madtrader

I’ve been lurking for close to a year now and followed your story closely. It was part of my inspiration to just bite the bullet.

I got the new wagon today and it came with Hankook tires. I’ve never had Hankooks on anything before. I have no idea what to expect. It was about 180 mile drive home and felt pretty good, but it was wet and traffic was pretty bad, so I didn’t get to play.

ua549

I always specify the tire brand on my new car order. If the car arrives with a different brand, the dealer swaps the tires.

2012 merc amg

Interesting.

nycebo

Never thought to do that. Now I will.

jhpmbusa

Good to know and am very interested in your future review, Out of the 1 or 2 people on this forum that have Hankook's - they had good things to say about them. So hope you feel the same!

madtrader

I’ll try to cover that as I post more. I naturally find myself comparing this new wagon to the previous and maybe someone will find that interesting. This is only my 3rd E-Class and 4th Mercedes, so I’m a relative newbie. But maybe I can make up for it with enthusiasm.

2012 merc amg

Ok so here it is. Got the Michelin Primacy 3 tires put on today at the dealer. Yes indeed they are much smoother than the Goodyear Eagle Sport tires that came OEM with the car. I hated to have to change the tires at only 9500 miles as the Goodyear eagle sports still look new and probably would have gone another 30K miles as they are such hard rubber, but at what cost?, a bad ride over bumps and a lot of tire noise. I didn't spend over 70 grand on a car to have it ride harsh. The main issue now is either they have one or both of the front wheels not balanced properly or there's a bad front tire or a bent rim they missed. The car is going back in tomorrow to have this issue fixed. On the highway at over 60 mph the steering wheels jiggles all around, I did not have this issue before but was kinda feeling a slight vibration coming from the rear at over 70 MPH, so perhaps one of the rear rims was not perfect and when they put on the new tires they moved it to the front, I dunno. At any rate I was not happy today at all with the Service I got from Sarasota Mercedes and am realizing these big corporate dealerships are changing their ways and using non mercedes parts and selling their own warrantees and representing them as Mercedes Warrantees which is not a good thing. Times are changing for the worse. As far as the the tires that came off, I will save them in my garage and they will be put back on and given to the dealer when the car is eventually traded in. I stopped by a used tire place and the guy told me he would give me 3 dollars for each tire, new the Goodyears are listed on the internet @ $275.00 each and they are not even 25 percent worn yet. So at least when I sell the car it will have like new tires, not the greatest tires, but like new.

Also I want to add to this post that the loaner car the dealer gave me today which was a 2019 Mercedes E class Sedan had the Pirelli Cinturato P7 Run flat tires and they did infact ride much better than the Goodyear Eagle sports and about as good as the new Michelin Primacy 3 run flats I just purchased. It all makes sense as both the Pirelli tires and the michelin are listed as grand touring tires where as the Goodyear eagle sports tires are listed as a Performance tire. The Goodyears are very stiff. Too stiff. I just could not live with those tires. The Goodyears do have about twice the tire wear rating meaning they would last twice as long, but having a good riding quiet tire is very important to me with this kind of car.

madtrader

I’m a long time fan of Michelin Primacy tires and that’s likely what I will switch to with my next set of tires. I hope to hear more about how these do for you. You put so many miles on them so quickly you’ll have lots of experience before I need to replace mine (unless I wind up hating my Hankooks).

rustybear3

As I stated earlier, I have the Pirelli Cinturato P7 18" RFT tires which have been surprisingly smooth and a comfortable riding rf. However, when the time comes, I'll being switching to conventional Bridgestone Serenity plus, which IMO is probably the smoothest and quietest touring tire to date!

JDPEClassUK

likewise - My Estate came with Hankook in the UK and I really like them. They are whisper quite and very smooth with what seems good grip and wear. Time will tell how long they last but so far so good.

jhpmbusa

Thanks for the update and keep us posted! Very interested in the outcome. Would really help determine if it is in fact a RFT issue or its the suspension/transmission from the factory (which i think plays a role vs the last gen models),

baadmon

I don't know what it is with the Goodyear tires. I bought my 17 E300 with about 7,000 miles on it and just do typical driving. Ultimately, the tires are extremely loud and have worn incredibly. As far as the dealer assisting with the purchase of tires - I guess you can say they have in some aspect as they an incredible sale going on for tires with inclusive installation.

2012 merc amg

I'll get a real true picture of how much better the michelin tires are once I get my car back. It's back at the dealer, turns out my car had two bent rims which I think were on the rear and they moved to the front and then I really felt vibration and one of the new Michelin Tires was out of spec and bad on the road force machine so they are replacing that one. I think one reason perhaps the rims were bent a little was due to those Goodyear Eagle Sport Run Flats being so hard on the sidewall it transmitted everything through the tire to the rim and damaged through a couple rims out of round slightly, and this was all in Florida, good thing I didn't take those tires on the car up to New England where I'm going soon as all four rims would have been bent in short order. The Michelins are much softer and the sidewall and ride so much better so at least that offers the rims a little more protection. From what I did feel of the Michelins at under 50 before the car started vibrating they ride very well, are smooth and quiet. I think I'll really enjoy these tires when I get my car back from the dealer. I just wished they had noticed these issues when they put on the new tires monday, I guess the mechanic was too rushed or something.

2012 merc amg

Got the car back today with the Straightened out rims and the replaced defective Primacy 3 run flat tire. The car rides amazing and zero tire noise, a real joy to drive now. Zero vibration. You don't feel all the little cracks in the road like I did with the Goodyears. Obviously this is a much softer rubber compound and these tires are not cheap and with a wear rating of 240 vs 560 on the goodyears I'll probably be lucky to get 25 to 30K miles out of these tires. But thats ok as I just could not live with the harshness of the Goodyear Eagle Sport tires. Those are classified as a Ultra high Performance tire vs the Primacy 3 is classified as a grand touring tire. Still not sure what Benz was thinking putting the Eagle Sport tires on this car. I'm not going to try to get them to pay anything towards these as I know thats a pipe dream, they will simply say it was my election, there were the OEM tire which our engineers deemed best for your car or something to that extent depending on how creative their customer service rep can be. I feel since these Michelins are so much softer and absorb the bumps so much better this should make me less likely to get anymore bent rims unless it's a really big pothole in which case the tire will probably be toast too.

madtrader

Keep us updated as you rack up the miles. I figured I would go with non run flat Primacy’s when my Hankook’s wear out, but I may keep run flats if your reports remain positive.

jl199986

Watching this myself. Just put back on the OEM wheels and ContiProContactSS RFT's a couple weeks back. Was so much happier with 18" Michelin XIce nonRon Flats. Will continue to watch your Primacy thoughts.

I think in the 3-4 weeks I had the car in Dec. before I put to the winter wheels on I hit a pothole that bruised the RFT. No signs on the rims or tires. I just washed them and inspected them off the car well. There's a vibration, but only noticeable on smooth highways. The rest of the time it's just a crummy ride. Stiff on rough pavement, but too soft of a suspension (for me) on the turns. Maybe I just need an AMG and slap some 18" wheels on it. Although I mostly blame the run flats (understanding their upsides too.)

I'll be due for service at Viti soon enough. Have about 6.5k on the car now. I didn't get their tire and wheel package- but maybe there's something they or Conti can do on a new Contis.

Otherwise, my fall back is Tire Rack. $1500 got me a 1st class winter setup. I'll just do that for the summers.

haibieb

I have the Goodyear Eagle Sport RFT on the 2019 CLS. Fist time with this type of tires. Overall, I have no issues with them knowing the level of performance the tires have displayed on rain surfaces here in South Florida and overall handling characteristics. I do switch from S+ sport handling to S occasionally and you can tell the slight difference in the ride. My wife prefers the C ( Comfort) setting when she is in the car. My previous E400 convertible had Michelins and our prior MB's had Continental and Pirelli's which while providing a soft ride, the durability was not there. It boils down as to your preference.