You know, someone else already answered this beautfully but since you seem fixated on 32 PSI, I'll paraphrase it. 32 PSI is not a fixed standard; it's a rough average starting point for passenger automobiles. The year of the cars doesn't matter. 32 PSI gets you in the ballpark.

Regarding answering my two questions, it turns out I was right. Eric, you didn't answer either question; you simply responded to one with vague statements and the other was a complete non-answer. How about if I put these questions to someone else? Anyone else care to take a crack at it?

 

wow bro you must of not read my answer to #1. it says at 32 psi the car responds sluggish and at the higher pressure it resolves it (see the reference above that at 40-45psi 2 comments up). i guess i dont know if you want a dissertation, my responses spoon fed to you or if you just like jerking around with people.

 

theres a place and a time for being didactic. i guess this is one of them.
yes. i am. the inflation pressure listed on the sidewall of the tire is the maximum inflation pressure for that tire. if you want to maintain the same ride as the engineers in dearborn, hamamatsu, stuttgart, convetry etc intended for that vehicle, then you do want to run that inflation. however, if you are using a tire that has a max inflation that is above 55 you are clearly not using the same type of tire those same engineers used when designing and calibrating it and its suspension. theres a difference in tires between those that have a P prefix and those that have an LT prefix; P denotes passenger, LT denotes light truck.

most trucks and SUVs sold today come with passenger tires, tires designed to be quiet and smooth. much like a car tire. these tires typically have a max inflation of 35 psi. some have 44.
a few trucks, notably those of 3/4 ton designation and higher, those with towing packages and some with off road packages, come with LT tires; tires designed for towing and hauling. these tires will have max inflation ranging from 44, 50, 65, 80 etc. notice the higher pressure for tires designed for carrying loads?

if you buy a truck with passenger tires, and decide to buy a boat, then by all means, get the LT designated tires, and increase the air pressure.

i could use the analogy that if you have an engine with a 7000rpm redline and you run the engine less than that then you are not running it as intended. is that the case? no? if 7000rpm, is the maximum, then 80psi is the maximum as well.

what were you saying about my critical thinking?

asshat.
all the R129 SLs had z rated tires, including the 300SL which had the same engine as your car.
all the 500Es had them.
i believe the W140 600SELs had them too though i could be wrong about that one. all those cars were sold in that period.

if i have a car that has V rated tires (149mph maximum) then i could conceivably go 150 on them for a short time without them overheating and blowing up.
and ps, i never said anything about my car going 150.
what were you saying about my critical thinking?

if you are installing a tire on the vehicle that has a 80psi maximum and your door sticker says 35, then you are clearly not installing the tire that was recommended. so even if you do run the tire "underinflated at 32psi and you blow it up" you are still at fault because you did not use the recommended tire.

you clearly didnt look thoroughly at the page you linked to, nor read its contents. (without looking it up) this is how you decode the top line;

31/10.5-15C tire size
109T service indicator; load and speed rating.
BSW denotes black sidewall
34176 michelin part #. bf goodrich is a subsidiary of michelin
438-895 stock number
7.0- 9.0 rim width range
10.8 on 8.5 width of tire on specified width rim
30.8 height of tire
18 tread depth in .32 of an inch
675 revolutions per mile
2250@ 50 maximum load capacity in pounds at listed MAXIMUM inflation pressure

yes, i have sold tires before. i know more about them than you do.

this is the fun part.
located in the legal info, the small print at the bottom of the page is this little disclaimer
note; emphasis (underlining, size) mine.

there it is. nuff said.

no , the reason your tires "cup" is because there it is. there is the entire reason for your accelerated (outer) treadwear. and by the way, cupping refers to the wavy forms that showup on a tire when a tire has not been rotated or has been run on a car which needs suspension work. refer to this page and this one for a clear and consice depiction of cupping and pictures.

i can think of at least 6 manufacturers who had psi of 35 or higher on some of their cars in the early 90s
GM (buick, pontiac, chevrolet, cadillac, oldsmobile, GMC) does that count as six?
ford (lincoln, mercury)
chrysler (jeep, dodge)
porsche
volvo
ferrari
land rover

and thats off the top of my head. im thinking lotus and lamborghini should be on that list but i dont remember, its been a long time since i worked on one. i could probably make some calls and find three more tomorrow to complete the list, but thats too much trouble. besides, its more fun to come here and debunk almost everything you say

i'll say it again; yes i have sold tires before. yes i do know more about them than you do.

 

Those links really are didactic.

I think you should let AMG_Eric off the hook. His car looks too good for him to be an idiot or a jerk. It is OK if he likes to ride with very hard tires.

 

thx but no sweat this guy loves to find posts that i reply on and try to make me look like an idiot. look at his last 15 or so posts. he is more interested in me then the topic. some people should learn that if you want a date just ask someone for thier phone # and call it a day.

btw this is what i call cupping

now maybe i am using the wrong terminology because i never sold tires. however that is what my tires did.

 

so i just got off the phone with a buddy at cotsco.

a 195/65-15 tire inflated at 26psi will have load capacity of 1045lbs.
a 215/45-17 tire will have that same load capacity at 29psi.

IIRC our cars are recommended to be inflated to 26F 29R (certain years.) this means the 32psi AMG was advised to inflated his tires to was correct, and the tire guys were NOT goofs or whatever he called them.

most shops will inflate front and rear tires to the same psi. most people dont notice the difference.

that pic is for a severly underinflated tire. as in 20psi or less. low enough to where you can see the tire is underinflated. not valid in this discussion as 32psi is adequate.

 

Eric, I don't think anyone was trying to make you look like an idiot. My first response to you was to correct a misstatement of what the psi designation on the sidewall was . . . not the optimum or recommended pressure, but that it was the maximum pressure. There are a lot of non-technical members that might have taken your statement as "gospel" if not corrected. That's all that was going on there. Seems like you tend to get a wee bit defensive when anyone challenges your "opinion." Heck, I've been wrong plenty of times and find the phrase "cool, I didn't know that, thanks" to be very helpful.

 

DUDE YOU DID THIS IN THE POST ABOUT BRAKES, SOUNDS AND ALMOST ALL OF THEM : !!! YOU THINK YOU HAVE ALL THE ANSWER FOR F$%CKEN A MERCEDES AND YOUR NOT A MECHANIC ! ALSO WEDSTER, NEANDERTHAL, AND MTI ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES TRYING TO GET SOME SENSE IN YOUR HEAD !

Thanks for calling all of us IDIOTS!!

They don't have Z-RATED Tires now in 2005 unless you pay for a more expenisive car!

WTF!!! Now you have a racing team and don't know shhhhyt about tires? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT A Z-RATED TIRE IS?

You need to stop always trying to be right!! Did you not read my post? Can you actualy do anything to your car without taking it to someone else to fix it???

SORRY I DON'T NEED TO CALL A BUDDY OR GOOGLE SEARCH TO FIND ANSWERS!! LOL PROBABLY YOU SENT YOUR CAR TO A MECHANIC TO PAINT YOUR CALIPERS!

THE PROBLEM IS YOU NON-ANSWERS AND MIS-INFORMATION TO OTHER FELLOW MB OWNERS! WHY YOU GET MAD WHEN SOMEONE ELSE HAS THE RIGHT ANSWER DAMN!!



ACTUALLY AMG_ERIC MADE IT SUCK!

 

i wasnt going to say it as long as he was being an ***, i like to let an *** show his true colours. but anyway there it is, there is the truth. i think i mentioned it somewhere, i think he denied it too.

 

I see that we are all in agreement about correct tire psi and about AMG_Eric.

 

thats pretty condescending coming from someone that has a self proclaimed beater. i have no idea how u went from mr. cool guy at the 124 meet to instant a-hole but you managed it. congrats. i guess you are the 1st person that i can say i had a bad experience after a meet. congrats.

as far as the brake post if you talk to a pro that builds race cars for a living you will learn something as i have instead of taking off the cuff know it all comments from a guy that was even referring to the cars we drive. but hey off topic time is over.

 

Ok now your going to talk shhyt to me? MR. COOL GUY? OK SURE BUDDY! I know more than a little bit about cars and never talk shyt about anyones car because that is the lowest point you can go!

I didn't have anything against you until i saw you posting all kind of Bull***** for people who know 0 to nothing about car and telling them that your right about it because you have a race team pro buddy who you asked!!

Yes i had a POS at the time but it's a process of upgrading one thing at a time! why am i going to say i have the best this and that UNLIKE YOURSELF! I love mbz but i am true hotrodder and do the work on my car MYSELF! I even went to the meet with a broken ball joint on the centerlink without a sweet because the next day i installed a new draglink, steering shock, ball joints, and got new beilstein shocks! Guess what i did it all my self except to the aligment.

Stop trying to be so damn right all the time and learn things on the forums LIKE WE ALL HAVE!!!