Krixsin

Hi everyone,

I was on the highway in New Jersey last night and had both of my passenger side tires exploded after hitting a pothole. Is there any recourse with my insurance company? I unfortunately did not call the police, just got a tow.

Any suggestions on best course of action? Do I visit a MB dealership to change all 4 tires, or just buy 2 tires and replace them at a local place?



How much does it cost to have it replaced at MB? Is it worth it? I am only concerned that the rim may be damaged, and thus don't want to go to a local tire shop, because if it is cracked, I'd have to tow again back home or MB.


Update 1: Ordered a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+.
Read too much about Continentals having softer/thinner walls leading to easy tears, and given two of mine just exploded in a pothole, went with the Michelin man.

pb39374

I had 2 tires replaced at an MB dealer (18inch on my 2010 e350 sport). About $500 total. Not sure your MB dealer would have your rims in stock in case they need to be replaced. If the damage is minor they could be repaired. I had some dings in 2 of my rims and they repaired and refinished them both for $400 total. They look brand new.

Peachy

Your insurance company might cover your rims if they are damaged, but I don't think they cover tires.

Depending on your situation (directional tires, amount of treadwear, staggered, etc) you might need to replace all four tires.

If you want the least hassle, but at high expense, just take it to an MB dealership, they'll figure it all out for you. If you need new/repaired rims they might give you a loaner while you wait.

If you want to hassle, take off your two wheels, take them somewhere to get them inspected for damage. Get them repaired if need be, get some new tires, put the wheels back on your car. You'll have uneven treadwear though from your driver side to passenger side so you'll have to swap wheels to get them even. If you have staggered setup and your good tires have used decent amount of tread you'll probably just want to replace all four. You could also just take all four wheels off your car and bring them somewhere.

nota_amg

I don't remember if new cars come with road hazard on the tires...I know they come with the factory warranty on the construction, etc, but not sure on the road hazard. Might be worth asking your dealer.
As far as replacing the tires, if your E350 is RWD, then replacing 2 tires is no problem, just put the new ones on the front and old one to the rear. But, if it is 4Matic, you will need to replace all 4 with new, matched tires to avoid damaging the AWD system.



also, not sure where you are located, but I only use Discount Tire here in Texas. They offer a lifetime replacement certificate for a small fee on all the tires they sell, replacing a tire if it ever becomes damaged beyond their ability to repair it and still has legal tread depth left for free, no pro-rating of the tire. then, all you need to do if purchace another certificate on the replacement tire($10-35 each tire, depending on tire pricing). Saved my wallet from hemorrhaging cash many a time.

Doctor Memory

Nope, new tires always go on the rear. Always.

nota_amg

Not always...I follow that adage that for RWD only(although Discount Tire will not put new tires on the back...EVER, and I have to swap them myself if needed), but for FWD and AWD, new tires always go on the front. Always. 😁

blackhorse01

Quote from https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=52
"When tires are replaced in pairs...the new tires should always be installed on the rear axle and the partially worn tires moved to the front."
Cheer

kajtek1

That phobia is cruising around the net with nobody thinking what is happening.
For example
"However, if the front tires have significantly more tread depth than the rear tires, the rear tires will begin to hydroplane and lose traction on wet roads before the fronts."
That statement puts laws of physics on its head and that comes from reputable company. It totally ignores the fact that front tires will plow the water, so rear tires will have not much to hydroplane on.
Years ago I was living in 4-seasons and since that were my first years of driving I bought that BS.
Worse tire on front made them skidding almost each time I pushed brakes in bad weather. Not only braking distance was longer, but I had no control were the car was steering.
Took me 2 days with RWD to figure out worse tires belong on the rear. This way you loose only acceleration, but that doesn't interfere with basic safety.

Alandf

Absolutely correct about needing all four tires if AWD. It has to do with the rotation distance and its effect on the differential that transmits power to the front wheels when needed
Simply stated, all four tires need the same circumference

kajtek1

Another myth.
4 Matic doesn't have any turn sensors on differentials.
They do have ABS sensors on wheel hubs and it is the same system RWD has.

Sleeper Benz

Answer to post question:

Too Much

Agreed with kajtek1, stay within a reasonable diameter difference front to back and no harm - no foul with MB 4-Matic. I would say 1" max. I have run different Mfgs and differently worn tires with no errors and no ill handling effects. Even with staggered AMG wheels. Best advice with 4-Matic would be to change the front & rear axle differentials and transfer case fluids occasionally or at least check the fluid levels once and awhile.

nota_amg

Cool. Coming from Subaru and being one of those people that ruined my center diff because I used the same size tire from 2 different manfacturers(ft/rr), I could hardly find this easy to swallow. But, looks like the system has plenty of "slack" in it after further consideration. Still looking into the center "diff" functionality, really curious what it is and how it works(and if it can be deleted???&#128563. I know it sounds crazy, but when I was a Mercedes tech from 2000-2007 here in South and central TX, I never worked on the drivetrain of a 4matic vehicle.

kajtek1

Forum rule of thumb says the tires can have rpm different by 3%, but I think it is much more.
Lately I was trying to match donut spare for my car and happen to have 2 of them with about 2" difference in diameter.
Bigger donut was from W211, but no idea where the other come from.
So I put 1, than the other and took them for a spin around the block. None of them lighten ESP or traction, even I was making spirited circles.
On older models the first thing that would act with different tires would be CC, who would disengage at 60 mph. but nobody reported tests on W212.
So from 2 spares, I chose the smaller one, even the bigger suppose to be correct size.
Trunk space has its value and I figured out that if I get flat 100 miles from home, I can drive the distance with ESP off using smaller spare.
Now how open differential can get screwed by minimal turn with different tires???? Must be Subaru thing?

ygmn

Reason for worse tires on front is you would rather have blow out up front as easier to handle car then versus rear when at interstate speeds
If tire blows out in rear then car can spin and swap ends; It is less controllable for average driver.
Blowout in front car does not want to swap ends as much and easier to bring to controlled stop.
Thought is older tire more likely to fail first

Old German MB mechanic taught me this one years ago...

kajtek1

Its been over 20 years since last time it happen to me, but any tire blow at 70 mph will also need clean underwear.