thomasp

Hello,

This afternoon we noticed on both of our E320 a strange blue color on the sidewall of the tires, mainly on the front. It's a light blue color and didn't come of when I rubbed it with my finger. Both cars have the sports package, one for sure has Continental tires on it. Ideas?

jim256

Some police jurisdictions mark tires to keep track of how long folks are in timed parking spaces, any chance of that? Nothing blue at all on mine. Can you describe how it appears (single mark, powder, stripe, etc.)?

thomasp

Hello,

The blue is scattered. It doesn't look like a meter maid type mark, just like we drove up against a curb, but its closer to the tread then the outter part of the sidewall, so its odd.

ealpha

I don't have that issue on my E but on my other car I do. It is actually a coating that the tire manufacturer puts on the tires to protect the sidewalls while in transit. In my case it was to protect the white lettering from getting discolored.

I have yet to figure out how to get it off.

richard2725

White Wall Cleaner. Bleach, Comet, Orange Peal Cleaner or Simply Green all will remove it. Correct in that it is a tire manufacturer applied protectorant

awiner

It isn't really a protectant. It is the lubricant that is applied to the tire molds so that once the tire is molded it pops out of the mold easily.

MadManAboutTown

Interesting stuff.

thomasp

Our blue color is showing up 6 - 8 months after washing the tires... I could understand it appearing when they are new, why now a year to 2 years later?