Bellevue_E55

Wheel Guru's

Looking for a little help on wheel offsets -

For 20" wheels what is the best offset for front and back from the below ?

My car is lowered on lowest setting with Carlsson lowering module. Real wheels on edge of tucking.


10" wide: +55 or +40mm
8.5" wide: +38, +34 or +25

Also guessing that 10.5 at ET27 wouldn't work ? Also any recommendations on tire sizes for most aggressive look.




Thanks!

threeMBs

10" wide - ET55 will not fit, ET40 should be just fine

8.5" wide - ET34 or ET25 will both work

Bellevue_E55

thanks!

would one offset look better than the other on the front ? What is stock offset ? If the number is lower it means it will be further to outside of car correc ?

threeMBs

Yes and I would use the lowest offset possible.

Bellevue_E55

okay i did some searching and it seems like ET25 might hit the caliper so it seems 34 is the winner

WPOZZZ

Wouldn't the wheel's hub design determine caliper clearance instead of offset?

mprsev

I'm running the following but I cannot recall my offsets.

Front: 20x9 with 245-30-20
Rear: 20x10 with 285-25-20

threeMBs

That is impossible. For the same wheel, the lower the offset the more clearance you have.

If as you state Et25 hits caliper, then Et34 can not even be mounted.

Again, above is true only for identical wheels (that was my assumption from your original post - you're set on a particular wheel which is available in several offsets and you're choosing one).

If you're talking about two different wheels, then its a different ball game. Having said that, theoretically a lower offset wheel should give you more clearance. However, wheel's design will play a role in addition to offset.

Peter_02AMG

This is what I'm running with Carlsson LM, no rubbing issue.
20x10 35mm 285/25/20
20x8.5 25mm 245/30/20

tbone

My front wheel is a 20x9.5 +18, and I clear my BBK

Vic55

The higher the offset (higher ET number) the more the face of the wheel is pushed toward the lip (street side) of the wheel. So a higher ET will allow for more brake clearance but will push the inside of the wheel towards the inner fender.

Generally on W211's ET 32 front and rear on 20x8.5 and 20x10 wheels is fine but tires also play an important role sizewise. On my W211 E55 I ran HRE's 20x8.5 et 32 and 20x10 et 32 and the fitment while not super super aggressive was great for a lowered car. Tires were 245x35x19 and 275x30x19

B. Gorman

We know who has a P-car....LOL !!!!! That's definitely the porsche side coming out in that statement Bro...LOL!!!

Vic is right....except a higher offset doesn't always equate to BBK clearance. In fact, on most applications...higher offsets will cause the wheel face to hit the calipers (especially on pre-2008 mercedes cars)!!!

Now on porsches....it's a whole different story....LOL
1. Because the have BBK's that sit are pretty flush with the hubs.
2. Because they run 11" and 12" rear wheels....and most of the width sits behind the hub face.

Vic55

You sir are correct!!! I was a little to Pcar heavy today- must have been that early run to 165mph in Mexico

B. Gorman

Must....beeeeee......niiiiiice....LOL!!!!!

Ken Vipond

Hi all,my 2010 350 m.l. is fitted with 20 inch wheels,and because it has a m.b.towbar fitted it does not come with a spare wheel(just one of those silly blowup kits),i have managed to obtain a 18 inch space saver off another m.l.i am just wondering if fitting this wheel in a emergency will it cause any transmition damage

Bellevue_E55

okay so I'm royally confused now. I did searches as always recommended and saw posts saying a front ET of Mid 30 is better than 25.

So if I'm going with 245/30/20's on an 8.5" rim which offset is better
8.5" wide: +38, +34 or +25

Rear will be 285/25/20 on a 10" rim with an ET 40

I'm lowered as low as possible with the carlsonn lowering module. Rears just about tucking.

tbone

A+25 on 8.5" rim will give you the same front setup as Peter 02AMG, so you should be good. The +34 will work as well, but the +25 will look better, as you will have a wider stance.

Peter_02AMG

Yup! and thanks for the spacers!

tbone

That's right, I forgot! So, are you +25 before or after spacers?

threeMBs

Incorrect - its completely the opposite. The lower the offset (for the same wheel), it will always push that wheel more toward the fender edge (street side) away from calipers thus yelding more clearance. Higher offset will always push that same wheel toward the caliper yelding less caliper clearance. Its very simple, do not know why most people are confused about offsets.

tbone

Vic is correct. Lower offsets = bigger lips = wheel face sits closer to the caliper. For example, take 2 of the same car, but add BBK to one of them. The car without BBK can run a lower offset because it has less caliper to clear, resulting in a wider lip.

Here's a link defining offset -

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=101

Bramage

I believe stock is:

Front ET 31
Rear ET 39

That is what my 20's are, and can tuck them with 285's

Vic55

Thanks man for clearing this up... my explanation albeit not as good as yours was for the layman

Peter_02AMG

Wheel was +35 look kinda stupid, now +25 look much better. It could use another +5 though.

tbone

yeah, you could use another 5 I was +30 before spacers, but sold them to you and replaced my lip with a 12mm wider one, so now i'm at +18 up front.