Char03

I am going to replace the tires on my 03 E320 sport and was just wondering what other members on this forum decided to go with. I was thinking of going with the continentals that came with the car but a step up from these tires would be in order.....THANKS!!

MB4Fun

How many miles did you get from the stock Continentals?

MBE55AMG

Michelin PS2's.

Better handling, far less noise, far more superior.

TireRack.com

vraa

The PS2's are nice, but I've fallen in love with the Dunlop Sport 9000's.

If you want a lower price then tireracks, you can PM me with your tire size information.

245/45-17 is what I believe your sizes are...

Pirelli PZero Nero M&S in that size are $140 retail each.
I can get them for $535 total. That is tirerack's best seller in that size.

Dunlop Sport 9000's in that size are $169 retail each.
I can get those for $650.

Those Michelin Pilot Sports AND the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S's are $223 retail each.
I can get those for $867.

My favorites are still the Dunlops, then the Pirelli's and then the Michelin, just personal preference.

alewifebp

The Michelin Pilot A/S's are not supported by MB. Avoid them. The summer PS2 though is a different story, though.

jabo

Why would you need to have your tires 'supported' by MB?

They don't make the tires and the stock tires they choose are garbage.

Why would you trust their recommendations?

The Michelin Pilot A/S are the best ride I've had yet in my MB.

They are quiet and have exceptional grip and wet handling performance.

jposhea3

that's a fair question...but there is a service bulletin about not recommending, liking, approving, something Pilot Sport A/S tires on the W211.

Weird.

vraa

Yes, there is a TSB about them tracking to one direction.

SAguirre

I will probably be asking the same question when I need new tires. My stock Contis have 3k miles on them and they are in the attic of my second garage until late spring. I suspect it will be a while until I need new tires, but I will not buy Continental tires again (mine are fine though).

I have not shopped at all, but at least for the 16 inch wheels, I was wondering who had any experience with BFGs. My brother always had them and he loved them. I finally bought a pair for my AUDI and I am very impressed. The Audi has had many different tires in 262,000 miles and these are wonderful. Cheap too.

Who has anything to say about BF Goodrich for a W211 16 inch wheels or other?

Steve A.

vraa

I like BFG, but for another reason altogether. They offer great all terrian tires and a bunch of my friends buy them by buil whenever we go off roading. I don't think that'll really suit a Mercedes though

They do offer many other things though!

What tire sizes are you looking for?

ctemkin

To answer Jabo's question, various forum members have in the past reported problems with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S that mimicked alignment difficulties but went away with other tires. Eventually Mercedes blamed the problem on the tires, which may or may not be fair, but if it is avoidable with other tires, why not avoid it. If you're not having this issue, count your blessings.

For char03, since you live in Florida, you can use summer tires year-round, unless you do any driving much further North. Summer tires will provide the best handling and braking, wet or dry, for you. You should check Tirerack (and the tire forum on this site) and Consumer Reports for guidance as to wh ich summer tires. My own preference is for the best tires I can locate, even though I am not an aggressive driver, since I feel that they provide the most margin of safety. Three you should consider are Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3, Michelin Pilot Sport PS-2, and Bridgestone Potenza SO-3. I have the SO-3s, and I think they have performed very well, but they are starting to wear thin after maybe 12,000, and I will probably replace them with the Goodyear Eagles.

SAguirre

I had Dunlop Sp 5000?? I think, on my W124 and I liked them a lot. However, they were very bad in the snow . Since you can not have a tire that is good for every type of weather, I get really good winter tires (Blizzaks WS 50) and then a V rated (I prefer how they handle but hate the fact that they wear quickly) pair for the summer. The issue here in Colorado is that I have been belted by a storm in June!

This last June I was kicking myself because I still had the BFG studded snow tires on my W124 when I drove up to Vail. On my return I got stuck in a hail storm from hell! Hondas next to me looked like a person hammered them with a ball ping hammer for hours, but my W124 only suffered a broken grill (destroyed) and broken front blinkers. I could not believe I had no dents! I am sure that the aluminum intensive W211 would have been ruined. But anyway if I did not have the snow tires that June evening, I would have been stuck on I 70 for hours.

So this is why I have to compromise and get a relatively aggressive summer tire tread that will still kind of work in light snow. I have 225/55-16 the Contis are H rated but I think I would like V rated tires. I like at least trac AA and temp A on the Vs. But who know if BFG even makes this type of tire. I know that they are owned by Michelin.

Steve

vraa

BFGoodrich Traction T/A V -- seems like what you're looking for.

They are $108 retail and for a set of four I get them for $407 total.

I'm not sure about if the meet your Trac AA and Temp A requirements though. I'm not sure how to find that out.

SAguirre

I just looked at them at the tirerack's site. That is the kind of tread that works really well in snow (even for a summer tire). I find BFGs to be a really good value. I am not used to paying under $500 for a set of 4 tires. However, I bet they might have even a better tire when I need to buy new ones.

Thanks for your input,

Steve

vraa

No problemo. If you want, you could easily switch to another tire that might or might not be better. In the comparison on Tirerack, the BFG's were fourth of seventeen tires surveyed by users.

Char03

Thanks for the input guys it seems that the best tires are michelin ps2's. At the moment it seems like I will either get the ps2's or maybe the dunlops. My dad has the dunlops on his car and I can't really complain about them. The so-3's seem to wear out fast from what ctemkin stated. I really dont want to be buying tires in 15 K miles. I am somewhat of an agressive driver so I need tires that will last longer than that.

MB4fun to answer your question my tires have lasted about 29 K miles. I actually should of gotten them a while before that but I have not gotten around to it. I would say they lasted me in good condition up until 25-26 K miles.

ricky.agrawal why do you favor the dunlops? Is it due to their price or more on their performance. Just curious about what your exact reasoning was.

rjm

I just went through the tire selection process for my E-430. I was unhappy with the original Continentals because of the noisy ride and the fact that they were worn out in 26,000 miles. My driving habits are fairly sedate so they were not abused in any way. I investigated all brands thoroughly. You can check tire reviews by users on Tiretrack.com. I settled on Yokohama EVS100's after intensively reviewing what was available and calling the managers of several Discount Tire Stores in my area and asking for their recommendations. I am VERY happy with the Yokohamas. They ride great, are extremely quiet in comparison to the Continentals and had excellent user reviews.

kort677

they wear too fast

E320Star

Yokohama A430 Great in all wheather, High performance, quiet ride, great grip, 50k mile warrantee, great traction in snow and wet wheather, and most of all wonder price. I had mine installed, balanced, life time hazzard ins, tires, and 4 wheel alighnment with a VIP discount for $690.00

alewifebp

While it is not important to have a recommended tire for the car, it is a much different story when MB tells you that they will not work on any alignment (or at least not work on MB's dime) that have the Pilot A/S's. I have been dissapointed with the tire overall, at least in comparison to the price. And mine does track to the right.

I've had experience with the SP5000's, and they are a fine tire. Even drove with a lot of snow, and they were very sure footed. But, while they have the appearance that they have good tread life, which they did, the wet weather performance decreases dramatically before the tire actually gets anywhere near the wear bars. This is what I have experienced, and so have others on Tireracks comments section. But, when you consider the price differential between the SP5000's and the A/S's, you could nearly buy two tires for the price of one. There is a Yoko model that is also supposed to be very good.

THundar

MB is not using the Pilot Sport A/S as a scapegoat.

I unwittingly replaced the stock Conti's with Pilot Sport A/S and there was a noticeable pull to the right as I drove away from the tire shop. After an alignment at the dealer and a visit to this website, I learned of the potential problems.

Discount Tire has agreed to replace them with Michelin Primacy's because it is clearly due to the tires. Even the Michelin website does not recommed the Sport A/S on my '03 E500.

I had Pilot A/S on my BMW before this with no trouble whatsoever so it is clearly just a combination of MB suspension and the tread pattern.

vraa

I love the Dunlops because they are inexpensive and they offer great grip.

I've slid around too many times on Michelin's in the wet, so that also plays a big role.

vtec26

have you thought about Avon tires? They're new to the US scene and are a bargain compared to others in its performance class.

vraa

I used to have Avid's before my Dunlops. They wore out too fast for me.
Oh our G500, it runs Yoko Geo's all the time and those also wear out very fast.

However, I love their prices, and the Yoko tread is beautiful.