Any problems running different sized tires on separate axles
 

I am looking at getting some snow tires and have found a good deal on some barley used snow tires but they are two different sizes

one pair of 205/60 R16
one pair of 215/60 R16

Thats a 1.8% difference (from the 205 to the 215) in overall diameter, would this have any negative effects, other than a slight speedometer error?
I will be using them on my 94 E320.

Thanks!

i would not worry
 

about that. put the bigger on the back.

tom w

As long as it's not 4Matic. If you have 4Matic, use the same size tires all around!

-Mike

no 4matic...thanks for the info..

Are you sure they are going to fit - both sizes are way oversized for the car which came with 195/65/15.

i am fairly certain they will fit.

215 is only 20mm wider than the stock 195 size, this is less than an inch difference in overall width, and the overall diameter is around 2 or 3% bigger.

I believe there are guys running 225 widths or more on stock 124 suspension setups, of course, the width of the tire possible is dependent on the offset of the rim.

Thanks for the heads up though!

But you're saying 16 inch rims. The larger of the two tires is almost 5 percent greater diameter than stock, which is pushing it.

Mismatched Tires
 

You may have a problem with the ABS which will tolerate only a small speed difference front to rear before turning the system off which is not what you want on slippery surfaces.

I have done this exact same thing (195 on front and 205 on rear) without any problems on my '98 which has ABS. I had a pair of snows from my CTS leftover and bought a new pair for the '98 to use on the rear. I believe it takes more than a small differential in speed to trigger the ABS system on these cars and they tolerate it just fine.

The rear fenderwells can tolerate a larger tire...it's the front wells that are tricky.

Right now I have 205/55 R16's on the car (CLK wheels) so I'll put the 205/60 R16 in the front.

The wheels I got for the tires are from a 95 S420.

W124 wheel offset is 35mm...that is just as important as tire width.

Make sure the S-class wheels you've procured have the same offset...should be embossed on the inside of the rims...