E280 CDI Sport - 18" Ride Quality....

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Adamski151

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Mar 10, 2014
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14
Car
2007 E280 CDI Sport (W211)
Hi to all - I've just purchased my first MB, a W211 E280 CDI Sport Estate with the 18" 10 spoke design. They look the business, but the ride quality is poor as they are 265/35 (yup......35!!) tyres at the rear which is the main source of the problem Therefore 2 questions:

1) Has anyone else experience of moving down to a 17 inch Ankaa or Rucha alloy design (as fitted to elegance model W211) and does it make a big difference to the ride quality because these tyres go to 245/45

and,

2) If what I'm after is a '45' ratio tyre to improve comfort, why not keep the nice 18 inch 10 spoke design and just add a 265/45 tyre.......will it fit or be SO big and have so much sidewall on it that it rubs...

Your knowledge and advice greatly appreciated please chaps..

Thanks,

Adam.
 
What make tyres are they and what pressure have you set them to?I have the saloon 2008 E280 sport with the same size wheels and tyres. I use Goodyear Eagle Asymmetric F2's and they are great.


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Do either of your cars have Airmatic (adjusting buttons near the gear lever)?

This can make a big difference to ride quality over standard springs.
 
No mine is just spring and shocks. It's firm but not crashy or too harsh. Just feels sporty and precise.


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Thanks for the replies so-far.

Mine is not airmatic. Standard "Sport" springs.

Trouble is - I live in East London, and you cannot BELIEVE how bad the roads are.... motorways etc its fine and smooth, but everything here is speed bumps and constantly dug up and I just know it's going to crack a rim a somepoint. It's a lovely motor, loving the torque and interior etc, but the ride has to be softer...just a bit.
 
Something like ride quality is somewhat subjective - depends what you are used to and what you deem to be crashy / comfortable.

Given your models are sports without Airmatic, I would suspect the biggest issue will be the firmness of the springs and dampers, rather than the sidewall of the tyres.

What car did you have before?
 
I agree - it certainly is the firmness of the sports springs etc - I'm merely looking to find a work-around without swapping all that mechanical stuff out ££££££
so tyres seems to be the obvious place to start.

Previous vehicle - Golf MK4 TDI on 15 inch wheels. Crude rear suspension but on very thin high profile 15" wheels, so it floated over bumps rather than driving through them, if that makes sense!

Any thoughts about going down the 265/45/18 route - with the emphasis on the 45 bit of that number??

thanks.
 
If you can pick up a set of wheels cheap or even borrow a set - it would be worth a try.

In terms of running different profiles, the 35 profile on a 265 equates to a sidewall of around 9.2cm and the 45 profile is 11.9cm.

I don't think you will notice but it is subjective and it might be enough to compromise without having to swap out springs and shockers.

This is assuming you have no problems with your suspension of course - the newest your car can be is 7 years old and my W211 as it got to 10 started needing suspension components - which improved the ride dramatically after various parts were swapped out.

Be aware though, on the point of different profiles, fitting non-standard profile tyres takes you down the modification route and potential issues with insurance in a crash etc.

It's highly unlikely in the real world this will cause you a problem in any respect but something to be aware of.
 
OK noted - thanks. It's more issues around "fowling" I think it's called, but going from 9.2 to 11.9 should be manageable.

Actually the car is on a 56 plate - one of the very first of the facelift cars, so its actually 10 years old already, but I'm putting it into an Indy tomorrow to check various things and well take the wheels off and just have a look at the suspension generally. I'm sure i've seen other sport estates with high profile but still 18 inch tyres - they bulge more and are noticeable.

Cheers.
 
Yes, 2cm may cause it (fouling - where it rubs on the arch).

I once tried a set of 19" CLS wheels on mine which caused fouling on the rear arches but that is because I think the difference was around 4cm there.

However, the offset was different which was the biggest problem in my case.
 
My current car (2005) had a very harsh ride until I had new shox fitted all round - it's made a big difference to the comfort. If yours has highish mileage, it might be worth thinking about replacing all four.
 
Being a sport though - unless you opt for softer shocks, you may still have the problem even with new ones. With softer shocks, you might need longer springs to compensate and then you are effectively turning it into an AG.
 

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