Tire Poll
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Newbie
Joined: Dec 2011
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2009 Mercedes GL550
Tire Poll
For everyone who has factory 21" rims for the GL550 anyone have tips on the best tires of the two choices we have? I'm in Arkansas and we have icy, snowy weather a few times in the winter and being in the medical field snow days don't exist!
Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 117
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From: Maryland
19 E63S Wagon
If you are going to deal with having to get in at all costs I would go and get some 265/55 R19 109H M+S rated tires and mount them on some 8.5x19 rims and be done with it.
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 626
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From: Austin, TX
14 GL550; 14 E63s
Definitely not the stock contis. Mercedes claims they are all-season, but that doesn't seem to be the case based on people's experience at least on this forum.
Getting a winter setup makes sense if you encounter snow and ice frequently. If you don't and you are concerned, like the other poster said, go with a different size rim, either 19,20 or 22. The savings alone when it comes time to replace the tires will pay for the rims in the long run. I just replaced two contis and it was 1100 bucks installed from tirerack.
305/40/22 gives you more options, but it throws the speedometer off. And there are a bunch of options in 19 and 20. But 19's on a 550 don't quite achieve the look I imagine you were going for when you purchased the vehicle.
Getting a winter setup makes sense if you encounter snow and ice frequently. If you don't and you are concerned, like the other poster said, go with a different size rim, either 19,20 or 22. The savings alone when it comes time to replace the tires will pay for the rims in the long run. I just replaced two contis and it was 1100 bucks installed from tirerack.
305/40/22 gives you more options, but it throws the speedometer off. And there are a bunch of options in 19 and 20. But 19's on a 550 don't quite achieve the look I imagine you were going for when you purchased the vehicle.
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Joined: Dec 2011
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2009 Mercedes GL550
I'm in Arkansas and we probably have snow or ice maybe 5 times a year to the point where its difficult to drive (I.e., before the highway department gets a hold of it) so I contemplated maybe getting snow chains or something like that but I've heard complaints about both tires wearing down quickly and I hate to facilitate that by putting harsh snow chains on them. So I'm not sure if going to the trouble of buying and messing with new rims and tires for a few hazardous driving conditions is a good move for me but if the tires that are available for that rim are that terrible I guess it's something I'd need to consider.
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 117
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From: Maryland
19 E63S Wagon
If you are only worried about 4-5 times a year where it might get real bad I would say stick with the Pirellis and if they don't seem to be enough to handle any situation you encounter then ask that they have someone with a serious 4x4 come pick you up. Up here in MD they put requests out on the radio for folks to contact the local hospitals if they have a 4x4 and are willing to bring people into work when the roads are bad.
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