I'd like to upgrade the stock wheels on my 98 E430...what's the largest size i can go to? 18's? 17's? The stock size is 16x7.5, can I go to an 18x7.5 or 17x7.5 all the way around? Or even an 18x8.5?
Has anyone already gone through this 'goat rope' and found a solution?

According to Brabus, you can upgrade to 18x8.5" all around if you like. Your tire size should be either 225/40 or 235/40 for the front and rear. If you want to stagger the sizes you can opted for 255/35 or 265/35 for your rear tires. The key is to make sure you have the correct offsets!

I would recommend 18x8.5" in the front with 235/40 and 18x9.5" in the rears with 265/35.

I personally have 19x8.5" in the front with 235/35 and 19x9.5" in the rears with 265/30 and with a 5mm spacer. With the spacer, I had to roll the rear fender lips.

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'00 E430 White / Gray w/ Xenons
Brabus 19'' Monoblock V, 2 piece
H&R Sport Springs

'03 Porsche Carrera Coupe, Silver / Blk, 6-speed
Xenon, Sport Suspension, Bose, GT-3 Side Skirts . . .

so what would the correct offsets be for a:

8.5 front, and a 9.5 rear.

or 8.5 all the way around?

From Brabus' chart:

For fronts and rears at all four: 18 x 8.5" rims, the offset should be 24

and rears: 18 x 9.5" rims, offset of 26

With 19 x 8.5" rims, my offset is 35 for the fronts
and 19 x 9.5" rims in the rear is at 35.

I'm sure this will vary according to each wheel manufacturer.

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'00 E430 White / Gray w/ Xenons
Brabus 19'' Monoblock V, 2 piece
H&R Sport Springs

'03 Porsche Carrera Coupe, Silver / Blk, 6-speed
Xenon, Sport Suspension, Bose, GT-3 Side Skirts . . .

you can go to
18x8.5 32-35 offset in front

and
18x9.5 32-45 offset in the rear

the recommendations from the Brabus chart are too low of an offset

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