Rave E55

When I first got my E55K, I went from the stock 18" rims to 19"s when I made the change I noticed a stiffer ride, more interior rattle and a little more shake in the steering wheel, I looked past these issues because the new 19"s look so nice.
After getting a few minor curb rash on my new rims, I decided to get them fixed, so I put the original 18"s back on, WOW!!! It is like driving on air the car feels sooooooo much better, no more rattle, that amazing MB comfort is back, to be honest with you guy's, I doubt I will put the 19"s back on. If any wants to buy a set of slightly used, completely refurbished SL two piece rims with 90% left on tires PM me, the rims have the SL offset and look very aggressive, they are tricky for NYC roads, but If you like the rims and live somewhere with nice roads, and like a stiffer feel, these are perfect, I am asking $3500 for all four.

19"s

anerbe

rave,

interesting to hear about the 19's being harsh. imagine those with the 20's!!!

I don't live in a place with too many bad roads, and seldom drive the car on the bad expressways to detoit. I've been interested in those 19's for a while. What kind of tires are they? Also, where are you getting your rims fixed? I am interested in them. When you get them back, post some pics of the 4 rims, will ya?

Thanks

Ernie

Rave E55

Anerbe,
Will do, rims only had very minor curb rash on the lip, they are being fixed at Wheels America.

hllatif

Rave E55,

I applaud your honesty in explaining the real reason for selling those 19's. I was thinking of buying a set myself, however, I also live in an area were roads are much less than perfect and I was worried about ride quality. So I guess I'll stick to the stock 18's.

Thank you again.

Rave E55

Glad I could help, 19"s look nice, but beware you better live somewhere with nice roads.

Bilal

I knew it, hard ride IS THE CAUSE OF INTERIOR RATTLES...

Rave E55

Not the cause, it makes them worse and more noticeable.

Bilal

well build quality also contributes, or a combo of both, do you agree? Did your M5 have any interior rattles? Be honest.

Rave E55

M5 never had 19's, it is a combo of 19's, build quality and horrible NYC roads.
I love my E55, but the build quality has not impressed me. I do think the build quality was slightly better in the M5.

absent

Thanks Rave55,you just save me a bunch of $$$.
I was ready to order a set of very expensive 19's.

Rave E55

Anytime.

stephens

I personally found the E55 with 18's too soft. I like to feel what the car is doing and found the increase in road feel alone worth the money spent. My W210 E55 with H&R springs and 18's was harsher than the WW211 with 19's.
You can always drive with the car in standard suspension mode to soften things up.
I think a good indicator for preferences is that if you drive in Sport I or II suspension modes all the time and prefer the better handling to the loss in ride quality, you will prefer 19's. If you prefer driving around with the standard setting you'll find the 19's too harsh.
There is a HUGE improvement in road feel and handling lowering the car and adding the bigger wheel/tyre combo.

Rave E55

Bottom line, it all comes down to personal preference, and the roads you drive on.

stephens

Very true. I will also add that after 12,500kms, my car has no rattles. I have no experience with the roads in NYC but I would suggest that they couldn't be much worse than inner suburban Melbourne!

absent

Melbourne has no snow,no salt,I've seen it ,you have much better surfaces then NY or Chicago.

stephens

Whilst it doesn't snow in the Melbourne CBD, we do have Snow fields around 1 hour away, but I fail to see what that has got to do with the suitability of wheel sizes. Have I missed something?

absent

Smoother,better roads=better ride,no rattles;you can afford to have a stiffer ride.

stephens

Hmm. not sure how much of melbourne you've seen, but if you are referring to the CBD and the freeway out to the Airport yes, but the older inner eastern suburbs where I drive are shocking. If NYC and Chicago are worse than this, I understand why SUV's are so popular.

E55 KEV

If the area has no snow then you should have little or no potholes and cracks that are repaired year after year after year.

I thought that Australia was a place with relatively great roads due to the high taxes you pay?

I have 18" OEM sizes and I hate to drive my car downtown or in the city. The noise, rattles and potential damage is too great. When I drive downtown my riders probably think the car is really cheesy due to the noise, bumps, rattles, jerky ride and side to side swaying.

absent

From my relatively short stay in Melbourne and Sydney,I can tell,Chicago roads suck....

tendons

I wonder why an additional inch should make a difference in handling? Does the tire just grab better? Would just lowering produce the same effect?

kaneman

I, like Stephens, greatly appreciate the improved roadfeel and response from the 19" wheels. I attribute the improvement completely to the shorter sidewalls. Ride quality is affected and (as Rave noticed) some rattles come out of the woodwork but IMO it's a worthwhile tradeoff. I was NEVER less happy with the car than when I put the stock wheels/tires back on.

Due to a lovely sequence of events I've just had to replace the Continentals on the stock wheels (more road construction + heavy traffic + chuckhole = 2 cut sidewalls and 2 scraped rims). I went with the cheapest thing I could find (Falkens), as my new 19" 2pc rims should be in shortly (keeping the old repaired set to swap with the new ones should they get nailed again).

Anyway... IMO most of the problem with the perceived softness of the E55 is in the TIRES!!! While the Falkens aren't quite as good as the Potenza S03/19" wheel combo, they're a vast improvement over the Contis in roadfeel although they give up a lot in absolute roadholding (they don't grip worth a damn, frankly). Still, they have much better transient response and I no longer feel as though I'm riding on a marshmallow. With the Contis I found myself using Sport 2 just to get SOME roadfeel, which isn't necessary with the Falkens. Moral of the story, if you feel the car is too soft but don't want to go to 19" wheels, new tires will cure what ails ya.

stephens

Kaneman
Interesting theory. A friend who owns a tyre/wheel franchise told me that he recently was asked to balance the wheels on an E55 with the Conti's. He was unable to do so, because three of the four tyres were so out of round they required replacement. - This was on a new car. Apparently they also have very soft sidewalls which give a smooth ride, but make the handling suck.

E55 KEV

Kaneman, you should have considered these tires for just a few dollars more:

Nitto NT-555
Toyo T1-S Proxes

WannaBeAMG

slightly OT, but whats the widest tire the E55 can hold in back? just curious.