E200K Default 16" to 17" Avantgarde with Michelin

• VBlaster

  27 Nov 04, 21:13

  Just got my E200 K with default 16" rims Conti PremiumContact (225/55/R16).
  
  One shop offered to trade in my set of 4 with Avantgarde 17" Michelin Pilot Preceda for $1,900.
  
  Is it a good price? Worth the upgrade?
  
  How does the Michelin Pilot Preceda compares with the Conti PremiumContact?
  
  Thanks.
• nOrmalbOi

  27 Nov 04, 21:14

  Sunny and Merc?
  
  2 car family?
  
  so good..
• VBlaster

  27 Nov 04, 21:22

  2 Working Adults, both very different places and very odd timings for me. Wife gets to drive family car, so guess who's with the Sunny?
  
  I simply love the look of the Sunny with the new 15" rims now. I was getting quite used to the poor traction of the old R14 tyres (57K and 3 yrs old!), but the E200K's supreme handling brought home the fact that the Sunny's old tyres cannot make it already...
  
  We've always had 2 cars. The first pair was Hyundai Excel + Daihatsu Charade!
• nOrmalbOi

  27 Nov 04, 21:23

  Nice.
  
  Enjoy
• VBlaster

  28 Nov 04, 23:53

  So anyone upgraded their E series rims to 17" Avantgarde? How much did it cost you? Appreciate any feedback on the pricing.
  
  Thx!
• Ali_Khl

  29 Nov 04, 18:58

  Hi VBlaster,
  
  Good to see a fellow E200K owner - Congratulations on the new car, Im sure you will be very impressed with it as time goes by. A few things you might want to note or check when driving the car - Wiper noise during rainfall (quite significant), Check the fit of the leather trim on the front seatback (The leather on mine was not connected properly, but this was an easy fix) as well as a fairly hard to modulate brake pedal. This is due to the directness of the cars electronic drive-by-wire braking and you will get used to this after a while!
  
  In terms of the Avantgarde-Spec rim upgrade, the cost from the dealer seems quite high for a fairly basic-spec 17" Rim set.
  
  However, if compared to the 18" AMG 5-spokes (retailing for more then $4900 for the set of four) as well as the fact that the Avantgarde spec costs 9000$ when applied fully to the car, it seems like a decent buy. Its really up to you in the end, but the only real benifit of the upgrade will be an enhancement to the cars looks as the tire width remains at 225mm wide and a slightly firmer ride considering the lower-profile tires used.
  
  If you are willing to fork out the cash, go for it. Personally i have stuck to the stock 16" rims, but this 17" set seems attractive as even the rims on the off-the showroom E-class are 16" items with the same Avantgarde 5-spoke design.
• VBlaster

  30 Nov 04, 00:36

  Thanks. Good to hear from another fellow E200K owner!
  
  I actually like the brakes on the E200K. SBH is very useful and neat, and I got used to the more sensitive braking easily. Only problem is I drive both the E200K (with family) and my Sunny (when going to work), so I always have to remind myself the Sunny's handling is no Merc
  
  True about the 16" vs 17" Avantgarde rims. The shop also stated C&C mostly have 16" Avantgarde, and it's usually aftermarkert like them (and also bigger outfits like benzline) that cater to 17" or higher Avantgarde rims.
  
  I just wonder how do we ensure the 17" are actual original Avantgarde rims and not copies? Hmmm....
  
  BTW, I'm finding cleaning the bake dust on the Elegance 16" rims a chore. Why, why did they design a grand total of 13 tiny holes in an alloy rim????