What Do the Numbers on the Side of My Tire Mean?

Mercedes-Benz Tire Size Guide

Rubber tires have come a long way since they were invented by Karl Benz in 1888, but even after 100 years, they are still the same old tires we are know and love. This universal use of tires has made it much easier to find tires that will fit your car for summer, winter, or racing environments. Use this Mercedes-Benz tire size guide to learn what all those numbers mean on the walls of your tires.

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What size tires are on my Mercedes-Benz?

If you are buying new tires for your Mercedes-Benz, it is highly recommended that you stick to the instructions in your owner’s manual. In there, you will find the exact tire size that will fit on your rim. We can of course help you with this at our service center, but in order to understand why this is an important point to make, we need to look at how to measure a tire.

How to Measure a Tire

If you’ve ever pumped up your tires, you are probably familiar with finding the PSI limit around the outside of the rim. If you look closely in this same area, you will find three numbers separated by forward slashes. This is not a math problem. The first number is the width, or distance from the inside wall to the outside wall, in millimeters. The next number is an aspect ratio that represents height/width. This is important because some tires are taller than others. if your aspect ratio is too high or too low, you can risk rubbing inside the wheel well. The last number is the diameter of the tire, in inches. Although there is some room for error with this, using tire sizes other than directed can cause poor gas mileage or stunt the life of your Mercedes-Benz. If you have any questions about Mercedes-Benz tire sizes or would like to schedule an appointment,  let us know in the comments below.