samkimg

Here in NorCal, I too was driving "exuberently" and hit a pot hole at speed. Developed a slow leak on the inner sidewall that showed via the TPMS 100 miles later with a full car of family in SF. I didn't buy the tire/rim insurance from the dealer so I went to America's Tires, bought a replacement Pirelli and THEY sold me tire insurance for pennies on the tire. BOTH cheaper than MB dealer. Thankfully, the alignment and rims (stock MB 18" sport rims) were OK, but with all of these stories and others on the boards, what else CAN we do?

ngerstman

It's not that I'm blaming Mercedes per say. I do feel strongly that the push toward ever bigger rims to increase profit margins and sell more cars due to cooler look is partly behind this epidemic. My 1986 500sel had 15 inch rims and my 2000 e320 had 16 inch. Dealers should discourage the average driver from getting 18 inch rims, especially on 4matic sedans, in parts of the country when one has moderate to severe winters, if not everywhere. 18 inch rims just have too little rubber and air. I would argue that after 17's the advantages for 99.9% of drivers is non existant. As a matter of fact, it's a detriment as far as comfort and tire and rim integrity. The dealers should be way more upfront about the downside of bigger rims. And as I said, I'm wondering if the airmatic setup(there are no springs) just has less give and travel than a traditional shock/spring arrangement. That would explain all of these blowouts. Regards. Ned.

ImInPA

There really is no mystery to this. It is a simple equation.
Lower profile tires on larger rims = higher probability of wheel/tire damage. It is all in the how the wheel and tire hits the pothole. I have hit potholes that would knock your fillings out with no damage, and then I have hit seemingly minor potholes and bent a rim. All in how the cookie crumbles. In the old days of steel wheels and hub caps and high profile tires, this was not a common occurance. Ah the price of style.

EmE247

Borrowing my bro's 2011 W212 w/ stock 18's while my car is getting some work done and noticed the tires were still pretty low profile for a stock wheel. Usually stock tires have more rubber.

No wonder even people w/ the stockies are having problems with their wheels/tires.

Back in the day, you never had to worry about potholes w/ stock wheels unless the potholes were crater-sized.

mikemargolis

My dealer told me yesterday that 95% of what they sell (in New England mind you) is Sport, and that if I want Luxury, pickings will be slim off the lot.

ngerstman

My sense was that a lot of the e550's were sport and that it was hard to find a luxury in inventory. There seemed to be many more e350 luxury's around. For whatever reason, the sport "upgrade" is no additional cost from Mercedes in the e's. Not sure why since bigger rims and bigger tires do cost more. I ended up with the sport because I needed to do the trade and the color and equipment that I wanted wasn't available in a luxury. Regards. Ned.

K-A

This is exactly why I keep saying that MBUSA should CHARGE for the Sport Package, like they used to, and like everyone else does. Not only does it keep the enthusiast dignity, and uniqueness of the Sport appointment alive, but it protects drivers from the harsher suspension, and the damage-friendly bigger wheels. Most E buyers wouldn't pay a penny extra for a Sport Package, proving that most don't care. Let us who care pay extra for the exclusivity, and the fussy pot-hole problems, and the sportier ride.

Tjdehya

I still don’t like the idea of paying extra for nothing but this statement makes so much sense that you are 100% correct with this thought.

K-A

I mean, Sport Packages are there for enthusiasts. "We" will pay more to have a cooler looking version than the Granny next to us, and we'll deal with the problems. The whole effect gets a little diminished when everyone's got the "cool" Package. Although, sure, I'm happy I got it for free, and you are right, in that MBUSA is really doing us a justice, in technicality, by not charging us for vanity or for "exclusivity" here, and just giving us what is free, for free. Although, I do think that the Sport stuff must cost a little more. I.e, bigger and fatter wheels, more aggressive tires, more aggressive suspension components (although, the softer components technically cost the same probably), hooded dials inside, etc.

But yeah, I'll bet most E buyers would obviously take the cooler looking one off the lot, but the Luxury Package wouldn't diminish sales, and it certainly wouldn't make most people pay more for the Sport Package (and those who do, will provide M-B with a profit from the markup), and I'll assume that they will appreciate the softer, and less fussy ride, and the "Pot holes? No problem!" aspect.

ngerstman

I would be one ugly looking granny!! In a strange way, what you say makes a lot of sense. It is certailnly not intuitive to say that it ever makes sense to charge more for something, from the consumer perspective, and initially thought that it was thoughtful of Mercedes for not charging extra for the sport package. But your points are reasonable. Let them charge more for the sport package to discourage the average buyer from making a "vanity mistake" and keep it more exclusive for those who really care and are willing to live with the downside of bigger rims. I like it!! And they should fully disclose to all potential buyers of the sport package the pros and cons, stressing the cons. Regards. Ned.

MCF

It seems to me that either the 18" MB wheel design or the 18" wheels plus the MB sport suspension is not a good combination. Look at all the other cars that come with 18"+ wheels stock and they don't seem to be having the same problems. BMW 3 and 5 series come with 18" and 19" wheels and look at the low profile tires on Porshe's new 5 seater. How come these drivers aren't replacing their wheels every time it rains?

ttoE550

I can't count how many times my wife had to replace tires on her BMW 3 series 18-inchers because of potholes/bumped curbs. I'm guessing 15 tires or so over several years.

Tjdehya

Check the BMW forums... they whine just as much as the guys in this thread. I think the only difference is that most of them know what they are getting into and thus they dont whine on the forums about it as much.

Also BMW owners are better drivers.

K-A

Yup, lots of problems in the same vein from BMW drivers.

It is true that, they buy those cars expecting that sort of thing, and are more willing to deal with it. The E-Class should go back to having the more rarified OPTION to deal with it IMO (which I would choose, BTW).

Mockbam5

I cant believe some guy from Cali told us that he had bad roads. NJ/NY had one of the worst winters. I commute to the city daily and I can tell you we def have the worst roads by far this year! One pothole in cali does not translate to bad roads LOL