Hello,

So my 2020 AMG C63s Coupe that I ordered with Cup 2s needs new tire after 10k miles. Fronts are worn down to 2mm of thread left with the cords showing on the inner part of the tire. Rears are good for probably another 5k miles with the way I drive.

Unfortunately my local MB dealership won't install any other tires other than Michelin Super Sports or Michelin Cup 2s, I wanted Michelin PS4s but for whatever reason, they won't install those tires. Has anyone else run into this at their MB dealerships? Should I just ask other MB dealers if they'll do it? I'm in the Santa Clarita area near Los Angeles, anyone have any recommended places to take the car to have this done? I'm just worried about taking it to the wrong place and they scratch up my wheels, would've had more peace of mind having it done at a MB dealership (my local MB dealership actually scratched one of my wheels during service but replaced the entire wheel free of cost, the wheel was almost $3,000). Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

 

You don't need to have tires installed at the dealer, there are LOTS of good shops you just have to find them lol. If you want 100% assurance your wheels wont get scratched, look for a tire shop that has an Automatic tire changer. Most dealers still use the traditional tire iron bars to remove tires.

 

We already have a topic about this and as mentioned in the other topic (here), the factory alignment is always out of whack. You must get the car aligned when new or changing tires or the inner sides will get worn down to the belts in no time.

Take it to an alignment specialist. Don't bother with the Mercedes dealerships as they'll rip you off and most likely just align it to factory specs again.

 

Thank you for the feedback, I'll keep that in mind.

 

You'll be okay! 🙂
Are you getting the OE (MO1) Cup 2's again to replace the bad ones? They're an incredible tire!

 

Hey Brother...hows it going? Great advice for the OP.

But talk to me...because I am getting ready to do tires and an alignment. I was going to take it to my MB Dealership for the alignment. Now my situation might be a tad different because the shop foreman at my MB dealership convinced his GM to allow him to work on tuned cars. He owns a couple of badass AMG's himself. He did a PPI for me when I bumped my head and thought about selling my C63S for a short period. We talked for a while and he is very good. So what do I need to tell him to get my alignment correct versus the MB specs?

And for the OP on tires installed I feel very fortunate that my local Discount Tire store sits right next to their Corporate Headquarters in Scottsdale AZ and they deal with mainly top of the line cars. Every time I drive by there they have Porsche, MB, Range Rover, etc...in the parking lot and they did my rear tires and were so cool they asked me if I wanted to install my own center caps (I have the AMG cross spoke forged wheels 19/20) because they did not want to take a chance of cross threading them and also do not have torque wrench that goes that low. So I get the great pricing along with this special service...again I feel fortunate.

 

Cup 2s are awsome they just don't last long and only perform like you're expecting them to when they are hot. Expect the front Cup 2s to go first followed by the rears if you aren't doing burnouts.

I'm getting michelin ps4s tires installed, went 295 rear for a little more traction and kept 255 for front to keep the steering and handling more nimble. Should be done today.

 

Last year I had Michelin PSS changed to PS4s at MB Dealersip. I had only 1,100 miles on the PSS. But with many great reviews on PS4s I decided to change and glad I did, felt safer in all situations with PS4s tires on F:19 a MB d R:20.​​​​ .
I would call another MB Dealership if you want to just use a MB Dealership.
. Service Advisor informed me that if 3 or more tires are removed you should get an alignment.​​​​ .

 

Does anyone know if it matters if Michelin PS4s tires that have the BMW approved designation are put on my C63s Coupe? The 295 ps4s rears they have in stock don't have any manufacturer designation on them but the 255 ps4s fronts have the BMW approved designation. Does this sort of thing even matter really?

 

I agree, don't bother having the dealership put on new tires. They'll only do OE stuff. I always source my own tires from TireRack and have them shipped directly to my indy. They are an approved installer and also have a road force balancer, which is really how you want these low profile tires balanced. Road force balancing roots out manufacturing defects and eliminates potential vibration due to a mismatch of the high and low points between wheel and tire. I don't think dealerships bother with road force balancing. Places like TireRack also include free road hazard these days with every set of tires they sell. I do go to the dealership for the alignment. I've had less than satisfying results with independent shops nowadays where sensors must be reset in addition to the physical alignment. I've had cars drive funky or have off-center steering after an independent alignment. Regarding the factory alignment, every suspension settles over time. The alignment may be good when the car leaves the factory, but after driving it a bit and letting the suspension settle it may be off. It's always a good idea to have it checked after a few thousand miles. I waited too long with mine and also had the inner front edges chewed through due to a bad toe setting on both sides. Toe is the only thing that can be adjusted on this suspension, so there is no magic or rocket science to it, other than ensuring all the electronics are properly reset. You will get camber wear on these cars due to the aggressive camber in the front if you mostly DD the car and never really do hard cornering. If that's a problem then you need to look into adjustable control arms and have a more daily driving friendly camber setup.

It does matter to some extent. The car manufacturers work with the tire manufacturers and do customize their tires specifically to the needs of their cars. There can be differences in tread pattern, compound and even internal construction between different variants. Sometimes there are also differences in initial tread depth of a new tire. For example the Ferrari version of the PS4S starts at 7/32" instead of 10/32". So you do always wanna look at the specs. I would think that between BMW and AMG, there's probably not too much of a difference. I currently have the standard PS4S w/o manufacturer designation on my car.

 

Good advice thanks swiss. Yeah, the 255/35/19 ps4s BMW version has 9" tread width compared to 8.9" tread width for the normal version, also the BMW version is a little more expensive.

What's interesting is the 295/30/20 ps4s has a tread width of 11.1 compared to the 9.9 tread width of the 285/30/20 ps4s. If that's accurate, going from 285 to 295 ps4s you gain a lot of tread width which is a lot more contact between the tire and the road. My 285/30/20 Cup 2s had a tread width of 10.5 so I'll be gaining .6" more tire to road contact. Also what's interesting, according to tirerack the 305/30/20 ps4s has a tread width of 11.2, so you only gain a tiny bit more contact going from 295 to 305. I'm glad I went with the 295!

 

Agreed on not doing tires at dealerships. I had my A/S 3+ installed at dealership and all 4 of my wheels had tire iron marks on them. Most probably won’t notice but I can see them clearly up close. I brought it to the attention of my SA and he offered to have them fixed but the marks are small and I didn’t want my car in the shop for a few days so I said next time. I guess if I end up getting wheel rash then maybe I bring it back and take them up on their offer. Although it’s been almost 2 years hope the offer is still there lol.

 

Do point out for all W205 models. THERE IS ONLY FRONT AND REAR TOE (DIRECTIONAL) ADJUSTMENT OEM. New car industries best kept secret. It is all to do with cost cutting and ever increasing speed of assembly lines!

Gone are the days of precise front Camber and Caster along with rear Camber to adjust tire contact angles, spread load more evenly (or "adjustment" for Track days to further reduce understeer).

Along with day to day commuting encountering high cambered roads or altered height through load carrying or lowering. Fitting wide profile tires, wheels. Curb knock damage.

We saw the need therefore to "Fix it right the 1st. time" – to re instate from the early 90's full, precise / ongoing adjustment to resolve costly, premature edge tirewear.

Currently frustrated owners seeking a solution resort to going from one dealer or alignment shop to the next - or constantly changing tire brands In the belief that somehow, this could possibly alter the excess edge wear.


For the C63/S – 2 Front kits manufactured:

1. #503316-2 J Simply replaces the upper arm/inner bushings providing precise adjustment – up to 1.5 degrees extra (Positive or Negative) Camber plus Caster adjustment. More than enough to resolve most tirewear issues. Also, with security of retaining the OEM hi strength forged alloy arms.

This kit price is $380. Which compares favorably with cost of one single high performance tire. Owners pointing out KMAC kits have led to very significant cost savings. Extending out the need for “tire re-purchase” by a factor of 2 or 3 times!

Specially designed so can be fitted without the need for upper wishbone removal or special tools.


2. #503316 K – This kit replaces the 4 major lower arm bushings providing same adjustment as above #503316-2 J Kit

Adjusting lower arms allows extra track width for performance/Race days, plus the 2 forward facing large diameter thrust arm (Caster adjustable) bushes are Mono ball/2 Axis. Deleting the OEM soft rubber, oil and air voided bushes thereby significantly improving brake and steering response.

These design bushes supersede steel spherical bearings which, with there wafer thin Teflon liners soon pound out. KMAC design having more than twice the impact, load bearing area.

Camber bushes can be replaced without arm removal Caster arms require removal.

Kit price $480




FOR THE REAR #502226 K

Replacement lower arm inner bushes. Like front, precise single wrench adjustment of Camber accurately under load, direct on alignment rack. Up to 1.5 extra Pos. or Neg. (Plus extra Toe adjustment to compensate for the new rear Camber facility)

No need for arm removal – bush extraction tool included.

Kit price $480




Also for the Rear suspension:
#502628 K – This popular kit, replaces and upgrades the existing 6 rear multi – link arm bushings.

Significantly reducing rear end flex, twist, loss of traction. Especially when applying power to lane change/overtake

Kit price $480


Delivery Worldwide $40 one kit, $20 each extra.

PayPal, Visa or M/Card






https://imgur.com/xFJ2hpX

 

Picked up the car and WOW... the Michelin PS4s is an amazing tire. Car feels much more planted, smooth and the grip is noticeably better. I went 295/30/20 for the rear and and 255/35/19 for the front and the car feels great. Just as nimble and handles better than before while at the same time more planted and more grip because of the wider tires in the rear. I'll upload some photos soon.

 

I'm not sure how big a difference the 10 mm in the rear make. I deliberately stayed with the stock size in the rear to see how much difference the tire by itself makes, and if I still think I want more grip I can always go wider the next time. Pretty much made the same observations as you. It was an all around improvement. Noticeably more longitudinal grip to put down the power, but still playful enough to be able to brake them loose for some drifting. At this point I feel it has just the right balance and don't see the upside of adding more rotational mass to the rear. But maybe if the 285 is out of stock still by the time I need a new set, I can give the 295 a try.

 

Yeah, I feel that way about the front, 255 is perfect, but I will say adding 10mm to the rear made a difference, definitely improved grip. My 285 Cup 2s had 10.5" tread width whereas the 295 ps4s tires I got have 11.1" tread width, so I gained .6" more tire to road surface area, it's definitely noticeable and the 295 protects the rims better too cause it pops out a bit more and covers them. I'd definitely recommend it.

 

As said elsewhere, the Cup 2 need a lot of heat in them before they develop maximum grip, so that's not a fair comparison unless you compare the level of grip at their optimum temperature. I went from PSS to PS4S, which is a much more relevant comparison as both are street performance tires that don't need all the heat first before developing good grip. If you have a chance to go corner hard, let me know if the 295 rubs, because from what I hear under hard cornering they are too wide, which is one of my concerns.

 

I've been driving around with Cup 2s for over 10k miles, at no point did I have more grip while accelerating from a stop with the Cup 2s than I do now with the wider ps4s. That includes when my Cup 2s got up to 150 degrees when doing sporty driving on hot summer days. One thing I'll say about the Cup 2s, they do have insane grip when doing hard corning, there's a very windy canyon road near my house and I was amazed at the grip with the Cup 2s, was a very hot day as well. Doubt the ps4s will be able to handle those types of windy roads like the Cup 2 but I as far as accelerating from a stop or launch control, the wider ps4s was noticeably more grippy and tires aren't even broken in yet. I did one launch control after picking up the car and driving around for a bit and I barely lost any traction, was the best launch I've done with the car yet.

The 285 ps4s which is out of stock atm, has a tread width of 9.9" compared to 11.1" for the 295, that is definitely significant were you to go for the 295s next time. I'll let you know if I experience any rubbing around hard corners but I haven't heard anything about the 295 rubbing, only the 305 rubbing but rarely.

 

I purchase my PS4s from tire rack have them delivered then have the dealer install them.

for alignment I recommend checking into carbahn autoworks (Dinan) front camber adjustable arms)

They are OEM arms with a sealed adjustable ball joint up front. I did it and now I have no front inner tire wear. It also got rid of the issue where the car pulls with the crown of the road

I’m lowered on 295s rear with 10 mm spacers and no rubbing

 

I have 305 PS4S on stock suspension and tracked them a couple times with no rubbing

 

Congrats on the new PS4S...I am running the 295/30/20 on the rear of my 2018 coupe (see comments below)

You got 10k miles from your Cup 2's...impressive and good feedback on no grip difference to the PS4S as I have been thinking about the Cup 2's because my car is tuned and I 1/2 mile race occasionally and would like a bit more grip...even thought the PS4S does a pretty good job as I just pedal through the wheel spins.

Regardless of width and grip difference I just never liked the way the 285 sat on the 10.5 in wheel...to much stretch look for my taste. I think the 295 fits the 10.5 AMG wheel perfect and helps fill the rear wheel gap.

 

100% agree. I think the 285 PSS is a pretty weird choice of stock tyre

 

Agreed, seeing the 295 in person I really think going 305 too much. The difference in tread width is only .1" more for the 305 and the 295 already looks perfect on the wheel.

Yeah my SA was also surprised my Cup 2s lasted this long. I still had probably another 5k left in the rears but the fronts really wear fast.

 

Isn't the difference in tread width 10mm?

 

Yes, but according to tirerack the tread width which is the measurement of the actual tire to road surface area is about the same between 295/305 ps4s. Another example is the difference in tread width between the 285/295 is 1.2" (9.9" for the 285 to 11.1" for the 295).

Tread width is really what we're looking for when going wider tires for more traction.

Go to "specs"
285
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...omCompare1=yes

295
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...omCompare1=yes