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I have a set of HRE 20s with 3 good wheels and one broken spoke. You could have that one wheel remade.
I believe they were a 265/30/20 and 305/25/20 but i would have to double check. They fit the SL very well, they just didnt survive potholes on my crappy roads. Offsets were perfect.
If youre interested i could give you the 3 good ones and one bad one for a steal. They cost the previous owner over 10 grand with tires.
Maybe consider 20 front 21 rear if you are considering going larger. Just a personal preference, but I like slightly larger wheels in the rear of most cars as it adds something extra in appearance. To me the SL body style is a big blah, so it needs a little bit of something to make it a bit more exotic. Mine is lowered too, and all is fine with no rubbing (Mine is SL65, but I assume SL55 is the same as SL65 regarding body when considering wheels/tires). Photos are in the link below of what my 20/21" looks like before and after the original 19":
I think the photoshop in the second picture makes it look more exotic... but i disagree with you opinion about the SL looking "blah" as well.
No doubt the bigger wheels look more aggressive, and the car looks great with them. I just cant recommend the performance loss in braking and cornering, as well as the added risk of damage as someone who has previously owned larger wheels.
Not knocking your business at all, and i hope the OP will choose a very nice wheel from your catalog
I have a set of HRE 20s with 3 good wheels and one broken spoke. You could have that one wheel remade.
I believe they were a 265/30/20 and 305/25/20 but i would have to double check. They fit the SL very well, they just didnt survive potholes on my crappy roads. Offsets were perfect.
If youre interested i could give you the 3 good ones and one bad one for a steal. They cost the previous owner over 10 grand with tires.
Thanks, but I live in Sweden so I guess that the shipping cost will be kind of costy.
Seems like the general offset is around 25-30 on both front and back running 255/30-20 och 9x20 and 305/25-20 on 10,5x20.
I verified, mine were 275/30/20 and 305/25/20 according to my previous posts. They were 11 inches wide in the rear.
Who knows about shipping costs.. id expect them to be high. But likely less than a set of 4 new wheels :p
At any rate, i actually recommend picking your favorite tire in your chosen diameter and custom sizing your wheels to fit their optimal sizes. Getting the right tire is very difficult in some sizes...
I actually plan on getting 20x10.5 and 20x12 to run a stock ceyenne rear tire in the front and a carrera gt rear sizes 295/40/20 and 335/35/20 for my truck
Last edited by m-svt-amg; May 22, 2016 at 05:59 AM.
I think the photoshop in the second picture makes it look more exotic... but i disagree with you opinion about the SL looking "blah" as well.
No doubt the bigger wheels look more aggressive, and the car looks great with them. I just cant recommend the performance loss in braking and cornering, as well as the added risk of damage as someone who has previously owned larger wheels.
Not knocking your business at all, and i hope the OP will choose a very nice wheel from your catalog
No problem, I always value opinions which is why forums are good. I guess I am just more used to exotics, so the SL while very nice as stock to me just needs something more to stand out such as bigger custom rims and some lowering. I never have any issues rubbing or cornering, but I don't take it to the track or trash it either in any severe street or corner racing. I mainly watch out for speed bumps or steep driveways here in CA. Other than that our roads are pretty smooth. If OP lives in a pot hole state or likes to do severe track or street race cornering, then OP may want to keep everything stock. I have owned both stock rims and custom rims on my SL's but really don't notice any driving difference, except for being just a tad stiffer than my 19". But I am used to that on my exotics, and the 20" on my lowered SL's are still pretty soft in comparison. My change to 20/21 actually made the car feel sportier without too much bounce and give of thicker tires and smaller rims. So for me it was a perfect upgrade. I agree there are various I opinions on rims and tires, just like any custom application. He will just have to weigh out the pros & cons, which seems like he is doing. Maybe when done he can share his input too on his result.
Plus I don't have photoshop or any wheel catalogue, just real photos of my cars. Maybe you thought the other poster, not me.
Last edited by Jan T; May 22, 2016 at 04:45 PM.
Reason: Not selling anything
Very interesting your opinions on the change in feel with the 20/21! I wonder if tire changes had any impact on that?
Also note, the 55 came stock with 18s while the 65 came stock with 19s. I personally think a light monoblock 19 is the best wheel for this car and am running a custom wheel in the same size as the stock 65 sizes, but lighter construction.
I also live in CA, though travel through the more densely populated portions frequently (read: bad freway maintenance and patchwork), while i also live a heavy speed-bump area, so its splended to be able to drive over them without replacing wheels anually...
That said, forgive my assumption of photoshop in the second pic, i guess that is a credit to your photography skills as the lightning is incredible! The picture appears quite professional with the quality contrast to the first pic was the point intended to make, and i believe it would look exotic even with the stock wheels given the same photography conditions.
I agree, the 20/21 do look.better than 19s. I just wish i could have survived with them.
Yeah now that you mention it, it could be that I don't notice any real significance in feel or performance due to the fact that I only went from 19" to 20/21", not like going from 18 to 20 for instance. That second photo of my SL65 was done at the wheel shop. But now that you brought this up, that was my intent to do some before and after photos of my car in the same location but I never got around to doing that as I found some other places to shoot as shown on my flickr "Photos" page at the bottom. But for true comparison I think I will go back and do that comparison since the initial location is just down my street.
Yes we are blessed with pretty good roads in So Cal, however there are always the unexpected instances that could ruin a wheel at speed. I hit a few, such as the stupid uneven pavement on freeway overpasses. My wife's 300D you don't even feel it, but I get jarred pretty good if I don't slow down a bit; however the ADV.1 hold up pretty well. That is probably even a good discussion too in another posting about wheel build, making me wonder if some wheel builders use better or thicker materials than others.
I am not sure of my lowering mechanics, as my car came that way when I bought it. Not sure how to even tell the difference.
Yeah now that you mention it, it could be that I don't notice any real significance in feel or performance due to the fact that I only went from 19" to 20/21", not like going from 18 to 20 for instance. That second photo of my SL65 was done at the wheel shop. But now that you brought this up, that was my intent to do some before and after photos of my car in the same location but I never got around to doing that as I found some other places to shoot as shown on my flickr "Photos" page at the bottom. But for true comparison I think I will go back and do that comparison since the initial location is just down my street.
Yes we are blessed with pretty good roads in So Cal, however there are always the unexpected instances that could ruin a wheel at speed. I hit a few, such as the stupid uneven pavement on freeway overpasses. My wife's 300D you don't even feel it, but I get jarred pretty good if I don't slow down a bit; however the ADV.1 hold up pretty well. That is probably even a good discussion too in another posting about wheel build, making me wonder if some wheel builders use better or thicker materials than others.
I am not sure of my lowering mechanics, as my car came that way when I bought it. Not sure how to even tell the difference.
Ya i understand where youre coming from. Did you have pilot super sports on both the old wheels and new? Also what are your tire widths on the new setup?
Ya i understand where youre coming from. Did you have pilot super sports on both the old wheels and new? Also what are your tire widths on the new setup?
I went with the Pirelli Nero on the 20/21, but I can't recall why. The 19" had Pirelli P Zero. They were beautiful original wheels/tires, but it took me about a year to sell them for almost nothing, I think less than $2K or so for wheels and new tires (they were new put on by the dealer when I bought the car).
More info below on the current set up. I just let ADV.1 and Tag Motorsports do the set up with offset etc; although I know I wanted 20/21. I debated with them about wider in the rear, but glad I settled for their expertise as now I don't worry much about the rear tire/fender having issues. Tight enough for me and tire selection ok.
if you car doesnt have them, you will have to put them in, almost %100 . they set them for straight up position and thats where they stay , its the only thing to line up the front camber. All mercedes aligners will know about it. bolts cost about $75 at MB
you can do all your height before you do this alignment, it may raise the front a couple mm
Can't seem to find those parts online. Is those bolts original Mercedes-Benz parts?
Thanks, will try to get those this week as I plan on goint to the shop friday to have it done.
However, I can't decide on the wheel design...
1. Vossen CV3's
2. Rohana RC22
3. Vossen CV5
4. Judd T204
I do like quite "clean" designs, nothing very polished or stuff like that. Please give me your input on the options above and also feel free to give me other suggestions.
Lots of good stuff here on lowering solutions, wheels, and tires. It is interesting to read about everyone's choices and personal preferences regarding the old form and function equation. Some choices obviously depend of the part of the U.S. or world for that matter that people live in.
I chose 19s and a lowering module for my car. I wanted to improve the looks of the car without compromising handing in any way. 20s look great, but i live in the land of the giant pot hole so they just aren't practical. The one advantage I see that an ELM has over links is the speed control settings that work great with ABC. My preference is for the car to be nicely lowered when stopped or going slow, but go back up to normal ride height at typical driving speeds. The programa ELM is still available for about 500 USD.
Regarding sourcing parts and such, you might reach out to member amok55amg. He is in Stromstad and has purchased lots of parts for his SL55 and other mercs.
Thanks, will try to get those this week as I plan on goint to the shop friday to have it done.
However, I can't decide on the wheel design...
I do like quite "clean" designs, nothing very polished or stuff like that. Please give me your input on the options above and also feel free to give me other suggestions.
Many thanks!
/gustav
I would highly encourage you to do a quick google search on truth about vossen. There may be information there that could sway your decision.
Taking into account the wheels that you're looking at, why not spend a few extra hundred bucks for something with top notch quality? HRE has been around since 1978 and their FlowForm wheels cannot be rivaled in this price segment.
Thank you for the offer but I'm a bit sceptical about the looks of those... A bit of my design taste I'm afraid.
Do you have any pictures of them on the car? And what's the price of a new front rim?
/gustav
I will have to look, theyve been in storage for over a year now so i have to pull out my old phone... they looked fantastic on the car. I only changed them to go to 19s.
HRE quoted me 1800 to get a new face on the barrel. I dont know what a whole wheel would cost... if you like the style of them i can call hre and ask. Ill see if i can find you a pic.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
19 Inch AMG wheels before changing to 20"/21" ADV05 DC by JanDaMan, on Flickr
ADV05 Wheels by TAG by JanDaMan, on Flickr
ADV.1 Wheels/Tires by JanDaMan, on Flickr
