R171 SLK280 FL on 17's, Harsh Ride, Options?

[JBell]

17" genuine MB orignal fitment code R52 5 double spoke. View attachment 55127

Lovely looking car, red really suits it and so do those wheels, I would put GY EA3 all round and drop the pressures.

I run my rears 2psi under the recommended but mainly because they wear more evenly

 

[JBell]

All on hold ATM - was about to pull the trigger on the set of 16's linked above when I suddenly thought - radius bolts on genuine MB rims - and I have a brand new shiny set ready to fit - and quite possibly conical or taper fit on aftermarket.

Dezent wheels will have a tapered bolt. I can't believe they don't provide the fitting kit which will include Spigot rings with the wheels.

 

[Blobcat]

Dezent wheels will have a tapered bolt. I can't beileve they don't provide the fitting kit which will include Spigot rings with the wheels.

They will

 

[Chrishazle]

Starting to look even better - on eBay I found wheel centre caps where the central part is red very similar to the car's colour, only been able to fit the rears so far and they look really good compared to the blue that was on there. Next up, new rubber and shiny new corrosion resistant wheel bolts, waiting for a quote for Michelin Cross Climates front and rear now I know the 245/40 R17 (don't yet know if I can get 91V or will have to settle for 94V) for the rears can be obtained from Michelin France!

I'm more tempted by this option as it will retain the staggered set-up, the only way I've found staggered in 16's is genuine MB - at an eye watering price!!

 

[JBell]

Starting to look even better - on eBay I found wheel centre caps where the central part is red very similar to the car's colour, only been able to fit the rears so far and they look really good compared to the blue that was on there. Next up, new rubber and shiny new corrosion resistant wheel bolts, waiting for a quote for Michelin Cross Climates front and rear now I know the 245/40 R17 (don't yet know if I can get 91V or will have to settle for 94V) for the rears can be obtained from Michelin France!

The only thing with cross climates is they are noisier than summers, 71Db against 68Db so twice as noisy.

I put bolt covers on mine, cheaper than buying new bolts

I'm more tempted by this option as it will retain the staggered set-up, the only way I've found staggered in 16's is genuine MB - at an eye watering price!!

You can get 16" in staggered, it depends on the width of the wheel

On my W203 I had 8x17" all round fitted with 225/45 front and 245/40 Rear tyres, no issues at all

 

[Chrishazle]

I recently changed the fronts on the S204 from GY EA3's to Cross Climates and have not noticed any more road noise or loss of ride comfort or feel. As for staggered 16's, only looked at MyTyres so far and have only seen same size sets, not staggered, no time ATM to investigate further. We have long rides in the SLK next Tuesday and Friday (taking both cars to Comand in Lightwater, software update to the SLK Comand, fitting front parking sensors, reversing camera and HDD to Comand NTG4 on the S204!) so I'm thinking gettting the Cross Climates fitted Wed/Thur will give us a good comparison between them and the Hankooks.

 

[JBell]

We have long rides in the SLK next Tuesday and Friday (taking both cars to Comand in Lightwater, software update to the SLK Comand, fitting front parking sensors, reversing camera and HDD to Comand NTG4 on the S204!)

You putting the larger hard drive in your S204?????

 

[Chrishazle]

Yes - or at least comand.co.uk are! Mine's an early NTG4 with the hard drive that will only accept updates to 2014-15, they're fixing that and installing the latest map update, and as MB are still issuing NTG4 map updates I'll be able to update further as/when/if required. Not cheap, but the S204 is a keeper so worth spending some of the profit from the 968 cab on it.