victoryroad

It may interest CL owners with 18" Dunlop tires that my 2002 was delivered new with an out-of-round front tire. Initially the dealer rotated the tire 180 degrees on the wheel because their balance machine recored a "road force" measure of 29 versus 5 for the fron left tire. After driving it for a few days and having it checked by my trusted tire and wheel shop, who told me that the outside edge of the tire had slight tread separation, the dealer agreed to replace the tire. The new tire is round and the difference on the road at highway speed is quite clear. Do not let the dealer tell you folks with the Sport or 55 18" staggered wheel setup that the cars are so sensitive that it is normal to feel a slight bounce at speed. It is not. It is interesting to note that my service rep, who is an expert on MB's and a very attentive and nice guy, told me that he could replace an engine without getting approval from MB, but that to replace a new tire required the aproval of some MB regional rep.
The Dunlop's are excellent in the corners and relatively speaking in wet conditions. I have not driven a CL with Michelins, but will probably use them when it is time to replace my original tires unless anyone on the board has had problems with Michelins.

awiner

The Dunlops are Uni-Directional and flipping the tire 180 degrees would result in the tire spinning the wrong way. This could cause some serious problems. I can't believe that a dealer would even consider that !

victoryroad

No, they did not flip the tire 180 degrees, they rotated it 180 degrees on the wheel so that if the high spot was on the top it would have been rotated to the bottom. I obviously would not have tolerated their turning the tire around on the wheel or "flipping" it.