okay, it's time to put snow tires on the CLK. I've been shopping Craigslist for used wheels, with or without snow tires, and I also have the option of using the snows I always used on my C230 Coupe (16" aftermkts that came off an SLK; I've had to use shortened lugs on the rears):

I've like having the 16" for winter, as it's a taller tire and they're cheaper to buy than 17". So, I looked at a set of OEM CLK wheels off a 2003. They're 16", and they come with the OEM all-season Conti's mounted, with good tread. I don't know that I want to run all-seasons instead of snows, but more on that in a sec:

I also found the same wheels that I currently have on my CLK, and these are mounted with summer tires. I'm not familiar with Vredestein tires, but these Ultraks supposedly have only 12K on them, and the wheels are in better shape than my own. I'm thinking maybe I get these for next spring, then I would either sell mine or buy snows for them:


BTW, does that look like only 12K of wear? Maybe 12K is more than half the life expectancy, as this is what they look like new on the Vredestein website:

Further complicating this is that my C320 4Matic (wife's car) needs tires soon as well, and she's been running Conti SportContact 2's forever, and they've been terrible: lousy in snow and sidewalls blow at the slightest pothole or bump. So, I guess I could buy her a set of 4 all-seasons, like these Sumitomos on TR that'll run me only about $400:

...but what do you think about me putting those 2003 CLK wheels and tires on the wife's car? I know I'm supposed to have EXACTLY the same tires on all 4 corners of a 4Matic, and these wheels will be staggered since they came on a CLK, but would that be such a big deal, to have slightly wider tires on the rear? I've got the seller down to $350, and I like the looks of the wheels.....