dlkc

he wasn't driving with the spare tire on, he was swapping the blown tire to the spare tire in those pictures.

jsloan01

gotcha. did not see the original tire/rim anywhere in the pics

ChaRgeC230

hey after looking at the pixs again i love how the rear tires tuck so im lowering it next week! ahaha and probably new rims

scottw

One of the main reasons to buy a Merc is the roadside assitance. On day 2 of my owning my current car, I hit a nasty, nasty jagged pot-hole on Park Avenue in early March. Tire starting going down over GWB and I finally was able to pull of at gas station in NJ. I called the roadside assitance number and 20 minutes later a truck from the closes MB dealer came by to put the spare on....worked like a dream.

You could have even left your windows closed and the AC on.

patrick_y

First of all, I'm very sorry to hear about your unfortunate accident. In the future, I would recommend you take a few further precautions.

1. Check your tire pressure as often as you can, especially before long trips
2. When you use the jack, make sure you use the parking brake.
3. These car jacks don't work on gravel surfaces
4. Very important. When you jack up the car, have the people in the car get out (and luggage that might roll and therefore upset the car). Their shifting weight can cause the car to tip over even with the parking brake applied and the jack on a stable surface.

I hope everyone is alright and I hope nothing is damaged. Was your spare tire fully inflated (I know the spare tire didn't blow)? I just checked mine and it only had 30 PSI in it (mine needs 61 PSI). What do you think lead to the cause of the tire blowout?

Blake P

You sure about that? Maybe 61PSI maximum, which is much less when you factor in the weight of the car/passengers, etc.

ChaRgeC230

just got back from the tire shop.. there was a nail on the tire. damn vegas has so many construction. so im guessing it ran out of air on the freeway. yeah i told them not to shift there weight when i was jacking it up.

drexappeal

Sorry to hear 'bout the tire blow-out and glad you're alright.

A thing of advise that I suggest you do. Contact MBenzNL (Steve) about programming the passive tire pressure monitor (and whatever other cool Star Diag. goodies that you're able to put on)! It's THE best star diagnose add-on for safety reasons.

I had a nail in my tire recently and had NO clue (especially with low profile tires). One day, on my way to work, the monitor came on. I pulled into the closest gas station and couldn't tell which tire was low. I went around checking the pressure in each tire, until I came to the one that was much lower than the others (but not visually). I put air in the tire and left it at that. On my way home, there were no problems. The next day, I checked the tire to see if it was flat, but it looked okay. Went to work and it was fine. On the way home, the monitor came back on. I filled up the tire and went directly to Just Tires.

Luckily, that was a Friday, but the Just Tires was just about to close and said that they couldn't check it until tomorrow. Since I put pressure in and it lasted throughout the day, I figured that if there was a leak, it was a very slow leak. Next day, took it to Just Tires. Bingo! Nail in the tire. Luckily, it was in an area that they could repair (I've seen nails go through the tire at a weird angle, that makes the tire un-fixable).

Ever since then, I've been so happy that I have that safety feature activated!

jan ken po

Man....love the look on you sister's face...like..."why in the F--k are you taking a picture." lmao

jedcred

Moral of the story, part II. If AAA comes to tow your car on a hill, remember to have the driver chock your wheels and the wheels of his truck. Otherwise, you get what you see in my sig. Not pretty.

It's great news though that nothing happened to the body or the axel there; looks like spare just got stuck there holding the car in place.

white_w203

i would have called MB roadside assistance and change the tire for me LOL. you're in vegas too. it must be blazing hot there.

ChaRgeC230

yeah on that day it was 106 degree ...wasnt too bad. luckily a good semeritan *spelling* stopped to help... gotta talk to steve now... i would love to have that feature.

raunen

that's available on all w203, doesn't need any additional hardware? can the dealer do this?

EDIT: found my answer in this thread:
https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...essure+monitor

according to sunman
"this system can be activated on 2005 and newer cars. NOT ALL CARS CAN BE ACTIVATED. It depends on the software that is running on the ESP module. Even if you have a 2005 car, it MAY NOT be doable. It also depends on the software running on the DAS system which was used to activate it. Pre 05 cars should be doable with a replaced ESP module.... but I am not sure how expensive these are."

patrick_y

The tire says 61 PSI and 55MPH on it. I assume that it means that the tire pressure should be 61 PSI and the speed should be a maximum of 55 mph on it.

I could be mistaken.

It's rather difficult to get the tires inflated to this level. And I think the dealer forgot to do it in the routine A service (where they're supposed to check the condition of the spare tire).

patrick_y

Big nail or small nail? Was the puncture on the tread or sidewall?

Glad that you're alright.

You're lucky that your spare tire had enough pressure in it to support the car. If I had a flat tire just over a week ago, my spare would've been unable to serve me since it would be deflated. However, I'm sure if I called AAA or Roadside assistance they have an air pump.

drexappeal

Only way to find out is to check for it when Steve tries to program any other Star Diagnose functions.

fanito

ok... so I bought 4 tires from tirerack.com (thanks Luke ) very cheap and very nice... if you guys still have stock rims they have a special deal in the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 225x50x16, each tire is $98 with a $40 rebate (cash card, I think expires the promotion today)... Anyways... I took them to the installer and he mounted and balance them and everything was great. After I took my car for a little test drive I noticed that the car was pulling to the right and became more noticeable when breaking. Is very annoying but I hope it doesn't have anything to do with the alignment since it was perfect prior the change.

Any ideas what could be the problem?

Thanks

P.S.>> Seriously, go and support the forum... get those tires from the link in the tire section... You really CAN'T find a better price for the Goodyear's in that size anywhere.

Kal Rubinson

Standard size is 205/55 - 16. Will 225/50-16 fit?

Kal

amdeutsch

Yup

fanito

You just missed the special special in tirerack.com. They had the best tire (Goodyear F1 DSG3's) for $98 each plus $40 off rebate.

Kal Rubinson

Nice but I need all-season tires that will get through a winter. In any case, my car has been in the MB body shop (at their expense) for the past month!

Kal

MB-BOB

225/50-16s do fit on the standard rims. I have them on my C320. Keep in mind that 225/50-16s were the "sport" upgrade with the early models.

MCONDE01

Well after pretty much finally deciding on the rims I am going to buy...
(18"inch ASA ST4 rims/staggered) 18x8 - 18x9
I need to pick which set of tires to go with...
Here are the 3 sets in my price range from Tirerack...
Please let me know if anybody has any feedback/advice or opinion about any of these tires:

- Dunlop
Direzza DZ101 300 A A

Front $114.00 23 lbs
Rear $157.00 25 lbs


- Yokohama
AVS ES100 280 AA A

Front $125.00 23 lbs
Rear $161.00 25 lbs


- Avon
Tech M500 280 AA A

Front $117.00 27 lbs
Rear $175.00 27 lbs

Luke @ Tirerack suggested the Avon's but after reading the reviews it seems those tires perform really well but have a very short threadlife. All the review scores on tirerack for these 3 types of tires were pretty close so I am relying on the feedback from this forum to help me in my decision making process.
Thanks!

drexappeal

I'd go with the Yokohamas if the choice is just those 3.

patrick_y

Ditto. The Yokos are pretty good tires. However, if there was a BF Goodrich tire in there, I'd probably go for that one since BF Goodrich tires have excellent handling and soft rubber that ironically lasts a longer than expected time. I plan on putting BF Goodrich tires on my C230's stock wheels after my stock Michelin Pilots are worn out.