So tonight I get home and I can hear hissing from the front driver side and I find this



This is the second run flat to need replacing in 3 months at AUD $550 a piece. The last time the car had to be towed to a tyre shop that stocked them.

I've read a few stories on here and these tyres are absolute crap.

Tomorrow I'm going to replace all with non run flats. Will also get a spare to keep in the boot. Any suggestions?

 

Michelin Pilot Super Sports on mine, and a Slime Seal & Fill kit in the trunk. I had the run flats off the car the first week. Rode hard and sounded loud. After driving on those, the MPSS will feel like a different car to you.

 

Thanks, how do they compare to Pirelli Cinturato P1s?

 

Mike you're in FL right? How are the PSS in the rain? I'm up in NYC and we get some serious downpours in the summer, trying to figure out if these would be a good summer tire for me or not.

 

I just had to replace my Pirellis at 24k miles (Stock on my car). Went with Goodyear Eagle Sports, so far so good

 

I've never had the Pirellis.

 

I had very similar damage to one of my Pirelli Sottozero winter runflats. The tire was replaced under the tire and wheel coverage, but it was difficult to locate a replacement. It took a couple of days. Thankfully, it happened near home and I had a loaner car until a new tire could be found and installed.

 

The Michelin PSS is pretty much the best summer tire you can buy. There are only a few that can compete and they are generally specially outfitted on specific super cars.

If you can stomach the cost on the PSS, there is no reason to go any other way.

 

Yeah, I've had them exclusively on the last 3 S Class and nothing else I tried to use instead to save a little money came close. The 19" on the C by necessity has a very short sidewall and needs all the help it can get.

 

By the looks of that defect, you shouldn't be paying anything to replace it. Why is there green slime oozing from the wound though?

 

The commenters attacking run-flats have not considered all of the issues. Your run-flats did what they are supposed to do. They got you home, without your having to change the tire in an unsafe location or in bad weather or wait for Triple A or mbrace (also possibly in an unsafe situation). If your tire damage is due to a defect, you have a warranty. More likely, it is road damage. Any tire can suffer road damage. My sympathies, if you do not have road hazard insurance. Either way, it's a pain to deal with, but you weren't left at the side of the road. In short, I like run-flats. I don't know what these owners who have swapped for non-run-flats do when they go a long trip. Do they just risk it without a spare, maybe relying on a sealant kit? Do they swap back to run-flats or else shoehorn a spare into their trunk? Even though I have run-flats, I also have a sealant kit with a real pump (not a pressure can). The Continental kit is made in Germany and is the only kit that gets decent reviews.

When commenters write about run-flats, I rarely know if they are talking about regular run-flats or about "MOE" run-flats. The "MOE" run-flats standard on the C-Class have a much better ride than regular run-flats do. See the Tire Rack discussion at Mercedes-Benz Original Extended Tires (MOExtended or MOE). The Pirelli P7 MOE run-flats that came on my Luxury C300 are quiet and ride as well as the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tires I had on my previous MB. From the beginning, the Pirelli P7 MOE RFTs smoothed out small bumps and broken up surfaces well. (Tire pressure a lttle lower than recommended works best. The full-height side walls of my standard 17" wheels probably help even more, but most of the MB owners who comment here would probably regard the 17" wheels as spiritual death.) Turn-in (response to steering inputs) is excellent; there is no lag when I turn the wheel sharply. The roads in my neighbourhood are winding, with many small, but medium steep hils. However, I had no trouble even two winters ago, which was the snowiest winter in the history of the Boston area.

 

The big complaint most folks seem to have is that the RF are more fragile and prone to failure than standard tire.

I have had many flats over the course of my lifetime. The only flat that I was not able temporarily repair with tire sealant was a sidewall puncture that was the result of intentional vandalism. All of the others needed nothing more than a can of fix a flat and a few minutes of air.

 

I think on a 17" tire with a tall sidewall the RFs are fine. The extra "give" in the sidewall mitigates their tendency to be overly rigid and stiff. It's exponentially worse on 18/19.

The OP's damage to me looks like a rupture in the sidewall from an impact the tire was unable to absorb, explicitly because the sidewall is too rigid. It may have spared the rim a bend by self sacrifice. A standard tire likely would not have burst in the same condition.

 

Thanks all.

I'm getting the MPSSs installed. Once again needing to get my car towed in less than six months of vehicle ownership.

One tyre shop refused to swap them for non run flats, said it would void the warranty and insurance. Two quick calls concluded that insurance didn't care about tyres at all, only mods like installing turbo etc and MB said the warranty is fine as long as the size and profile of the tyres remains the same.

 

They are good but i keep looking toward the numerous tyre tests and the Conti 5 and the new Conti 6 continue to dominate..
NON RUN FLAT


I do prefer the way the conti's loose traction over the michelin, a little more warning and a progressive slip, where as the michelins feel as though they are hanging on hard right up until they don't.. this is a lot more defined in damp / wet conditions.....


Non run flats against non run flats the michelin do feel a little smoother, but no massively so IME.. vs a runflat its far more noticeable as Mike has noted..


When i replace i'll be looking at non run flat Conti 5, the new 6 and the Mich PSS... honestly between that lot it'll come down to cost.. as they are all great tyres

 

What a day!

After getting BM Roadside to tow the car I finally got got MPSSs and they are incredibly quiet. No more road tread noise, but more importantly no skipping a breath every single time you hear that thump when you go over a speed hump or a pothole.

They tyre shop who services my dealership said they get 15 blow outs a week from MB customers. He said even the B class has run flats now, even though the boot still has space for a spare.

I took two of the run flats home and he's going to fit a wheel so I can take a spare in the boot.

 

With the next redesign of the U.S. spec W205, Mercedes REALLY needs to redesign the trunk floor to except at least a donut spare tire...and allowing the customer to opt for regular non-run flat tires if they want them.

I personally would have no problem paying extra for a spare tire/jack if the cost is a concern of Mercedes.

 

I asked when I did my build, not for a jack and spare but for non RF. No dice. You'll be very pleased with the MPSS, especially after a few hundred miles when they break in.

 

Service department at my dealer said they sell a spacesaver.... for $900. My partner chocked on his coffee when he overheard the phone call.

 

The car doesn't come with a jack?

 

No jack or spare. MB calls it "extended mobility". It's actually called "hopefully fewer roadside assistance calls". But on 19" especially they blow out at the sidewall a lot.

 

Given that I've had my car towed twice by Roadside I'm not sure they are actually saving money on call outs.

 

My MY16, which I purchased off the showroom floor, had 19" runflats. I told them I'd buy it if they put on all-season non-runflats. They swapped them out with no questions asked.

 

Yeah a dealer might to close a sale on an inventory car. MB won't build one with them.

 

I did the same thing. I got confused silence followed by a firm and resounding, "Sorry...NO."
They did quote me for the MB compressor and seal kit. I was surprised that the MB kit was only about 50% more expensive than a quality kit from Amazon.