sbkim

Greetings,

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but has anyone driven their SLK 55 on light snow using stock tires? Anyone running snow tires on stock rims?

Any recommendation on nice 19" rims for under $3,000?

Thanks in advance!

fredfromny

Summer tires on snow is a prescription for an accident. I am very satisfied with my Pirelli wintersport 210's on stock 17's from an slk 350.
If you pick up 19's you can always dedicate the 18's to snow tires. Also their performance in temps below 45F are superior to the summer tires in dry conditions as well.

sbkim

Thank you for the reply. My current plan is similar to that of yours:

1. Sell the stock 18" AMG rims/tires (any guess on how much i can get?)
2. Purchase a 17" setup with winter tires
3. Purchase 19" aftermarket summer tire setup

I guess i wasn't sure if the 17" snow tires were even adequate for the SLK55..

fredfromny

16's would even be better, but it's hard to find a rim that will clear the front brakes!

Marktini

I just picked up my SLK55 on Saturday, Great Car!!!. I traded an 05 C55 so I had the dealer put my winter set-up with 17" AMG rims with Dunlop M3 winter tires on all around.

We had snow in Northern Illinois/ Southern Wisconsin on Saturday, I took an entended ride on dry roads and in about 2" of snow and the tires performed very well on my SLK. I do not see any need, even if it's possible, to go down to 16" rims.

Anyone who is looking for true winter tires (Not M+S) cannot go wrong with the Dunlops.

ClayJ

17's for winter tires is the way to go.

sbkim

Marktini - that's great news! BTW, I live near the NW suburbs. Where did you end up getting your SLK? I wonder if the dealer would do a swap with an AMG 17" rims with snow tires in exchange for 18" stock rims/tires.

Marktini

I bought it at Knauz in Lake Bluff. I'm not sure if a dealer would swap rims/tires or or not??

reallife

I've got the big, oversized brakes with the 030 AMG package and I didn't want to go through the hassle of buying 17 inch winter rims and tires and then discovering that they wouldn't fit over the huge brakes. So I bought an extra set of 18 inch OEM AMG wheels and tires from another SLK 55 off eBay for $1800. Then I got a set of 18 inch Pirelli 240 WinterSports ($819 from TireRack)for them and swapped out my staggered Type IV multi-piece five spoke AMG wheels for the winter set. They drive great on the cold dry roads we've been having. Last night it was snowing hard while I was out for dinner and the roads would have been treacherous on the OE summer tires (maybe even undriveable). On the the new winter set, no problem! Excellent traction! I felt very secure!

sbkim

Reallife - great news! Well, sounds like what you did is a great option. I will just get 18" snow tires and mount them on stock rims. Nice to see that we have many members from IL.

Marktini

Realife, You may want to consider new rims, most MFR's do not recommend running different width snow tires front/rear. Also it eliminates the ability to "rotate" the snows front-rear. Just a thought.

fredfromny

Unless you wait until fall, you may find it difficult to find 18's. They'll also be super expensive. Given the same diameter a smaller rim will have more rubber and protection from hidden potholes.
This sounds like a great deal from tirerack. You may be able to dump your current wheels for about the same cost as these...

blkslk55

i have been running on hancook icebears all winter up here in canada. not much snow this year but when it did snow, there was no problem whatsoever! i set up the snows on the original set of amg wheels which came with the car.

jing

i live in boston and it was snowing really heavy two days ago...and i have a appointment so i took the slk out in the middle of the blizzard with stock summer tires... and it wasnt too bad..for one...trunks do keep cleaning the road but yeah..there was slips here and there..drifts here and there..but if you counter steer properly its not the biggest problem...i got around that day fine.. the bigger problem is the fact the car gets stuck in mushy icy and if you have the esp on, the car wouldnt give you much power since you keep slipping..but if you turn the esp off. and step on it and with correct steering you can still get out of it... anyways..just want to tell my experiences... personally.. i dont think that was the smartest things to do..but it was fun... normally you wouldnt get the chance to drift like that at all..

sbkim

jing - you are one brave person!

Marktini

[QUOTE=fredfromny]Unless you wait until fall, you may find it difficult to find 18's. They'll also be super expensive. Given the same diameter a smaller rim will have more rubber and protection from hidden potholes.


For those curious what an SLK55 looks like with 17's

SLK55 with 17" winter set-up, Tires are Dunlop Winter Sport M3's 225/45-17

AMG 5 Spoke 203 rims, Silver with machined lip 17" x 7.5" same size all around.

fredfromny

Sweet look! I had M3's on my TT and they were the best winter tire I've driven on.

Marktini

Thanks!! I agree the M3's are the best winter's I've ever had...they are much better in the dry than I expected as well. I cannot recommend these tires enough.