Tyre & wheel options for winter driving UK?

[Blobcat]

Test fitted one of the new wheels to the rear of my CLK just to check it fitted ok before buying a set of winter tyres

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When I do come to fit them I was thinking of removing the plastic wheel arch liners so I can clean the inside of the arches and waxoil them, is it just a matter of removing these plastic bolts/nuts?

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Yes, and get rid of the locking wheel bolts soonest...

ACF50 is great for any exposed metal work

 

[AnthonyUK]

When I do come to fit them I was thinking of removing the plastic wheel arch liners so I can clean the inside of the arches and waxoil them, is it just a matter of removing these plastic bolts/nuts?

Be careful with them though as if corroded the threaded spigots will break off and are not easy to replace.

 

[Dale Stevens]

... get rid of the locking wheel bolts soonest...

Already done, called into the local MB dealership today and bought a set of four, plus ordered a centering pin whilst I was there. Then loosened all the wheel bolts and torqued them up to 110Nm

Part numbers here..

 

[Dale Stevens]

Three of the wheels have Continental Contiwinter Contact TS850 tyres, dated October 2015. So whilst they are good as far as age is concerned, they only have about 5mm of tread so I'll probably buy a new set.

 

[Rotorhead500]

I ran the predecessor to these on my W203... I was very impressed with them, from full northeastern Durham/Peterlee early morning cross country shenanigans, to running them in to summer months.

Nokian WR A4 205/55 R16 91H (from £66.90), Compare Tyre Prices

Nokian WR A4 tyres, prices from £66.90 ☝️ Cheap online tyre prices compared from local & national fitters, UK wide

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[Dale Stevens]

Finally got the winter tyres ordered for the spare set of alloys, gone for 205/55 R16 Continental Winter Contact TS870, to be fitted next week.

After shopping around online, I found my local car repair garage could get them for £116 each, slightly more than the best price I had found online, but I prefer to deal direct with the local garage as they have given good service in the past, probably because I always leave them a bag of buns, donuts and biscuits each time I use them

 

[Dale Stevens]

Finally...

Dropped off the spare set of 16" alloys at the garage this morning for the Continental Winter Contact tyres to be fitted, thankfully they were very recent tyres with a manufacturing date 3422. Collected them a short while later and then spent the following hour removing the original wheels and fitting the winter set. Nice to get rid of the original tyres as they were approx 125 years old.

Original 17" Saiph wheels..




16" alloys & 205/55 winter tyres..

 

[Dale Stevens]

I quite like the spare alloys, not sure if they are Mercedes wheels or not, anyone know what they are called?

 

[Droverunner]

It is a nice looking car but you really have to pop the wheel nuts out 8 at a time to de-rust and spray silver.

 

[Dale Stevens]

It is a nice looking car but you really have to pop the wheel nuts out 8 at a time to de-rust and spray silver.

What do you mean please? Are you referring to the rusty wheel bolts?

 

[AnthonyUK]

I quite like the spare alloys, not sure if they are Mercedes wheels or not, anyone know what they are called?

They will likely have an MB part number if they are, normally cast onto the reverse of a spoke.
I think that size of wheel and profile tyre really suit the car and I imagine the ride is pretty nice too assuming the suspension is OK.

 

[Dale Stevens]

They will likely have an MB part number if they are, normally cast onto the reverse of a spoke.
I think that size of wheel and profile tyre really suit the car and I imagine the ride is pretty nice too assuming the suspension is OK.

I'll have a look next time I take them off.

I now have the expense of buying three new tyres for the original wheels as those tyres are quite old. I'll wait until next spring when I am about to change the wheels over again, just in case the wife prangs the car in the meantime!!

 

[JBell]

I'll have a look next time I take them off.

I now have the expense of buying three new tyres for the original wheels as those tyres are quite old. I'll wait until next spring when I am about to change the wheels over again, just in case the wife prangs the car in the meantime!!

Put a whole new matched set on it

 

[Dale Stevens]

Put a whole new matched set on it

I will, but one of the tyres had been fitted new the day before we bought the car, so we should be able to just change the other three to match that tyre.

 

[Chrishazle]

MB wheel bolts are well known for rusting, I have a bagged set of M14's and M12's (S204 and SLK) in my garage, fitted a set of these to the SLK and intend to do the same to the S204.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/362248505646 - these are the M14's for the S204, I bought the M12's for the SLK from the same vendor. Another (more expensive) option is the non-rusting bolts sold by alloywheelsdirect.net - but they're about twice the price.

 

[AnthonyUK]

Just spray the heads with some Hammerite smooth or Rustoleum
A bit of scrap wood with some suitable holes drilled in it for holding the bolts then a quick spray.

 

[Droverunner]

Yep sorry the rusty wheel bolts not nuts. They are a pet hate of mine if tatty looking, even on my unmerc I spent £60 on a new stainless set. But as Anthony says very easy to spray, the rest of the car looks so good shame not to.

 

[Dale Stevens]

Update on the Continental Winter Contact TS870 tyres I had fitted.
With the recent snow the CLK240 handled really well. A good test is when reversing onto our driveway, having to cross over an inclined pavement to get onto the drive. No slipping whatsoever, and the car has handled well in the snow.