Steel rims for 400E?
 

Hello, I am looking for a set of steel rims for my Michelin Arctic Alpine snow tires, will any stock size steel rim fit 92 400E without rubbing the massive front 4 piston calipers?

I think you could fit the 15" steel wheels from the W124.. I mean.. in Europe a lot of them have wheel covers instead of alloy wheels.

If the 400E came stock with 15" wheels why wouldn't the 15" steels fit? I could be wrong.. so... just wait for what others have to say.

Holson is correct:)

I bought 8-hole (alloy) replica wheels from Tire Rack for my Arctic Alpins. I remember that when I ordered them, they said the 400E wheels were different than 300Es, and the tech specificially made reference to needing more clearance for the larger brake calipers on the 400E.

The tech is incorrect - 400Es used standard (non-500E) 15" x 6.5" rims, per my "Introduction to Service" MBZ publication.

For 400 E, with the stock alloy 15X6.5 rims, the clearance between rims and calipers is only 2-3 mm.

Since the size of 15X6.5 is for the outside portion that contact with tires, I worry even slight thickness/structure difference of different rims may cause trouble, if the rims extend more than 2-3 mm inwards towards the carlipers....

I have some SLK wheels that would probably fit. If you are interested let me know. They measure 16x8 ET30, 16x7 ET35 or 37, id have to look on that.
Amcleod11@yahoo.com
Austin

I think that's true. Could be that the replica wheels Tire Rack sells do not have enough clearance in their "300E" size whereas official MB wheels do. I do know they came with different length lug bolts than my stock wheels.

RE: steel wheels being used in Europe -- I thought the 400E/500E was only sold in the US so if true I would wonder if steel MB wheels would in fact have enough clearance...

I believe they did sell the 500E in Europe... but I doubt that it ever came with steel wheels and wheel covers :)

Did they ever sell the E420 and 400E W124's in Europe though? It only makes sense if they did..

carman850
 

The steel wheels will fit with a small modification. I had a set of steel wheels from a 300E. I went to an friend and a dealer of custom alloy wheels and tires, and he mounted the steel wheels on my 92 400E and the front wheels rub the calipers, the rears fit fine. The lack of clearance measured was in mils, so we removed (sanded/ground) a few mils from the caliper (the calipers are plenty thick for this), sprayed the calipers with high-temp silver paint, years of service for snow tires. You'll need the lug nuts for the steel wheels.
timreid

Thank you timreid!

I might do the same to my front calipers.

damn.. a 400E with steel wheels..put the wheel covers on too and someone might mistake it for a Euro 250D or something :p
hehehe

Just to follow up on this thread for the archives.....for anybody wondering if the stock 300E rims will fit a 400E, the answer is yes, but they will definately scrape your calipers in the back and especially in the front. I know this because I just tried it. I suppose you could grind down the calipers a bit and they would fit but I didn't want to take a chance. The stock 400E rims are just a bit more concave than the 300E.

Jerry

Interesting, the steel rims I have and I'm using on my 400E were purchased from Tire Rack for a 300E. They fit fine on the rear of my 400E, and I did modify, grind a few mils from the front calipers so they would not rub. My steel rims must have more of a concave than the stock rims, sorry I probably should have mention my rims were a aftermarket rim. timreid

Since the question was asked, the 500E was available in the UK (in lhd only) but not the 400E.