W124 fitment once again!

[pupsi]

had a look at the pdf document but am still not too sure.
the wheels are 9.5j fronts and 10j rears with the offsets being 35 and 40 respectively.
if i used 235/40/17 tyres would they be ok? or would i maybe need some small spacer?

 

[aka$h]

Im at the very limit with the wheel\tyre combo im running on my coupe. My car is lowered, but then the front wings sit 0.75" wider due to the AMG spec and Ive had the wheel arches rolled. Ive got 8"x18 et 31 with 235/40/18's 5mm more and It would rub. The wheel offsets you mention are not too far off but Id rather not take a chance, from my calculations your front wheel would stick out 15mm more and the rears 16mm more. Ill double check in the morning but im 99% sure that will stick outside the arch.

 

[bolide]

I think that whether they will work OK will depend on the offset at the front and the tyre shape. You may find them hitting the arches on bumps in a straight line and it may be worse with a bit of lock on. You'll have to try and see. A 225 tyre may well be better

The offsets are wrong and the wheels will stick out too much - they should be 10 (9.5") and 3 (10") =/- a couple of mm, assuming those offsets allow enough clearance between the rim/tyre inner edge and the suspension. Spacers will make it worse

Because the offset is wrong the tyre centre patch will be in the wrong place and it won't handle properly

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[pupsi]

well dont to lose any handling capabilities that the car has.
hmmm, i guess my search for wheels isnt going to be an easy one!

edit: also, i thought the higher the offset the more it sits in the arch?
damn im confused!

 

[aka$h]

well dont to lose any handling capabilities that the car has.
hmmm, i guess my search for wheels isnt going to be an easy one!

Which wheels did you find that were that size\offset? seems a very odd size.

 

[pupsi]

They are RH Toplines, my mates mate has got a set sitting in his shop somewhere up north. would have preferred 8.5j and 10j rears but hes giving them at a good price.

 

[Dee-124CAB]

They are RH Toplines, my mates mate has got a set sitting in his shop somewhere up north. would have preferred 8.5j and 10j rears but hes giving them at a good price.

You sure they are not meant for a BMW as most of them weather 4 stud or 5 stud ended up on BM's?....

 

[aka$h]

Toplines are nice looking wheels, but a 9.5" wheel on the 124 is next to impossible, I wouldnt go for that size even on a 500e, it would have too much of a negative effect on the drive of the car.

 

[pupsi]

ahhh ok.
they are definitely merc stud pattern but i think they were on a different car before.
simal, any idea of any other wheels which will fit my e300 but have a nice fat dish?

 

[aka$h]

Here's a few photo's when I tried r129 wheels on mine:

The wheels above were:
8.5x17 et18 front
10x17 et17 rear
As you can see, it would be more than a case of just rolling the arches.

In relation to the wheel spec you have been offerred:

The RH fronts would sit 4mm closer to the arch, which doesnt even come close to inside, as you can see.

The rears would retract 23mm, which seems alot in mm but thats less than an inch, the wheel above from memory was out by 1.5".

 

[aka$h]

ahhh ok.
they are definitely merc stud pattern but i think they were on a different car before.
simal, any idea of any other wheels which will fit my e300 but have a nice fat dish?

The only MB I can see those fitting is a 140 S or CL Class.

This was the correct fitment 3pc wheels, see the difference

Deep dishes on a w124, virtually nothing. Maybe a set of 16" Borbets, but they dont look nice anyway.

 

[pupsi]

damn, i thought it would only be a little but that is a hell of a lot.
thanks for that dude.
500e arches seem the way to go but the money...
the place local to you, the one you told me about, would they be able to flare the arches enough to fit those in?

 

[aka$h]

damn, i thought it would only be a little but that is a hell of a lot.
thanks for that dude.
500e arches seem the way to go but the money...
the place local to you, the one you told me about, would they be able to flare the arches enough to fit those in?

That was a place in Oxford that another member is using for his E36. Yes but cost wise you looking at £250 per wheel arch plus painting, which you'll have to paint both sides, bumpers, sill and side slabs.

 

[bolide]

500e arches seem the way to go

If you want to fit the wrong offset wheels and suffer the handling consequences then, yes, 500e arches would be one way to go. Another might be to find wheels of the correct offset...

There are some fitments that use the "wrong" offset with bigger arches but I would think the suspension rates would be different on those cars as the arch / wheel / tyre / suspension / ride height combo would have been worked out by companies with the resources to do it properly. German companies have to gain TUV approval on modifications so such mods would be properly engineered

Other than legal restrictions on exposed tread, construction & use regs & MOT considerations there's nothing to stop you running the wrong offset, bigger wheels and lower profile tyres on a W124. But you run the risk of disturbing the excellent ride / handling balance they have as standard

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[pupsi]

i guess the search for my wheels will continue!
Simal, i may come back to you if i dont actually find anything lol

 

[Mosselmann]

with 18's go for et 44 wheels and 225/40/18 on the front and 255/35/18 on the rears.

 

[Mosselmann]

aka$h- love the proper 17 inch 3piece look

 

[andy_k]

from my experience putting 225s on the front of a W124 is a really good way to destroy it's handling, it will dive into corners, tramline and be twitchy in a straight line

I've tried all sorts of tyre combos and think that 205 on the front and 225 on the rear sitting on 16" rims is about the best all round compromise. I'm not sure why you'd need to go any wider than that, any grip gained would be minimal in the dry and in the wet it would be like driving on a skating rink

18" wheels will take away the smooth ride (I even thought 17s were harsh).

Of course, you could disregard all of the advise here and go for 20" rims with about half an inch of rubber on them but bear in mind the W124 is a heavy car (with a lot of unsprung weight combined with a fair spring travel to compound the problem) and not only will your tyres not last long you'll ruin the rims the first time you hit a bump.

Depends whether you want to actually drive the car or be a victim of the current "big wheels" fashion.

Andy

 

[Mudster]

I took 18" rims off my W126 SEC for the exact reasons described by Andy.

The car was uncomfortable and simply didn't handle properly,

I replaced these with 17" wheels to the same spec fitted by AMG and the ride improved tremendously.