thhaar

I posted this on the tire thread but am getting no response (OK, I can give it a little more time. . .), so I thought I'd try reposting it here, where the focus group is a bit narrower. -

I'm the new owner of a 2001 E55 AMG and just found this website and forum. I've been reading all I can, but I haven't come across exactly what I'm trying to find out -

Are the stock AMG Monoblocks on my car (18x8 and 18x9) available from somewhere, or are there any fairly good replicas or refurbished ones (I don't really care for chrome)? I really like the looks of these wheels, and I'd like to mount a set of snow tires on them. It seems worth the added initial cost of buying and extra set of wheels, rather than exchanging between the regular and snow tires every year.

Are the Dunlop Winter Sport M3's a good choice for where I live - coastal Connecticut, where we don't get a lot of snow, but we do get a some fairly serious ice and snow storms intermittently that affect my drive to NYC?

Would a st of 17" wheels fit my car and be better for snows? Should I get the same size all the way around?

Finally, there are so many 18x8.5 and 19x9.5 wheels off of other Mercedes available on Ebay and other places. Would these work on my car? I understand the basics of offset, but I get confused when people start mentioning all the difficulties with the E55 (brakes and suspension components in the way of many wheel/tire combinations).

I know, probably too many questions, so I apologize if you think I'm not doing enough of the research myself. Believe me, I'm happy to do some myself, so kindly provide some nudges in the right direction. I'm new at all this, and appreciate any help from you enthusiasts out there.

Thanks,

Thomas

enzom

You should call tire rack and get an idea about whether you can go with a 17 inch wheel. I bet that you can.

Believe it or not, my local tire shop gave me a great deal on oem wheels and Blizzak LM22's for my 540, so I did not really shop around.

My suggestion, once you determine whether 17's will fit, is to take a look at the classifieds in the back of any car mag for MB parts and call to see what knock-off's they offer. Then get your Blizzaks from tire rack and have a local tire shop mount and balance them. You may consider having everything shipped to your dealer so that they can mount and balance them.

1 BAD BURB

thhaar: welcome to the forum. and congrats on your purchase. i too just purchased mine 3 months ago...love it soo far!

regarding your wheel questions. this is tricky. I am trying to sell my old wheels and wanting to buy new ones... Ebay has a ton of them, BUT none of them will fit. the offsets are incorrect. no one makes the right one for us. there is only ONE wheel that i know fits, but it requires us to buy new longer lug screws. and no, 17" wheels will NOT fit. main reason being our big AMG brakes. the issue with the backspacing is due to the control arm bolts, they interfere with the rim edge.
i'll keep u posted if i find any rims that fit...
any other questions, feel free to pm me!
Aj

Howellja

17" amg monoblocks (c36/c43) fit on the E55. 17X17.5" all the way around. They look the same lil' smaller and can be had for $178.00 shipped! try oem retailers like finishlinewheels.com.

Howellja

I have heard good things about the Dunlop winter sport 3D, and the M3. Depends on how much snow you really get. I live In Syracuse, NY and we get about 130" per year of snow so I go with a lil' more aggressive tire like the nokian Hakkapeliitta (on my C-class), and the pirelli winter carving on my (E).

thhaar

I appreciate your input on this issue. If you read some of the other messages in this thread, you'll see how confusing it gets - some say 17's work, others say they don't. TireRack, also, says they will, while my local tire shop says they won't. I'd really like to find a source for reasonably-priced Monoblocks identical to mine, then put some snows on them. It seems like the easiest solution, and I really like the stock look.

Thanks,

Thomas

thhaar

Thanks for your input. You might very well be right, but others disagree with you. I will check out that site you mentioned, though, and see what I can find.

Thanks,

Thomas

thhaar

I'd say you get just a little more serious snow than we do, for sure! We still haven't had the slightest trace of any this season.

Thanks,

Thomas

Kev04C320

This year's winter has been pretty mild in the coastal northeast so far. However, I still had my Blizzak LM25s on stock rims mounted earlier this month.