michael61

Returning from our latest driving adventure (a week in south Florida), we were driving through Atlanta and hit a big pothole.

We blew out both the right tires. Here's a photo:
https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...1&d=1394983824

So we called MB roadside service and they sent a tow truck. They took us to a nearby MB dealer (less than 5 miles away from the blowout), but of course this was late Saturday afternoon and the service people had all gone home already - not to return until Monday morning.

The sales people were still there and actually very helpful. I called around, but no local tire stores had the E250 tires I needed. So we left the car at MB and will return Monday morning to deal with it. (we get to hang around Atlanta for a cool rainy Sunday...)

Anyway, we'd like to get our new tires and be on our way home ASAP.

I expect we'll buy tires from this dealer from what they have on hand or can easily get Monday. Obviously I'm not going to order anything, we need to get home to Ohio.

I was pondering my options and thought I'd ask for advice here...

The tires we have/had are the original 17" Bridgestone Turenza 245/45 R17 95H. We've driven about 15K miles on them. The rims look OK to me, but I'll have the service people inspect them.

Option 1. Buy two new of the exact same tires I have on the car. That would give me existing semi worn tires to, say, put on the front, and use the new ones on the back. I don't know. Seems four matched tires would be better?

Option 2. Buy four new tires, same as we have. So four matching tires.

Options 3. Buy non-run flats. I've been thinking of doing this when the existing tires wore out. I'm OK with the risk of a flat - RF's didn't help me with these blowouts ;-) and I'm really hoping to get quieter tires. The existing tires are OK one most pavements, but REALLY loud on other pavement.

I'm not pushing the performance envelope (no more autobahn driving for this car), I just want good handling tires that are quiet.

So if anyone has advice (I know it's worth every penny I pay for it!) I'd love to hear it by Monday morning.

Much thanks.

douwe22

Get the Michelin pilot super sports , specially if your not driving in the winter, (non run-flat tire) they have good mileage rating and handle well and are not noisy! may be a few more dollars but worth every penny, I have them on my x5 and will be getting them for my c63 in the next couple of weeks.

imaphaetonguy

I've owned at least 5 BMW's that had RF.

The very first mod I did with all of them was replace the RF with better quality (and less expensive) conventional tires.

I'd say get four new conventional tires, and sell the 2 remaining on Craigslist.

You will notice the improvement in noise reduction and ride quality right away.

Arrie

Sorry to hear about your troubles. It's always a pain on the road when it happens.

I understand you have the run flats and obviously they just completely failed. I would not put those again on my car and and I understand they even cost way more than normal tires. What I would do is I would get two tires and install in the rear axle and use the existing semi-worn tires in front or might be better with new tires in front actually.

Then I would get home and take some time and think what to buy when the used tires are worn to the point they need to be replaced.

Also, your car now is at most expensive place to buy the tires from so you might even exercise an option to call some other tire shops to come get your car or call a tow truck to haul it to them but this may not be that much different in cost if you only do two tires and surely would cost you much more time.

If you go with just two and drive until the existing run flats are gone and so have time to order tires I recommend to get Nokian Z-line. This is an excellent summer tire with very low road noise. For the size you mention they cost $147 at TiresByWeb, where I ordered mine from. Shipping is free and depending on the state you live in there is or is not sales tax.

I installed these and they are just awesome tires. Mine are the staggered setup with 245/40-R18 in front and 265/35-R18 rear. Mine cost $180 front and $220 rear.

These are high performance tires for much lower cost than some name brand and outperform most of them. Nokian is not known by the summer tires, which is the reason for lower cost.

Or do you need all season tires? They make those too but I have no experience on those.

KEY08

Happens all the time in any big city where you have too much traffic and pot hole repairs that last a few days at best. Sorry to hear. I'm driving with a recently acquired bubble from a pot hole as well. In any event, you may have bent the rims as well from such a big hit. The inside of the wheel, which is difficult to see, is usually where the problem manifests itself so they need to be checked. Personally I would just replace the 2 tires and put them up front. I would not get all new tires unless you have money to burn and just don't care for the existing tires.

blackbullit

+1

I love my Michelin Pilot Super Sports. They do make in RF as well as conventional forms. May have to order, though, as they are not generally stocked by my local Discount Tire shops. I always have to order (few days wait). Quite durable, tolerating hard impacts from potholes well without any blowouts in my past 38,000 mile of use. Not useful in snow in OH, however, so might consider Michelin Pilot A/S 3, which is a related tire to PSS.

pdjv

Unless you have staggered wheel sizes, get two exact replacements, move the existing left front to the right rear, and put the new tires on the front axle.

hyperion667

condolences: someone already said Michelins, I love them!
quiet and sticky, hope the rest of the trip goes well; it should on
account of a double blow out! Some good luck is coming your way soon


and also: send the bill to the City of Atlanta lol

mikeyle

get michelins, best tires made and not even more expensive than other tires, pilot super sports are great but wear quickly, they just came out with the AS3 which is all season and has been getting great reviews, buy two and replace the other two when they wear down, no need to buy all four no matter what the dealer tells you about different threads creating different road noise, shouldnt be that noticeable in the E

alanme123

michelin super pilot sports.. would totally recommend but they are pricey. I have the continental dws which isnt really much cheaper but they are very good too.

However, if you buy two tires only, i would recommend getting tires of the same pattern as your other two though.

btesar

I replaced the RoF tires on my E350BTC with Conti ExtremeContact DWS. Much better ride, quieter, better handling, lighter, better looking, and on and on.

To protect against a flat due to a nail or so, I bought the Continental ContiComfortKit in the event I needed a quick fix.

BenzV12

Sorry to hear that , I switched to Michelin Primacy all round 245/45/17 and very satisfied .I would say stay away from run flat tires based on my readings at the various forums

Munich77

I would go with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3 or other Michelins. I would also consider looking at the Continental DWS. With 15K miles, it might be easier to just get a new set.

ImInPA

If you are not concerned about absolute full-on performance, a great touring tire is the Falken Azenis PT 722. I recently put a set of these on my S-class and I am amazed over how quiet they are. Much quieter than the Michelins that came on it. Also the Snow and Wet traction is superior. All around a great touring tire. Check the Falken web site. These tires were specifically developed for luxury sedans, and, they even list the E-Class as one of the cars the tire was developed for. A great tire.

justdonating

+1

KEY08

So what was the final outcome OP?

michael61

Much thanks for the feedback! I learned a lot about tires.

After spending two nights in Atlanta we were ready to get back on the road ASAP.

First thing Monday morning I talked to the service guy. They didn't have any of the tires that match the two that blew out. That would have been the cheapest way to be on our way and would return the car to the status quo. But it was not an option without waiting for them to find them and get them sent over.

I asked about buying a complete set a different tire and he mentioned the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3s that were mentioned here a few times. That sounded good.

Well, it turns out they didn't have those either, but did have the Michelin Primacy MXM4 all season tires. OK, I like Michelins - and he could have the car ready by 11 AM and we could be on our way. Make it so.

On the drive home yesterday they seemed "fine". They were definitely quieter - no stretch of pavement on I-75 from Atlanta to Ohio caused the tires to sing like a banshee, so that was good. Milage doesn't seem to affected, though maybe a notch less. I attribute this to the lower tire pressure these had. The old tires came from MB at precisely 36 psi (front) and 38 psi (back) and haven't varied since. These were all around 34 give or take. I'll need to tweak that.

After a quick scan of the reviews of these tires, people seem to think they're pretty good, though not so great in snow. I'll have to see about that.

Again, I much appreciate the feedback. I may end up buying some summer tires for the car - next year ;-)

douwe22

good to hear you were able to get on your way home again, the rims I guess must have been okay, can't really go wrong with Michelins although I don't have any experience with the mxm4!

michael61

Oh yes, the rims were OK. Thank goodness. Maybe the RFs helped there a bit?

They also aligned the wheels. They were way off after hitting the pothole.

The Distronic+ active lane keeping seemed to wander in the lane a little but more than before. Though it was probably my imagination.

mikeyle

the michelin mxm4 fits a lot of smaller wheels, i know for our 18 inch wheels there are no mxm4s that fit, but for my families' honda and toyotas these are our go to tires and theyve been out for a while. The AS3s are michelin's brand new all season tires for cars with bigger wheel sizes.

Munich77

Glad to hear that you are on your way home. As an upside the ride should be slightly better.