low profile tire problems
 

Been through a dozen tire blowouts and rim repairs due to low profile 20" tires on my GLK350. Finally ordered 17" rims & tires from Tire Rack. They look great and now I have more meat on the rims to prevent problems. Contacted Stuttgart and received their courteous reply thanking me for bringing it to their attention!!! Give me a break! I spend $5000 on repairs due to their poor engineering of the wheels and they thank me?? MB wanted over $5000 for this latest repair but I got it all done for $1300. MB wanted $600 just for the valve stems I got it for $150. MB big ripoff on prices for their crappy parts that fail way too soon. Yes, I'm pissed!!!!

I think you are missing the point.
I doubt the 20" do have anything to do with German engineering.
Maybe European members can add view of present situation, but I doubt you will see MB on 20" in Europe.
It is strictly US-generated trend and not the first time in US history the sales campaigns overcome common sense.
Than bare in mind that you did not spend $5000 becouse the wheels had low rubber profile, but becouse you drove on very bad roads and those roads did not come to US from Germany.
Us part pricing is also having very loose connection with Stuttgart. It is mostly your local stealer and MBUSA who is responsible for it. Did you compare OEM pricing with Husker prices?

Quit hitting potholes.

We have **** roads around here so I spend a lot of time avoiding things. I don't just drive around all willy nilly whistling some zippity do da and obliviously driving over stuff. Plenty of people have low profile tires and do just fine even in areas with bad roads.

Zero sympathy from me. I've never had a blow out due to having a low profile tire and have hit some nasty potholes with them. I've bent wheels, never blown out a tire.

1) this is the w211 forum, so maybe find the forum that suits your vehicle?
2) Yes, low profile tires ride like crap and won't hold up to abuse dished out by crappy roads.
3) Dang everyone so mean to the newbie! :rolf:

They're blaming Mercedes for their crappy driving habits. If you're blowing out that many tires you obviously aren't driving defensively and avoiding things in the road. I guess that can be hard to do if you have your face buried in your phone while driving.

In my 23 years of driving I've blown out one tire and badly damaged one wheel (at the same time, forgot about that earlier). It was raining hard and a new, deep pothole opened up where they were doing construction. You couldn't tell it was a deep hole since it just looked like a puddle. The city ended up buying me a new wheel and tire after that one. There were another 4-5 cars that pulled over after me with blown out tires after hitting the same hole.

Even with my 19" wheels on my E63 I've hit some pretty nasty potholes. They're bent a tiny bit, but not enough to feel when driving.

^THIS

You have to change your driving style on low pros!!! No other option

For low profile tires to last, you need spot on wheel alignment and toe-in. MB dealers are not particularly equipped to align low profile tires. I always use the best shops and it may take you time to find the right one, that is equipped with and has knowledgeable staff used to aligning those tires. Apart from going through two sets of tires when I drove at very high speeds while travelling coast to coast back in 2015, I've had zero problems. This is not to say I don't expect more than 20K milles on a set but I'm fine with that.

I agree. You need to go to a indy that specializes in stancing vehicles per-say. they will typically have more knowledge then your average alignment guy. It also doesn't help that you probably don't have adjustable bushings or rear camber arms.

couple all of that with the fact, you clearly don't do a good job at avoiding pot holes/road hazards. I personally avoid everything in the road at all cost. I'd rather have someone blow there horn at me that my tire blow out at me.

I see plenty of 20" glk's in the shop with none of the issues you stated. Road conditions and user error seem to be your culprits....

They're blaming Mercedes for their crappy driving habits.

More like blaming them for putting 40 series tires on the car. There just isn't enough sidewall. As for avoiding potholes it sometimes can't be done, when you're in traffic, you just don't have enough time to avoid them when it's bumper to bumper. I've had my share of bent and cracked rims. I've had blowouts too from bad potholes, one was so bad the car behind me hit it too and we were both pulled over by the side of the road at night replacing a tire.

Low Profile Blowouts
 

Ive had the same problems. Ive replaced 4 tires and had 2 rims replaced. It doesn’t take much of a dip for the tire to burst. We are so careful to look for dips, road construction, and pot holes. It’s very nerve racking at times worried about road conditions. I have debated on putting a meatier tire on the car. What size tire and rims are used on the 2016 CLA 250 in Germany and or what would be recommended to avoid the issues of blow outs and cracking rims?

The vast majority of MB owners have no idea about the difference between cast and forged wheels so mercedes ships it's cars with cheap, heavy, weak cast wheels. All the owners care about is that the wheels are shiny and expensive looking. If you want your wheels to survive crappy roads pay up for forged wheels or get the smallest wheel with the tallest tire sidewall that fits your car.

I teach a senior mechanical engineering class called Tire Mechanics covering a wide range of topics; however, I often make the comment that low profile tires look cool but have a host of sensitivities (like with potholes) that works seriously against them.

I love the fact that my E320 rides on 225/55R16 Michelins. My first six cars were two seater sports cars and I am sure the CDI out corners all of them. Admittedly, modern tires are far superior to old tires, but how fast do you need to go?

Regards,
Peter