bizinsider

With 5k miles and 6 months of ownership, I hit a pothole. I have 19-inch rims. It was one of those hits, even at around 45mph, that I knew instinctively was not good. Got out and looked and there it was - a bubble on the run-flat. This is the OEM Pirelli Cinturato P7s that it appears are made exclusively for MB for this car.

The bad news - the rim was bent.

The worse news - the tire is backordered until May. Even the service advisor, a veteran at this, was shocked. And we're in SoCal! She's still working thru it with Mercedes to see what the options are. One thought was to put non-OEMs on, but with a lease I wouldn't trust the END result when the lease ends.

Who would have thought they would be backordered on...TIRES? Kind of a standard item, don't you think? Especially with the country riddled with potholes.

Mbracer26

Find a used tire until the ones you want come in. Not to expensive 1/3 price and can be found in socal.

bizinsider

Trouble is, Pirelli covers run flats 100% in the first year. And the better question is - is there any reason NOT to go with that tire - and choose an alternative, esp if the dealer covers replacing all 4?

mjsbenz

Suggest to your dealer to contact TireRack. In stock.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....n&autoModClar=

joshg1001

I just found a large nail in my sidewall at 2.5K miles... what a waste. Cars dont come with road hazard from factory, right?

Streamliner

Yet again another RFT horror story. So many here run to support MB and their absolutely idiotic decision to use RFT exclusively and not even offer their customers the frigging OPTION to order a car with conventional tires and a jack & spare in the trunk.

What if the OP had hit a road hazard that SHREDDED the tire, while driving at night, far away from a big metro area and the car could not be driven? Here comes the tow truck! Visiting Mt. Rushmore? He and his family might be in for a night or two at the local motel.

NO SIR! Nothing beats having a jack and a spare in your trunk, NOTHING! Regardless of what anyone says, RFT are noisy, cannot be repaired, can be next to impossible to find when you need a replacement, are much more expensive and the ride quality does not compare to that of a good conventional tire. MB and others have shoved these asinine tires down our throats and for no good reason.

The next time you interact with anyone who works for MB or a dealer, COMPLAIN! Hell, even BMW, the company that started this madness, is offering the option of having a jack & spare on their new 7 Series. It makes all the sense in the world. Hey, idiots at MB: WAKE UP!

bizinsider

Actually, Pirelli is fully warranties against road hazards on RFT for the first year. And I should add, Tire Rack DOES have these tires - the dealers don't.

joshg1001

I have the Contis on mine.

Try to find the tire on Tirebuyer. I haven't checked but I find their prices cheaper than tire rack

cetialpha5

There's a very good reason for this, it's called CAFE and it's their never ending quest to hit those numbers. That's why there's only a turbo 4, start/stop and now run flats. Anything to reduce weight and save gas. They know customers don't like it, but they have other demands to meet too. At one point it was nice that they scaled back to 17 inch tires as standard on the W212 instead of 18, but now they've got 19 inch available. Just a matter of time til more bent rims and flat tires show up.

mjsbenz

Then have your dealer order from Tire Rack for next day delivery.

Several manufacturers distribute their tires from Tire Rack (a separate dealer direct division). Porsche does. I suspect MB does as well. Tell your dealer that it is BS that you need to wait months.

My new E300 was delivered with 19 inch runflats from Goodyear. I am wondering if MB is switching suppliers because before all 19s were Pirelli. Maybe the out of stock situation may be another issue not being disclosed.

mjsbenz

I stopped changing my own tires with a jack 20 years ago. So old school!

ua549

Does anyone know the sizes & bolt pattern for a compact spare tire & wheel that works for the 245/45R18 tires? I checked at Tire Rack, but they don't list the spares fitment by car model.

jim300

I purchased an Avarus AV15-19 wheel ($99) and a Sumitomohtr a/s p02 tire ($122.45) from tire rack. If you put the tire and wheel on the trunk upside down, there's some space you can use inside the wheel.

Streamliner

Me too. However, I was also a Boy Scout and know that one should ALWAYS BE PREPARED!

larrypmyers

I've been driving on extended mobility tires since 1999. Have experienced two punctures, both of which I simply continued on to the tire shop where they were both repaired.

ua549

I get an un-repairable flat tire every 12 to 18 months in strictly urban driving on paved roads with no pot holes but too much debris. I'll never drive a car that is not equipped with a spare, compressor and tire sealant. Most tire shops here will NOT repair a damaged RFT.

SDRider

I had the same thing happen to me recently with my left rear tire. Hit a pothole and now I have a bubble in the side wall. My car has Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tires, rear is a 255/35R18 and Mercedes didn't have it in stock. They quoted me $295 installed. I called a few other places, Discount Tire doesn't stock them and their price was $395 plus mount and balance. Sears also didn't have it in stock and their price was $448 OTD! I had Mercedes order the tire and it is being installed tomorrow morning.

Mbracer26

.

Mbracer26

The biggest insult is, the e43 gets the normal 21 gallon gas tank while the e300 gets the bs 17 gallon one. FU MBUSA, give me back my extra 4 gallons or increase fuel efficiency.

ua549

+1

Is it feasible to install an E43 tank in an E300?

Proeliator2001

I've got Goodyear rft on mine and it was a late April 2016 car so I assume UK spec have always had Goodyear from day dot.

I echo the above, I hate rft and the minor weight savings versus a repair kit and jack is so negligible it doesn't come close to outweighing the drawbacks. I'd rather give up the rear armrest and a bit of boot lining to have the jack back with no weight penalty.

In the UK, there's no option of a bigger tank at all. There used to be in the w212 for models that didn't have adblue (diesels), something like 60 and 80 litre tanks. All we get is the 64 litre one now (the 17 USGal size).

c4004matic

Just go to your local tire place they'll figure it out for you. However, don't be surprised if there is no "compact" size since a smaller overall diameter wheel might confuse the traction and stability control electronics. Much simpler would be to purchase a cheap 18 inch rim with a corresponding tire that maintains the overall diameter. You can also use tirerack. I checked and you can get a tire, rim and TPMS for around 200. Im sure you can call them and get something even cheaper if you specify that its for a spare.

ua549

There are many different tire sizes available to maintain the proper diameter to match the factory tires. For my size the diameter is 26.7". I located the bolt pattern specs. They are: 5x112 bolt pattern with 66.6mm center bore. Tire Rack does not sell compact spare tire rims, only tires. The matching tire is a Continental CST 17 size T145/60R20.

The purpose of a compact spare is to leave room in the trunk for luggage.

Mbracer26

Maybe if you get one from a salvage yard, but most likely no...

Streamliner

When I ordered my 2015 W222 S550, I negotiated with the dealer to put conventional tires on when I took delivery. I then had the dealer confirm that a compact spare from a 2013 W221 would fit. I bought an unused one on eBay that still had the special lug nuts shrink wrapped to the wheel. I then bought a W222 jack from a supplier in Germany, also on eBay. Not to beat a dead horse, but it is absolutely insane that buyers of $100K+ luxury cars must jump through such hoops just to have peace of mind.