[mnofsteel]

I have a 1991 300e with 215x60x15 tires and have a great ride. Im thinking of getting 17 inch wheels on my car with 45 or 40 series tires, but don't want the ride to suffer significantly. Has anyone done this? If so, how is your car riding?

 

[thedudley]

i currently run a 225/45 r17 tire by hankook. it has NOT ruined the ride in any way. the noise has gone up slightly, but thanks to those spring seats, the ride is still buttery smooth and the traction much greater.

 

[mnofsteel]

Thanks for the information, did adding the wheels fill up the wheel well any, there's a pretty big gap there with my current wheels. I'm also assuming you kept the same suspension...correct Are there pics of your car in the gallery? Thanks again.

 

[RafMAR]

The 17" wheels and your tire combination will look really nice only if your springs are lowered by at least 30mm. I've gone 17" before so I guess I can share this experience with you. Smooth ride when you're driving on the highway at speed but not so smooth when going around town at lower speed. I prefer the original 195/65 R15 smooth bouncy ride but it makes your W124 look so dated.

I had some issues with your ABS braking performance, heavy steering when parking and aquaplanning when I was using 225/45 R17. Once, I almost lost control of the car when it swerved while doing 75 along a stretch of a highway during heavy rain. I still remember hating the way the car ride when I didn't have more than 4 hours sleep, I could feel every little stones and gravels on the road. But when I am in a good mood (8 hours sleep) the car feels great.

So after 3 years I am now trying out 16x7 (205x50) front and 16x8 (225x50) rear. It is only 1 week so I cannot comment on my new setup yet.

Raf

 

[mnofsteel]

Wow RafMAR, so you did feel a noticeable difference when you put on the 17's, primarily at lower speeds. What type of tires did you have? How old were your shocks? If you only had 3 hours of sleep with the original tires would you have disliked the ride as well? Thanks for the comments.

 

[thedudley]

i do have pictures of my car on this site but they are in the topic post pics of your car. i think they are on the tenth page near the bottom. you can see that the ride was a little high, but that has since changed and there have been some mods to the rear lights (smoked lenses). hydroplaning has never been an issue. the bay area can get very wet and this year especially and i haven't had any issues. as for the ride around town. it is like any low profile tire. when you are on good roads the ride is fine. but on nasty roads, and we have a few, there are going to be more bumps than usual. for overall driving purposes though, the ride should be fine. the heav y steering is just the nature of having a wider tire (in my case 8" vs. 6.5"). but granted that you never crank the wheel all the way in one direction (enourmous strain on the power steering pump) then the steering setup in the mercedes will be able to handle it. if power steering pump is kinda weak, or you want to be careful, then you might want to look into a power steering pump from a 4matic model. they are bigger and able to handle more strain because they were also used for the 4 matic system. goodluck in your choice.

also, just to add, that you should keep the same overall diameter on your wheels and tires because otherwise the speedometer will need recalibration, so overall the wheels are the same diameter, just more of it is steel instead of black rubber. it gives an old car new life like you won't believe.

 

[mnofsteel]

Thanks for the information thedudley, it gave me some really good insight, I really appreciate it. Im going to do it this weekend so I wanted to make sure before the final decision. I'll check out your car.