I posted in January of this year "Baby's Got New Shoes" about my purchse of a set of Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires. Well, 5 months and 12,800 miles they are gone. Down to wear-bars on both rear tires, will be replaced on Monday.
Fronts are still looking-good. I travel 125 miles each day on interstate highways, simply to and from work. Not a heavy foot, never been tempted to do a burn-out, but really --- 13k miles on $500 in rear tires? That's a bit much.

Any recommendations on something more prone to longer wear?

Thanks!!

 

I had my rears wear out way before my fronts too. The 350 isn't exactly a torque monster doing smokey burnouts. It does push some in the corners leading me to expect the fronts to go first. Seemed odd to me.

 

mbgator, are they worn evenly or on the inside treads mostly?

I've never gotten more than 15K out of the rears. And they rear much more on the inside threads. Just replaced the rears last week (pilot sport AS). My car is lowered now but even before I got only 12k-15k miles on the rear.

I am going to have some camber bolts installed and adjust the rears due to the uneven wear. I recall the Goodyear asymmetrical wearing more evenly and I will go back to them on the next full set.

I expected the all season tires to wear longer. I'll see if the camber adjust remedies the inside wear. Summer tires are probably not going to last more that 15k-18k on these cars.

 

I have the same tires and am bald at 13,000. No better on Michelins. Just a cost of driving a car with gobs of torque.

 

Actually pretty even wear. More pronounced in the middle, indicating a slight overinflation, but nothing indicating caster/camber out of spec.

And yes, I realize this is the cost of driving a car with plenty of power, but I would have expected a bit more. My corvette doesn't wear tires as badly, and again - no burn-outs on it either.

 

Same here. I got 20K out of the P-zeroes and 20K out of the Michelin Primacies, but the Michelin Pilots are getting maybe 12K. I don't ever do any burn outs, but I have noticed that the rears squeal a bit going around tight corners, even at low speeds. It's almost like they having a limited-slip differential (which I do not have). I suspect it's a combination of weight, suspension geometry, and width of the tires.

 

What about the treadlife mileage warranty??

 

Typically if a manufacturer has any tread life warranty, a disclamer will be present that states - if your car has staggered wheels (different sizes in front than rear), thus making rotating tires not an option, the tread life warranty is 50% of the stated amount.

Tread life warranties are also pro-rated so that the company always wins.

 

Thanks- did you measure across both tires for tread depth

 

I had the Pilot AS3's replaced at about 12K miles under their treadwear warranty. As mbgator said, they cut it in half since it's a staggered setup that can't be rotated. I believe they had a 45K mile warranty, so that was reduced to 22.5K, and then they gave discounted the new tires by about 47% 9(i.e. the 12K out of 22.5K that I had used). So instead of paying about $450 for a pair of tires, I paid about $240. They told me that if (when!) these wear early, they will do the same thing. So, basically, I'll end up paying the same "per mile" price for the tires. If I pay $450 for a pair that lasts the warranted 22.5K miles, it will cost me $0.02 per mile. If they only last 12K miles, I'll pay $240 for them or the same $0.02 per mile. I can live with that as the Pilot AS3's are otherwise very good tires.

 

mbgator,

How to get good tire life with a CLK500 / 550.

Correct 4 wheel alignment, rotate tires often, correct tire pressures will help.

If you want to keep your staggered tire / wheel setup:

My wife puts a lot of miles on her lowered 2004 CLK500, she was not impressed with the tire wear when we purchased it.
I was told to fix it. I ordered a set of GhostRider rear camber bars, (4) MB Part # A 000 330 00 18 Fluted Bolts (Eccentric Pin Kit),
Installed them and aligned it. With a set of staggered 18" wheels, Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires (91H) we ran them 47,000 miles until the
wear bars on the rears were showing. ( the fronts still had 4/32" tread) I rotated them side to side about every 5-6,000 miles.

We then purchased a set of staggered Cooper Zeon RS3-A tires, rotated them side to side, and the rear wear bars showed @ 42,500 miles.

Rotation is a big key to longer tire wear, find a tire model that has "outside" molded on the side wall, they are non-directional. Michelin
Primacy MXM4 and Cooper Zeon RS3-A are in this group, There are many quality tires nowadays to pick from, of course some are better
than others, remember tires are always a compromise, depending on the intended use.

If you want the best tire wear, I have changed it to a square tire / wheel setup with Michelin Primacy MXM4.

At the last tire evaluation I did last month the tires should run to approx. 67,800 miles. the tires currently have over 22,000
miles on them, and all 4 look great.

CLK500 / 550 disasters to avoid: Any Zero Pressure or Run Flat tires do not get good tire wear.
Make sure suspension components are in good condition.
Just because all the alignment readings are in the green, does'nt mean its aligned properly.

The CLK uses the anti lock brake system for traction control. With a high torque engine and lightweight chassis, driver heavy foot,
this is not the best scenario for long tread life on the right rear. The CLK is usually easier on front tires, depending on how its driven.

CLK's with the above improvements are easy to align properly unless damaged.

Rotate tires as often as feasible.

Buy a tread depth gauge, and keep a record of your tire wear, learning to read a tire, you can spot many upcoming problems, or
convince you everything is fine.

One thing I have never been able to fix to my satisfaction is the rear tires wearing the center out first with the staggered setup, I even
set the rear pressure as low as 30 psi for 5,000 miles and the tire wear in the center was still more the the edges. Apparently the weight
distribution of the CLK is light in the rear axles. I was going to put her CLK on the scales to check, but since we went to the square setup
the tires are wearing evenly, so no need to check further.

Hope this helps you.

 

Kustom1911, thanks, that was really helpful....

 

I got over 20K out of my Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires, but even with a perfect alignment, I don't see how you could get 47K! I've never gotten over about 30K out of any tire on any modern car. On my CLK550, the rears always wear very evenly - no signs of under or over inflation or alignment issues. I do drive very fast on the open highway, but not so much in town. I rarely see the yellow ESP triangle and almost never start fast enough to bark the tires. I even have 17" rims, so I have a little extra cushion of air and sidewall.

 

Rudeney,

My short answer to you saying my wife's CLK500 cannot get 47K from her tires is: you drive your car harder than she does.

I keep meticulous maintenance records on our vehicles. On each of the 5 transmission fluid changes & flushes I have done
on her CLK500, I can tell you to the ½ oz of how much Shell AFT134 I used in each.

My daughters VW Jetta & my mothers VW Passat get over 60,000 miles on their Michelins & Continentals. I have 18" Continentals
on my Ford F-350 4x4 that have 82,289 miles with 4.5/32's tread left 6 weeks ago, tires have been rotated, fine balanced,
alignment checked Approx. every 8,000 miles.

I built a computer program that I use to analyze tire wear, alignment readings, tire rotation, and other factors for each of our
vehicles, and align them accordingly. I retired real early and have the time to do such things.

I agree with you that the 17" tires do better than 18s and 19s, from past experience, her car has 17 x 8 all around now.

 

I envy you with that tire mileage!

 

CAMBER BOLTS (ONE ONLY OFFSET POSITION) ARE ONLY AVAILABLE FOR FRONT.


THERE IS ONLY FRONT AND REAR “TOE” ADJUSTMENT OEM!


‘WE SAW THE NEED THEREFORE TO REINSTATE FROM THE EARLY 90’S FULL PRECISELY ADJUSTABLE (ON CAR – ACCURATELY UNDER LOAD).... FRONT CAMBER AND CASTER AND ALSO INCLUDING REAR CAMBER (WITH EXTRA TOE) ADJUSTMENT FACILITIES. TO SUIT EVERY MERCEDES INCLUDING THE VERY LATEST 2015 MODELS.


The front “one only offset position” bolts (for the 4 main front bushings) only allow a minimal .3 of one degree (1/8 of an inch – 3mm). And to change settings means labour intensive disassembly each time. The K-MAC unique patented design kits offer up to 3 times the adjustment range and its precise/accurate single wrench on car with ongoing adjustment capability. Similar with the rear adjusters.


Kits are essential to resolve costly, premature edge tire wear, steering pull/improve traction. The result of altering height, fitting wide profile tires/wheels or curb knock damage. Or just the advantage of being able to change settings for “track days”.


CAMBER – Allows to actually change the tire contact angle, improving wear/traction


CASTER – Resolves steering pull, increases steering response. With better turn in and high speed directional control, along with improved anti dive/lift under break and acceleration.


YOU FIX IT RIGHT THE 1ST TIME WITH K-MAC – No more ongoing trips to dealer or alignment shops or constantly changing tire brands because of only Toe adjustment or the minimal adjustment offered from the inaccurate one only position front offset bolts!


Bonus is the 4 front (and the 4 rear) bushings also replace the highest wearing suspension bushes. With the K-MAC patented design also having twice the load bearing area. The front bushes are 2 axis/self aligning without the use of oil and air voids. Result is improved brake, traction and steering response.


Also importantly K-MAC rear adjusters move lower arms/tires inwards when wanting to reduce inner edge wear/improve traction (unlike alternate “Camber Arms” that move top of tires outwards diminishing essential clearance to outer fender).


All kits come with instructions and bush extraction/insertion tubes (MB World Member Heiss Rod has kindly provided step by step picture sequence re front bush installation. See https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/518431-k-mac-bushing-install-guide-w211-airmatic.html )


$480US Front kit (W209)


$480US Rear kit


Special promotion price delivery for MB World members USA/Canada $30 one kit or $40 for front and rear (average delivery time is 3 to 4 days). Payment can be made using Visa, MasterCard or PayPal.


See link for very latest 2015 Mercedes catalog http://K-mac.com/mercedes/

 

Rudney, he is getting better mileage on the wife's car because he can rotate all the tires being they are all the same size...

I bought a set of Kumhos that performed well in Tire Rack's tests to put on my OE 17" wheels...thus far they have performed as Tire Rack concluded...hope I get decent mileage from them too...

Bill

 

Just got a new set of rears... Conti DWS, 18". 11,000 miles is all I got out of the old ones. Go to discount tire or costco and they will pro-rate the new ones. I got 50% credit on the new ones because my old ones didn't last. 50k original warranty, -50% because staggered.

 

Called the tire store (Belle Tire, Lansing MI) on Monday, drove up after work. The young manager came out to the car, checked the tread wear, inflation, etc. Agreed that they were worn a bit early @ 13k. He called Continental. They honored the original warranty of 50k, and ordered two new rear tires for $61 each, about 25% of original.
they'll be here on Friday, will have them installed. Continental rep said "if these give the same wear, maybe next time we need to try a different compound."
Well, we shall see.
Mounting, balance, assorted fees and road hazard will total about $220 for both rear. That's about $0.016 per mile. Just under Rudney's 0.02 per mile for Michelin's .

 

Good info about the DWS. Mine are also getting pretty low at about 13k. The S is completely gone and the W is about 70% gone as well. I'll try to get them replaced under warranty as well. This is probably the lowest mileage I've gotten out of any tires.