looking for a setup which allows me to stick to "stock"
When you look at spacers and aftermarket rims, you need to figure out how would you like the tire to stick within the fenders. To do so you would measure the distance from the mounting surface to the very edge of the fender. So you take a straight edge and measure the distance from the mounting surface to the edge of the fender. To determine the required spacer you substract the distance from the edge of the fender to mounting surface minus, distance from the mounting surface to the edge of the rim.
Now doing the math for a 8.50" wide rim 35 mm offset...8.5/2=4.25" + 25"=4.50" minus offset 4.50-1.37"=3.12". This says that if you have 3.50" from the mounting surface to the edge of the tire. (assuming a 9" wide tire). So, if your distance from the mounting surface to the edge of the fender is 4.00", and you want your tire to stick out as much as possible without rubbing the fender, you'll want 4.00 - 3.12"=.88" (22mm) 22 mm spacers!
I use 15 mm spacer and longer lug bolts! Also, when thinking about longer lug bolts, be careful and do not exceed the required length otherwise if longer will rub the parking brake holding springs in the rear and bottom out in the front. Hub-centric spacers will work in the rear not in the front!
You are right CDK, spacers without a guide for the center hub will make your wheel to run out of true center. The reason is the longer pilot hub.
Stock spacers with centering ring are available for the rear. Same set for the front, I have to put them in a lathe and remove the excess material from the center to make them slide over the front hub. Then as it tapers out, it was a clearance of .040". So I made a steel ring that acts as hub centering guide. Of course, to do that you'll need a lathe..! If you don't, no need to bother unless you have a friend with one of those..!
The 18" size you had was what I used to have, and I stuck on spacers all round. I like my rears to fill the wheel arch, so used 25mm hub centric spacers and 10mm spacers on the front, however the fronts have a different hub lip so be careful on what you buy as they need to be able to slip over the lip on the hub and be flush against the hub wall.
I upgraded to 19" staggered wheels and managed to squeeze on the rear 25mm spacers to bring them out nicely. on the front I managed to use two spacers (10mm and 5mm) to bring the fronts out by 15mm. I bought new longer ball bolts all round and then trimmed to suit, taking care on the rears that they are not too long to interfere with the parking brake.
The spacers make your cornering tighter, look great and do not damage your tyres.
TIP: fit your new wheels first, try and measure best you can to the top of the wheel arch and tyre (remember different tyres fit differently and also the camber will pull the top of the wheel in when you go over bumps). You can use nuts or washes between the hub and wheel for trial purposes only, (don't drive it!) but if you gently roll back and forth you can see how your wheel would fit, then just measure the washers you have or nuts and it will be the size of spacer you get. (Always buy hub-centric)
2006 CLK350 convertible and 2009 SL550 Silver Arrow Edition
I'm thinking of putting spacers on my 2009 SL550 with the OEM 19" staggered AMG wheels. Wondering if anyone else has done this and if so, what size spacers for the front and for the rear. I'm looking for the tires to be flush with the fender lip. I have spacers on my other cars and it just makes the car look so much better. Any feedback from fellow SL550 owners will be appreciated. Thanks so much
While lifting my car at the front driver side, I noticed that the opposite side rear wheel takes all the weight and sinks into the fender. Then noticed that when the rear wheels go upwards the geometry of the arms allows negative camber (wheel inclined with top inwards). You can use this feature to determine what is the maximum spacer you can use without touching the fender.! Lift the front of the car, till the opposite side rear wheel sinks into the fender, measure the clearance if any, then decide the spacer size!
04-03-2022, 06:22 PM
