18 inch wheels - too hard?

[harveyn]

Hi, We fairly recently changed our 53 plate E class 320 cdi estate (elegance) for a 07 plate E class 320 cdi sport with adaptive suspension.

The previous car had 16 inch wheels and the ride was very smooth. My wife finds the new car far too hard even in 'comfort' mode.

It might be the seats, but I suspect it is the continental 245/40 section tyres at the front and the 265/35 section tyres at the back, they are all fairly worn.

If I can't resolve this she wants to sell the car!

So, do I go for some 16 or 17 inch wheels and retain the originals for resale at a later date, or might new tyres on these wheels improve things? Could the car be set up differently, we do lots of long motorway journeys, might the local dealer be able to change anything, it is still under warranty.

Any thoughts, much appreciated!

Harvey

 

[Dieselman]

The problem isn't just the wheels. The Sport has both larger wheels and stiffer suspension which I'm surprised you didn't notice on your test drive.

The Avantgarde might have suited better as it's between the two model you have tried.

 

[prprandall51]

I assume by Adaptive Suspension you mean Airmatic. In Comfort mode on 16" wheels it is like floating on air (which it is, really.... ).

Those are failry extreme tyres you have so it is undoubtedly those that are giving you the hard ride. Simply buy some 16" or 17" wheels to sort your problem out, they appear for sale regularly and are not expensive.

I have Airmatic on 16" rims and in Sport II setting the handling is OK, though not brilliant. You can tell the suspension is pin sharp, but you can feel the sidewalls flexing terribly. I have always fancied some 17" rims to sharpen things up but then I mostly potter around town or charge up a motorway so I am happy to stick with my 16" rims.

I imagine the 17" rims will make a dramatic difference to the comfort. Although it is only an extra inch - it represents about a 40% increase in sidewall height over an 18" rim (I am guesstimating here) so you should feel the ride being much more compliant (hopefully).

If you want to play totally safe, go for 16" rims.

Philip

 

[whitenemesis]

Might not be so easy to simply down size the rims. The car is a Sport so could well have sport brakes, bigger discs and calipers, that require the bigger wheels for clearance.

Just a thought..

 

[harveyn]

Thanks for the comments, more very welcome, yes it is airmatic that we have.

We only notice it after a couple of hours and so we didn't pick it up on the test drive. Lovely car in every other respect

.

 

[harveyn]

Good point about the brakes etc possibly not fitting, they are drilled discs at the front. I will need to check first!

 

[whitenemesis]

If you only notice after a couple hours I would suspect the seats rather than suspension/tyres.

Again you have the Sport, so do you have the sport seats also?

 

[whitenemesis]

Drilled disc are the larger sport set-up. I bet the calipers are silver with Mercedes Benz in white?

 

[Mactech]

The problem isn't just the wheels. The Sport has both larger wheels and stiffer suspension which I'm surprised you didn't notice on your test drive.

The Avantgarde might have suited better as it's between the two model you have tried.

I drove both back to back on the same 18"wheels and tyres last year when I had a sport model as a loan car. I have to say that I was glad to get back to the ride comfort of my Avantgarde model after a couple of weeks in the sport.
Did you notice the steering is also 'meatier' on the Sport model?

 

[harveyn]

Thanks for all the thoughts so far. The car does have the sports seats and they are very firm, so I am not convinced smaller wheels will make it much more comfortable, but they would surely help.

The brakes are indeed silver with white lettering, at least smaller wheels look as though they might fit as the calipers arn't as big as I feared. The steering is meatier than our last one, but is very nice, though I prefer slightly more feel in an ideal world.

If I do go for new wheels, I wonder which ones might look 'appropriate' on a sport and ideally not cost a fortune. At least the smaller tyres will be cheaper! Any ideas very welcome.

Cheers

Harvey

 

[BaldGuy]

Why not post a pic of your new car with the wheels in question... You may be able to come to a deal with a forum member around cash and swap or something like that if it helps.....

 

[rf065]

The brakes are indeed silver with white lettering, at least smaller wheels look as though they might fit as the calipers arn't as big as I feared.

As already stated above, I'm pretty sure the brakes are larger and i doubt the smaller wheels will fit, better check before parting with any cash.

Russ

 

[whitenemesis]

Thanks for all the thoughts so far. The car does have the sports seats and they are very firm, so I am not convinced smaller wheels will make it much more comfortable, but they would surely help.

The brakes are indeed silver with white lettering, at least smaller wheels look as though they might fit as the calipers arn't as big as I feared. The steering is meatier than our last one, but is very nice, though I prefer slightly more feel in an ideal world.

If I do go for new wheels, I wonder which ones might look 'appropriate' on a sport and ideally not cost a fortune. At least the smaller tyres will be cheaper! Any ideas very welcome.

Cheers

Harvey

If they are the MB Sports Pack brakes (and they certainly sound like they are) the smallest wheel would be the 17" but you will need to be careful with the design and off-set (stick with MB wheels).

On my Sport Pack 203 there is very little clearance between the calipers and the (MB supplied) wheels!

 

[harveyn]

My dealer has come back to me saying it is not possible to go down a size if wheel.

I may take it in to them to see if the suspension is working correctly, if not I am a bit stuffed!
Cheers and thanks

Harvey

 

[Tidybeard]

My dealer has come back to me saying it is not possible to go down a size if wheel.

I may take it in to them to see if the suspension is working correctly, if not I am a bit stuffed!
Cheers and thanks

Harvey

Hi Harveyn,

I'm thinking of going the other way - I have 17in wheels on my Avantgarde and would like some 18s. If you're anywhere in the North West/Midlands I'll happily meet up with you so you can give them a go. If they fit and you like them, perhaps we could work out some sort of swap deal? The tyres are Dunlop 245/45/17 which have about 5mm of tread left on each.

You can see some pics of my wheels here: http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=52701

Cheers,

TB

 

[Bazzle]

Have you checked the tyre pressures??

Bazzle

 

[prprandall51]

Without wishing to party-poop, no matter how tempting the OP may find an offer to swap wheels with somebody looking to go the other way (i.e. 17" to 18"), changing the wheels and tyres of the Sport-pack car to 17" and not retaining the O.E wheels for later refitment will kill the value at sale time. Basically, the single most important visual aspect of the Sports pack will be absent.