I have 70T miles on my GL 550 and I am on my 4th set of tires, Conti & Pirelli
Brakes are next, I am not NOT an aggressive driver. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

Tires are the most frustrating thing about the GL550. I think 20-25k is about average life of those tires. There are so few options in that tire size so we are either stuck just changing tires often, or move to a 20" or 22" rim to get some more options.

 

Yep, I agree. We have a 2010 GL550 and seem to have quite the appetite for tires too. It's my wife's vehicle, I think she should brake a little earlier in traffic (lol) but other than that it's not aggressive at all. Every time we need tires I think about purchasing a new wheel/tire package, but never do.


I switched to the Akebono brake pads several months ago and love them. No dust, no squeaks and better performance than OEM.

 

Agreed. It's almost 2k for 4 tires if you buy the Contis. Aftermarket 22" rims ($1350-1400 at formymercedes.com) and a set of 4 goodyear forteras (760 + shipping from tirerack) makes you at least think about it. Sell the rims for 1k or so and there you go. Plus future tires will be cheaper.