bzliteyear

hi all,

i drove a 2001 E55 today that i'm very interested in. it was starmarked until six months ago and it's been well cared for. one item i noticed was that since the owner seldom drove the car, i think there may be dead spots on the new-ish tires. therefore, there's vibration at 45-50 miles/hr. this is a very different/subtle vibration, much different than front wheels being out of balanced. also, after the tires warm up, i think the vibration goes away.

my question is, will i need to get 4 new tires to get the car to drive properly or will this go away if the E55 become a daily driver? in other words, is the flat spot a permanent state on the tires in which case i will need to replace them...or can it be cured if the car gets driven regularly?
thx to all for responding.

Musikmann

To the best of my knowledge, flat spots will never go away. If all that car "needs" is a new set of tires, I'd go for it.

If it turns out that the current tires are not the problem, from everything else you said, I doubt that it is anything major. In summary, a slight (temporary) vibration at 45-50mph would not stop me from taking a chance on it.

faithful_lothario

about how long does a car have to be stored in order to start having flat spots.

Elie

Unfortunately flat spotting will not go away completely. It comes from the way the mold/tool was designed (tire mold/tool). In the cold it gets worse because of the tire rubber compound. The stiffer the tires (sportier for handling) especially for an E55, the more the tire becomes sensitive to smooth road vibrations.

I put 18" wheel/tires on my 2000 E320 and I have the same phenomenon.
Since the vibes are small, I would not worry about them.

LukeM

Flat spot in a tire is caused by the nylon cord in the tire and is temporary, goes away after the tire warms up after a few miles. However a visual flat spot on the tread area (aka, scalloping) is usually caused by very much out of balanced tire or an alignment problem. The introduction of combo rayon/nylon radial ply steel belted tires reduced this bumpy/flat spot sensation/problem.

Happy Motoring

LukeM

"about how long does a car have to be stored in order to start having flat spots."

To answer the above - about 24 hours when it is cold outside overnight.

uberwgn

I dunno, I've had a couple of cars with very low profile, large diameter tires. Flat spotting seems common and disappears (completely) once the tire is warmed up. Some cars didn't produce flat spots unless they've been sitting for a week or longer. My Benz seems to flat spot if it's driven briefly and then parked. It's predictable and not a major concern, IMO. These cars were flawless on the highway, at speed.

buzz, can you make the deal contingent upon having the dealer accept liability up to and including replacement of all tires?

Also, consider having all tire/wheel assys checkedon Hunter's most excellent road force machine. That is the best problem solver at this time.