Norman Anthony how is the ride? Nice looking vehicle.

The ride is better than I expected. Going from a 16" to a 17" tire with a lower profile (225/55R16 vs 245/45R17), I was expecting more of a "harsh" ride.

But these Firehawks are smooth, they track straight, do not follow the freeway grooves, and have good to very good dry road adhesion. I haven't driven on wet roads yet. Also, they are very quiet as a new tire; I'll report to everyone how loud they get as the tread wears.

The Firehawks technically (to me at least) are very interesting, with two different compound layers of tread ... the first layer is optimitized for large tread depth and the second layer is optimized for when the thread depth is small. We'll see.

Over all, for the money, I'm quite pleased. As I said earlier, Luke did me right as well as my MBZ Dealership.

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1992 500E (Daily Driver)
2004 Porsche RUF 955 Dakara 550

Norman,
You made a good choice on those EVO-II wheels as they look great on a 124 or 201.
Speaking of which, I still have a set of platinum EVO-IIs, 7.5 X 17"
wheels for sale. These are brand new in the box, never mounted.
Will sell these for $1200 to your door (continental USA only).

Tobias MB
4 MBs

Norm,

I thinking of purchasing the Firehawks for my '86 420SEL from Luke.....how have yours worn?

Well, so far I am very impressed with the Tire God's recommendation. I was going to purchase SO3s.

I use my grocery getter as my daily driver ... putting on a minimum of 40 miles a day. My driving style is fast and aggressive. My daily commute is a mix of twisties and highways, though I try to take as many surface streets as I can. San Diego County traffic SUCKS ... CalTrans and San Diego must have hired all D players for Highway and Street planning ... the WORST in the California by far. Sorry, I'm digressing.

The Firehawks exceed my expectations.

The Firehawks provide very good dry as well as wet traction ... again, fast and aggressive, so I've been testing them. Also, they are very quiet so far. I say so far, because these tires have basically two treads (two compounds). As the tires accumulate more wear, I will report.

Would I buy these tires again ... at this stage, YES. $30 less a tire as compared to the SO3s. Do a side by side comparison to the SO3s in Tirerack. You'll be amazed how similar they are (Firestone is owned by Bridgestone).

My $.02

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1992 500E (Daily Driver)
2004 Porsche RUF 955 Dakara 550

Norman,

Those wheels really make a difference. Good choice... EVO's II gave your 500E such a unity look of excellent taste.

Now, keep me posted if you are going to do some mods on the front calipers and rotors, because I will be getting new wheels for the E420 and would like something that looks nice on the inside.

Afshin,

You are the next one on the list... when are you getting the 18' wheels for your 500E ?

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Ernesto Molina

1993 500E Pearl Black / Alpaca Grey
2001 E55 AMG Brilliant Silver/ Anthracite
2007 SL55 AMG Black / Anthracite

I'm sold! Gonna buy a set !
Now, what I really can't seem to find are pictures of a S Class with some nice rims! Mind you, "nice rims" is highly subjective!
I'd love to see pix of a 420 or 500 or 560 with tires/rims that give it a more aggressive,somewhat squat, crouching tiger kinda thing, dished-rim, low profile, fill-the-wheel wells look!
Don't want to lower the suspension, or go so big (18", 20") that I would have to worry about clearance/steering issues......thinking about 255/60/15's at least for the stock "butt ugly" rims ...or....go to rim/wheels of 16"? Budget a little tight...but by going to 16" rims of decent quality I'd double the out-of-pocket?

Tirerack & Discount really are hard for me to visualize using their "This is how they'd look" rim graphics.

My driving stlye is aggressive, yet within legal limits with daily runs of 50% freeway madness & 50% "Get the f**k outta my way, Tourist!" Las Vegas city traffic!!!
I've search the site for any types of such pix....to no avail!!!

Any help Gentlemen?

I have 17x7 and 17x8 with 275's on the rear. That size tire would really be best on a 9in rim but 17x9's can be hard to find.

What I really want to do is fit my 15mm H&R spacers to the rear so that I can fill the guards a bit more.

Matt.

hey man, there are probably alot pics out there but can u take more @ different angles and post them or email me direct?

500E + EvoII = sweet !

renyf1:

I will be detailing the 500 over the weekend ... I'll post pics Sunday evening / Monday. I'll show pics with various angles.

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1992 500E (Daily Driver)
2004 Porsche RUF 955 Dakara 550

Norman, You Might Want to look into the AMG C32 front brake set up!I Did My W210 and The W203 For Around $700.00
1 Factory AMG/Mercedes Parts...The AMG Caliper looks cool also!

2 Great Price!

3 Stops Sooooo Nice!

Then Add The Porterfield pads...Braided Flex Hoses..=

Lets RACE Norm..............

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Rich

1990 300CE
71 Chevelle SS 454

Hi,

I am new to this list, and recently purchased an E500.

The seller included and additonal set of wheels which appear to be the ones pictured on Norm's car.

Does anyone know who manufactures these wheels? and where I might get some information about them?

Also, does anyone know if a list or club devoted exclusively to the 500E/E500 exists?

Info much appreciated.

Joseph

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Joseph

Hi Joseph,

Welcome to the forum!

The wheels you're referencing were built by Speedline for Mercedes.

Regarding clubs for 500E/E500 none exist at the moment but I definitely would agree that there should be one. We're having a GTG May 10 - 11th in San Louis Obispo if your interested, maybe we can discus setting up a club at that time.

By the way, dig up an old thread started by Michael and post your car details there. He has created a complete list of owners on an excel spread sheet.

Good luck with your new car and good choice!

Ernesto,

I know I'm the last of the crew that has to get some wheels, but I have a feeling that it will be a while. I've decided that I'm going to wear out my existing tires first before buying new wheels and tires.

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Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

Hi Placo 1,

Thanks for the welcome.

A few questions, please.

What is GCG, and how do I get info about the meeting May 10-11?

How do I get to the thread you mentioned about Michael?

Thanks,

Joseph

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Joseph