I'm buying new 18" AMG wheels to replace my 2003 E500 17" OEM wheels. Does anyone have experience with the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 245/40ZR18 tires? I want maximum quiet and smooth riding tires.

 

I used to have the GS-D3's on my Corvette. They were only slightly quiter than the oem run flat's but the biggest difference was handling. Awesome tire if you have a high performance car. If you plan on driving in the snow, don't even think about these tires because they have no sipes and the tire compound gets very hard when it's cold out giving you very poor traction even on asphalt. If you also want a smooth ride, these tires are not for you as the sidewalls are hard as a rock. From my experience and what your looking for, I don't think I'd put these tires on a E-Class.

 

They are very sticky, however they also don't last very long, sometimes less than 10k miles.

I have them on my car now and also had them on the E430. Also, they run well in the rain. As previous poster said - do not run them where it freezes or go near snow, they are allergic to it.

 

Well, maybe these issues are why they are on special at TireRack.com for $188 per tire. Maybe I need to find a good M&S tires.......how are the Michelin PS2 tires for quiet and smooth ride? Seems like a lot of the new MB vehicles come with today? My OEM tires were Continentials that were pretty nosy.

 

You should check out the November 2006 Consumer Reports, they did a nice review of tires.

 

Mcleantmw --- I went through the same debate when choosing a replacement for the crappy OEM 18" Dunlops on my former 2003 540i 6-speed. After polling a lot of people with similar cars on the Roadfly board, the top 2 were the Goodyears you described and the Michelin PS2s. TireRack customer reviews were exactly the same. The Goodyears were backordered, so the choice was easy. The only downside of the Michelins was the price...about $1200 installed at the time. They handled beautifully, were quiet, the ride was smooth, and wear seemed to be normal in the 5K or so I had them on the car before selling it. I'm actually thinking about replacing the lousy Continentals on my 18" AMGs with the Michelin PS2s.

 

Thanks for the last two postings......I'll look at Consumer Reports for tire rankings. My exiting Pirelli PZero Nero M&S tires are awful noisy.

 

I got General Exclaim UHP's for my 18" AMG rims last summer as recommended by Luke at Tire Rack. They are awesome tires-very quiet, good treadlife rating and they handle great. Price is tough to beat as well.