taylor192

Ok despite all the nay-sayers, I went and fitted a set of used 15" steel wheels from a 1999 C-class on my 2003 C230K tonight.

Guess what?

They fit.

There is about a pinky finger, or 3/8" clearance around the front brake calipers, the rears are not a problem.

I fitted the set, took my car out for a couple laps, came back, took them off and inspected for damage, none to be found.

I must admit, they do look very tight on the car, but there is clearance, not much, but should be enough <crosses fingers>.

taylor192

I forgot to mention, thanks Racer for the advice.

Enze6997

PICS!!!

taylor192

Sorry, no pics, there's no snow yet so I took them off after and put my C7s back on. I want to paint the steelies too, they are a little rusty.

When I put them back on I'll post a pic.

young

paint them? what color?

Mike T.

Good for you that the 15s fit; 16s from a C 240 Classic would be cooler though.

session

purple!

young

actually, i'm really curious how it would look. i was assuming some sort of matte silver or something like that.

taylor192

They are a little rusty, same with the bolts, so I was going to lightly sand them and paint them Tremclad black just to look half decent... but a matte (non-gloss) silver might look good too...

Sorry session, not purple.

How about everyone responds with the colour of their choice, and I'll see what wins before I go buy the paint.

SoCal240/6

Whatever color you decide, I'd highly suggest using Wurth wheel paint and Wurth clearcoat.

You can get it from Griot's Garage and lots of other places. GPR will also send it to you 800 321-5432.

It is a German paint that comes in a high quality spraycan. It is made esp. for wheels, and is the OE paint used by most German manufacturers. It has the right amount of gloss and color to look just right on a German car. If you use just any spraypaint (esp. silver) you will probably be disappointed.

Its usually around $12 per can. One can of color and one can of clear will suffice.

You can get either silver (which will be an exact match to the silver painted MB alloy wheels) or black.

Try it - you'll like it!

jrct9454

15" wheels with 195-65x15 tires are still standard equipment on many lower-level EU spec W203 sedans, so it should be no surprise that they fit on the Coupe or any other W203 car.

All coupes, regardless of trim level and market, SEEM to be 16" equipped as OEM, but there are engine and trim combinations in the sedans for other markets that still use the 15" wheels as standard [C180 Classic, for example].

taylor192

Yeah but the NA spec W203s come with 16"s OEM, and many dealers are saying that 16"s are the smallest that will fit as not many manufacturers have turned out 15"s for the W203. Therefore tire shops are unwilling to say that 15"s will fit cause they don't have a supplier who says they do, and they don't want to ruin your car by giving you bad advice...

I actually have a tire shop here in Ottawa that wants me to drive over when I put the 15"s back on so they can inspect it and safely advise their customers as to what to buy.

jrct9454

Only confirming, of course, how little dealers really know about the product...

I'm always eager to meet the one-in-a-thousand dealer employee who is a real car enthusiast, much less a real MB enthusiast - I had no trouble at all confirming that the 15" wheels are still OEM on W203 sedans [the MB corporate worldwide website is there for the asking] - but I have yet to meet anyone at our local dealership who seems to know squat about the history of the company, its true breadth of product [including the stuff that is not sold here], or seems to care all that much about anything that is not on their showroom floor.

Anyway, I do understand the issue, and it is why I went to the trouble last month of checking out this question. I have a set of virtually unused 195-65x15 Michelin X-Ones sitting in the garage, and wondered if I should start looking for wheels to mount them against the day when I might want to use them as alternatives. I recollect seeing W203s in Europe with 15" wheels, and simply went to the website to get the answer. Amazing that any NA dealer can't just pick up the phone and get that answer from MBUSA or MB Canada, but I guess I shouldn't be amazed...

taylor192

Yeah I just went to the worldwide website and the C180 and C200 Kompressor both come with 195/65R15, and so do many other C-class models.

The only thing that amazes me is that MB is offering a W203 winter tire and wheel package this year, price, $1695 CND, and that some sucker will actually buy it from them.

lars

The 195/65x15 in a winter tire will have slightly better grip in the snow than a similar make 205/55x16 and should not compromise handling on a wet road by too much. It would seem a good plan to fit them.