Yes Missus, you can have too many inches, ooer

[MBDevotee]

The new ML500 came (when I bought it) with 22" wheels.

Car looks lovely - really suits it, but oh my god it drives like sh1t.....

Every ripple is like a pothole - crashing into the suspension and shaking the whole car.

Hit a pothole and you fear for the wheel - it's violent.

It ruins the ride something dreadful - and makes not a single jot of improvement to the handling, the thing wallows like it did on 17's in the old car - but that rode really well....

Also, the gearbox doesn't seem to like it. Because it raises the gearing so much, where the car would be in third it is often now at slightly higher revs in second, and if you need to overtake something, it won't kick down to 1st, so acceleration at around 30mph is poorer than the old car - once up to 50-60mph it makes very little difference as it will still kick down to an appropriate gear.

So - what size should I swap to??

Standard wheels are 17inch - AMG's have 18 inch - and they don't look too bad.

I am thinking 18's or 19's with decently high profile tyres (but still a slightly lower rolling radius than the current ones).

Does anyone have any experience??

Shame really - the thing does look the dogs doodahs on these!

 

[turbopete]

what size are the tyres fitted, and what were the original fitment on the car?

 

[Rotorhead500]

18s with a suitable profile. (Will also save you much cash I should think).

Always chuckle when I see biggish off-roaders on mahoosive wheels - they're never going to handle like a saloon, so you may as well keep the practicality of a bit of off-road ability... with some on-road comfort.

There's a chap running round back home with a 322 Rangey on 21/22" alloys - gets scared off by curbs!

 

[MBDevotee]

what size are the tyres fitted, and what were the original fitment on the car?

17's - I am not sure of the profile.

These 22's are on a 35 profile - they are like elastic bands round the wheel

 

[turbopete]

the actual tyre sizes in both cases would be helpful as opposed to just rim diameter and profile.

 

[Naraic]

17's - I am not sure of the profile.

These 22's are on a 35 profile - they are like elastic bands round the wheel

35% of what though? How wide are they?

 

[MBDevotee]

35% of what though? How wide are they?

Ah yes - 285/35/22's

I will check today what the old car had on it.

 

[turbopete]

so you could drop to something like 285/50x19, 275/55x19, 265/60x19 etc, OR 285/55x18, 275/60x18, 265/65x18 and keep the gearing similar to how it is now.

this would, however, put your original 17 inch wheels/tyres at something like 265/70x17 or 275/65x17

 

[MBDevotee]

Originals were 265/55/17

So I would assume that that is 265mm wide x 146mm deep (5.5 inch to be approx)

So diameter of wheel is 17" + 2 x 5.5" = 28" on old wheels

vs

22" + 2 x 3.9" = 30" on new wheels.

Doesn't seem much different on the rotational distance to me - only a 7% increase - mind you, I guess that means at 2000rpm the car on the other wheels would have been doing 2200 rpm which may account for the difference in performance.

However I DO see that a loss of 1.5 inches of rubber in the sidewalls would have a huge impact in ride.

Is the tramlining I get now a factor of the width of tyre (up from 275 to 285), a factor of the wheel size (up from 17" to 22") or a factor of the lack of compliance in the sidewall - down from 5.5" to 3.9 inch?

Thanks all

 

[MBDevotee]

I guess what I mean by the last paragraph above is... If I go for 19" wheels with a 275/55/19" tyre on will I have a nice ride, and no tramlining OR do I need to drop to a 275/55/18 to drop the gearing back to something more akin to the original wheels?

I'm starting to think 18" is the way forward with a 275 (or even 285) / 55 tyre on it - but I REALLY don't want to spend a LOT of money (4 new wheels and tyres) to find I get it wrong and the car is still uncomfortable / wrongly geared and tramlines all over the place.

Having said that...... 19's will look nicer


Also - does anyone want to buy 4 x 22" wheels with 3 good and one brand new tyres on them - I do for good price (but your ride will be cr@p afterwards!)

 

[Naraic]

Use this:

http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyre-size-calculator

 

[MBDevotee]

Damn good site that thanks!

Now, that is making out that the difference in overall dia is only 3.2% which I wouldn't have thought would make much difference to the gearing / drive of the thing at all - but perhaps I'm wrong?

It's certainly looking like a 265 / 55 / 18 would be a good size - but then I'm almost back to the old size so could just put the wheels on the old car on it (cheapest option, but they aren't that sexy)

 

[Rotorhead500]

My Dad had 285 wide on his Disco II when he got it - tramlined like a….. well, tram. It was a shocker!

I had 265 on my Defender and it was so much better behaved. And it's not like the ML is the last word in handling - I'd for the 265/55R18, enjoy the better ride and just savour the sound of the V8!!!

 

[turbopete]

3.2% will make more of a difference than you realise.

the best match would either be the original wheels, or 265/50x18. using 265/55x18 would add an inch to the wheel diameter, which would equate to an extra 3+ inches per rotation travelled for each wheel.

 

[Ben Longden]

Go back to the OEM diameter....

 

[MBDevotee]

Go back to the OEM diameter....

May as well put the old wheels on then!

They need a refurb and 3 new tyres, but selling the 22's should pay for that!

Thanks guys

 

[MBDevotee]

Only other thing is the car has the wider arches (like the AMG bodykit) so I'll fit them and see if they look awful or ok

 

[turbopete]

you could always sell both sets and get some nice, but smaller wheels and tyres to suit the bodywork AND keep the gearing correct.

id imagine 22"s in good condition should fetch a fair price on ebay etc

 

[MBDevotee]

Yes, they are in ok condition not great.

Wouldn't want smaller wheels than the original 17's - no need either that rides well enough on them.

I think I might see what I get for the 22's and put the 17's on the car for now, and then see what I can get for that money on fleabay.

Thanks all

 

[RedD]

Got to say I'm surprised at this.. i have 22's on mine and both the ride and handling are excellent, much better than the ML I used to have on standard wheels - I wouldn't go back

Is the rest of your suspension in good order ?