Tylbran

Leon,

I purchased my winter wheel package from Superior Tires on John St. in Thornhill (Nutech Auto). The rims were $248 each, tires (Pilot Alpin PA4's 255/35R19 96V)) $376 each. TPMS sensors $79.00 each). Total price including balancing was $3,200 including tax. This was way better than what MB wanted ($7,000 based on their website quote). These are only going to be used in winter...I figured that I do not need fancy rims for winter use.

Bill.

LeonPhelps

Thx Bill I will check them out.

kart125

I also have a set of Replika wheels for my winter setup (Nokian hakka 8 squared) but they are the R142 (SLS replicas). The R157 was unfortunately not available in nov 2013 when I ordered them. They would have matched my summer wheels! Nothing bad to say about their product. Cheap, well made, perfect fit...

otakki

Does anyone have any experience with 1010tires.com? 1010tires.com showed up when I googled Replika wheels--couldn't seem to find any dealers in the States. I am wary of buying directional tires such as X-Ice mounted on wheels because of the hassle if the installer didn't pay attention to the direction, especially when 1010tires.com is so far away from me. Maybe it's safer to just haul the components to my local discounttire.com center to be put together. BTW, other than a constant warning light, will there be a problem if I leave out the TPMS sensors?

For those of you with Replika wheels:
1) What is this "winter approved finish?" Do you see any difference with this "corrosion resistant finishes" per Replika's website?
2) What are the width and offset you chose for your Replika wheels front and back? I'm considering the R157 18X8.5 nonmachined lip for both front and back but I'm worried the only available +45 offset might be a problem for the front. The R157 18X8.5 with machined lip has no "winter approved finish" but with +32 offset maybe I can put that in the front. I'm planning to do a square setup with X-Ice in 245/40-18.

Tylbran

I am not sure what "winter" approved means but is suspect that the finish will not corrode when exposed to road salt or other deicing compounds (it is a painted finish). I installed R157 19 inch rims based on the recommendations from my tire dealer. I am not sure if the offset used is 32 or 45. All I can tell is that there is adequate clearance with the front brake callipers (and rears). I also installed 235/35R19's front and back. Not sure if the XIce comes in the appropriate size and rating for the E63.

looney100

18" wheels won't work on an AWD E63. X-Ice3 only has 2 19" sizes. 245/40 and 245/45.

otakki

Does your R157s have machined lip, or are they all black?

245/45 is definitely way too tall for 19". Per rimsntires.com calculator 245/40-19 will fill an extra 9mm/12mm wheel well and cause actual speed to be 2.7%/3.7% faster (front/rear).
18" wheel will still work on the rear of the AWD E63 due to the lack of heat shield. The problem is you will have different winter tires front and back.

Tylbran

My R157's are all black. I did not consider 18 inch tires for winter (nor did my tire store suggest it). MB does not suggest that you can do it (operation manual only provides for 19 inch).

kart125

My replika are 19x8.5 35 et with 255/35 all arround and the fit is perfect.

otakki

Do Replika wheels come with a blank center cap? If it does, it will save me the hassle of hunting for one that fits.

Tylbran

Yes mine came with black centre caps which look fine for winter use - no need to find MB branded caps.

kart125

When i ordered my replika sets they offered me to buy mb center caps. I declined since they came with blank center caps. I was happily surprised to find 4 mb center caps in the box free of charge...

jim911

this 4 square setup fits and works great. Nokian tires

jim911

sdg1871

I use the staggered 255 fronts/285 rear setup with the Sottozeros. Given all the power from the Renntech tune these are the best for dry or just cold weather.

I ran this last winter. The Sottos are a PERFORMANCE winter tire -- not a super dedicated/grippy hard core snow tire. Their snow performance is just ok. Getting up with very steep hill and the super steep 270 degree hairpin turn leading up to my street when there is snow on the road and it has not been plowed is a challenge.

Bottom line is that my car makes 859 lbs ft of torque and due to the fixed 33 front/67 rear torque split, the car can still be tail happy under power on a snowy incline. There are far more grippy snow tires in snow than the Sottos but that would mean sacrificing dry weather performance. Given that I live in New York City, which ain't Vermont, the Sottos work well for my needs. If I lived in a seriously snowy winter area I would opt for more hard core snow and ice tires like Nokians or the hard core models of the Blizzaks.

If there is a seriously snowy/ice day I am a lot more comfortable in my 991 Turbo S with has Michelin Pilot Alpin 4s and torque vectoring. I kid you now. My modded to over 700 crank bhp Turbo S performs in the snow like a mountain goat with the Pilot Alpin 4s.

durask

That's what I ended up ordering a few days ago. Serious snow is only maybe 10 days a year, on really bad days I just stay home. Most winter driving is done on dry salt covered roads, so I think Sottozeros are the right choice for me.

lja1575

Just mounted my winter set up. Got Haka R2's mounted on HRE FF01's. 255/35 all the way around. Seem to handle well this far. It's been a bit warm, so no clue on the snow performance yet. Other than being a bit noisier than the summer tires, no complaints thus far.

otakki

To those with Replika wheels:
Were you able to mount the wheels with original/oem wheel bolts or do you need longer bolts? If longer ones are needed, how long do they need to be? What about hubcentric rings?
Canada Wheels told me longer wheel bolts might be needed on MB cars. but I'm hesitant in getting them since Replika's website states their wheels are designed to be hubcentric and use original wheel nuts or bolts.

Tylbran

The Replika rims do not need longer wheel bolts. Both of my vehicles have Replika rims for winter tires and they use the standard bolts as supplied by MB.

otakki

Thanks to all who responded to my questions on Replika wheels. I arranged for UPS to bring from CanadaWheels.com four R171 in 32mm offset after checking with rimsntires.com calculator. Four Michelin XI3 245/40-18 were mounted and I put them on this past weekend. The wheels came with blank center caps and used oem lug bolts. The fit was perfect. The jackpad from reverselogic was great but I had to restart the car several time to slide in and pull out the jackpad at the rear jacking notches--I should have gone for the low-profile 3-ton jack from Harbor Freight instead but at least the regular one still got the job done.
Posting photos for the first time here on MBWorld--keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks again.

Clk63blkseries

I use the staggered 255 fronts/285 rear setup with the Sottozeros and push the car very hard on my back roads. It works remarkably well for an all season/snow tire. Very predictable.

If you don't need a hardcore snow tire I don't know why you would mess with the wet and dry handling by going with narrower tires?

otakki

I would like to stick with RWD and thus I'm indeed going for a hardcore snow tire setup to semi-compensate for the lack of AWD. I'll most likely swap back and forth with summer tires a few times throughout the winter. The next thing I need to find out is the psi for winter tires since I noticed this car has quite a bit of neg camber as default--so that inner tire edge is probably going to get chewed up soon.

Fairbird

mounted mine today , opinion ?

otakki

What kind and size of tires are they? What psi above the recommended psi per the fuel cover will you be putting in?

Fairbird

255/35/19 , 5 over or so