lmandi89

Hey guys i bought the car on "April 2007" and i got 18,500 miles on my car as of right now. I want to get (well hopefully) get 20,000 miles on my tires before i buy new ones and i am debating wether i should buy the same stock tires or try out different ones? I haven't had any problems with these tires, they've been great but maybe there is something better out there that i don't know. I am looking on internet and comparing brand's and tires. Let me know what you think or what should i do. Thank You

jogger

I have 17500 miles on mine and tires are ok. Mine came w/Michelin.

aecasasus

Michelin's are pretty good all around tires. I would buy the same...

Just my $.02

lmandi89

Same here, my car came with michelin tires as well but i drive kinda quick and i love taking corners fast, and when it rains i have to be extra carefull cause the wall is pretty much gone.

dnegri

The Michelin tires that came on these cars are terrible and overpriced. I would suggest the General UHP. They are half the price and have a much better rating compared to the Michelins and many other familiar names. Check out Tirerack.com and see for yourself. Btw, the generals are made by Continental.
You can thank me later!

johnand

If you have the Michelin Pilot Primacy's........HELL NO! They wear quickly, are noisy as hell after 3K miles and are very expensive to replace. I replaced my rears at ~22K (With Goodyear Eagle F1 A/S), and still have the original fronts at 35K. They are about the worst OEM tires I have gotten on a car.

Michelin makes great tires, but not the Primacy's. Really depends on what you want or need in a tire, location, etc, before I can recommend a tire.

lmandi89

Thanks i'll look into it...

lmandi89

Well i need a tire that's comfortable and dosen't wear as quickly. I mostly do city driving and the roads are very good, so a good tire that could stick really well to the road.

dnegri

General UHP

If you have the staggered setup
Fronts are 86/ea and the rears are 100/ea

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp
tireMake=General&tireModel=Exclaim+UHP

Untertürkheim

Continental ContiSport Contact3 or Pirelli PZero Rosso
will give more sport than the original Pilot Primacy (which I have on my car and like very much)

General may be made by Continental, but they are not at the same quality level.

Glyn M Ruck

My car came new with Conti Sport Contact 2s. Absolute crap - poor turn in and noisy - get even noisier as they wear - rotating and all. Sounds like a wheel bearing is failing!!

Replaced half worn with Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2s 225/50/16 - what a dream - dead silent and a different car when it comes to turn in and general handling - more comfortable too. Stick with Michelin - best compromise on a Benz - just not Pilot Primacy - not nice.

Have done 20000 Kms on the Exaltos now - just as happy as day 1 & they have plenty of mileage left in them. STFF and see tyre survey - Michelin is the winner by a long way

FrankW

Pilot Primacy that came with the 07 sport are POS. They're touring tires meant for.......hell...I don't know what they're meant for. The Pilot Exalto are performance all season tires.

personally if you don't live in heavy rain region PS2 is the choice if you are going with Michelin and willing to spent.

few tires of my choice by prices:

expensive: Michelin PS2, Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 or the new assymetric, Pirelli P-Zero S,

medium: Hankook S1, Nitto Invo, Bridgestone RE760, BFG G-force KDW

cheap: General UHP, Sumitomo HTR Z III,

dmatre

If you like Michelins, look into the Pilot Exalto PE2s.

They handle almost as well as the Pilot Sport, but wear much better.

I've got 15k on mine, and they're not even 1/2 worn yet.

I would stay away from the new BFG KDW's, as the set I had feathered at the edges and roared like a 4x4 tire. It actually sounded like 4 bad wheel bearings until I swapped the BFG's for the Michelins.

dmatre

+1.

I didn't read your reply 'till after I sent mine.

ChuckinTucson

Haven't seen anyone mention Yokohama yet. I put Yokohama S-Drives on my '05 C230 and couldn't be happier. Granted, I'm not a super fast driver, but do a fair amount of freeway travel in AZ (which is 75 mph) and they're quiet, ride good and seem to be wearing very little. Got them from tirerack.com and had a local company install them.

Glyn M Ruck

Other than the Exalto - the tyres here that I have personal experience with = PS2 - great tyre, Pirelli P Zero S & even better Rosso - great but short life, Bridgestone RE 760 - good but noisy on the W203, Yokohama - good, quiet, poor life in South Africa's hot conditions.

I will not compromise with tyres or brakes - safety is important to me.

Also - The W203 suspension - especially front is susceptible to noise transmission from noisy, big block tyres - better after the facelift when they redesigned the bushing but still sensitive. You can put tyres that make a noise on the W203 onto cars with more compliance and you won't notice them

alpinweiss

My 2005 C230K came from the factory with the Continentals. They were acceptable, but not great. I was near the wear bars (especially on the rear tires) at about 19k miles.

I replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sports. These were expensive tires, but high quality. The treadwear was better than the Continentals, BUT after about 15k miles they started to get noisy. Finally, at around 20k miles, I replaced the Michelins. The tire roar had gotten so loud that it sounded like I had bearings going bad.

This time, I bought Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires. Quiet at last. These ride and handle very well. They are a little bumpy at first when cold. I will see how they wear over the long run (I now have about 2k miles on them). They were somewhat cheaper than the Michelins.

lmandi89

Im looking at the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S at tirerack.com and im reading the reviews and they say that this tire is very quit and very good on rain as well. Has anyone had these tires before or now? They sound like a good tire.

Saprissa

my wife's C320 SS had MICHELIN Pilot Sports originally when she bought the car. Ran 25K miles with them and had a good experience.
Didn't get much of the noise roar that other people complain about.
They did wear down by the 24-25K mile point.

Her second set of tires were YOKAHAMAs, and they felt and lasted exactly the same as the MICHELIN P/S. I'm not sure what kind of YOKAHAMAs but I remember the tread was very very similar to the MICHELIN P/S.

After 25K miles with those, she has now gone back to MICHELIN Pilot Sports as her third set of tires because she found them on sale at DISCOUNT TIRES.

Carlos

Saprissa@aol.com
2004.5 C320 Sport Sedan

Glyn M Ruck

I have one general comment about the W203 and it's susceptibility to tyre noise. Do NOT buy directional tyres or tyres with big blocks - rather solid bands with sipes like the Exalto - to prevent feathering and related air pumping noises from the tyres you need to cross rotate every 10,000 Kms - i.e. reverse the rotation of the tyre & they will be quiet for life.

Saprissa

MICHELIN Pilot Sports cannot be cross rotated,
because they are directional tires.
And they cannot be conventionally rotated,
because of the staggered set-up.

Glyn M Ruck

Correct! That's why I got Exalto's. If one has staggered setup the best you can do is not buy directional tyres & swap across the same axle to change rotation

wblynch

I can recommend the Yokohama Advan S4's.

They are quiet and ride well and seem to grip better than the Pilot Sports or Pilot Sport A/S we had on there before.

This car is a wagon, with a little more weight in the rear. We are running the 17" staggered wheels from the 2005 Sport Sedan.

The Pilot Sports lasted barely 10,000 miles, the A/S lasted 20,000 miles and I hope these Yokos last more than that.

The Yokohamas were about 2/3 the price of Michelins.

Glyn M Ruck

Yoki's are definitely a quiet tyre & handle well - especially the AVS db from a noise perspective. PS - 10,000 miles is ridiculous, even on a wagon & I presume your driving habits or wheel alignment & pressures have not changed?. Do you know what the treadwear & temperature ratings the compounds were of the respective tyres? We may be comparing apples with pears. Yoki only bring their soft compounds to South Africa - why I have never understood - so they perform well but life is limited.
There really is no free ride - My Exalto's are 35% worn at 20,000 Kms - spirited but not stupid driving

p.s. Exalto PE2s are asymmetrical (i.e. have a distinct "Outside") but not directional - they can roll either way predominently

nickgailloux

One thing I learned when buying tires recently is how they are ranked/categorized.

Extreme Performance Summer
Max Performance Summer
Ultra High Performance Summer
High Performance Summer
Grand Touring Summer

Ultra High Performance All-Season
High Performance All-Season
Performance All-Season
Grand Touring All-Season
Standard Touring All-Season
Passenger All-Season

Winter

Track & Competition DOT

The bottom line, wether you get seperate summer and winter tires, or if you go with all seasons (your climate and how much snow you get should dictate this), get UHP (Ultra High Performance) at minimum. Check out tirerack.com's survey results and get the best ones you can that fit on your rims:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/index.jsp