Good day everyone,

I have 2008 GL450 and I have used Continental tires twice already, the ones that came with the car lasted only 18 months and the Continental I replaced after that lasted 14 months. Not so happy about the longevity of these Continental tires I was recommended to switch to Michelin tires. So I order them from Costco with the same specs as the originals (275/55R19 m+s 111h). They cost pretty much about the same but I have been experiencing a lot of vibration in the car specially in the steering wheel going over 60 MPH. At first I thought that Costco probably didn't do a good balacing of the tires, so I took it back to Costco and they have re-balanced them. It seems better now but still vibration which is not normal in my opinion and this is something that didn't happen with Continental tires. I talked to the Costco Tire Department manager and he claims that there is no way there can be a defect in the tires and that my rims might be having dents "but again this vibration problem didn't happen before switching to Michelin using the same exact rims, I explained".

Has anybody else experienced this issue? I have only 6 days left if I want to return them at Costco.

I had similar issue with my Hankooks. Went to couple shops, but still had vibration after 55-60 mph. The solution was - I found a shop, which has Road Force Hunter balancing machine, the same as on a link I attached.

http://www.gsp9700.com/

Try to find a good shop in your area with this machine and balance it there. If it does not disappear - return them if you can. My tires don't have any issues from the time I used this machine.

Good Luck.

Ditto. I had vibration issues when I upsized to 20's and got aftermarket wheels/tires. Our cars are very sensitive to slight imperfections in tires, much moreso than the average SUV (not sure why). Hunter ROADFORCE fixed it. Remember, it's not the regular Hunter machine. It's the Hunter ROADFORCE.

Thank you so much to both of you. I will take my car to a place where they have this machine and I'll keep you posted of the results.

please let me know the results. i have that too.

Don't wait for the results. Just get it done. With how much we already spend on maintenance on these cars, spending another $100-150 on getting your wheels and tires balanced right is a no brainer.

+1....

It actually cost me $20 per tire, so even less than $100.

Road force. A shop without a road force balancer like a hunter dsp machine cannot balance most of the wheels 18" and bigger.

Trust me, Costo is the last and worst place to buy tires and get them balanced properly. I will only take a discount or cheap car to costco or discount tire stores.

You should buy your tires online from tirerack now on and get them road force balanced (200 dollars) at your Mercedes Benz dealer. I do this for all my cars. You are not saving much by wasting time going back to cheap tire stores to get a smoother ride by re-balancing them on those crap machines they have. They hardly do the task properly and never calibrate them routinely. They have no clue about road force balancing. There are alot of great independent auto places that have hunter road force machines. You might have 1 or 2 out of round tires (greater than 16 lbs of road force that will vibrate your SUV) no matter how well they are dynamically balanced. I get at least 1-2 defect tires out of every 8 tires I get for my car during change overs.

I have posted for over 5 years now, and guess what:

"Friends don't let friends buy Michelins"

Sorry to hear your troubles, but take it for what its worth.

Seriously: They did a **** poor balance job. As far as the raod force balance?

I put it right up there with a nitrogen fill, IMHO.

Just cause you pay more does NOT mean you get more.

Good luck, and I would return them and get a better cheaper tire, IMHO

Big fan of Michelins here. Yes they are more expensive but offer top performance. Of course you can get similar from other brands that may be cheaper. IMO Michelins typically are quiter. The OP needs to go back to Costco and exchange one tire at a time and test drive the car until the bad tire is found. I ve heard the "there is no way the tires are bad speech myself and I ve proved them wrong". Just because the tire manufacturers have a quality control system in place that doesn't mean they catch 100% of the defects. Same for the installers although in this case they rebalanced the tires already.

... Or go for a ride and at 65 observe if shake is in the butt or in the hands- butt- rear tires, hands- front tires. Then ever so gently steer to the left and see if shake increases- if it does- it is right side tire, steer to the right- if shake increases- it is left tire

And road force is absolutely, 100% essential for proper balance.

Sorry for the late reply guys.

So, I took the car to the dealer and for $55 they fixed the problem by balancing the tires (all 4) with the right machine, Hunter ROADFORCE as recommended. They are not as smooth as continental but I have been noticing that they are going to have a longer live already.

Anybody look into the Pirelli Scorpion Zero? I have the Conti and they are done after 25K. I am half through my lease and not worried about wear, but rather price/quality

I recently put Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Seasons on my 09 GL 450. So far I'm very pleased. Not as soft and forgiving as the Michelin Latitude Sports that I use for summer driving, but very good ride, great grip in all conditions including the snow we've had thus far, and excellent directional stability in highway driving. Can't comment on wear yet, but they've got a 600 rating so I'm hoping for good wear. Sure beats the Michelins at 220. So far, I'd say they're great tires.

I am also looking for tires and noticed the Pirelli Scorpion Verde on Tire Rack. The price is very attractive! I currently have the OEM Michelin Run-Flats on my 2011 GL450 which I hate with a passion. How is the road noise with the Pirellis? Are they fairly quiet? According to Tire Rack I don't have any other options for all weather tires in that size 275/50R20, only the Pirelli's. The other two offerings for SUVs are summer tires. I may give the Pirelli's a shot.

You better try 285/50R20. It perfectly fits, much more and cheaper choices.

I ran into the same problem; not many choices in the 275/50R20 size. So far I am very happy with the Pirellis. They are quiet. Tire Rack did a comparison test with Continentals and Goodyears I believe. The video is on their website. Very good test report and great reviews by users. I recommend them.

i paid 250 and get the roadforce done(with hunters roadforce), the vibration is gone. normall balancing at the shops willl not help, go roadforce it.