I thought I'd share my experience of replacing my 14" bundts with a somewhat fresher look.

Tires:
225/60R16

Wheels:
MB ET46 7.5"

I wanted a 16" late model wheel, but still wanted it to fit inside the wheelwells.

Offset:
The bundts have 30mm offset, the new wheels have 46mm, so 16mm spacer needed to get to the same position. I was worried about the wider wheel interfering with tie rod or suspension.

I discovered that the 7.5" wheels still clear the steering and suspension, so I chose 15mm spacers.


Lug bolts:
The bundt lug bolts barely fit through the new wheels, so I needed longer bolts even before I considered the spacers. I needed about 13mm additional length plus the length of the spacer. My math came out to 57mm total bolt length. Online, the closest I could find was 60mm so I ordered them. They did turn out to be too long, I had to grind down about 2 threads to keep them from interfering with the rear parking brakes.

To sum up:
16" ET46 7.5" wheels with 225/60R16 tires using 15mm spacers and 57mm M12X1.5 ball type lug bolts

Attached Thumbnails

       

__________________
Mark in MA
05 MB E320CDI 402k Granite Grey Metallic
05 MB E320CDI 267k Black
05 MB E320CDI 232k White
05 MB E320CDI 209k Tectite Grey
99 Dodge 2500 Cummins 5sp 148k
62 Jeep CJ-6 120k

Two questions. First, are you sure your bundts have a 30mm offset, I thought they were more like 10-12mm?

Second, what type of spacers are you using, is the weight of the car still being carried by the hubs (not the lug bolts)?

bundts are ET23 IIRC

ET30 on the inside of the bundts.

Spacers are hub-centric, so the load is carried by the spacer, not the lug bolts.

__________________
Mark in MA
05 MB E320CDI 402k Granite Grey Metallic
05 MB E320CDI 267k Black
05 MB E320CDI 232k White
05 MB E320CDI 209k Tectite Grey
99 Dodge 2500 Cummins 5sp 148k
62 Jeep CJ-6 120k

OK, that sounds reasonable, I was pretty sure they were less than 30 mm.

Nope...they're 30mm. I was intending for my first-hand experience to reduce speculation , not increase it.

__________________
Mark in MA
05 MB E320CDI 402k Granite Grey Metallic
05 MB E320CDI 267k Black
05 MB E320CDI 232k White
05 MB E320CDI 209k Tectite Grey
99 Dodge 2500 Cummins 5sp 148k
62 Jeep CJ-6 120k

OK, I'll take your word for the offset, I didn't remember. I was more concerned about the type of wheel spacers you've used. Personally, I'm not a big fan of any spacers, but if you are going to use them, make sure they're the correct type.

I got a set of 15 hole 15" MB wheels, I was told by the ebay seller that they came off a 126 MB, but they hit the Tie Rod... GRRR. I wonder if ANYTHING he sold me is correct... anybody know where the offset is marked? or can I measure something to find out?
John

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Cool, for everyone's info, these are the type of spacers we are talking about:

http://www.optionimports.com/h-r-spacer-benz.html

2 bad some well meaning but misguided mod moved this post to the T&W forum, where it will now die, not with a bang but with a whisper.


Folks in the diesel forum (w/ the largest number of cars still riding around on pitiful 14 inch tires) desperately need info about how to put a more appropriate size rollos on their ride, and the T&W forum is too general and underpopulated (not to mention the moderators terse answers) to be of any real help.

Anyway, they look good, but I would NEVER put spacers on any of my vehicles. You can find 15, 16, and 17 inch rims that will fit w/out spacers, its not easy, but they exist... I have pulled 2 sets of SDL rims (15") that fit my w123s, I found a set of 15" ronal r-9s, and then I found my 17" clk rims.

EDIT-dang, I just realised that I mis-paraphrased TS Elliot... 'Not with a bang but with a whimper' Sorry.

__________________
Cheers,
Robert

Offset is stamped (or rather...embossed) somewhere on the inside of the wheel. It will say ET30 (30mm) or ET46 (46mm) for example.

Offset is just distance from the centerline (longitudinally) of the wheel to the lug bolt mounting surface. Easiest way to measure is to put your wheel face down on a flat surface, put a level across the top. Measure from the level to the floor, divide that number by two, and then measure from the level to the mounting surface, subtract that from your first number for the offset. It doesn't matter whether the tire is mounted on the rim or not to do this measurement.

__________________
Mark in MA
05 MB E320CDI 402k Granite Grey Metallic
05 MB E320CDI 267k Black
05 MB E320CDI 232k White
05 MB E320CDI 209k Tectite Grey
99 Dodge 2500 Cummins 5sp 148k
62 Jeep CJ-6 120k

I agree that this forum is pretty much siberia, I also agree that I wouldn't ever use spacers on my cars (but the proper ones are probably safe enough). If I wanted different wheels, I would just find some with the correct offset.

Personally, I like 14-inch wheels on a W123 or older W126 because they are the only ones (except steel wheels) that really look correct on those cars (unless someone has some authentic 15-inch bundts available). The biggest problem with 14-inck wheels is the availability of decent tires in that size. However, I don't really have an issue with people changing wheels because these "modifications" are always reversible.

I just simply save all of these types of links, to my "Favorites", and then I can refer to them later, when I need them. I pretty much stick to "New Posts" arena, here on the site anyways. Unless a certain post slips out of here, before I get a chance to read it/comment.

I glad the information was shared by the originator of this thread. I too am on bundts looking to freshen up to 16"s.. I too am concerned with the offset and I HATE spacers..

I must have two full sets of H&R spacers in the garage from my 2004 c230K, damn things made it ride like crap! So I took them off and threw them in a box.

I am curious to the ride on the original posters' 126 , with the new spacers installed??? (The car looks great by the way!)



Cheers!

__________________
Thank you for all the help guys!

"Old Gretchen" <--1983 300SD w126 cali. emissions (so it says on wdw sticker)
LIght metallic blue with dark blue interior. Odo stuck at 160,500 mi.

www.handydo.joolo.com

Mark:
Thanks for the information regarding your change to 16". I am also considering an identical change to 16" Ronals ET 46 on my 560 sec. I am curious, did you install spacers on all four wheels, and how has handling been ?
Thanks,
Baldwin