BM2BZ

how's everybody? usually not a good thing to see a new thread from a member who hasn't posted for a while. yes, something happened on fri night.

long story short, nothing serious. just got a flat. first had the red warning at the dash and showed only 29 psi. i put some air, 38, in and it kept dropping to 36, 34, 32... i knew something must be very wrong. took everything home from the trunk and back to the car in less then 15 minutes. 17 psi !!! everybody was closed on fri night. no choice but put the spare on with a severe migraine . the spare needs 60 psi but only has 40 psi. put more air in with my little tire inflator. i guess 20 psi is too much for that little thing to handle and smoke came out . i, luckily, managed to have at least 58-59 psi by the time that crappy thing died on me .

went to sam's club yesterday evening and they were very busy. the guy was nice enough to at least look at my tire but he said it's hard to tell w/o a detail/better look since there was no nail. well, not a good sign.

went there again this morning, dropped off just the tire and they called me back in couple hours with...bad news, of course . cracked sidewall and a bubble. unfixable .

so my question is as title, has anyone used the tire and wheel insurance? i couldn't find my paperwork and couldn't get much info from their website. now here is the list of my questions:

1) do i go to the dealer directly or have to call the "insurance" company?
2) if i have to deal with the insurance company directly, do they assign me to a place to change my tire and repair my wheel (minor scrape mark on the same wheel) or i can have the dealer do everything and the dealer bill them?
3) what is my chance of getting this covered by them?
4) even if the insurance covered, i still need to buy another one. my stock tire is pirelli p zero nero a/s...i think (too lazy to check ). i don't really care much about these tires. but i guess i can't have them change to whatever i like to a similar price, right?
5) if the insurance not covered, any recommendations? just need the front two, the back two still look good (staggered). want to go with all season. reviews of continental purecontact with ecoplus technology from tirerack is very good and very reasonable price, too. what do you guys think? i prefer something quiet over ultra performance.

here are a few things i've noticed over the last couple of days with my spare on:

1) press the "hold" is much easier.
2) the ride is much quieter .
3) check the tool tray inside the trunk, it'll create noises if not tighten.
4) tpm sensor missing message only showed up this morning and only once.
5) both the side bolster and massage function on my multi-contour seat were not working but worked again from this morning .
6) the spare looks fugly with all the yellow warning stickers and i was a bit embarrassed to drive with that but no one cares to look on the street .

well, i think my "long story short" isn't that short. thanks for reading and hope to bring some good news tomorrow. wish me luck .

ddeliber

The wheel and tire package from MB is really pretty good. Dealer did it all for me, plus unlimited cosmetic wheel repair comes with it so they cleaned up a ding on a difft wheel as well. 0 cost, in out same day no pain. They will probably replace the tire no questions asked, (as long as it has 2 or 3/32 of tread left). Not sure about the other side though. Honestly, if they don't want to do anything about the other side get a price from them first because often it is almost double what you'd pay at Sams or TireRack on the exact same tire (with mounting and balancing). This is of course if you have the time or the desire to save a couple hundred on a tire (you will be fine driving for a couple days on a new/old right/left). But then again a simple "come on, I just priced these tires at x, you have got to be able to do better than that" might actually get you pretty close.

From what I have read the conti-purecontacts are quite good. I believe they are a bit louder than the Conti-pro's that come stock on many E's (not sure about 550 sports though) but provide MUCH better wet/light snot traction and steering response. No where near as mushy but not harsh.

BM2BZ

that is definitely a good service from your dealer, ddeliber, and i wish i'll have the same from mine.

i'm not sure how much of the tread left on the tire but it still looks ok. hopefully more than 2 or 3/32.

i did check the pirelli on my car and the dealer is only asking $25 more than sam's installed. and i have the 10% off savings card from them so the price is actually couple dollars less. but now i just hope they can let me choose whatever i want, even paying the price difference.

BenzV12

As much as it's good to see a post from you, I equivalently feel sorry about what happened to your beloved car's tire
Anyway, I can recommend you Michelin Primacy ,your wheels are staggered that's out of my comfort level but I switched to Michelin after Continentals and very satisfied .
Hopefully , things are getting on your way as you wish

BM2BZ

thank you, benzv12 . i just wish my dealer could take care of this without me doing all the dirty works. everything else is, well, a bonus for me .

ChuckinTucson

Have the tire/wheel insurance on my ML and have used it twice, no questions asked. I believe the cut-off for wear is 3/32. I have the Continental Conti-tracts and got about 32,000 miles on the front tires. The rear tires have been replaced with the insurance. The SA was saying that 32,000 on those tires on an ML was exceptional as most ppl are getting around 20,000 out of them.

BM2BZ

wait a minute, that insurance covers normal wear and tear on tires, too ?

just an update, the service advisor i normally go to is out sick today. will get more details tomorrow.

noka

I have purchased policies from the dealer before, both MB and BMW. I'm not getting one next time. I don't find them worth it unless you get into a lot of accidents that ruin wheels, or otherwise curb your wheels often. If you are set on it, you might check if it has a cancellation clause. My previous MB policy did not and I lost when I traded it before it expired. I just cancelled my current BMW policy and expect to get about half back, since they do refund the difference (minus a $40 fee). On balance, it's just insurance, so whether it is worth it or not is really a crapshoot. One thing for certain is that the companies selling it will not lose anything on average.