[W126 Coupe] New Tires for 1985 SEC

[Josh Allen]

FPecar4525 at aol.com wrote:

> *Thank you for the useful info.  I actually take delivery of the car 

> tomorrow and I noticed it has the same Michelin tires on it that you 

> have.  I was thinking of putting a set of chrome "8 hole" Mercedes 

> replica rims on it either in the 16" or 17" size.  As for lowering, I 

> agree that it looks pretty cool but losing the touring feel is 

> something which concerns me.  I'm thinking that replacing the 

> wheels/tires would be the first step then see what effect it has on 

> the ride as it will involve a lower profile tire than the originals*?

>  

> Frank

In my case, I went with the AMG monoblock wheels in 10 offset, so fairly 
easy to fit to this car. (just a pain to find in the first place!)
That being said, I'm glad someone had already rolled the fender lips, as 
I didn't add any exceptionally low or wide tires, but they barely clear 
as it is.  Finger tip clearance only on the rear fender arch.

With 16" wheels, this car handles well, and not too stiff, but I'm 
uncertain as to which shocks and springs are under it, as the suspension 
modification was done before I got the car.  By color alone, I would 
guess Eibach for the springs, but I have no information showing that 
they ever manufactured springs for the w126 cars, so who knows?


I took some care in picking tires to maintain original tire diameter, as 
I was trying to keep the speedo accurate, but I was not looking for a 
certain "look" in the sidewall to wheel size ratio.