ptorto

Hi, I'm having issues with the tires on my 2012 C300, I have new Michelins and they make road noise.

xthirdx

They said Coopers Zeon RS3-G1's are good tires. I might be buying those for my 2008 c300

superangrypenguin

The contents in this thread are very noobish.

OP - WHICH Michelin tire do you have. Which one DID you have?

dieseldoc

Bad choice of tires for a Mercedes. Who said they were a good choice for a Benz?

catmandoob

I run Cooper Tires on all my cars, Ultra CS5 on my C280, RS3-A on Eclipse and the RS3-G1's on C300.

Had the Conti Procontact OEM for 08 C300 which were horrible for road noise as well imo, only left them on for 1k miles. I know most say Conti extremecontact too, or Michelins new UHP.

The G1's have held very well and ride nice. I can't say anything bad about them to be honest. Granted I haven't ran much above 120mph on interstate but haven't even got these things to squeal yet on back country roads. Sticks hard and very well around turns to be honest.

I'm pretty aggressive on my roads where I live and it has been sheer joy with the new tires. I've also already put 3k miles on them and wear is just fine, barely look used, not sure of exact tread depth usage though.

I'm guessing because they aren't a German tire company

I don't know what to say, I used to work in the tire business with bridgestone/firestone and have tried many different tires even at my young tender age of thirty something. I've paid excessive amounts of money for tires and I'm too poor to replace tires every 10k miles, already have to far too often so can't go too soft a rubber for myself. I've found Coopers past 5 years of tires a nice compromise and each year they seem to put out a newer design that tends to give nice results. Not that I need to justify my purchase, just I don't find much information on cooper tires in forums(well, forums I frequent) so little odd to see them bashed a bit. Granted I'm not sure which plant is manufacturing this series so I guess the hate may be from it possibly being from their plant in China?

I'm intrigued why the negative response to running a Cooper branded tire on C300?

ptorto

Below was my original post with a better description of my situation. I think I posted it twice.....newbie error.


"Hi, new to the forum and have a question regarding tires for my 2012 C300. I've had the car for a couple years and just put my second set of Michelins 225/35R18 Pilot Sport tires on, only got 22,000 miles out of the first set. The Michelins warranty claims they are 45,000 miles but since they rotate side to side and not cross ways like a normal car with the same rim/tires all the way around I only get half the miles. Okay, not happy but now I know. Before buying this set the tires made a lot of road noise.....the Discount Tire place I go to said it was mainly due to the excessive wear......in the centers However, the new tires make just as much noise and they are driving me nuts!!!! The road noise is terrible and they feel like they aren't riding right. Is this a normal, would an alignment help, should I have purchased different tires, should I get rid of the AMG rimes and buy new rims and tires all the same size? Thanks in advance for the help. Pete"

dieseldoc

Are the tires feathered. Is the car out of alignment which can cause uneven wear and noise. Were they balanced properly?

superangrypenguin

That's not how Michelin warranty works. If the rear sizes are different than the front, only the rears get half of the warranty (which sucks). However, the front tires should still get the full warranty.

Agree with you that out of alignment = premature tire wear, but out of balance tires causing premature tire wear? I mean, I can see that happening if it was so excessive that the car was shaking all over, but I don't think tires being moderately out of balance = abnormal wear.

M~Factor

On a 4matic, do the front tires or rear tires tend to wear out first?

superangrypenguin

In general front tires will wear out first.

On a RWD car, it's essentially around the same. Rear tires will wear more than front because it pushes the car forward, and front tires wear out because of steering.

On an AWD car, front tires typically wear out first as the front tires are responsible for steering and pulling the car forward, whereas the rear tires are only responsible for pushing the car forward.

Keep in mind that due to the staggered wheel setup, there is more rubber that is in contact with the road for the rear tires which means the front tires typically wear 30% or so faster.

Just204

Cooper tires are a decent "budget tire", I would choose a premium or an established tire on my car, thats my general rule of thumb.

catmandoob

Budget tire? They were like a total of $120 cheaper than a set of Michelin AS3+'s, not sure that really makes them "budget tires".

Cooper has been around since 1914 as well. Has anyone bashing them even ever used Cooper tires? Seriously curious about that. Yes they are not advertised as well but I sure wouldn't classify them as budget.

For the OP, driving style impacts tire wear a lot as well. I personally have never gotten any manufacturers warranty mileage out of a set of tires. When I was in the tire business I had so many complaints on bridgetones and our firestone brand, especially the wide oval and potenzas. I drive way too aggressive and tires in my book are number one for safety as it is one of the components that impacts every aspect of a vehicle, from starting off the line all the way to braking distance. You can have the biggest rotor and 20 piston calipers and you wont stop for crap with that brake setup if you run a shotty tire.

If the michelins make too much road noise, verify all are at required PSI. If they are then your only option is to try to get them replaced by michelin or where you purschased from and see if there was a slight variation and QA issue(trust me, tire recalls are horrible and even when recalled places still don't pull them and will install them on customer cars) to see if that helps. Also yes, anytime you get a set of tires it is always recommended to do an alignment check and if it is needed do it. Number one reason tires wear so fast and inconsistent is by not doing alignments and low or excessive tire pressure. And no, most shops do not put proper pressure in tires when installed, they're too lazy to for some reason, used to get on the mechanics under me so often because they would just put 35psi all the way around. Of course sometimes it doesn't matter but a lot of times it does.

Another thing to do is verify when tires were produced, always check before you buy and don't buy any tires that are more than 5 years after production. Each tire has it's manufacturing date on it by law. It should be law imo not to sell 5 year or older tires. Rubber breaks down over time and can cause serious safety issues, anyone in the tire business knows this.

Otherwise try another brand to see if their road noise and feel is better.

Other options are to check suspension parts as well of course. That can cause some odd issues if a shock is bad, spring is weak/broke etc.

I want to touch on the AWD and tire use as well but so many variables and I have rambled enough Just keep in mind there are a few AWD systems, for instance the newer typical style is essentially FWD unless a front wheel spins then the rear wheels engage. In this style the fronts do wear faster due to it essentially being FWD for 99% of it's driving scenario. W204's have 40/60 split constant open diff. AWD, meaning rear wheels always get 20% more power than front wheels unless there is tire spin, typically translates to rear tires wearing about 10-20% faster than front which if you paid attention to your tread depth when you put your new set on from the old set you would know. For instance, when I replaced my last full set on mine a month or so ago my old rear was at 3/32nds tread depth, front was at 5.5/32nds tread depth.

I don't tend to mess around when it comes to tires, but I also don't toss money at just a name.

ptorto

Thanks to all thus far.......I called my local MB dealer regarding alignment.....they quoted me $160. Does this sound about right? Can my local Goodyear shop do the alignment? They were about half the cost. Thanks, Pete

Just204

since tire wear has come up I hit 15k on my tires and they have a lot of life left on them. dealer put new tires on and did an alignment as part of CPO.

superangrypenguin

Can the hooker down the street on the lower East end do the job?

Yes, $160 is fair. Some of these cars are extra finicky too when it comes to doing an alignment the wrong way.

I'm SO sorry that I forget the name of the poster who was/is a MB mechanic who told us in detail what must go into an alignment. I was shocked to hear it was more precise than what BMW tells their mechanics to do.

Get it done at a dealer. 'Nuff said.

And to the poster above. No, I have not used Cooper tires. I've also not had a STI(STD) nor do I want to know what it's like. I also don't know what it's like to fly Southwest and much prefer flying in a premium cabin on a legacy carrier - that doesn't mean I don't know that Southwest sucks in comparison.

Let's say there is a savings of $120 for 4 tires over 5 years. Really? Is one that cheap that $120 amortized over 5 years is worth saving? This is a Mercedes for crying out loud.

Plus, study after study have shown that cheaper/lower end tires tend to wear faster and/or blow out more easily. Is $120 over 5 years worth buying a new rim, potentially? Why not just buy a shi*ty Kumho tire. They're rated well too

Just204

I pretty much spoke on alignments in some other thread about the aspects lol . and theres more aspects then I touched on.

dieseldoc

Price to do alignment at dealer is fair. My dealer charges 225.00.

superangrypenguin

Sorry Just204!! Lot on my mind lately, but I should have remembered that. My bad!!

Just204

Lol, I was just being petty wanting a lil credit 😛. So no worries 😉!!!

Rodpwnz

My father always tells me never to cheap out on three things for a car:

1. Brakes
2. Steering
3. Tires

Brakes stop the car, steering controls the car, and tires do BOTH!

I've debated going with cheaper tires but I agree that a couple hundred dollars isn't worth cheaping out on something that my life(and others) is counting on.

I'm sure cooper tires are more than adequate and probably safe, but I don't mind paying a little more for a more well known and trusted brand.

Not that it's any indication of quality, but I can't find any cooper tires for my C300 on tirerack...

catmandoob

I get it I get it hahaha, a mercedes is still just a car in my eyes and poor people like me do what we can. I've had worse experiences with some of the more known brands, gotta be a thorn and go against the grain I guess But honestly I have always had good experiences from Cooper so far, I stayed away from them until about 5 years ago now. Haven't looked back since and when a product serves ones need why stray away. Similar to your situation and feeling towards your preferred brand. Doesn't really make either better per se. Good example, I know it's Continentals slightly more budget friendly brand, but one of my General Altimax Arctics blew out on my wifes car this winter. After only second season, barely any tread used, only 3 years from production date.

Most important thing is I guess one feels safe and confident in tire purchased. I would never force someone to run a particular brand really, each can have characteristics some like and some don't regardless of price. From seeing some things from the inside of tire manufacturing I just don't base quality with the most expensive product. Not much info about cooper or the new rs3-g1 line of tires, I gambled as I did 5 years ago. Still can't say enough good things and even if they were priced at competitors price or higher I would still put them on the low end mercedes range such as a C class.

I've often wondered if its tirerack or Cooper that doesn't want that combo to work. Would be interested to see some controlled comparisons compared to other names in the game.

Either way OP I hope you get it sorted and get to enjoy a comfortable ride

Rodpwnz

Well put.

I agree that continentals are more reasonably priced compared to a few competitors, and that's a big reason why I go with them.

Atleast you aren't buying used tires!

Best of luck OP.

IGB

According to Tire Rack, http://blog.tirerack.com/blog/steves...s-at-tire-rack (scroll down to tthe comments and yoi'll see someone asking about a C300) the quietest and most comfortable tires for a C300 is the Michelin Primacy MXM4.

It looks like it has a much better warranty @60,000 miles, which, in spite of it not applying to staggered tire setup, it still means a slower wear index meaning the times should last longer under similar conditions.

superangrypenguin

Couple of things.

The ONLY set of tires that will fit our staggered cars for the MXM4 come in the W speed tire rating. The warranty for this is slightly less than H or V rated tires. The rear set only gets half because well...we can't rotate the tires.

So just adding some clarification here. I still stand by these tires. I absolutely adore them!

arkim989

I have michelins pilot sport from costco really quite and good on snow too. If you get tires from costco and you get flat tire, theyll fix it for free.