I think I paid around $1700 for 5 years 70,000 miles. If over the next five years I need to replace at least one wheel and one tire, it will have paid for itself.

I have the 19" AMG wheels and while I don't know the exact cost for a replacement, I'm willing to bet if I need to buy one from my MB dealer, it will cost over $1,000. My Pirelli Cinturato RFT tires cost over $300/tire. These things are pricey for sure. I'm not saying you should get the insurance, but for me, having once had to replace a wheel and tire on a new Benz, and not having the insurance was enough to ensure I never go without it again.

I have the 18 inch all season wheels, so I think I'm a little safer in that respect. I too have the Pirelli's and was ready to bite the bullet to switch them out to the Bridgestone serenity plus on delivery; but so far they run very smooth. RF's are notoriously harsh riding tires, and as others have noted, are prone to bubbles, tire separation and blowouts.

Of all the options made available, you would think we'd get to pick out our own tires. Such a major component. Sure miss having the spare.

Actually, I do believe you can specify brand of tire when you order a Benz. They primarily use Michelin, Continental or Pirelli. I've had all three, but was happiest with the Pirelli's on a couple other MB cars I've owned. I was pleased to see my E450 came with the Pirelli's though. If memory serves, UA59 commented he specified the Pirelli's on his build when he ordered his car. At least I think I remember he said that in a post somewhere?

When I ordered my car, I was told the only options I had were choosing "summer" versus "all season" tires and wheels....that I couldn't choose which brand of tire; that they put on what was handy at the time of manufacture. I would really like to choose standard tires as an option; specifically those "serenity" tires I mentioned previously. But of course, that is a no go in today's cars; really bs IMO.

There's often inconsistency from one dealer to the next. I do hope UA59 sees this and either confirms or sets straight my memory of him specifying Pirelli's on his build. I wouldn't personally run around in standard tires unless I had a spare in my trunk. Since we don't have a place to store a spare, I'll stick with the RFT's, which IMHO, are just fine in terms of comfort and smoothness.

WTF!!!

Depends on the tire and rim. The price of rims go down as the car ages and you can find them in the aftermarket. Also rims can be repaired. For me, they're around $115 a rim to bend back. It was an additional $60 if they needed to be welded like in the picture. Run flat tires are typically more money, probably in the $300 range depending on the size of the tire and brand. A set of tires at Costco would probably be in the $1100-$1200 range mount and balanced and they would come with a 5 year road hazard warranty. For my W211, I was able to find a refurbed OEM rim for about $150 on eBay, they were more like $200-$250 for my W212. New, they can easily list for $1000 or more per rim, you can usually get 20-30% off list price online. When the car is brand new, it's unlikely you'll find one on eBay or at a junkyard. But you could also bend it back or get it fixed for what I mentioned above. Of course depending on the crack, it's possible that it can't be repaired by welding.

Two observations:

All of these bent wheels appear to share a common theme and it is that they are all 19 and 20 inch in diameter. They look great but don't appear to weather lackluster roads well.

Second, I'm appalled at how easily run flat tires seem to blow out their sidewalls. Their reinforcement for 0psi driving leaves them open to catastrophic damage from those previously mentioned lackluster roads. They are not ready for prime time and it's why I'm swapping to regular tires tomorrow. I'll report on the ride quality difference in another thread.

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I specified Pirelli tires, but I was not able to specify non run-flat tires. I do not know if the car was assembled with Pirelli tires or the dealer installed them before delivery. Either way, I got what was specified. This car is driven very few miles so I may sell the E300 before it needs tire replacements in 4 to 6 years.

Thanks for confirming my feeble memory didn't fail me and you did indeed specify Pirelli tires on your car!

He specified Pirelli tires, but doesn't know if they were put on by the manufacturer or the dealer. My guess he got lucky and MB built his car with them. I checked with all 3 local MB dealers prior to buying my car, and they all confirmed that you really can't specify what brand tire you want; that the manufacturer puts on what the have on hand at point of manufacture. They can request for you, but that's mostly just to appease you; "asking ain't getting."

All low profile tires have the same problem. I have bent wheels on 17 and 18 inch rims and the 17 had 45 series tires. Probably 50 or 60 and up needed to prevent bent rims and blown out tires, but for some reason people think it's cool to have baloney skin tires and the manufacturers are just giving what the people what until they realize the cost is too many bent and blown out tires. This is a problem that doesn't need to exist.

People, me included, want their road cars to look like race cars. It took a lot of contemplation for me to be a bit more pragmatic and take the 18s over the cooler looking 19s. Threads like this one remind me of my good logic. But I feel for the OP.

I did not "get lucky" because the tire brand was part of the purchase contract. Without the Pirelli tires I would have refused delivery. I previously refused delivery of a '16 E400 because the entertainment system was not the one I ordered (factory substituted).

ua549, I would hate to be on European delivery and have that issue come up with a factory substitution

Very interesting. Well, the long and short of it is I'm tired into being forced into rf tires after paying big money for an upscaled vehicle. They're prone to more blowouts, rougher rides, bubbles and tire separations than regular tires. Miss having a spare and rf's are expensive to replace to boot. We'll see how these Pirelli work out....I've never had rf's that didn't all fail me eventually in such short periods of time.

Before heading to pick up an ED vehicle your local dealer will have the "as built" details, but you may have paid in full already.

Totally agree, I've had runflats on several of my last Vette's and changing to a non run flat was incredible. I do get a little nervous going very long distances without a spare, but a plug and compressor are better than nothing.

Indeed! They are better than run-flats themselves.

Those rims are everything!!!