New wheels arrived today but still not sure is they fit

[PJayUK]

I bought a set of "Ronal" alloys from a mate as they seemed to be what was fitted to my W210 Avantgarde. My plan being to refurb my old ones either myself or pop them round to a local place to have them stripped. He dropped them around today and they are in great condition so for what I paid them I am well pleased (not much at all! :bannana

But I have a question!

They look physically identical to the wheels on my EClass but the tyre size is slightly different currently fitted to my very tired alloys are 215 55 R16's. They came off his W208 CLK320 but have 205 55 R16's on them.

All the tyres are better than on my being Dunlops with a good 5mm of tread on them. But I am now not sure whether then are ok to use on my car. So two questions....

(They are 7J x 16H2 ET37 Part no A208 401 01 02)

1 Can I just fit them onto the car as they are with the slightly smaller tyre size?

2 If not can I fit 215 tyres on these rims?

3 A couple of them have some slight kerbing that I can sort myself, so could I mix the sizes on the front and back of the car (ie. 205's front and 215's back)?

Or should I stick them on Ebay !

Cheers guys!

 

[renault12ts]

You can use the smaller tyres. There may be a cost in fuel consumption, and a little inaccuracy in the speedo.

You can fit 215 tyres.

 

[PJayUK]

What about putting the smaller ones just at the front, is that ok?

 

[Will]

I'd stick them on yours for a few days whilst you refurb your own wheels, then swap them back over.

The tyres are a tiny bit smaller overall but should be fine for temporary use.

 

[renault12ts]

Should be ok. The difference between the diameters front and rear will be 5.5 millimetres.

 

[stevesey]

I thought the CLKs normally had the 8J ones at the rear (or perhaps just the bigger enigine ones - but if they came off a 320?).

I was running 225/50*16 on 7J on the front of my 202 so 215s will fit on the rims no problem.

Gearing will drop slightly using 205s but if it's only temporary while you get yours refurbed you can line with that.

215/55 rear and 205/55 front may upset the cruise.

 

[PJayUK]

I dont think the offset is right either though. The new ones are ET37 and I think the original ones are ET41....

Sorry but wheels are the one area I know very little about so I am s bit worried about causing an issue.

I agree about getting them on temporarily while I refurb the others, but at the rate I work at that could be quite a while!

I dont suppose I can fit the 215's on the new wheels?

 

[Will]

I dont think the offset is right either though. The new ones are ET37 and I think the original ones are ET41....

Sorry but wheels are the one area I know very little about so I am s bit worried about causing an issue.

I agree about getting them on temporarily while I refurb the others, but at the rate I work at that could be quite a while!

I dont suppose I can fit the 215's on the new wheels?

Might as well drop the old ones off to a proper refurb place, they're not all that expensive and by the time you've bought paint/laqcuer/primer/sanding stuff etc there won't be much in it IMHO. Takes longer than you think too!

 

[PJayUK]

Do you reckon I can fit 215 55 R16's to these wheels though?

I agree Will its a slow process to DIY refurb, I only managed to finish one of my old alloys this weekend. Not easy with a house of builders and a 3 and 2 year old!

Came out ok though!

 

[ckember]

I thought the gearing/speedo changes where due to the height of the tyre not the width

so with 205/55 and 215/55 there would be no change but with a 215/45 there would be as the total diameter is smaller.

 

[NormanC]

The profile height is a percentage of the width. For 215/55 tyres the height is 55% of 215mm (118.25mm) whilst for 205/55 tyres the height is 55% of 205mm (112.75mm).

For the same profile, tyre height changes with width.

 

[Will]

I thought the gearing/speedo changes where due to the height of the tyre not the width

so with 205/55 and 215/55 there would be no change but with a 215/45 there would be as the total diameter is smaller.

The height of the tyre is measured as the profile against the tyre's width.

Ie, a '55' profile tyre is 55% as tall as it is wide, so 55% of 215 is a higher sidewall than 55% of 205 would be

 

[PJayUK]

Still not clear on whether I can fit 215 55 R16's onto these wheels though. Whilst the current tyres are good I would prefer to fit the correct ones if they can go on.

Any ideas?

 

[renault12ts]

It's hard to make it any clearer. You can.

 

[PJayUK]

Ok thats clear thanks!

I'll get the current 215's swapped onto the new wheels.

 

[PJayUK]

You probably seen this but there a great set of online tools for calculating the impact of changing tyre/wheel combinations.

Car Bibles : The Wheel and Tyre Bible Page 3 of 4

When I entered the new wheel dimension it told me ...

"The edge of the new tyre will be 9mm further away from the inside of the wheel well and suspension components, and 1mm further in from the edge of the bodywork."

So this sounds ok to me, cant see that there will be any fouling. The speedo will read 68.8MPH at 70, I can live with a 2.2MPH margin... Just need to see if it affects the cruise controls or ABS etc.

I am fitting them this afternoon so we'll see!