Aftermarket alloy wheels for my 6.9

[jllgd]

Hello gents, new forum member here!
I have a few W116 cars and need some good input on my wheel issue:

Now looking to get either 17" or 18" alloys for my Mercedes 6.9.

I have been thinking of getting a set of 8+9 x17" or maybe 8+9 x 18".

What offset values will fit? And which ones will NOT fit?
I haven't really been able to sort this out when looking for new wheels on eBay etc.

There MUST be some offset numbers that are recognized by owners that will fit on the W116 cars?
(Realize all W116 cars are the same with regards to wheel offsets???)
Can anyone confirm this?

I am not very keen to buy a full set of new alloys and later find out that I haven't done my homework...

Thanks!
jllgd






01/1979 Mercedes Benz 450 SE # 116032 12 088710
04/1979 Mercedes Benz 450 SEL 6.9 # 116036 12 006162
10/1979 Mercedes Benz 450 SEL 6.9 # 116036 12 007024

 

[Michel]

Welcome to the Forum jllgd

There is no simple rule, but normally ETs in the mid 20s and less are ok, otherwise you may need spacers, which are not recommended.

 

[Fotografa]

For W116 optimum offset on 8" wide rims is ET11, on 9" wide rims is ET0

 

[SEL_69L]

Welcome to this forum jllgd! nice to have you on board, and I hope you can share some of your European experiences on the ownership of your car with us; I know that we will read all of your posts in this regard. There are quite a lot of knowledable folks on this Forum regarding your type of car.

As you can see from my car, it has W126 wheels. Be aware that this pattern of wheel has a range of offsets.

I notice that your car is a very late build. Does it have ABS?

As a matter of interest, I saw a magazine article on the fitting of ABS brakes to a Gullwing. Basically, the engineering involved a 30mm long collar lightweight collar fitted to the prop. shaft near the differential. The collar was marked with longitudinal stripes which were read with a laser beam. The information from the laser reader is fed into an ABS microprocessor to modulate the braking.

I assume that an accelerometer is used in association with the laser signals, with the car still in motion and the prop shaft revolving at a slower rate than what would be consistent with the vehicle' speed.

 

[Styria]

I have fitted 9" wide "Speedy" Taiwanese made Alloy rims to Gleaming Beauty, but have adapted 20mm spacers in order to gain the requisite clearance from various suspension components. However, to achieve the necessary safety factor, the spacer has been machined with a 9mm lip that is an interference fit inside the Speedy rim thereby centralizing the whole assembly, i.e. wheel and spacer.



The next shot is of the inside of the rim, showing the space provided for the 9mm machined part of the spacer, with the next picture showing the new Nankang tyre purchased and fitted. Interesting bit is that the Nankangs I bought originally were manufactured in Taiwan, whilst the latest two show the Republic of China as the manufacturing source.





Regards, Styria

 

[Fotografa]

Not as big a mystery as it seems. Republic of China is Taiwan. People's Rupublic of China is 'mainland' China.

 

[Styria]

Not as big a mystery as it seems. Republic of China is Taiwan. People's Rupublic of China is 'mainland' China.

Hi Fotografa, the tyre wall shows the initials of "PRC" thus I take it to be mainland China. Apologies for getting my terminology incorrect. Regards Styria

 

[alabbasi]

I think that the bundts are ET30 which is about the highest you can go. Most of the AMG, Lorenser or BBS wheels that i've owned that are 7.5 inches wide had an offset of 23, 8 inches have been 11-18 and 10 inch had an offset of less then 10.

Buy carefully, the cheap asian chrome asian rims will not only look bad, but they will require huge spacers to work.

There is a wheel company out of Asia called Mandrus which seems to support the older MB's well.

This wheel has an offset of 25 so it should work.

In my opinion, stick to 17 inch wheels or smaller. These cars had smaller wheel arches and if you go too big, it will just look silly and ride horribly.

You really don't want your car to look like this do you?

 

[Styria]

Just an update on those Speedy Taiwanese made rims. They are still on my Gleaming Beauty, and I am also still quite taken with them. I guess they are now getting on with age, and I have not driven Gleaming Beauty on rain affected roads for a long time, so perhaps safety may now be an issue. I have in reserve a complete set of 14" chromed Bundts that came from the States with beautiful, correct size B. F. Goodrich tyres. Regards Styria

 

[c107]

I've always been partial to the 15" pentas on the W116 with the AMG spoiler that Styria made up.