Vik888

So I've decided to go with Michelin Sport PS2's to replace the Conti OEM tires on my 08 E550.

Went to tirerack.com and it just split out PS2's for my front and rears.

Went to DiscountTire.com and it has a variety of PS2's and although I'm comfortable reading the side wall of tires, there are codes on there that I can't figure out:

Front:
245/40ZR-18 93Y B
245/40ZR-18 93Y MB B
245/40R18 93Z BSW
245/40R18 93Y BMW B
245/40R-18 93Y MBZ B
245/40R18 XL 97Y AUD
245/40R18 XL 97Y AUD

Rear:
Same tire is listed for the rear for all the above front options.

I can read everything upto the "load rating" .. The last one or two items I have no idea .. looks like a car manufacturer code? MB = Mercedes? MBZ = Mercedes? BSW?? AUD = Audi? BMW = BMW .. Whats BSW? and whats the "B" at the very end?

I'm pretty sure I need to go for the "ZR" and not "R" because the orig Conti's are ZR's.

Thanks in advance for any help. I just don't want to end up with the wrong PS2's.

220S

You can't read the absolute correct coding unless you see the tire in person. Vendor's websites don't usually list them absolutely correctly (ie, Discount Tire) and use codes like MBZ, AUD, etc., or whatever. R normally just means radial tire, the vendor probably left off the rest. (Now it's combined with VR, ZR, etc..)

e.g., BSW means black side wall. Officially, N means Porsche, M0 means Mercedes and only means that they were original equipment tires, but not specifically your model of car.

Check here for the details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_code

Not all tire models will come in the precise size and load rating that you are looking for unless it was for certain a designated original equipment tire. e.g., Conti's in your replacement size might have a different load index and/or speed rating than the PS2s in the same size.

NCE500

I put PS2's on my E63 last Summer, your car will most likely use the same ones.

Front are 245/40ZR18 Michelin Model# 81619
Rear are 265/35 ZR18 Michelin Model# 74289

The fronts are a 97Y vs the MB spec 93Y, Tire Rack recommended going with the 97 for a little better cornering and steering precision.

The PS2's are awesome tires and absolutely worth the price of admission.

vettdvr

After buying 3 sets of tires and pulling them off I learned my lesson. Nothing but PS2 on our E500

Vik888

Stealership wants:

Front tires (245/40ZR18 PS2) - $338.00 plus mounting and balancing
Rear tires (265/35ZR18 PS2) - $419.00 plus mounting and balancing

Talk about a rip off.

Vik888

Really? Wow. I always thought E63's came with 19's not 18's.

gaazmon

Would you really need the higher rating for speed? The car tops out at 130mph anyway so you wouldn't really need a tire with a speed rating of higher than that (unless your car is an AMG or speed limiter has been removed). My car recommends 245/45/17 95H or 95W. I have 95W now cause I got a better deal on them, but when I bought it, the car had Continental with 95H rating.

Benz-O-Rama

Michelin's are the cat's meow for these W211's, no doubt about it. But, as gaazmon said, do you really need the uber performance of the PS2? If not, I strongly recommend the Michelin MXM4 all-season. I went through all of the cheap and mid-grade tires before I finally tried these on my stock wheels. Better than any tire I've owned.

Now, if drive your E550 hard most of the time, get the PS2s and don't look back.

Vik888

Well, I've gone through all 4 tires in 20k miles. I have calmed down a bit and don't do as many 0-60 sprints, but I do thoroughly enjoy driving a car that handles well. On/off-ramps I usually take at 3x the rated speeds, etc. I drove a SUV prior to this car for 13 yrs and I still don't have the excitement out of my system .. not until the F430 gets here anyway

220S

Your car needs all the help it can get with steering and chassis. The PS2 means MUCH sharper turn-in than what you've been used to. Makes a big difference so no reason to cut yourself short, imho.

The first thing I did when I had an E350 was sell the OEM 'no-season' tires and put on some PS2s. It helped quite a lot.

gaazmon

I'm lucky if I get 20K. I've put a little over 10K and I have probably about 5 to 7k left. I drive about 10 miles canyon roads at least once a day (in and out total). Whatever I put on any car I've had never really lasts. I also drive a little spiritedly.

The contis it came with went a little over 20k, but they were almost 3x the price of what I got the current tires for. I currently have Sumitomo HTR Z tires and they handle better than the contis since they are performance tires vs all season (higher speed rating). They've worn almost perfectly even as well (first time I've had that, usually they wear out uneven).

I mean, the Michellin PS2's are really good, but I'm happy with the choice I made. Great bang for the buck.

About what Benz-O said, I agree with the Michelin MXM4 all seasons. We have a set of those on our 02 CL500 and they've last over 25k miles with a good 5k miles to go still (I don't drive this car so it doesn't get thrown into curves as hard as my E and it does more highway driving than the E). I'm shocked how they lasted this long.


Can I come over when you get the F430

werewolf34

I am with Benzorama, the MXM4 Energies are a great all-around tire...although I would hunt for a deal on them. Michelins at full price are brutal

MBE550

I used to have Michellin Pilot XGT Z4 on my GS400 that had 50% thread left after 30K miles of sprited driving. By comparison, the OEM from Goodyear had less than 50% after 1 year. Not only that. Handling, traction, and tire wear were signficantly worse with Goodyear.

It's actually cheaper and safer to go with better tires in my opinion.
Oh, and tires with higher speed rating is usually better in every way even if you don't drive to the maximum rated speed.

Does 2007 E550 sport has TPMS? or is that an option?

Michellin Pilot MXM4 is ranked at the bottom of the pack at tirerack.com
PS2 is summer tire so if you want to drive the car in light snow look at Pilot A/S or Pentenza 960RE which my friend just got today for his M5.

Barry45RPM

TPMS was not an option on the '07s

werewolf34

I think tire selection needs to seriously consider real-life driving style and situations.

I honestly don't think most e320/350/500/550 drivers are pushing 100 on the autobahn.

I lean towards treadlife, noise/comfort as more important variables. To each their own but take tirerack with a grain of salt.

MBE550

So I don't have it? or was it standard feature?

Vik888

My 08 E550 has TPMS. I didn't know TPMS was even an option, I thought it was standard on 07+'s (no idea about prior to that).

Ok, I feel better knowing that I'm not the only schmuck that ran through tires in 20k miles.

gaazmon, sure .. come on down. I'm still doing some homework on it because I don't know any Ferrari owners, so no idea what I'm really getting myself into.

Benz-O-Rama

I was speaking specifically about the HX-MXMV4, I believe it's called, not the standard MXM4. It's a high performance all-season tire. And it's outstanding.

DrDrilZ

yeah, those are the ones that are second from last on the tirerack survey rankings

Benz-O-Rama

Best tire I've ever owned, and that includes the PS2s. They were smooth, quiet, responsive and wore like bricks. I put 25K on them and sold them with my OEM wheels and they still had 75% left on them.

I highly recommend them.

gaazmon

Nice. Those 430's are beautiful.