Bogdici

Hi guys ,
Happy to be here as I recently purschased my first long wished sports car.
The cold season has already arrived in my country and I am looking forward to get a complete set of winter tires, the first big reason being that some wheel shops may not be so gently with the wheels and scratch them , something I get very furios about.
The OEM Wheels set of the car is:

• front axle 245/40R19 98Y Extra Load rims, 8x19 inch ET20
  
• rear axle 275/35R19 100Y Extra Load ,rims 9x19 inch ET49
  

The only set of wheels I like, and in my opinion I think they would go good in winter are the E63 amg Rims.Brand new forged rims are aprox 7k Euros, an investement that i would not want to do necessarily at the moment, and nor for the winter setup.(For those who would think that the original E63 rims would fit on the E53, they do not, they also have another offset, another width.).
Luckily I found the exact model of rims aftermarket at the price of 900 Euros, that will probably do the job, BUT
The Aftermarket rim size are:

• front 8x19 inch ET35
  
• rear 9x19 inch ET35.

Fitting the same rubber size wont be a problem, but my main concer is the difference of the offset.
On the front axle I could fix the offset with some 15mm spacers and the setup will be exactly as the MB recommends, but in the back the tires will stick 14mm further on the outside than the original.I do not know how to take this, it will change some things in how the car sits on the road, maybe the wear of the rubber?, maybe the handling?, i do not know.
I do not fear about the wheel touching the fender, neither the brakes.My main concern is how the car will change its behavior while driving, and in what way?

Short resume:
OEM rims fitment

• front 8x19 inch ET20
  
• rear 9x19 inch ET49.

AM rims fitment

• front 8x19 inch ET35
  
• rear 9x19 inch ET35.

Will this affect car behavior while driving, and in which way?

Thanks!

bobblehead

without the use of spacer,
The aftermarket front - 15mm closer to suspension component. Meaning, you will need spacer to move these wheels back outward. Likely by 15mm spacer and longer bolts to go along.

The aftermarket rear - 14mm further away to suspension component. Meaning, you will not need spacer for rear at all and it may even be pretty flush to the wheel well fender. Depending on the size of tire you are going with, wider tire may rub though. So, keep in mind and do consult with the wheel shop before buying the wheels and tire width size.

My suggestion is to go square (245/40/19) with the aftermarket wheels you are considering.

Going square or staggered debate may come down to what you want. My E63S is square setup for the last 6 winters.

Bogdici

Thank you for your answer,
Taking in consideration what you said along with a quick search I think that I would go with the square setup 245/40/19.
This gets me to another question, should I go with 8j rims in front, and 9j in rear, or should I also square to 8j in rear?

bobblehead

For the rear, given the factory has a different setup configuration. You should not be choosing 19 x 8 et 20 for the rear (for the intention of just throwing on the square set or rotating them freely).

I think you should stay with 19 x 9 et35 or alternatively 19 x 8.5 et40 (et 35- 49 is acceptable).

When you are swapping out every year, do mark the winter front & rear wheels so that they would not be mistaken of putting to the wrong axle for next swap.

Bogdici

Comming with an info update about the winter tires setup.

I went with the square setup 8j 245/40 R19 Michelin Pilot Alpin MO.
I want to write my here experience of an unexperienced "car modifier", to encountering some problems I wasnt aware of thus I read a while about fitting AM wheels.
The main problem I was concerned about was the different ET of the wheels thus it differs slightly from the OEM fittment.
Fitting ET35 wheels with the OEM wheel size was a problem as it was touching the interior suspension only in the front, a thing that i wasnt considering because I thought the difference was very small..So i went with 15mm spacers to actually get to the original fitment measurements (ET35 and 15mm spacers goes to ET20).
The other problem I encountered was the size of the nut bolts, original bolts being to long and the depth of the AM wheels being smaller, this making the bolts go deeper in the wheel hub.I went with smaller nut bolts and everything was ok.Other thing to take in consideration is the shape of the nut bolts the AM wheels needs, whether they are tapered, rounded or flat bolts.

OBP

Thanks for the color OP. On the square set up you are using for winter tires, do you notice any handling difference between all season/summer with the wider rear contact patch vs your square set up in winter with the narrower rear contact patch ? I am asking because for my CLS550, I have the square setup for winter and I can feel a slight difference in the rear when I corner even on a dry cold day. CLS riding on 255 40 18 square Blizzaks with OEM 18 inch wheels. CLS Rear would have been 285 35 18 for all seasons with wider contact patch and it feels more stable in the back with the wider contact patch. For my E63, I am on winters but using OEM MB 19 inch set so 265 40 19 and 295 35 19 Mich Pilot Alpin. I am happy with the E63 staggered winter set up.

Bogdici

I haven't driven the car too much with summer tires and I an aggresive way to tell you an opinion about this.
I am still taking it gently and being precautions, only enjoying the car in a straight line.

So this adds to not feeling any difference .

Bogdici

-

Bogdici

Later edit:
Installed the summer tires with the wider patch on the rear.The car indeed feels more stable.
Also I had a weird experience on the highway, a fast, not so tough, brake at 130mph while slightly changing the lanes made the rear of the car wobble.
I do not know if this should happen but that doesnt seemed very right.Suspension was on the highest sport setting.

bobblehead

tire pressures checked out ok ?

Bogdici

Yes, they were all good.