Wreck

Okay I have a delima. My tires have about 1000 miles of life left according to my tireshop. I was thinking it would be a great time to get some rims. I will probably order some from TireRack. I'm leaning toward getting Carlsson 2/5 Brilliant, but want to see DR.DAVE pic of the his E55 with SSR G3. (if you can post some links to some pics of these 2 rims on a E55, that would be much appreciated.)

I'm not sure wether to stick with 18's or get 19's. My guts say 19's but something in my head said 18's will suffice.

My car is not lowered and I am amprehesive to lower my car cause I'm affraid my car will be two low.

I'm so confused. I guess what I am trying to accomplish is:
1. Have good Tire Wear. I heard the larget the wheel the less wear it has.

2. Getting wheels that will look good without lowering my car. Although I think ultimately I'm going to have to lower it.

Wreck

AWE

Here's a W210 with the 19" Carlsson 2/5's you're considering:

drdave

The ssr's look just awesome.

I was originally concerned about the spokes being too thing in comparison to the size of the car, but once on the car they seem very proportionally perfect.

I would have very little hesitation getting the 19's living in LA as you do...I am outside of Chicago and have to contend with potholes etc...we'll see.

I will do my best to get some pics up asap. I am not computer/camera savvy, but I have some friends who are. I will do my best.

Once you see the SSR's, I think you will have a much easier decision...I think they are less $ as well?

dr dave

JamE55

Stick with the 19"s. I was also worried about my car being too low but it actually will just sit right once you have lowered it. But again get 19"s!!

Chad Oliver

I run the 2/5 brillant and the pictures don't come close to how the realdeal looks. Go with the 19's you'll be very pleased. My car sat a little higher after putting on the 19's. I'm holding off on lowering until my rear wing comes off backorder so I can get the bodyshop to do everything at once.

E55 KEV

I really really want to go 19's, however, each time I drive in this town with such bad roads I an glad I do not have 19's. I want to drive my car, not just look at it nor creep around trying to avoid bending a rim - which I did on my E430 with 17's - wheel bent beyond repair. You will just be increasing the rattles and losing some comfort. I cringed and sigh every time I run over a road imperfection and there are plenty. Sometimes I believe that going 19 is just for bragging rights and pure visual appeal - that's it! But pure visual appeal is OK. I have read reports that going from 18 to 19 or 20 actually reduces performance times.

I look at the 18's on my W210 as being a Plus-2 upgrade because the stock chassis was design with 16's in mind. A Plus-3 upgrade may just be too much and provide no benefits other than the "LOOK".

My opinion on owners with 19 and 20 inch wheels is that most do not really drive there cars hard, sporting or aggressive - they just creep around cruising and not really pushing the car especially in the twisties. I also see owners with the wrong offset and widths that stick out and the car rubs and they just live with it - just for bragging rights with their buddies.

IMHO a 'PLUS 1' upgrade is useless unless you also get wider rubber. For most cars you are able to get wider tires - but the E55 upgrade to 19's will not increase the tire width - it will remain 245 front and 275 rear.

Wreck

I know exactly what you mean Kev. I had rims on my RX-7 and my BMW and I dented both rims. The RX-7, well there was something on the road, and when I was driving on the freeway, I was like "wooh" why is there 10 cars pulled over on the freeway. Next thing I heard was a large {{{{cling}}}} and I had a flat tire. I pulled over, making 11 cars on the freeway and my rims were bent. sigh With my bmw it was a pothole. I was so mad.

That's why I am not sure what to get on my Mercedes. I am at the point of just replacing my tires on my stock rims. And if I do get rims, I have to solve how to lower my car issue first.