New C43 Owner | Intro and a few questions

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Hpbingham

New Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
Messages
4
Location
Yorkshire
Car
C43
Hi everyone,

Just put the deposit down on a new to me C43: coupe, 66 plate, blue with night pack, premium plus. Bought on a bit of impulse, but I was looking at buying a saloon many years ago and already knew the exact spec I wanted and this happened to have everything (hence the impulse purchase) apart from 19” wheels. It’s on the 18” and they look okay, but I feel the car lacks the presence it would have on the 19” and so I’m looking at swapping these out. I don’t know where to start with doing this, I’ll be left with 4 18” wheels and 4 tyres I don’t want and won’t use, and ideally would like to trade mine for the 19” to cover most of the cost of the change. Anyone know of anywhere that does this sort of thing? Most rim sets I’ve seen online are from the C63 and seem to have wider rears, should these be okay to fit - would that cause any problems. And finally are 19” likely to make the ride much harder? I don’t mind a stiff ride, I have a Caterham for the weekend and so anything softer than that feels like I’m driving on clouds anyway.

Have been watching lots of YouTube videos and have seen people launching the car by revving up to about 2k RPM whilst holding your foot on the brake; is this safe on the transmission? I currently have a BMW 435d and this has the launch mode whereby you do this, but even whilst this is an “official” thing, the general advice was don’t do it too much as it’s hard on the transmission and so given that the C43 doesn’t have a launch control per se I wondered whether this is I’ll advised? I’m buying from Merc so has a 2 year warranty but wouldn’t want to be doing anything that isn’t covered by this.

Any other tips/tricks I should be aware of? (I have already ploughed through the forums looking for stuff lol.)

Anyway, thanks in advance and looking forward to being part of the community.
 
Welcome aboard 👍
 
Welcome to the forums :) Why don't you ask the dealer ref part ex the 18's for 19's? I don't know if they would be interested but won't hurt to ask.
 
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Welcome and enjoy 😀
 
Welcome :)

I would 2nd the suggestion to try and do a trade with the dealer for the 19" wheels. I have 19's on my C43 and I do think they fill the arches better, and for me the ride is still more than comfortable.

I have never done a 'fake launch', flooring it from standing in Sport+ mode is more than quick enoough for me. I know there are arguments for and against it but to me it doesn't sound too mechanically sympathetic.
 
Welcome.

The rears on the C43 are wider than the front.

There are alloy wheel companies out there that will take your 18s in part exchange but don't expect too much. You may be better off if you put them up on Ebay.

If you are planning to move to 19ins I would not fit runflats. When I purchased mine, it came with runflats and the ride was awful so replaced them immediately and it did make a difference. However the ride on the 19s is still firm as the tyre profile is low, and going throgh unavoidable potholes can make you cringe, and if you live in London you have to take time on the speedhumps.

Enjoy !!!
 
Welcome.

The rears on the C43 are wider than the front.

There are alloy wheel companies out there that will take your 18s in part exchange but don't expect too much. You may be better off if you put them up on Ebay.

If you are planning to move to 19ins I would not fit runflats. When I purchased mine, it came with runflats and the ride was awful so replaced them immediately and it did make a difference. However the ride on the 19s is still firm as the tyre profile is low, and going throgh unavoidable potholes can make you cringe, and if you live in London you have to take time on the speedhumps.

Enjoy !!!

I think this is down to personal opinion - my C43 has 19" runflats and I don't think the ride is particularly harsh.

Choose tyres carefully….. search this forum for crabbing.

Agreed - MB replaced all four of my tyres free of charge with OEM Continentals which has reduced the crabbing significantly.
 
Same here. Mine were SSR continentals which are run flats I think.

That’s why I only every put on the same tyres. The thicker rim wall seems to remove crabbing
 
Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and your advice and suggestions.

I tried asking the dealer and they told me that it was something they just don’t do - they sell the cars as they come in. It was Stratstone.

I’ve been looking for an exchange of sorts but not had an success so far. Will keep looking but will also look into the crabbing issue!
 
I’ve been looking for an exchange of sorts but not had an success so far. Will keep looking but will also look into the crabbing issue!

You'll notice that more in cold weather when the tyres are stiffer - when performing slow manoeuvres on full lock, like reversing out of a drive, the front tyres will 'skip' sideways a little hence the term 'crabbing'. It was so bad on mine that with ****hole neighbours that park right up to the edge of my driveway entrance I was in danger of bouncing into one of their cars, hence why I contacted MB about it. It's still there, it's something to do with the car's geometry, but the change of tyres significantly improved it.
 
I get it a lot with my rwd e63 now that it gets really cold outside and it is even worse with my new good year f1 super sport tyres on the rear which are much stiffer than the pirellis, it now does a hop skip and jump like Jonathan Edwards when I reverse out the driveway
 
I think this is down to personal opinion - my C43 has 19" runflats and I don't think the ride is particularly harsh.

A runflat will always give you a harsher ride than a non runflat due to the construction of runflats.. It is down to the amount of steel bracing in a runflat that stops the tyre from flexing as much as a non runflat, and hence supports the vehicle when it goes flat.
 
A runflat will always give you a harsher ride than a non runflat due to the construction of runflats.. It is down to the amount of steel bracing in a runflat that stops the tyre from flexing as much as a non runflat, and hence supports the vehicle when it goes flat.

Appreciate that yes, but even so I don't find the ride any harsher compared to, say, my last Focus ST. So I think how harsh a ride feels depends on what you're coming from and your own personal perception.
 
The 18" wheels on the front of your C43 are slightly different to non AMG W205's , the ET on the fronts are different, 33 v 44,the rears are both ET 49 .Your market for selling them is going to be limited.
 
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Thanks, disappointing but useful to know. Sounds like I’m going to have to stomach the full cost of 4 new rims and tyres which I’m not sure I can justify.
 
Thanks, disappointing but useful to know. Sounds like I’m going to have to stomach the full cost of 4 new rims and tyres which I’m not sure I can justify.

I guess your market will be with someone wanting a set of 18's for winter tyres. That's where my 17's went.
 

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