mm1900

I have many of the forum entries about the stock runflats that come with the C300. I have a 2016 C300...

I was hoping to hear peoples' thoughts on the forum about taking a long road trip with runflats and no spare. I'm planning something like 1000+ miles road trip over the course of several days.

My main concern is getting a flat in the middle of nowhere somehow and not being able to get a replacement tire, even if I could get to a mechanic.

How crazy would it be to buy a stock tire spare & carry it with me as an insurance policy. And then, if I did get a flat, I wouldn't have to worry about stock. Just have a mechanic put on the new tire...?

Of course, if I got 2 flats, then I would be in trouble. But the chances of that are somewhat lower than getting 1 flat, although certainly the chances are related.

Thank you all for your input and experiences.

Carsy

This is a crazy situation these vehicle manufactures put their customers in. No doubt the decision was made by a shiny arsed citicentric bean counter.

I know of a BMW driver driving only 300 km up the coast from Sydney for a weekend at a pleasant coastal town . He badly damaged a run flat & had to wait days before a replacement was sent up from Sydney.There were none available locally in major country towns.

I would never buy a car that does not have a proper spare wheel.

For peace of mind I would carry a spare tyre. You may be able to buy a second hand one with some life left in it.

May peace go with you my son.

superangrypenguin

Our cars aren't that better.

We have a 225 45 17 in the spare, yet our summer rims have 245 40 17 in the rear. That must be tough for the tranny to have 3 wheels on the vehicle with 225 45s, and in the rear having one wheel with 225 45 and the other with 245 40s

Why can't cars just be running regular tires with all 4 sizes the same!?!

Sigh. Effing bean counters.

arkim989

I always have tire plugs in my car easy and cheap diy (10$) all you need is air but it will only help if you pickup nail somewhere. Otherwise you do need spare.

Just204

Personally, I think run-flats are a load of B.S.... ride like crap, expensive, weigh more, and hard to get generally. Next big joke are those collapsable space saver spare tires MB seems to be using, junk....

The spare is still better then a run-flat and I'm sure our car is designed to handle the spare tire size difference for reasonable distances. Get MOE tires if your concerned, funny but apparently they are in-between a regular tire and run-flat.

Plugs are a good backup.

I have a breaker bar, torque wrench, 17mm socket, tire inflator where the spare is, and will add a plug kit.

FYI; check the production date on the spare and make sure it doesn't need to be replaced. Also, at least once a year check the spare tire pressure as tires leak air slowly over time. mine was low.

superangrypenguin

MOE?

Just204

MOE=Mercedes Optional Equiptment I believe, they are tires Mercedes approves for use on their cars.

Or maybe it's MEO= Mercedes extended Option

Tire rack explains it

lotus49

I live in the UK. If I were to drive 1000 miles out and home from where I live, it wouldn't occur to me even to think about it. I have only had about three or four punctures in 30 years of driving and none of them was that big a deal.

If I had to drive 500 miles into the outback on my own, I might feel very differently about it.

It would be a big pain in the **** carrying a tyre around with you all the time, but if you are very risk-averse or driving somewhere dangerous and have the room to spare, why not?

mm1900

Update -- after reading a lot about the horror stories of runflats, albeit understanding that many people do just fine with such tires, it is worth the $$ and the loss of trunk space (for spare) for me to convert to conventional tires. Will report back how this goes and what the car feels like after the conversion.