Changing wheels on E320 cdi

[tagnut]

Hi All,

I'm in the process of sourcing some winter tyres for my 2003 (53) E320 CDI and considering going with new wheels as well to make the twice yearly change over a bit easier (and cheaper in the long run). I currently have 18" wheels with conti sport contacts for summer and am thinking of going to 16" wheels to put the winter boots on.

I've had the car just over a year and didn't bother last year as I have a pickup as well that I used in bad weather but this is going soon and I am driving to Germany and Switzerland in January so definitely want the winter tyres this year

My question is how much of an effect this will have on the ride and handling. I do a lot of long motorway journeys but also quite a lot journeys which are fairly rural (B roads). Would the 16's be ok for the rural element or should I be looking at 17's?

Part of the rationale is price as both wheels and tyres are quite a bit cheaper in the smaller size but I don't want to sacrifice too much for the sake of a few quid.

Thanks in advance..

 

[A210AMG]

16" will give you a better ride than 17" or 18" as more tyre to comfort the ride. Also less worry about kerbing than your current 18" and cheaper tyres

17" probably more about so cheaper to buy (ebay)

 

[tagnut]

Thanks for the reply. I realise that the ride would be softer but would the handling be compromised on country roads or am I wrong to be concerned about this?

Cheers,

 

[A210AMG]

The car was designed on 16" wheels and later the larger wheels were introduced so I would think it will be perfectly safe.

 

[whitenemesis]

Do you have the bigger Sports brakes (drilled discs and bigger calipers)? Just check the smaller diameter wheels will clear the front brake calipers. You should be ok with 17" but 16" will not.

 

[clk270]

The higher sidewall of the 16" tyre will give more flex in the tyre than a 17" or 18", so you'll lose a bit of steering precision on initial turn in to a corner. 16" tyres will be a lot cheaper than 17s (unless you opt for a cheaper tyre like the Nankang SV2 to start with).

There should be plenty of early 16" aloys around for sale - a lot of people upgrade.

If you can live with steel wheels then mytyres have a wheels n tyres package (see their left hand menu), which may be worth considering.


In fact at £120 for each wheel n tyre this Nankang in V speed rating (for that Germany trip!!) is a good buy i reckon..

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/skw.pl...0|5|211 ||P|E1*2001/116*0183*..

 

[tagnut]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I don't think that I have the sports brakes so 16's should be fine. I think I'll be looking for a set of used or refurbished alloys rather than go to steelies though

Cheers,