[W126 Coupe] Wheel Fitment Problem - HELP PLEASE!

JR560SEC at aol.com JR560SEC at aol.com
Sun Jan 23 20:47:27 EST 2005


Greetings, everybody---------please put on your "thinking caps" for this one:

After hearing for years that just about ANY oversize wheel width could fit on 
the rear of the SECs (with proper offset, at least), I guess I just went too 
far.  I was attempting to fit some 3-piece BBS RS 10.5 x 17 ET 38 wheels on 
the rear of my 1990 560SEC.  The WHEEL LIP (not the tire; I don't even know 
about that yet) strikes the inside of the wheel well when the suspension is fully 
extended, and when the suspension is compressed, it continues to strike until 
compressed to lower than normal ride height.  When viewed from the driver's 
side, the area the wheel lip strikes is from 9 o'clock (straight ahead) to about 
11:30 (almost straight up).  At that point, there is a steel reinforcement 
piece behind the sheet metal, at the bottom of which is the rubber bumper which 
limits suspension compression.

The clearance problem looks pretty bad at max. suspension extension----could 
be about 3/8-inch (10 mm) interference, maybe more.  It looks like most of the 
necessary clearance could be achieved using a B.F. hammer, except at max. 
suspension extension, at which point the aforementioned steel reinforcement 
behind the wheel well sheet metal is present and would prevent "clearancing."

I plan to use 285/40-17 tires, if they can be made to fit.  The wheels are 
sufficiently wide that the tires should not protrude much beyond the WHEEL lip.  
Still, I can't yet tell at what other areas within the wheel well the tire 
might encounter clearance problems.

The fender lip is rolled from the factory from 12 o'clock to the rear but not 
toward the front.  I will roll the fender if necessary to clear the tire.  
Since these are 3-piece modular wheels, the "fallback" alternative is to buy two 
new inner rings to reduce the wheel width to 10 inches (for ET 32 offset) or 
even 9.5 inches (for ET 25 offset)---but I'd rather stick with the present 
rings, if possible.  Where on earth would I find a couple of inner rings, anyway? 
 I also can use spacers, though at this point I can't tell if I'd have 
outside clearance problems anyway, even without spacers, once the tires are mounted.

For what it's worth, the front has 8.5 x 17 ET 13 BBS RS with 235/45-17s 
which fit with no clearance problems of any sort and, of course, no spacers with 
that small an offset.

My questions:

1.    Has anybody successfully used 10.5 x 17s on a non-widebody SEC?

2.    If so, what wheel offset (or offset/spacer combo) did you have?

3.    What is the max. tire width anybody has used, AND the accompanying 
wheel width?

4.    If I'm in uncharted territory, does anybody have a handful of 
hubcentric spacers of varying widths (say from 6 to 15 mm) plus lug bolts I could 
borrow, for trial fitment?

Thanks so much in advance, everybody, and I'll be eager to hear your counsel 
with this messy problem.

Jim Rothrock, Windermere, Florida
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