Are 20's Bad for Airmatic Suspension?
 

Hey MBWorld. I was hoping someone could help me dismiss (or credit) the idea that 20's are bad for an Airmatic suspension?

I've had 3 E Classes. A 320, 500, and now an E63. All have been equipped with Airmatic suspension. All have had 20's on them at some point. I never noticed a problem other than lousy ride quality from the low pro tires.

But before I sold my E500, I had a problem where the relay for the airmatic motor got stuck and the motor kept spinning like crazy until I removed the relay. It never really seemed the same ever since. I didn't experience any kind of rubbing or anything as a result, it just seemed...different.

At any rate, my E63 is my baby now and I want to preserve it as best I can. That said, I'm looking for a wheel and tire setup that 1. Won't jeopardize the Airmatic 2. Won't sacrifice performance. 3. Looks aggressive.

Anyone care to weigh in on this?

there is nothing wrong with 20"

Unless you are getting super light 20s , your performance will suffer ,

I've heard that 20's wrong on so many level.

Less tire = more prone to crack
If not setup properly = rubbing
Not many tire choices = headache when replacing tires to find tires
Not many options = well self explanatory
Huge wheel = would need to drive carefully

Problem with airmatic ? I have no clue regarding that

I think the general consensus is 19 is best of both worlds but ofcourse bigger wheels do look good.

So in the end what do you want more ? Performance vs Looks :nix:

I think you're all correct. Manuyc, there isn't anything wrong with 20's. I've always run them.

Rafiki is right that a big heavy wheel will kill performance. I also think that an E63 is properly geared for the 18's they come with.

..and viren, Yes on prone to cracking. Although my 1st set of custom wheels on my 1st Benz were 19" Brabus monos. They were expensive as S*** and bent like tin cans. Sold em for like $200 after they were trapezoids. 1st set of 20's rubbed a bit up front, but I fixed that. Tires are pricey, but a little more common these days.

My dilemma is this. I live in LA so the roads are garbage. Makes me want a meatier tire. However, I'm yet to find a 19" wheel that has the aggressive concave look I'm after.

Decisions...decisions...

I think forgestar has CF5 and vossen has cv3 and adv 5.1 and adv 5 deep (all concave)

Just found out yesterday that adv 5.1 the wheels alone will run around 6,700 USD lol

Man i'd be pissed after spending that amount the rim cracked cuz of the frikking pot hole

Depends on the strength of the wheel. I'd rather not jinx myself, but suffice it to say my wheels have no cracks after 2+ years of driving on Houston roads. You do have to be careful when driving not to aim for every pot hole.

This can hold true for any size wheel, if you get the wrong offset. As long as you stay with the correct overall diameter of wheel & tire, rubbing from that a height aspect is non-existent.

Between TireRack & Discount Tire, there are 4 sets of matching front/rear tire combos in the common (& correct diameter) 20" size for the W211. Seems like enough to me. :nix:

Not many wheels? There are plenty available for the W211. See the E55 wheel thread for ideas.
Not many tires? See previous reply

See first reply. There is no argument against driving carefully. It's a consequence of looking good. ;)

This is true.

I love my 20's :)

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...psce7cdc85.jpg

I live in Chi, so am pretty positive I will be buying new rims every week if I had 20s, 18s work perfect personally, plus I want to get every inch of performance from mine , but there's nothing wrong with the 20s, just think of ur car as a E550 LMAO

^^ this, same would go with me if I were to buy rims where I live.

A local shop owner known to me , told me that a customer purchased rims from him which were made from "Air force aluminium" whatever that means and a weekend later was back to get another cuz one got cracked.


Hell, I have cracked my stock rims twice and trust me the way I drive to avoid pot holes , people behind me would think that I'm trying to practice Mario Cart in real life. :zoom:

I've bent the hell out of 19" Brabus and 20" Euro 63s. Spent countless dollars on tires...you'd think I'd be done with aftermarket. Not sure why the obsession to have my car look 'different' is so strong. All I have to do is come on this forum and chances are somebody has the same (or better) setup rendering mine not so different after all. Maybe I should sit down with a shrink instead of a wheel retailer?! Lol

As others have already stated - Don't get 20's in LA unless you are a poser...

20's weigh more = worse acceleration, braking, and handling (although everyone will argue you won't be able to tell)

20's will require you to have a smaller sidewall = worse ride quality and more prone to bent / cracked rims

Generally the 20" tires are more expensive too, so I have no idea why folks go this route other than pure aesthetics.....

how do you like the wheels? i love the way they look on a black one, i had my eye on them but still wanting the vossen CV5.
http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/...pscdf6cc90.jpg

euro 63s?

Michael Kuzni your rims look great!

I have staggared 20's on my V and very recently went through two Left front tires and and I bent my left rim the second time after hitting potholes. Fortunaltely for me I was able to get the rim repaired for $150.00 versus having to replace the rim for close to $1000.00. Now my rims are light weight, so I don't have any performance penalties other then maybe off the line acceleration. Handling/Cornering seem to be better, but off the line traction is not the best with 20's stiff side walls especially from a dig.

I love the look of the wheels but I would agree if it was my daily driver and I had to drive in the city I would just kept the stock wheels. I don't care for the look of 19's on the car.

I tried to order the same wheels I had on my old E55, iForged wheels but I never heard back from them so I ordered the CL63-RS from Jerry at http://www.formymercedes.com/mb_resu...Wheels+Gallery and I'm very happy with the look the gave the car.

My E63

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps7faa84f5.jpg

My old E55

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...ckVR6T/E55.jpg

I had the same Euro's on black on my E500. The lips bent like tuna cans on the inside. I ended up with 100's of tiny dings all around the flat surface on the lip. Once rolling, they acted as 20" rock tumblers. It was a shame, because these were easily my favorite looking rim on the car.

I later found out why. All "chrome lips" are basically just beauty rings that snap over the barrel of the wheel. Some manufacturers use rings that leave a void in between the barrel and lip. This makes the lip very "soft" and prone to dings and imperfections. This risk is greatly reduced when a manufacturer uses the correct ring for the barrel reducing the void and making the lip "harder".

Of course mine were the Asian Market repros, so I guess I got what I paid for on that one.

Getting back on topic..

Has anyone ever experienced an air strut issue or malfunction and had a tech site larger wheels and tires as the culprit?

w211 20 inch rims
 

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...e0cddf0edb.jpg


I have 20 inch staggered rims never had problems & i live in Illinois you just gotta avoid potholes<br/>

Does your E500 have airmatic?

mine is a e500 I did the Suncore Inc airmatic complete conversion. But when it had airmatic I never had any issues

Many will say airmatic is bad for airmatic suspension. 20's shouldn't make a difference

I cant imagine that 20s are any worse on the airmatic. Airmatic seems to be a problem all its own. Plus the 20s most of us would lean towards are going to be the same weight, if not lighter than the stock AMG 18s.
FWIW ,while refinishing my stock wheels I found 2 nice repairs. I've never bent any of my aftermarket wheels

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...3c8ad062b6.jpg