badassgoat

the ws-60 is the new desgin a little less aggressive than the ws-50...i have the ws 50's on my gto and will be goin on my c300 sport when it come in next week......now take a gto which i have done a good amount of work....has around 450/450 at the wheels....had bout 6 inches of snow the a few weeks ago and no problem as long as you drive conciously..

webada

so i'm new to this whole winter tire thing, never had to swap for another set. Currently running Michelin Pilot all season.... I never really had any problems, I just drive really carefully when snowing.

Can I just swap them out myself if I had another set of rims to go with it?

Frankly I dunno anyone else that does this in NYC..... is it necessary? Any thoughts and suggestions?

crow944

Webada, if you swap the tires out yourself, i'm assuming your doing this manually in your garage rather than taking it to the shop? If, so, how do you balance the tires to avoid vibration in higher speeds?

Kev204

I think it is necessary to put snow tires on if you have a non 4-matic C.

RLE

<<Try Nokian tires, they make some serious winter tires, I went with the WR tires>>

So, today I ordered online four Nokian WRG2 winter tires from tiresbyweb.com. $752 shipped to the shop that will mount and balance them ($108) on my C300's 17" OE wheels. I caved in and bought tire pressure sensors.

I have had both Nokian WR and Blizzaks before and feel the Nokian is superior.

Should have them next week. Now it won't snow.

phs

I just ordered myself a set of Brabus Monoblock VI 17x8 rims for winter tires before I take delivery of my C350 4matic with the 18" staggered AMG option in Feb. I am at present deciding on whether I should go for Michelin PA2 or Pirelli 210. The latter would cost me CDN $100 more. I had unpleasant experience with Bridgestone summer tires many years back and would not like to try them again. But this was only my personal experience. I would go for 225/45x17 all around. I might incline towards Pirelli's, because MB in Canada recommends Pirelli. Not that I believe that MB is authority in tires, far from it! I just don't want to give them one extra excuse when there is any future problem with handling of my car. Believe me, they are good at finding fault.
- As to staggered tires vs same size all around, I have to share a very unique experience that happened to my C43 when I first got it many years ago. I was then using the stock AMG rims which were 17x7.5 front and 17x8.5 back. They came with summer performance tires 225/45x17 front and 245/40x17 back. Back then it was not possible to get 255 or 245 size winterw tires. I had to opt for 225/45x17 front and 235/40x17 back for the winters. Whenever I set my car on cruise control, after several minutes, it would deactivate the cruise control automatically. This never happened before when I had the stock summer tires on. After much investigation, it was suggested to me by an experienced MB technician that this might have been the result of the cruise control sensing a difference in the rotation/diameter of the front and rear tires. The cruise control problem mysteriously disappeared after the tires were changed back to 225/45x17 all around. After this experience, I am extremely careful in altering tire profiles from the stock recommendation. Electronic systems are so sensitive nowadays that what is perceived as minor variance to "mortals" like me might be as unforgivable in a nano-world.

peabers

Wow... did you get a good deal on the Brabus? 'cos those would be awfully fancy rims for the winter.

phs

Cheaper than if I were to get a set of winter Pirelli's on MB AMG stock C350 17x7.5 6-twin spoke rims (This AMG "winter package" was quoted by MB Canada at CDN $5075 tax included!!) The Brabus rims are one-piece rims. 2-piece would be more expensive and not available in 17". I am not too keen in getting 18's for winter driving. I have bad experience with bumping into things driving in the winter, missing curbs and that. The price I am paying for the four Brabus is CDN $2500 (tax included). I am looking at another $725-825 for a set of Michelin PA2's or Pirelli 210's installed (tax included).

phs

I might get a set of active Tire Monitoring System from Tirerack. They offer a set for about $200 US with a small diplay that I could intergrate inconspicuously somewhere on the dash. I believe the manufacturer is Hella, and you can change the display color to match your car's interior. Not that I can't check my tire pressure myself, but then, if you are Canadian, you know how harsh our Winter can be sometimes. I would love to be able to tell exactly what my tire pressures are without having to brave the cold weather outdoor. This display would show exactly what your tire pressures are and would not interfere with our existing passive Canadian MB tire monitoring system.

peabers

PHS -- good deal on the Brabus, but I still think that's an awful lot of money that gets eaten away by snow and salt. If you've got the coin to do that, all the more power to you. I would save the Brabus for the summer.

As for the TPMS... so I was wrong. I was adamant that we got the same deal as Americans, to the point where I was going to buy a second set of sensors for my winter from TireRack. I had to check for myself to believe it. I guess since Canadians are not regulated to have sensors installed, MB cheaped out and is only using the ESP system to monitor rotational differences.

Let me add that to the list of minuses on the Canada vs. US list:
+ 4matic on the C350
+ memory seats
+ fold-down rear seats standard
+ bi-xenon standard
+ 4-season tyres/tires standard
- $$$
- no panoramic roof option on C300
- TPMS

sonosuke

Any of you guys know if W202 or W203 rims/tires will fit our vehicle?
I was looking on the paper and there were a few for sale winter tires. I saw one from W203 with orig mercedes rims but are 16's. How can tell if it will fit 204? It just says on the ad tires for C class and Slk.

Thanks

webada

i would spin it with my hands really fast and use the finger test for vibrations... then pile on quarters for weights.... j/k I guess i wouldn't do this at my garage...