The sticker on the door jamb of my '82 240D says to use 185/70/14 tires. On this site I've seen 195/70/14 and 195/75/14 for this vintage 123. How are these sizes found "acceptable" or even "recommended" when Benz specifically indicates the 185s are to be used?? What are the reasons and advantages of switching to 195/70s or 195/75s?? I'm at a complete loss on the subject of tires and would appreciate some knowledgeable advice.

Well I would put 185/70/14's (Michelin MXV4's).

The reason why I wouldn't put 195/70/14's on the stock steel wheels is that they look funny. But I think they do fit.

Do you have the steel wheels or the alloy wheels?

__________________
2008 BMW 335i Coupe

I have gone through about 3/4 million miles worth of tires on 123 MB's. I've run everything from 175-14's ( the specified size for the early 240D's,) 185-14's (these were great in the days before Michelin stopped making the "X",) 205-70/14's, 195/70/14's and 195 75-14's.

My choice by far is paying for a Michelin XH 195/75/14. The XH may not still be made, but the X one or other passenger car highway tire with an 80,000 mile warranty will be a good substitute.

There are several reasons I finally settled into 75 series tires. First of all, they last much longer and at the same time cost less than the wider profile tires. Typically as the profile gets wider (as in a 70 series tire) the compound gets softer (providing fewer miles of tread life.} Given the handling charecteristics of these cars, there is really nothing practical to gain by a "performance" tire on these cars.

The 195/75 is slightly taller, but that works out very well on these cars. They carry the weight well and the 75 series tires ride better with no noticable sacrifice in handling.

This has been what I have learned from my many tire purchases for these cars.

IMPORTANT! Regardless of the tire size or brand you buy, on these cars it is absolutely IMPERATIVE that you see that the wheels are dynamically balanced with weights on the inboard AND outboard lip of the wheels. When these cars came out, they touted the "zero camber offset" suspension on them. The suspension is very nimble and will vibrate like crazy if you let the tire kid put weights ONLY on the inboard lip. They will always want to do this to keep from hearing complaints about scratching the wheels.

If you don't want to scratch the wheels, then find a shop that uses the two piece MB wheel weight. But DON'T let them static balance with the weight only on the inboard lip. I went through so many headaches and arguments with the tire stores over this, that I finally found and bought my own computer spin balancer so that I could do it right without a fight. This was the epitome of the old saying "if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself."

Good luck,

Larry....Thanks for your input.However,I'm still trying to find out why I should disregard Benz's "opinion".Not to be argumentative,but what do you know that the manufacturer doesn't?In other words,why don't they recommend the 195's? Thanks,again.

Car manufacturers build cars, tire builders build tires. The car manufacturers will pay just enough for a tire that is barely good enough to roll the car out the door and into the owners hands with minimal complaints. They won't pay one penny more.

People change from the manufacturer equipped tire size every day. I expect that a ridiculously high percentage of the cars on the road have a size that is not what came on the car originally.

Unless you range WAY OUTSIDE the original tire size, or go to a tire that cannot safely carry the weight, there is just no problem with changing sizes within a narrow range.

As I said in my original post. I have about 3/4 million miles of tire experience on 123's and the 195/75/15 has worked best when properly balanced. If I did not have adequate experience and knowledge about this subject, I may have posted, but I would've qualified in some way, that it was only my opinion.

I am simply spending my time in an attempting to help by SHARING my experience with you. It's your car and your decision, so you can take my advice or not. It's your business.

Have a great day,

Larry....Thanks,I think I'll make the switch.This is a learning process. Regards,Dave

I believe 175-14 was the tire size on the earlier models like 200Dand 220D. When those sizes went obselete the closest size was 185-70-14. I didn't realize the cars ever actually came with that size. 195-70-14 was the stock tire size on the later (123 chassis models), so it sorta became the defacto standard for the earlier models. A little wider than 185-14 but not enough difference in diameter to make any difference. At this point, 185-70-14's are somewhat scarce. Many owners have migrated to 195-75-14. They are a more common size and therefore can usually be found at a better price. Operationally, I don't think anybody would notice any difference between 195-70-14 and 195-75-14. I use 195-70-14 on both of mine. My only advice on tires is that these are heavy cars on fairly small tires, therefore they don't tolerate cheap tires very well. Buy whatever size floats your boat, but buy a quality tire like Bridgestone or Michelin, Etc. No Uniroyals, Badyears, Fireballs, Etc.

__________________
Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE

I've always used 195/70R-14s on any 123 that I have owned. I also had that size on my W116 300SD and have zero complaints. On my '83 300SD which calls for the 195, I went to a 205 and am very happy with the results. It also looks much better, having a beefier tire on a big car, rather than a skinny tire.

__________________
Regards,
Aaron