FCO

Living in Denver, I know the snow will be coming to the Mountains soon and Denver shortly after. According to the Operator's Manual the following is needed:

Rims - 8.5 J x 19 H2
Winter Tires - 265/55 R19 109H

I have tried Luke at TireRack, he can't help till he gets his hands on a GL550.

From my research, for rims I have to go to Mercedes, they are almost $500/rim. I also need to buy TPMS (tire pressure monitoring), these run about $560/set of 4. The only winter tire that I can find is a Dunlop Grandtrek M3. No one seems to have them in stock, Discount Tire is checking with Dunlop as I write this posting. Prices for the tires is about $300/tire.

So I am looking at about $3,760 for winter. There has to be a better solution!

Any suggestions/recommendations would be appreciated. Don't want to be caught unprepared.

Nevada Jack

You may want to contact Stumblefoot by PM on this. He is a forum member and also lives near Denver and has a similar concern. Good luck on your search.

oknish

I will trade you my 18 wheels with TPMS for your 550's wheels and TPMS All you pay is shipping

FCO

What a DEAL! Hard decision ..., but NO! I like my 21" Wheels, I just don't think they will work in the snow very well. Thanks for the offer.

lkchris

Lots of 18 in wheels for sale on eBay.

More tire choices in 265/60-18.

carluver

I recently bought a set of 18" original MB wheels for my GL off of ebay, paid around $400 for the set including delivery. I then purchased a set of TOYO winters for around $1200. So my wife is now set for winter for around $1600. I didn't need TPMS.

Good luck

firstgl

Are we all concluding that the current 21" tires are not going to be snow friendly and/or that no decent snow tires exist for 21" wheels?

tm4exc

Why don't you check with Conti on your tires and their application. MB was supposed to fit them with all season tires, same as the 450 and you have one of the best all wheel drive systems on any vehicle. With their large 295 width patch you should be just fine and have more tire area than smaller tires which should actually will improve grip (less psi to the ground) on soft snow and improve your contact area on black ice. Just make sure they were the all season contis.

jhcicco

On snow you want more PSI to dig into the snow; less PSI will allow the tires to ride on the snow and not grip it. An aggressive tire thread would help alleviate this problem. On ice you want a bigger foot print, so the wider tire is better which is why the rubber compound is important. A softer compound will help grip the ice, but wears out too soon on the concrete or asphalt. Buying tires the right tire is not an easy task; you have to decide what is important to you and make trade-offs.

Ollies

Carluver, can you explain why you did not need TPMS. I too am in Alberta, and I bought an extra set of 18' MB wheels for winter tires. Do you just ignore the TPMS light or does it work with the rotational speed of the wheels, as described in previous posts?
Thanks
Ollies

dsunnym1

I found these for your consideration


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...spagenameZWDVW


or

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4-MER...spagenameZWDVW

carluver

My GL does not have the TPMS option, it only senses if the tires are low but doesn't indicate the actual pressure. I am not certain how this works but the dealer indicated that if the valve stems were not steel there is no TPMS. Haven't yet installed the wheels so I am hoping I have been given the correct information and everything works OK.

flyingphish

what it really comes down to is this.

i went to college in boulder, co...great state. they could care less what you drive around on. people run around in the summer with studs. its silly. then i see cadillacs and buicks with white walls charging up highway 70 chainless on snow pack on their merry way to Vail, etc...

no check points. no nada.

now here in california this is not the case. if its storming on 80 and you want to go to tahoe, you better have M+S rated tires or chains because they will stop you at Applegate and inspect your tires. its a joke really, but then there are so many inexperienced snow drivers around here i dont blame the state (caltrans)...

i saw at least a half dozen hondas with chains only on the rear tires last season...

boxboss

You must have an American spec import, carluver. Canadian spec GL's sense actual pressure and US spec GL's only sense if one or more tires are low (I'm not sure which of these the US 550's have.) Both versions use stem mounted pressure sensors to do this - GL's do not use the rotational method.

Steel valve stems are used to attach the sensor to the rim and to act as an antenna. You could have a steel stem and have no sensor attached, but a steel stem would indicate a sensor. You cannot attach a sensor with a rubber valve stem (in GL's.)

If you do not have a sensor in a tire, you will get a warning light. This will happen with any type of valve stem - as long as the sensor is missing. The GL reads the lack of a sensor as 0 psi and reports the fault. Not having steel valve stems doesn't render the system inoperative.

The GL, every now and then, checks the signals from the sensors to see if the tires are above a preset threshold (that threshold is set when you reset the system in the MFD.) If a sensor is not there, the missing signal will be read as "below the threshold."

Trust me on this - I drove around for a week with a missing sensor and a rubber valve stem in one wheel and for a week had a warning light even though all pressures were fine when checked with a gauge. Resetting the system didn't help either - a missing sensor is seen as 0 pressure and that's a problem.

Good luck.

ReachWest

My 08 GL450 does not have the Canadian version of TPMS either. I was under the impression that it did, but couldn't get it to work, so I called my sales rep and was told that in the 08 models they are no longer installing the individual sensing version of TPMS in the Canadian units. (Apparently due to numerous problems.) Ticked me off - because I was led to believe that I would have the individual PSI readout version.

carluver

I had the wheels installed today and no warning light. System is working just like it came from the factory

boxboss

What type of valve stems do you have? Do you know if your dealer installed sensors? Have you (or did the dealer) reset your system? Perhaps MB is making changes to the Canadian GL's - based on what ReachWest reported and what specifics you have.

carluver

I have rubber valve stems on both sets of wheels. And no the dealer did not install sensors as I had the tires mounted on the rims at a tire shop. I do not know if the sensor was reset as my wife picked up the vehicle but I will find out.

boxboss

Hmmm, very curious.

boxboss

I did a little research and found a few bits of information that may help.

The MB-Canada website says the '08 GL's are equipped with a "Tire Pressure Loss Warning System." Note that this is different from last year's "Tire Pressure Monitoring System" and would explain why ReachWest thought he would get the TPMS and didn't.

The MB-UK online owners manual says the following:

"While the vehicle is in motion, the tyre pressure loss warning system monitors the set tyre pressure using the rotational speed of the wheels. This enables the system to detect significant pressure loss in a tyre."

If carluver's system is functioning correctly with standard air valves and without sensors, it would seem to indicate MB has started using the rotational method of pressure detection, at least in Canada. This could be seen as a step backward - the trend has been to sensors from rotation. The first TPMS systems used rotation detection via the ABS system. This was a quick way to comply with Federal Regs requiring pressure detection. Sensors were developed shortly thereafter as a better method.

Personally, I don't see it as a step backward. Sensors are expensive (on an MB), are pain to swap to different wheels, and a waste if the actual pressure is not shown.