Give PSSs a look. That's all I'll run anymore. I loath V12s and attribute my bent wheels to them.

 

Ended up with Conti's all around. The hankook just looked terrible, and there is no sidewall protector, they are very square too.

I had a nice nearly new set of 265/35 contis CPC which I put on the front. Ended up on the back with 275/35 conti take-offs I had, just to check everything out. They look nice and match the front sidewall profile almost perfectly, but could use just a weee bit more on the back. Surprising the huge difference from a 265 on 9" to a 275" on 10" !! I will most likely order some 285/35 contis for the back. I did mount a 285/35 sport contact but that tire looked too tall compared to what I had...The pro contacts look like a lower profile tread design. Overall, I must have mounted/dismounted over 12 wheels/tires today at the shop...I had to remove all my TPM sensors from the original wheels, which required breaking down all the old tires too. I'm exhausted.

The pirelli's were the best looking in the back, however, they run big and I'm afraid the 265/35 in the front may hit the spindle, not to mention the cost of 4 pirellis all the way around, $1200.. the contis are a bit smaller and I have only about 3/8" clearance there. I do not want to mix tire brands front/rear.

Overall I'm very happy about the look!! Car rides like a dream but I noticed my traction control comes on much easier now..I think it's because the rear tires are older and hard, and hopefully not a diameter/speed issue. As I drove more and the tires warmed up it got much better.

On to the pics..I don't know why the image hosting on this site sucks so bad, and my cellphone pics don't help either!! I can't seem to find where to add descriptions to the pics, so I will post them separately. It is very hard to capture the widths with the camera, it seems the curved lense changes the perception.

 

This is the new front to new rear width comparison.

FRONT: 265/35/18 Conti CPC on 18x9" wheel (Basically the old rear setup)

REAR: 275/35/18 Conti SC3 on 18x10" wheel

The original front wheels looked like drag skinnies compared to these two!!

 

Here's Weldcraft's work.

They weld both inside and outside the rim.

 

2nd attempt to uploads pics here...this site is beyond frustrating!!

 

A few more. Overall, a successful project.

 

Looks proper bro!!

 

I've got a pair of 285/35/18 Conti CPC's on the way. Found a new floor model for $120 and the second for full price @ $240...

Theres a great deal on ebay for a pair of new PSS 285/35 for $400 shipped, but that would require me to buy new matching front tires as well. $$$

I'll run these conti's for a year then maybe I'll drop the big $$ on a set of 4 PSS's, just spent a lot on the rims and widening so got to take it easy, xmas is coming up and want to buy some cool stuff for my little gremlin.

 

That's solid man!

 

Great work. It looks like you nailed the offset.

I assume you couldn't just move the OEM to the front and build the rears from the reps, as the finish wouldn't match?

 

The finish was one concern, but I also wanted the front to stick out just a "little" more to better fit the fender. The rep's stick out 4mm more. This also gives me a little more clearance from the back of the tire to the spindle up top, although the factory 9" fit fine up front without rubbing.

In the mean time I have decided the rep finish is not the best, it's a bit sparkly and one of the rear wheels has bad coverage of the silver flake inside the spokes. I will be powder coating all 4 wheels in the next week or two. I can also make the AME into AMG before powdercoating. Possibly the bright chrome with clear I saw today after visiting a couple powder coating shops. The 2 shops wanted $150/wheel so I am still shopping around a bit.

Also, I put the new 285/35 conti's on the rear, and it's amazing how the new tread depth makes the tire look a LOT taller and not so wide as the worn ones in the picture...

So after obsessing for 2 days about the fact the rear tires looked too tall, or was it just the front tires looked too low now?? I tested some new 255/40's in front instead of the 265/35's on it now, and the whole look came together. FWIW 285/35 and 255/40 is the factory staggered setup for the SL and CLS, the tires are almost identical height. Except my wheels are 1/2" wider front and rear, and i always felt the SL and CLS tire size looked a bit "squeezed" on the rim...so the new front tires are on the way from tire rack, in 255/40 size.

I can "feel" the taller 285's in the rear when I'm driving....the car seems not as crazy as before,no more bucking either, but smoother, and now 1st gear can actually be used on the street. Also, the car drives better as the tires no longer follow the ruts in the road, it just feels like it glides over everything.

 

285/35 rear, 265/35 front.

 

285/35 rear, 255/40 front

Although the first picture the front's look taller than the rears, it's just the lighting and the camera lense. In reality they both look the same, with the rear looking just a slight bit more "meaty"

 

Some wheel colors I DON'T like:

 

Some wheel colors (powdercoat) I DO like:

 

Looks good.

 

The 285/35 rear, 255/40 front brought it together nicely! Those rear meats look more inline with what you would expect from the factory on a 500hp car.

Agreed about the colors of powdercoat you're looking at. Thanks for the pics.

 

I ended up having the wheels powdercoated in "chrome silver" or "mirror silver" which is called chrome, but looks more like polished aluminum. It looks great with the blue color of my car. One of these days I'll get some better pictures. Traction with the 285's on the back , and my 2.82 gear swap is great on the street. The car also rides smooth as butter. Here's some quick phone pics. When these tires wear out I may go to a 295/35/18, there's plenty of room in the back for them.

 

Maybe I missed it but how much was the Weldcraft work if I can ask?


Looks great man!

 

They quoted me $275 ea. plus shipping.

 

Looks great, especially if you're going for the sleeper look. And good choice on tire sizes. I was going to say not to run 295/30's as they'd look to short relative to the 265/35's up front.

 

I was always told that widening a wheel is not safe. I wanted to add an extra inch to the rear wheel. So its perfectly fine and safe to widen wheels correct?

 

I'll copy over what I wrote to someone else a few weeks ago on here


I've had probably a dozen sets of wheels widened or narrowed with no issues. As long as the company performing the service does it right, you won't have any issues

 

wow thanks for the info. very nice welds. I might decide to contact him when he comes back from vacation. I like my factory rims. Its cheaper to have my rear rims widen by 1 inch than buying new sets of rims. At the same time the factory wheels are heavy compare to aftermarket wheels available. Decision decision