S320L (W220) Wheel & Tyre questions

[cheekster]

Hi.

Just purchased my first ever Mercedes-Benz, a 2005 (55 reg) S320L (long wheel base) this week and would like to replace the original 16" alloys with a set of 18" AMG replica's (eBay item no. 120573000112). The seller says they will fit my car fine despite being 18 x 8.5 front and rear as opposed to wider rears (18 x 9.5).

Planning on purchasing just the alloys from the seller and then source the tyres myself as he doesn't offer many different ones. After searching and reading a few threads on this forum, there seems to be quite a few fans of Falken 452's and so am currently considering ordering a set of four from Camskill for £102 each plus combined delivery of £10).

Any advice/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Cheekster.

 

[franey]

Welcome.

The wheels you are looking at are a very generic design.
The offset is wrong for the W220, believe it or not this will have a massive influence on the handling of the car. I fitted some of these to an S Class I had and even with the correct offset the handling and ride quality suffered dramatically. Further to this, the quality of the wheel is poor, whilst they might look good on day one, 6 months down the line the surface finish began to deteriorate.
The handling issue will be exaggerated more so due to it being a LWB.
On another point of quality, when the tyres were fitted (top brand) the wheels still required massive amounts of balancing weights that seemed to be more than normal.
The wheels are more than probably chinese made and I would question the fact that they say they are made by Ronal.

To summarise, spend a little bit more for some genuine wheels with the correct offset, from a reputable company where you can return if there is a problem. I doubt that a seller with only 8 feedback on ebay is going to offer any kind of product support in the event of a complaint or worse still an accident caused by a poor quality safety critical part.
Hope this helps.

 

[tromppost]

Jonny has a set of orig for sale

 

[cheekster]

Thanks for the very helpful reply franey. I'm going to try returning the set of wheels for a full refund. Have just won a set of genuine Mercedes 18" alloys with tyres one that famous auction site (item: 260605596860). Presumably they are the correct ones for my car? Two of the tyres will need replacing soon. I'm thinking of replacing them with Falken 452's, then the other pair when they wear out too. Are there any other tyres for similar money that I should also consider?

Thanks.

Cheekster.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Yes, those would be fine for your W220 S-Class. They're good wheels, you got a decent deal there too complete with Pirellis.

 

[cheekster]

They were on £100 this morning when a mate of mine spotted them and phoned me about them, then rose to £170 whilst we were still chatting. Sat on £204 with 46 mins to go then there was a bidding frenzy in the final 30 secs. Price rose to £235, £260, £315 then £415 before I finally won them!

Will I need different wheel bolts to what I presently have with my standard 16" Mercedes alloys? If so, which exact bolts will I require?

BTW, how much would anyone value a set of the pictured wheels in good condition with tyres?

Thanks.

Cheekster.

P.S. The photo is not my car as I haven't taken any decent ones yet (it's of a similar one presently listed on Auto Trader!)

 

[tromppost]

No the bolts are OK. You will notice the ride is way better once your new wheels are on, and those Difda wheels look so good.

 

[cheekster]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Onto replacement tyre recommendations. I'm mostly interested in them being quiet, reasonable grip in the wet and last for a decent amount of miles. Looking to spend between £400 and £500 for a set of four delivered

Cheekster.

 

[cheekster]

Swapped the standard 16" Carmenta alloys for 18" Difda alloys and car looks miles better. Surprisingly, still a very smooth ride in it. No doubt the airmatic suspension can compensate far better than the suspension on regular vehicles?

Cheekster.

 

[cheekster]

Quick photo taken on my iPhone.

Cheekster.

 

[tromppost]

Looks good. I have the staggered ones on mine, 245 48 18 on the front and 265 40 18 on the rear.
Black really suits the S class.