I need to replace the falken 502s that the po had on my son's 87 300e. The car has 16 inch wheels. I called mb customer service and they said there was no recommended size since mb never offered 16" wheels. What size tire should I install? Thanks.

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87 300e (white/black; amg body kit)
88 300ce (red/cream; amg body kit)
93 300ce cabrio (white/blue/blue top)
93 300ce cabrio (black/grey/black top)
98 ml 320 (totaled @ 137,000 miles)
99 clk320 (black/grey/black top)

my son uses 205 55 16 conti tracs..... on his 89 300e... I like those tires..

wish I had 16's on mine!!!

tire rack will walk you through it...

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1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

Lee, my 88 300ce came with 225/65/15s, which sometimes rub, but they really stick-they are soon to be replaced with Bridgestone re950s in 215/60/15. But the 16" tires on my son's car handle exceptionally!! Plus, the po lowered the car; its a phenomenal combination.

BTW, have you heard of anyone using goodyear assurance triple treads on a w124? They got good reviews at tirerack.

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87 300e (white/black; amg body kit)
88 300ce (red/cream; amg body kit)
93 300ce cabrio (white/blue/blue top)
93 300ce cabrio (black/grey/black top)
98 ml 320 (totaled @ 137,000 miles)
99 clk320 (black/grey/black top)

Someone posted rave comments about Assurance Triple Tread about a year ago:
Good sets of tires...for your 300D

I just am in process of installing Yokohama's AVS dB S2 on my '87 300D turbo (new 16 in CLK wheels) and will have to comment after I do a road test

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

when my 15 michelin's wear out....I am going to do everything in my financial power to upgrade to 16 tires and wheels... it is a big difference, I find.... the car is more confident, if you can use that terminology

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

JUST PUT 205/60/15 ON MY 95 E 420, 80K. The tire corners as if on rrtracks. However, I now have a right pull that wasn't there before, and the balance has been a problem. The Goodyear dealer has replaced two of the tires which reduced the pull but not completely. Alignment done and two front end inspections find nothing else wrong. The tires were balanced on the Hunter model 9700. Due to an eighty K mile warranty the side walls are stiffer therefore a firmer ride, than say a 40 k tire, or thats what I've been told. I too bought because of the Tire Rack survey. So is it a good tire? Yes as far as handling is concerned, but not sure if its dealer or the tire as for the other problems. There is two K miles on them.

I'm reading the MB disc wheel and tire conversion bulletin (27.1.95). It explains retrofit conversion for the 124s of our type using the 16x7 et46 8- hole rim that was made for 124.034 bodies (E420) (the 1993s -- i think). It specifies use of a 215/55 R 16.

The wheel well space that we are trying to fill is 25" (635mm). The original 15" config with 195/65 does this. The 16" config translates something like this:
16" wheel = 406.4 mm
215/55 tire is 215 * .55 * 2 (top & bottom) = 236.5
406.4 + 236.5 = 642.9mm

The wheel & tire conversion explanation from mb describes the fender alteration that is recommended. Since you are already running 16s you know whether you need that done to prevent rubbing or not.

Another post in this thread speaks of using 205/55 Conti Tires
(205 * .55 * 2 + 406.4 = 631.9) I have a better feeling about this config than the mb recommendation only because it is a closer (and slightly lower) match to the 635mm target.

The 15s rub because the config results in 673.5mm in the 635mm space

In this forum you will see posts by people far more knowledgeable than myself about this matter. In fact, I learned the foundation of what I'm telling you from reading these posts.
check: Rims advice for W124

darkman
1987 300D Turbo 195k

[QUOTE=nearly]JUST PUT 205/60/15 ON MY 95 E 420, 80K. The tire corners as if on rrtracks. However, I now have a right pull that wasn't there before, and the balance has been a problem.

You don't say which Goodyear model you purchased. I have run 3 or four sets of Dunlop SP5000's 205/60 VR 15 on my 1992 Sportline. The Sportline rims are 15 x 7 versus standard 124 15 x 6.5. Running wider tires on that narrow rim can't help the handling.

I recently decided to try the B.F. Goodrich G-Force Sports. Had them mounted and balanced on the fancy Hunter balancer. These are assymetric, directional tires. The car immediately began following the crowns on the highway. Let go of the wheel and it will track right. Move over toward center. Let go and it tracks left. Getting slightly better as they wear.
They are sticky, but no where near as linear as the Dunlops.

I have decided that this is just a result of the summer tread design with the
solid rib in the center. It may also just be a cheap tire made in China. Next time in am in the South Bend area, I will replace them with the Dunlops again.

Steve

For the W124, Tirerack recommends the 205/55/16 when you upgrade to 16" wheels. If your offset is not perfect, the 215/55/16 will rub. I saw it happen on a coupe and it ruined the back lower portion of the front lower plastic cladding. The 215/55/16 is slightly taller than the original 195/65/15, but the 205/55/16 it almost identical. I have 205/55/16 mounted on 16" x 7.5" ET37 AMG wheels and they work very well. I would love to have 225/50/16 tires, which are the same diameter, but I am sure they would rub on my car. 215/45/17 is the recommended size when you go to a 17" wheel, which again is the same overall diameter as the original 195/65/15.

I loved the quiet comfortable ride of my Michelin Energy MXV4 tires, but they squealed all the time and they were not great in the rain. Now I am running Bridgestone Turanza LSH tires and they are very good, except in the snow. I think they are just slightly less comfortable and quiet than the Michelins, but they never squeal and they are great in the rain.

__________________
I just couldn't give up on my 1995 E320.

I think it might be like always going back to that same bad relationship with an ex girlfriend.
You feel you love them too much, or you are just too stupid to know any better.



Flickr slideshow of my 1995 E320
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24145497@N06/sets/72157616572140057/

Thanks for the comments. BTW,over the weekend I looked carefully and the po had installed 205/50/16s, which have never rubbed. I think I'll go with the 205/55s.

__________________
87 300e (white/black; amg body kit)
88 300ce (red/cream; amg body kit)
93 300ce cabrio (white/blue/blue top)
93 300ce cabrio (black/grey/black top)
98 ml 320 (totaled @ 137,000 miles)
99 clk320 (black/grey/black top)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=25

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2006 BMW M5 "Heidi" @ 109,000 miles
2005 MBZ C55 AMG "Lorelai" @ 165,000 miles
1991 MBZ 300E "Benzachino II" @ 165,000 miles
1990 MBZ 500SL "Shoshanna" @ 118,000 miles

(On the hunt for a good used M103 engine as of 6/10/23, PM me if you have one to sell!)

Don't forget to account for the larger diameter wheels changing the accuracy of your SPEEDOMETER! I was clocked at 103 and I swore to the cop that I was doing 95. OK now stop laughing at me for admitting I was doing 95mph. ARGH! M BENZ