I just bought a -85 300 SD.
What would be the best rim tire combination (both looks and performance wise) for this car?

Sincerely

Anders Jelveus

Michelin are highly regarded for a nice quality tire, but it comes at a price. I think my new ones are Michelin Harmony's supposed to be Michelin's best, even according to them!

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Jeff M.
Mercedes W123 DIY pages are now located here.
1983 / 1984 300D Sold
2000 CLK430 Cabriolet ~58k Sold
2005 Avalanche 4x4 ~66k

What size of tires and rims would be the best?
Now I have the old 14" but would like slightly bigger rims.

Anders

While I can't say the bundt cake rims are the most eye appealing style I don't see running any customs on my car either. So all I did was upsize my tire one size to 205, makes the wheel well seem a little smaller, and the car goes further per revolution. I'm not certain the SD comes with the same 195/70R14 stock but upsizing one size helps make it look better. As for handling if you are looking for that then you better go to a larger rim, be willing to fork out more money for tires and rims then on top of that you'll lose some of the ride. It all depends where your priorities are.

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Jeff M.
Mercedes W123 DIY pages are now located here.
1983 / 1984 300D Sold
2000 CLK430 Cabriolet ~58k Sold
2005 Avalanche 4x4 ~66k

On one of my 84 300DT, I upgraded to a set of Dunlop Sport A2's 205/60 15" on wheels from an 89 560SL.

An overall improvement from the oem 14" Bundt wheels. I get lots of compliment and second looks

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I've been happy with the copies of the MB 8-hole mags I got from Tire rack. I like the five hole ones from a later model too, though they are a bit sporty for the SD. Mounted with contenintals, balanced, delivered to my door with MB center caps and lugs they were less than $1000. There was a guy named luke at tire rack that was helpful and knowledgeble.

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Bob D.
Parrish, FL
1 SDL, 1 D, 1 TD, 1 Mog

My rims are from a 2002 CLK 230. I mounted 225/60-16 on them and I think they look good.

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

.

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__________________
'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

I also have the rims from a 560SL with 205/60R15 tires the PO put on. I like it MUCH better than the old 14" rims. Gives it more of a cleaner modern look. I have cheapo tires but I would get Michelin if I could afford it.

I have been thinking of swaping them with 215's for the longer rolling distance, but acceleration is already so "slow" on these cars I might just skip that idea.

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I'll second h20diesel's recommendation for the 1992 style 8 hole wheels. They're by far the easiest to clean of any mentioned here. I had two cars with the 15 hole wheels and the brake dust was a nightmare.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

VWbuge,
Your SD looks great! When I was looking into getting new wheels I thought I found an offset problem putting late model MB wheels on a w126. I can't remember the ET numbers right now but the difference was significant. How did you get around this?

Bob D.
Parrish, FL

87 SDL
84 SD
83 SD
83 D
74 Bavaria
4 Unimogs

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Bob D.
Parrish, FL
1 SDL, 1 D, 1 TD, 1 Mog

Bob,
I did the same thing as VW and had to use 5mm generic spacers to get them to sit correctly. I got the spacers off of eBay for $15 I think, and I got the wheels off eBay for $150 with tires (which were bad and replaced with Continental ContiExtremes). Good luck.

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

The stock ET is low 20's (can't remember exactly right now). The CLK rims are high 20's (28 I think) you have a little bit of ply there with numbers. I wouldn't risk anything more than a 10mm jump without trying them first. I have no rubbing problems whatsoever. The only problem I had was the centers popping out due to the clearance with the dust cover over the wheel bearings.
The wheels I picked up on Ebay for $200!!!!!
The tires are Roadmaster's (I know sounds cheap) but they are good tires. I only drive my car in the summer so this was a good choice for me.
Tires, rims and centers were less than $500.

__________________
'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

I forgot to mention the lug nuts!!! Very important that you get the shorter lugnuts.

__________________
'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

I've a very similar setup to DieselHeads on my 81 SD - wheels from a 99SLK. My tires are only 205/55 16's though. I'd share a photo, but I've only had the car a few days, and have not yet had a chance to take photos. Everyone says they love the look of the SLK wheels, and that it makes the car look a little more modern I've yet to see a better looking wheel on one of these cars.