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w212 E63S wagon, w210 E350 wagon, and a variety of other interesting non-Mercedes cars
Bought an SL65 !
love the car. but the after market rims that came with it are not my style, so i am looking for some oem's.
have found a few on ebay, but they look pretty beat up and not even sure they are still round !
i looked around on here, saw a couple threads about wheels, but not exactly my issue, so started another one....
if any body has a set of oem rims they know of for sale, please let me know.
as you've probably discovered the OEM wheels are .hard to find. best to find wheels that you can inspect before buying because they are prone to cracking. Ebay usually has some available for sale as a last resort. make sure they are OEM not replica's if that matters to you
w212 E63S wagon, w210 E350 wagon, and a variety of other interesting non-Mercedes cars
Originally Posted by carlsturm
as you've probably discovered the OEM wheels are .hard to find. best to find wheels that you can inspect before buying because they are prone to cracking. Ebay usually has some available for sale as a last resort. make sure they are OEM not replica's if that matters to you
thanks for that.
found a decent set, but they want nearly $5k....seems way too high.
thinking about just alternative wheels that have a similar look and size.
anybody have some pointers on this? maybe a small increase in width?
thanks for that.
found a decent set, but they want nearly $5k....seems way too high.
thinking about just alternative wheels that have a similar look and size.
anybody have some pointers on this? maybe a small increase in width?
Limiting factors to be aware of - the main limiting factor I've found is the front upper ball joint bolt. If you look at the top of your front tire, on the underside of the upper control arm you'll see the bolt head for the ball joint, right above the top of the tire. This limits the tire height; and because there are only certain tire width/height combinations available from manufacturers, there's not a whole lot of options available. There are a few, but not a lot. In turn, you don't want the rear tire diameter to be too far off from the front because that can cause problems with the ESP (traction control) system. So that kind of limits both front and rear tire sizes.
Indeed that bolt is a problem, I know someone who had to cut it off a bit to fit the tire. Not sure which year your SL65 is but be aware that the early years 2005 and 2006 had larger brake calipers I believe. Not all wheels fit over the large rotors and calipers.
I have 20" BBS wheels on my 2005 Sl65. The offset is not quite right for the rears and sometimes the tire hits the inside of the outer fender....BBS now make a specific model for the 2005 SL65.
Unfortunately those are some of the most sought after and rare wheels and thus hard to find, and very expensive if you do find them. If you go aftermarket, use the same width, diameter, and offset as the factory wheels which fit perfectly.
Remember they are not very practical wheels, especially on roads with even small potholes. I have 7 of those original SL65 wheels, most of them with some repair. Yes they are super nice and make the car original, I rather drive with wheels that are a bit sturdier.
The wheels are a little bit on the softer side of things, but they do keep the rest of the suspension from being damaged from potholes. And lord knows the ABC system needs all the help it can get...LOL
You can check the ABC fluid level to see if it is reading correctly, also use the ride height buttons. Press twice to see how quickly and how smoothly the car goes up, and down also... any warnings on the dash. These cars love to let you know when something is wrong, also you can scan the ABC system with a STAR diagnostics or any good scanner. check for leaks also.
My SL55 came with SL65 Wheels that were badly peeling… I replaced with 20” Vossens and discovered that my car ran smoother than before over bumps even though I had less rubber. Everyone who rides in my car comments how smooth it is.
Why? The stock SL65 wheels are “boat anchors” , extremely heavy. My Vossens are not super light, but are each about 10 lbs less than the stock wheels. That extra 10 lbs can be very noticeable on every bump.
Also most rears you will find are only 9.5 inches wide which limits you to a 285 rear (the recommended size). I run 9” up front and 10.5” in the rear allowing 255/30/20 up front and 305/25/20 in the rear to keep the stock wheel diameter. I tried 295’s on the rear on the stock wheels for traction, but I could always feel ‘squirm’ from having too wide a tire for the 9.5” rim. There are some 10” rears available but are rare and expensive and heavy.
When checking tires at Tire Rack they have a recommended rim size range for each tire.
love the car. but the after market rims that came with it are not my style, so i am looking for some oem's.
have found a few on ebay, but they look pretty beat up and not even sure they are still round !
i looked around on here, saw a couple threads about wheels, but not exactly my issue, so started another one....
if any body has a set of oem rims they know of for sale, please let me know.
thanks
do you have a photo of the aftermarket wheels if you’re interested in selling them
w212 E63S wagon, w210 E350 wagon, and a variety of other interesting non-Mercedes cars
Originally Posted by Wings55
On the OEM SL65 wheels…
My SL55 came with SL65 Wheels that were badly peeling… I replaced with 20” Vossens and discovered that my car ran smoother than before over bumps even though I had less rubber. Everyone who rides in my car comments how smooth it is.
Why? The stock SL65 wheels are “boat anchors” , extremely heavy. My Vossens are not super light, but are each about 10 lbs less than the stock wheels. That extra 10 lbs can be very noticeable on every bump.
Also most rears you will find are only 9.5 inches wide which limits you to a 285 rear (the recommended size). I run 9” up front and 10.5” in the rear allowing 255/30/20 up front and 305/25/20 in the rear to keep the stock wheel diameter. I tried 295’s on the rear on the stock wheels for traction, but I could always feel ‘squirm’ from having too wide a tire for the 9.5” rim. There are some 10” rears available but are rare and expensive and heavy.
When checking tires at Tire Rack they have a recommended rim size range for each tire.
I have a set that I boxed up and planned to save but have recently been contemplating selling. Came off my 05 SL65 with 20k miles about a months ago, to make them perfect i would have them refinished & the one front wheel would slowly loose air (not sure if it was something with the wheel or the original tires that were dry cracked. Also it looks like a couple of them have been repaired prior to my ownership . in any case let me know if your interested. Thanks
04-19-2023, 02:39 PM
