Hi all,

Question about run flat tires. I’m looking for a different tire that is a softer ride but won’t lose too much performance. I’m more concerned about a softer ride than driving aggressive or anything. I do have the sport package on my 18 E300 sedan.

curious if either of these tires are good options and if so, which would you all choose? If anyone has either of these tires please let me know your thoughts.

Bridgestone Driveguard Plus….OR….Continental Procontact GX???

additional suggestions welcomed.

thank you everyone for your help. I greatly appreciate it. Have a great weekend.

 

I ditched the run flats on my '18 E300 in favor of Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season 245/45R18. I'm very happy with Pirelli tires and have driven on them since the late 1950's though I also like the Continental Procontact series as well.

 

There have been numerous threads on this subject over the past few years. Search for threads on RFTs; I suggest you start with this one:

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...nary-tale.html

 

Both are good choice if you are staying with runflats. What brand and size tires do you have now?

 

I just replaced the almost new Pirelli P zero run flats (they came with the car) on my E53 wagon with Continental Extremecontact DWS06+. Front right tire had a nasty bulge so it was trashed, and I just couldn’t put up with paying for a replacement that would probably get damaged again anyway as the runflats seem quite prone to pothole damage.

The ride and noise was horrible on the PZ4s; harsh and loud. The Contis have transformed the car and it now feels and sounds like I think it should, ie firm and athletic, comfortable not harsh, and low tire noise.

I know the Contis don’t have the ultimate performance of the PZ4s, but they are a high performance all season so will be more than adequate for my needs and probably better in the spring and late fall when I don’t have the winter tires on.

They don’t feel as sharp in term of initial turn in, but this is not a track car for me and the roads in Southern Ontario are basically all straight, so no fun driving to be done anyway so I may as well be comfortable on our pothole filled roads.

I bought an portable air compressor just in case, but whenever I’ve had tire problems it’s been from road debris close to home, and the car will never really be so far from civilization that a blow out will cause significant inconvenience..

 

Hey Dallasite -
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4 . . . Before taking delivery of a pre-ordered MY23 E450 All Terrain wagon, (Run Flat Conti's) the RF Conti's were swapped for the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4. The wagon's OE size is 235/45/19" on 8 X 19" ET 38 alloys for all 4 wheels... The Pilot Sports have a wear expectation says Michelin of 45K miles. .. I'd say 40K miles is about right given our experience with a 3-car history and the preceding model Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tire..
The former model A/S 3+ Michelins have had excellent rain performance; In Spades.

The newest Pilot Sports A/S 4 has exhibited an "ultra quiet" character at any speed thus far in the wagon. .. In our sports cars, we've tried Pirelli P-zero's, one came through w/Conti's and yet we keep coming back to Michelin's.
.Our tire expectations are like-kind to yours. High quality, Great performance (quiet w/supple ride, superior rain & braking) with respectable wear performance. .. My $.02 cents is a set of Pilot Sport A/S 4 is a home run..
Being in Dallas, TX you might consider a "summer" tire VS the All-Season type tire hype. ..
P.S., The term, All-Season, tire segment is a North American marketing creation. ..

 

The Pirelli is not the best riding runflats out there, on nearly the opposite end, the Conti is one of the best riding tires around. If you had replace a runflat Conti with a conventional Conti of the same model like I have in the pass, the difference is noticeable but not drastic, certainly not enough difference to justify compromising safety. Some of the newer runflats ride almost the same as conventional tires, especially true where conventional tires are low profile tires, 45 aspect ratio or lower, such as the one on your E class. These low profile conventional tires have a very stiff sidewall anyway. I found the Conti conventional tire to have weak sidewalls, had 3 bubbles in probably 3 years in the pass. Good Years are just as likely to get bubbles. In my opinion, Michelin has the best constructed sidewall out of all the brands I have tried.