Mac Jones 55

Probably not. Unless you hit something like a curb, I don't see it. Maybe your friend hits curbs a lot. I would imagine some people do. If I had sidewall damage from a pothole I would assume it's the RF doing it. This may be incorrect. But ironically, maybe hitting curbs with RF is less likely to result in sidewall damage, sort of a 'reverse' hazard.

So RF are good for nails, but bad for potholes? That story of the MB operator telling the person with the severe sidewall damage to drive the car is troubling.

Streamliner

Answering the OP’s title question, the very first thing I did to our 2019 E450 Wagon, was to dump the run flats and put on a set of my favorite, conventional tires, the Bridgestone QuietTrack series. With 18” wheels, Air Body Control and Acoustic Comfort Pkg., our Luxury Trim Wagon drives like an absolute dream! This vehicle never ventures much further than about 25 miles from our home in Orange County, so we don’t carry a spare. If we were to get a flat, we would just have it flat-bedded to our local tire shop. If you haven’t seen me say this before, we LOVE this wagon!

CaptainE

That’s a nice station wagon Stream.

kingscorpian27

I 2nd that, I have the sedan to that less the airmatic. I too had those exact tires, however MB stated they were causing the car to shimmy. I didn’t buy that and ended up purchasing Michelin tires from them. Love the way my car drives and I won’t use run flat tires if I was paid to use them. I have the 17” rims, Are those 18” rims 8 or 8.5 “ wide. What size tires are you running on them?

makiii

Past couple of weeks have been hunting run flat tires. Have had Firestone/Bridgestone tires on my cars for the past 20+ years, so yesterday went to my local Firestone store, have been going to this store for over 15 years, and talked to the Manager at great lengths on pros and cons of run flats. the car will stay pretty much local but will run up to Philly, DC, Florida and Denver and there are places that are pretty remote. His suggestion based on all that is to stick with run flats, but FIRESTONE will not sell road hazard on run flats.
My issues are:

1. I don't want to buy a spare, have a wagon and it would have to sit in the back & I don't like that,
2. The installed price at the Local MB dealer is more than competitive with all the others, even COSTCO, but they do not offer an all-season Michelin tire, checked other MB dealers and it's the same, and they come with 2-year road hazard included.
3. Car will travel to areas that are remote on the way to Denver.
4. Will not buy Perrelli - personal reasons or Continental - bad experiences 3 times and Hankook do not handle well in rain and SNOW.

Would like to get Michelin Primacy A/S run flats thru my MB dealer, but they say they can't get
Is this true?

hainesr007

Run flats are absolutely horrible and that is why the industry is already moving away from it. Watched a lengthy show on it the other night and BMW and Mercedes Benz both regret move to run flats as well as Corvette and many others. I have a 2017 GLC 300 with the 19" AMG wheels and they came with the pirelli scorpions and they are without a doubt the worst tires have ever seen in my life. The ride is extraordinarily harsh, they provide almost no traction, and systematically 1 by 1 3 of the 4 tires have had the belts shift to the point That the car is so loud when you drive it that you can barely hear each other speak. The other issue is that Mercedes Benz offers no good alternatives. If you go to tire rack all the alternatives get very low ratings and it doesn't make sense to replace the Pirellis with one of these options. By the way, same thing if you go to the Mercedes Benz tire website.Even my Mercedes Benz service adviser, who has been with them for 31 years, recommended that I replace the tires with non run flats, preferably michelin's, And get a 5th tire to toss into the trunk. My girlfriend drives this car and she is never going To change a tire. As long as I have Mercedes Benz and USAA roadside assistance and we live in the DC metro area she will never have to worry. We are now well on our way to achieving the wonderful Mercedes Benz ride we have been accustomed to for decades.

JTK44

Moving away from run flats? I thought just the opposite.

Could you reference the "lengthy show on it the other night and BMW and Mercedes Benz both regret move to run flats as well as Corvette and many others"

Your statements with regards to the ride quality of your GLC 300 with AMG wheels is very, very consistent with other posts: The larger wheels, with the diminished sidewalls is the prime cause of your harsh ride - not the run flats.

shekmark

I have gone from 19in Vredstein Winter tires ( regular) to Michelin AS4 19in ( regular ) and this weekend will put the 20in Pirelli P zero ( P7?)runflats ( OEM) back on and compare how the RFs feel because I really don't recall from last year. I carry a flat repair kit in the trunk. It is a mini compressor and some goo you inject in. ( supposedly TPMS safe) . Our 2020GLC with 20 in AMG runflats rides much more smooth than my E53 with any of the tires.

JTK44

Be careful if you need to use the goo: From many postings and on Youtube, you will need to replace the TPS.

Again the standard tires/wheels are 18": both the 19" and 20" have reduced sidewalls which will adversely affect ride comfort in pursuit of handling.

nas2344

My RFT are worn out after 26k and I’m wondering if I should change to regular tires, Mercedes’ is saying my car is designed for RFT and it’ll mess up the suspension, any truth to this? 245 40R19 size, I’ve got the AMG sport package

Mikey53

False

Streamliner

All of this has to do with how picky, particular and persnickety you are about ride quality. I’m probably right up there with the very worst of the bunch. Ride quality is EXTREMELY important to me. The difference, to me, between run flats & conventional tires is dramatic, but I will admit that run flats have improved over the past several years. Still, wanting the best ride possible, I replaced the RFT on my 2022 S580 with E-ABC and 19” wheels at about 2200 miles. I went with Continental ProContact T2 tires with their ContiSilent noise reducing tech. My car is now “THE” most quiet I have ever been in. I carry a W221 compact spare, jack & tool kit in my trunk.

W213Sal

My W213 came without run flats from the factory (continental tires) 2018 elegance / luxury model rhd Europe. Idk why people think Mercedes only puts on run flats (BMW is more guilty of this) could also be an American thing. But yes if you want non run flats go ahead, I've had no trouble (1 puncture in 4 years on sh***y Irish roads)

The G Man

So your Mercedes does not come with runflats and spare tire?

W213Sal

nope it came with non-run flats and a quick inflate kit, I’ve never used the inflate kit and I’ve only had one puncture and it wasn’t that bad was able to drive leave it overnight, fill it up next morning at the closest garage 500 meters away and take it to my tire guy about 10km away with no problems (didn’t use inflate kit just normal air) idk what phobia people who live in cities have about not having spares, if worse comes to worse I can ring AA guy he will be there in 5 mins with a spare but there is no need

The G Man

If you are limited to the city, then no spare or no runflat is fine. Mercedes is a luxury brand in the US, I do not think the no spare and no runflat thing will go over too well with its customers. We like to take the E on long trips and we like to be prepare for all possible bad scenarios. Many motorist get hurt or die in the US due to being unprepared on long road trips.

W213Sal

idk man Americans have a lot of phobias, my friend here has a Bentley continental even that doesn't have run flats or spare tire. How long does AA/recovery take to get to you? I've had to call one in the Swiss alps about an hour verbier and an hour from Bern and took about 10 mins it was pretty much in the middle of nowhere (broken rim) and had no spare in the rental car (BMW 5 series run flats and no spare). In Ireland it takes max 5-10 mins for AA to arrive. Membership for that is probably a better investment than run flats or a spare since both will f up your mpg, spare will eat up your boot space, and run flats will ruin your ride specially in a country like Ireland where medium sized pot holes are the size of lunar craters

MikeO3

I don't take offence since I am Canadian, but perhaps you need to look at a map of North America and get a feel of the expanse between cities and cellular coverage. Sure, in the city no problem. Broken down in the middle of northern Canada in the bush with snow, bears & nasty bugs is not a pleasant place to be when stranded or in the deserts of the southern USA where you don't see a car for hours or days.

Either way, run flats are not common outside urban areas here and never get stocked as spare so you have to wait perhaps a couple of days to get a part. This forum is full of these stories.

The G Man

Mercedes offer road side assistance here in the US, In urban areas, it takes about an hour for Road side assistance tto arrive. Outside of big cities, much longer.

The_Judge

One theory that I've seen as to why it's "an American thing" is the gas mileage requirements of the U.S. Government — the theory is that by eliminating the spare, the total weight of the car is reduced, which results in a miniscule improvement in MPG. Another possible reason – call it the Nanny State Theory — is that the ability to drive a few miles on a RFT that has suffered a puncture adds a "layer of safety," allowing you to get off the highway and find a repair shop. Personally, I think the poor ride and bad handling issues associated with RFTs trumps both of these reasons.

SmokinJoe

I bought a 12V air compressor and tire plug kit. I'll likely ditch the run-flats when the time comes.
Try to find and buy a jack, I wish I knew I'd kept my old MB jack!

Streamliner

More than likely, MB has a jack & tool kit for your car and it is available in Germany. Try eBay and other online sellers.

JTK44

I am sure they do and it will be nothing but a high quality scissors jack rebranded with the Mercedes logo at triple the price.

Just like battery maintainers/chargers: They are made by CTEK where they cost between $50 and $90 depending on the model and with the Mercedes logo triple the price!

see:
ADDITION:

Upon internet search, actually not triple the price but 10X the price!

https://www.mercedesbenzpartsshop.co...0aAnTEEALw_wcB

Streamliner

Well, to each their own. On eBay, I bought a brand new, genuine MB W221, jack & tool kit, in a nice, heavy, black, vinyl pouch from a supplier in Germany. It was around $150.00 with shipping, as I recall.

The G Man

I have been driving on runflats off and on since BMW introduced them on their lineup about 10 years ago. I did switch out a set of runflats for conventional tires a while ago on one of my BMW 5 series and it made a difference. The earlier runflats ride very rough and takes away handling. The Pirellis on my E are pretty comfortable and handles as well as the conventional Pirellis. Now a days, on US highways, one must be nuts to attempt to pull 0ver on a break down lane and jack up the car, plug it or replace with spare tire. At least I do not see myself doing that, I would rather keep the runflats and be able to drive off the highway exit and find a tire shop. I consider runflats safety features, like most safety features such as seatbelts, one has to give up comfort, These low profile tires holds less air, so it get to low pressure faster, less time to pull over if not on runflats.