xolinlevh

So im a TOTAL tire newb. I dont know anything about the sizings, brands, styles, whatever. Right now I'm running on the stock 18"s i think, AMG rims and pirelli all seasons (or whatever the car came with...). But as winter is coming, and in Minnesota theres always snow and ice to deal with, ive been thinking about getting some new tires for the winter.

All i know about winter tires is that blizzaks are supposed to be the best? Should i just grab a set of them, 18" and have my dealer just swap them on? or should i get something else?

help!

PS, also thinking of replacing the all seasons then with some dedicated summer tires, had my eyes on a set of Potenza RE-11, 18 or 19s? maybe on new rims?

mikemargolis

There have been a few threads on this subject.

Seems there have been plenty of popped tires and broken or dented rims from potholes with the 18's.

You can get four 17" wheels/Blizzaks/tpms from tirerack for about $1500.

I'll be doing that shortly.

xolinlevh

I read through em but i dont understand any of the sizing so thought id ask for soem help in layman terms ^_^ Tirerack was where i was looking, wasnt sure if i should go for 18s on the current rims, or buy a whole new set of rims also

W210

I simply put on the new Michelin Pilot Alpin 4 245/40R18 from TireRack on the stock 18" AMG wheels, planning to get another set of wheels or go with Pilot Super Sports for the same size when summer comes.

printemps2001

+1
I run Pilot Alpins and Pilot SuperSports on my 911. I'll be running the same combo on the E550 when it arrives next week.

Remember, if you are used to no-seasons, any quality winter tire is going to be such an improvement there is little use in fretting over the little differences between brands. For your summer shoes, stick with Pilot Super Sports. I've run Advans, Potenzas and PS2s, and the SuperSports rock them all. Of course, the PS2s are superb in every way, but the SuperSports are better and cost less.
And make sure you buy the narrowest winter tire specified for your wheel size. Ask your salesman to look it up. Less contact area it better in the snow.

hyperion667

the place you buy your tires should be quite knowing in tire details......
It amazes me sometime what I overhear while I'm at Discount Tire.....the guys there
have some serious info tucked in their heads.....
despite the name of the place, it's very good.....

telemakhos

If I were you, my first choice in wheels would be the OEM 17" wheels that come with certain trim levels of the car. Check with your dealer to make sure that they will fit. (I don't know if the AMG versions of the car, for example, can not take the 17" wheel).

Next finding a winter tire. You don't need a high speed capable tire - there is ice and snow! If you read various consumer magazines and tire reviews, the Michelin X-Ice is a perennial top performer. Michelin recently came out with the third iteration of the tire.

Different people have their favourites, including Toyo Observe, Bridgestone Blizzaks, Goodyear Ultragrips and Nokian Hakkapeliitta R. As another poster said you will do well enough with any of these.

I would advise against swapping your tires on and off the same rims. You will need to re-balance them each time. The other argument against it is that you will have more choice in winter tires with the 17" wheel. There aren't that many at 245/40/18 which is probably your summer setup. The 17" winter tires will be cheaper too than 18".

Lastly, my car does not have on-the-rim tire pressure sensors. It just uses the ABS hardware (as far as I know) to detect if one wheel is rotating and a different RPM than the other tires to notify you that one tire may be low on air.

Your car may be different.

printemps2001

I respectfully disagree. While the X-Ice is a great tire (I run them on my Outback), the Merc is a high speed car and needs high speed rubber. Winter tires are not just for snow and ice but for cold conditions in general. When the temp dips into the 30s the performance (i.e. braking distance) of summer rubber starts to degrade. Less so for all seasons, but they are just a compromise in all conditions and are generally useless IMO. Regardless, there will be plenty of dry pavement high speed driving once the roads are cleared so high performance winter shoes are a must.

W210

I think it depends a lot on how the driver uses the car. For those of us who drive fairly aggressively pushing the limit of the car in cold weather, higher performance winter tires do pay back.

I find the PA4 just as good as the stock ContiProContact in warm weather, shows how useless the OEM tires are.

telemakhos

I suppose that depends on just how fast you plan to drive in cold weather. I completely agree that you need winter rubber for cold conditions as summer rubber becomes very hard and thus lacks grips. For my purposes I don't need H rated (or V rated!) winter tires. I use Nokian Hakka R tires with an R speed rating = 106 mph. I stay well below that speed in cold weather and have no issues.

Out of curiosity I took a peek at Michelin's website for their X-Ice 3 tire specs and they are available with an H speed rating = 130 mph.
http://www.michelin.ca/tire-selector...techspec_table

Spring 2001 = end of my first winter in a Merc

Nuru

and I thought it was because I have a newbie E-class driver

I got one wheel dented and replaced all four tires with a great set I got off of e-bay. However, I am really considering going with another set of wheels and tires for the winter months. Seems to be a good idea to save bucks by purchasing tires that are not quite as high performance as one normally would when thinking of replacing the stock tires.

Dc88

Before ruling out OEM, check the sale prices in your area with the dealer.

I was surprised to see that OEM rims was just a bit more expensive than aftermarket rims from China or wherever they are made. OEM looks better plus there is no need for spacers.

Also the 18s costs LESS than the 17s.

If the price differential is not too great, go OEM rims.

ImInPA

I went with Michelin X-Ice on 17" rims for winter tires. I have been very pleased with them. I purchased at Tire Rack and it was around $1500 mounted on Elbrus Rims with TPMS included. They are simply amazing in the snow.

mikemargolis

So I called my dealer, and they told me "we're way too high, go with tirerack."

When I pushed them, they were $4500 for four 17" OEM wheels, Blizzaks and TPMS.

Tirerack is $1500 for no-name rims, $2000 with BBS.

WOW, that's quite a difference.

telemakhos

I say go to another dealer. That quote of $4500 doesn't make any sense unless I am underestimating the TMPS. I know that the stock 18" thick 5 spoke alloys are around $350 in Canada. The tires can't be more than around $250.00 each. That would be $2400 for 4 wheels & tires.

myzmak

The issue is that there are two types of 'winter tires'.

"Winter Performance" have a slightly harder compound and more rounded corners, which makes them superior for dry/wet roads (where I live, in Calgary, a lot of our winter is like that. I rarely drive on packed snow/ice).

'Studless Snow and Ice' tires have a softer compound (which helps as temperature drops) and square corners (which helps in deeper snow).

So you should think about (a) how aggressively you will drive in winter; and (b) what sort of surface you drive on. The more often you are on snow and ice, the more you should look at studless tires (like the Michelin X Ice)

Tirerack has a good survey/summary page:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...sp?type=W&VT=C

ttoE550

Just to add $0.02. Another advantage to having a dedicated set of rims for winter tires is the relative ease of swapping back and forth if needed. When I lived in Boston, there was always the odd week of 75 degree days in the middle of winter or the sudden return of winter in the budding Spring. Driving on winter tires at temps above 50 or so is like driving on jello.

ImInPA

I went with a set of Michelin X-Ice on a set of Elbrus rims and TPMS sensors from Tire Rack. It was around $1500 +/-. They are great snow tires. Blizzaks are great when they are new, but, the grippy tread compound does not last very long (my only complaint with them).

MinnBobber

.................................................. .................
X2 that MB wheels and TPMS are too pricey.
I priced out the MB OEM 17" 7 spoke wheels and they were
about $1800.
For grins, the 18" AMG 5 twin-spoke style rims were $1000 each.
The MB TPMS were $600 for four.

Too pricey so bought different rims

telemakhos

The AMG rims are nice but MB must be pricing them to keep them exclusive.

Dc88

I'm guessing this may one one of the rare instances the USA pricing is actually higher than in Canada. The difference in 18 inch rims with OEM vs. knockoffs was $40 each ($160 in total). For some reason the 17 inch rims was a lot more money. I only got rims at Benz and then got tires elsewhere.

BM2BZ

if that's the case, you should start selling oem wheels across the border and make some profits .

W210

That's correct, I just checked with the BC dealer as well, that's before any negotiation..