I am considering the 18 inch upgrade for the 500E. The wheels I am interested in are the AMG monoblock, in 18 + 8 fronts and 18 + 9 rears, with 245/40 pilot sports out front and 275/35 out back.
My question is this. Is the offset the same as for the 129 SL?, in the MB wheel catologue, the part number for the 500E and 500SL as far as the AMG rim is concerned is the same. Yet, I thought the 500E had a unique offset. Will the AMG rims fit correctly and "harm" handling in any way.

David Hendy
500E 59k miles

The 500E does have a slightly higher offset than the 500SL, but the offset of the AMG package is in between the offsets of both the 500E as well as the 500SL. Therefore, the same part #s are used by AMG for both vehicles and are guaranteed fitments for both. We have used the same part # for both vehicles without fitment issues.

Your package would run you $2,958.00 plus shipping and we currently have everything in stock. Please let me know if you would like to go ahead with the purchase or if you have any other questions.

Shane



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Shane Hickey
Performance Specialist
The TireRack
(Click the banner at top of page to visit TireRack)
Shane@tirerack.com
1(800)428 8355 ext 341

A nice alternative is getting AMG SL 2-piece look-a-likes from Bekkers for only which are 18x10 for the rear and 18x8.5 up front. There are less then the AMG monoblocks and look alot sharper.
If you like the AMG Monoblocks, AAA Rims sells the originals that have been recodnitioned to new for $325 for the 18x8 and $345 for the 18x9. You also get $25 off each if you buy 4 rims, so the total is $1240 S&H.
For new ones, nobody beats TireRack.

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99 Mercedes-Benx ML 430 V8 w/custom TV, Video, UHF, speaker system
93 190E 2.6
2001 C240 V6 - maybe

If you look at the post above, you will also see some more posts about wheels that would fit Mercedes, you might find something there you like.

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99 Mercedes-Benx ML 430 V8 w/custom TV, Video, UHF, speaker system
93 190E 2.6
2001 C240 V6 - maybe

David,

I thought I should reply to your post since I recently purchased a similar package from the Tire Rack. On my 500E I went with the 129 SL 5 spoke design with 18 x 8.5 front and 18 x 9.5 rear. Tire sizes are the same size you want to run 245's front and 275's rear. After the wheels arrived UPS, I put them on and the offsets looked awful. The front's were perfect, however the rear's did not have enough offset to allow them to tuck inside the rear fenders. In short, they look way to "ghetto" if you know what I mean. I drove around the block to see if there were any clearance issues. I will tell you that's not an issue, even with the wrong offset in the rear. That's the good news. Bad news is that I can't return the wheels and tires to Tire Rack, even though they have about 2 miles on them. I just wanted to trade the rears for 8.5's all the way around and I still couldn't do that. In short, I was very disappointed with their service. I have bought several sets of tires and wheels from them before and was planning on getting a set of tires for my Range Rover, but now I will be going someplace else. Sorry to vent, but after spending 3000 dollars, I feel that I got screwed. If you want, I can sent you pictures of the car so you can see what it looks like.

Good Luck,

Peter Smith

That is ashame. I have seen the AMG 2-piece SL 129 on E500/500E and they look pretty nice, I really haven't noticed the "ghetto" look. However, all the E500/500Es have had fenders rolled or flared. After investing that much money, you might want to try to see if that might help. Just a suggestion, I thought that TireRack had a 30-day ride guaranttee. Anyways, It might help if you are stuck with those wheels and don't know what to go. If you know you don't want the wheels, It might be best to sell them as a set of 4.

My next recomendation would be if you ever order wheels, to make sure that the 18x10 have a higher offset so the wheels don't stick out causing the ghetto look.

If you ever want a good set of wheels, try the BBS RSII. If you want something with an OEM Benz look, then the OZ Opera 2-piece. If you want the MB Exclusive look, then the Carlsson 2/5. And you always have the good old fashion AMG Monoblocks.

Good Luck though with the wheels, you might be able to sell. Who knows.

P.S., I am interested in (4) 18x10 AMG SL 129 2-Piece Wheels. If you have (2) 18x19 and find another set of 4 like yours, then you can switch the 18x8.5, and sell the 18x10 to me. However, I am kinda low on the bugget, which is why I was looking at some of the replicas. Let me know though if something works out.

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Chirag (Charlie) Patel

99 Mercedes-Benx ML 430 V8 w/custom TV, Video, UHF, speaker system
93 190E 2.6 w/ an amp, equalizer, and CD-changer, integrated w. stock stereo for integrated cellular phone speaker system
2001 C-Class - Maybe

Interesting thread this one, since I went to town today, to get some new alloys for my 500E as well. And I ended up with the AMG monblocks, after looking at a lot of look a'likes. So I'm also planning on getting the 18x8 for the front, and 18x9 for the rear. But the Mercedes material I've got, states that the 18x9 wheel, should be fitted with a 265/35 tire. No doubt that's it possible to fit a 275 one, but as other persons here have stated it might be just to wide.

Anybody who are running on a 18x9 wheel on the rear, please share your experiences about the looks....

And christ! why are wheels so cheap in the US ?, I have to pay almost 3200$ for my AMG monoblocks fitted with some excelent Bridgestone rubber.

Regards
Soren Nielsen, Luxembourg
1993 500E

Well its been awhile since this topic was posted but I've been using the search engine and came across this question re 18x9 rear rims on the 500E

I tried 17x10 rims (22mm ET) with 275/40-17 tires and found that it did look "ghetto" IMHO, so the dealer allowed a straight-across swap for 17x9 rims (29mm ET) that still fit the same tires. Now the rims tuck up nicely at the rear and present a proper flush profile.

By the way, the rims were RH Alurad monoblocks, made in Germany, from King Wheels of Hillsboro, Oregon (1-800-455-2755). I'm also running 17x8 rims (35mm ET) with 245/45-17 tires up front on my 94 E500 and it grips like its on rails!

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Dean Albrecht
94 E500
99 ML320

[This message has been edited by Dean Albrecht (edited 06-09-2000).]

The 97 e class had a very much simmilar rim to the amg try those

This is for Dean

I have just ordered the same wheel and tire set up you have from King wheels, for my '92 500E in your experience, has there been any detractions from your earlier praise? What tires did you mount?

David Hendy
'92 500E 61K miles