2011 S550 with Conti DSW's 80% tread, similar issue on wet roads. This is not hydro planning, it is much worse. Don't like it in the rain.

 

Seeing that an older thread has been revived, not sure what part of the country most are in, but the tires play a huge role in the on road behavior of the vehicle. I'm in the northeast and have found that the OEM all season Conti & Dunlop tires on the ML/GLE/GL can get iffy in very wet and snowy weather. My best bet has been summer performance tires, then switching to winter tires. It is amazing how summer tires outshine all-seasons when driving thru standing water in the left lane on the highway.

 

This is on an S550? You may want to post this over on the S series forum, as maybe more relevant than for the GL AWD type vehicles.

Also, are these the new DSWs that came out this year (or older ones).

I've recently driven through some severe rainfall in our GL550 with the newer DSWs and have had no issues - firm and planted.

 

In the last couple months I have also been feeling unsafe driving the GL in wet weather. Felt that it was loosing its grip. I have the 19" Pirelli Verde Plus and have probably driven about 19K on them. Yesterday, I had a dusting of snow and the car lost its grip while driving 15 mph on a residential road. In my opinion I feel these Pirelli tires are crap. They were great to start with but now I have 9/32" threads on my tires and they cant handle wet weather. Putting on Michelin Premier LTXs tomorrow. Hoping that these are better tires and wear better than the Pirellis. Didn't see any long term reviews on them for a GL. Anyone have any long term experience (5-10K+ miles) with them? Good? bad?

 

Please do give us a heads-up on what you think of the Premier LTX. I've used their LTX M/S and LTX M/S2 tires on my Chevy Tahoes and they were amazing. I'm eyeballing those Premier LTX to replace my Continentals. Would love to hear from someone on the forums that has some experience with them.

 

Purchased an 08 Gl 550 the vehicle ride was rough so i changed tires the ride was better noticed movement driving thru small amounts of water. the rear tires inner portions wore significantly in a short period so i replaced them put the new tires on the front. riding thru heavy rain approximately 60 mph hydro planed into the guard rail.

 

Mine's GL550 and it will feel unnerving in the rain at high speeds in Comfort mode. In sport mode it drives very well up to 100mph (depending how much rain, obviously so as to avoid hydroplaning).

The ncrappy Contis I had made the car handle bad at any speeds above 50mph.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only GL owner with this problem. Mine feels like its driving on ice in a little bit of rain. I took it in for an alignment but they said it did not need it. Did anyone else out there with a 550 solve their problem?

 

I have a GL550 with new Michelin all weather tires. I felt this 'out of control' feeling a couple of months ago when it rained. I took to the dealership and asked about my tires (which only had 17k miles on them). I assumed this was a tire issue so I called Michelin and got a discount because the rear tire tread was more worn than the front. I purchased 2 new Michelin tires(with a discount). Recently it rained enough to have a little water on the road and I still felt like I was going all over the place. Definitely this car feels like it 'floats' around more than the other vehicles we have. I see your message was from 2013, what did you do to take take care of this driving issue? Thank you.

 

Sorry for the delayed response and didn't realize there were so many people who had responded to this thread either. Well, I have been through some tires in the last 6 years! The Conti's were what I started with, then Michelins and my last tires have been Toyo. I had Toyo Versa and now the Toyo Celsius. Both did really well in the beginning, but again after about 20K miles, I start to slip again in the rain. The vehicle is very floaty, but driving through heavy rain makes me feel very uncomfortable still in this car with so many different tires. I'm at 111,000 miles, and still feel this way. It seems strange it would be the tires after 4 sets, but who knows.

 

i have had the same problem. I’ve owned the car for 10 months (less than 15k miles) and in the rain this car (GLS450) is scary. I was nearly in an accident on the highway with two kids in backseat. It was raining and I was traveling with the flow of traffic (65MPH). The car began fishtailing and I slid back and forth between three lanes. I actually prepared to hit the wall and in my mind I was comforted by MB safety features (airbags, etc.). Luckily, I was able to gain control and we did not crash.
In the rain, this car feels like it gets caught in “road ruts”... like it is on “tracks”.

I am thinking of trading this car in because I believe I will get in an accident in this car.

 

I find when the tires are worn in the rear to the wear bars they start to act exactly as you described. While you have only had the truck for a short period of time, I would suggest having your tires checked as they tend to wear fast.

 

This can also occur due to the lane keep drivers assistance package in combination with sticking rear calipers. The rear pin must be lubricated to prevent it from locking up. This is especially prevalent in salt prone environments like salted roads.

 

I still own the car after 7 years and love it. Driving in the rain though is a whole other ballpark if it is pouring. If it's light rain, not a problem. It's when it's a heavy rain mostly and you won't be able to drive much faster than 55 mph or you will definitely feel out of control and potentially get out of control which is a very scary feeling. The car floats for sure and has never felt tight with the steering wheel. I have used newer GL/GLS as loaner cars and they seem much better, but maybe it's me. I actually don't think it has anything to do with the tires, but something about the car.

 

Hey, I have an E350 and driving in the rain scares me to death. I’ve only had the car 2 months and you cannot drive on the interstate while it’s raining. There’s no doubt in my mind that I would wreck. I have new tires so it can’t be that. On dry pavement, it drives perfectly but I agree the steering wheel is super loose. I’m lot sure what else I can do except avoid driving when it’s pouring down. Kinda sucks, though.

 

I still say it's the tires. Although they're new, you're asking all season tires to excel in all things which is not possible. They're only going to be mediocre in all things, like a jack of all things, master of none. We're on our 3rd MB suv and each time when we get a new one, even my wife notices the difference riding on the factory supplied all season tires vs when I get around to switching them out for summer tires or Blizzak winter tires. Switching 2x/year, plus storing them can be a hassle but it's well worth it. You can go onto TireRack and check the reviews as well as ratings for how different ones perform in wet conditions.

 

I can appreciate what you are saying. It definitely does not feel planted. I have new Michelins, does not feel unsafe. But I think the air suspension being so soft is the culprit. Floats around too much for my taste. I put my trust in the AWD if it is going to spin out, never happened yet, but it feels like it could.

 

I switched to the Yokohama Geolandar X-CV on my 2015 GL63. They are a bit louder than the original, but I feel very safe on them. Plus better mileage ratings and cheaper.

We'll see how they pan out. I'm only at 8000km on them.

 

I experience this same thing with my GLK 350 and my tires were brand new. I am terrified to drive in the rain, also, My husband thought I was exaggerating until he drove my car over the weekend and the same thing happened to him. He pulled out to make a right turn and the car started wobbling out of control. I planned to give this car to my daughter this year for school but I will be trading it in.

 

The GL floats on its air suspension, unless it's in Sport mode (ADS), and even then it is still a little floaty. Combined with tires which aren't dissipating water well will result in hydroplaning and possibly pirouettes on a road with other car's, too close for comfort. I'm on PZeros. They aren't the best tires for moving water out. That's my opinion, but Pirelli will disagree, I'm sure. Even with those tires, at 60-70% wear I don't find the GL unsafe in the wet

I have not taken it in a downpour so I can't speak of its handling in those conditions. In the rain on semi decent paved roads I don't get hydroplaning or uneasy feeling that the car will break loose in corners. I'm also driving within the car's limits and according to the conditions.

All that said, I'm not implying that anyone who has already said they didn’t feel safe, were pushing too hard or expecting too much from their car in the conditions they were in. I've hydroplaned in another car and know full well the feeling of "oh s!@#" with no control over the car's direction.

Stay and drive safe everyone!

 

I am glad I found this thread, as I have also experienced the floaty ride. Never had it in any other vehicle I have owned and it is quite unnerving at times. Put Pirelli zeros on last year and after only 12,000 miles I am down to the wear bar.

i am now considering a more aggressive tread, rather than low profile.

I have 21 inch AMG wheels. Any recommendations for an all terrain tire?

thanks

 

I would second this. Our GL450 came with all season Continental tires and with more than half the tread left driving in the rain felt like skim boarding. Once I put Summer tires on it the hydroplaning has not been an issue. I also use Blizzak studless snow and ice for Winter. The Continentals also tried to push through turns on dry pavement and you could hear them chirping/scraping on the pavement. All season tires have a use, but I don't nelieve they are a good choice on these vehicles.

 

I'm so glad to find this forum!!! My GLS450 (2017) has become dangerous in the slightest 'wet road' conditions. I read this thread a while back and put new tires on it. It is wearing Pirelli Zeros with maybe 5000 miles (didn't help from day one) My experience is somewhat different:

Last summer we were scooting up I35 in Texas during a pretty heavy rain storm at 75-ish, all good. Suddenly, it was like the road turned to ice!!! The car got loose and stayed that way for a long way. Hydroplan? Nah. It was different. When I got down to 45-50 mph, it was like the steering wheel wasn't doing a lot, and the car was sliding. Tire light came on and I thought, ("Ah-ha! I have a flat! That explains it!) Slowed way down, pulled off the road and into a station. Tire pressure was just low enough in the right front to turn on the light. I aired it up and checked out the car, and headed back to the highway. It was still raining lightly, but I couldn't get it above 55 mph that it didn't want to do a 180!. Finally, the road dried off, and back to 80 mph no problem. Beautiful.

I came back, saw this thread, bought a new set of tires and waited on the rain. Next trip when we hit rain, SCARY. You could 'feel' you had traction, then the car would get 'quiet' like you hit black ice and away you go. I found turning off the traction control helped considerably, but still dangerously unacceptable.

Then...Last night, the rain had stopped and the road was wettish with little wetter spots in the indentions of the road. As soon as a tire touched the wetter spot, the car would get quiet and slide over about 6 inches then catch, and you could tell by the noise there was traction again. It happened over and over again until we hit perfectly dry pavement, then it was great again. It has gotten progressively worse, to the point I don't let my wife drive it if the weatherman even thinks it's going to rain.

Has anyone had any experience with any of the electronic nannys messing with the wet weather traction? What was it? What was the fix? When I hit one little puddle it was like the ABS locked up the left front tire for a millisecond. None of this happened when in warranty, so I'm hoping to get some real world input before I sell my soul to the stealership!

 

I have PZeros on my x164 550. I find them very capable on dry summer days, but so so on wet roads. I won't use them in winter conditions. My tires are about 4/32, so end of life for sure and performance will be sub par compared to new(er). Next year, new tires and definitely not from the Pirelli lineup. Just my personal preference.

I don't have many places to run the truck @ 80mph. I usually stay around 70ish tops, and not for very long. Two lane roads with twists and turns is the normal where I live. So my environment is definitely not comparable to I-35 with heavy downpours.

I'd say it's the tires, they are the only thing connecting you to the road. You need a tire which will be capable of displacing water and allowing the contact patch to touch the asphalt. The electronics react to the traction from the tire/road. If your tire maintains traction, your truck's brains would not react different.

I think your tire choice in the Pirellis is fine, but it requires a compromise when the roads are wet or the weather is cold. There is a compromise to be made with every tire choice, btw. No tire is great in every category.

 

I had a GL450 prior that literally ran beside a tornado with sideways rain at 80 mph (we were caught on TX130 (85mph limit)) when a tornado wandered by and we had to run! Solid as a rock, didn't even wiggle. This one was good until that night a year ago, then it's been a nightmare ever since! That's why I wonder about electronics. Sensors are monitoring this beast like a bazillion times a second if one misreads something as being large when it is small, it could cause the thing to over-react, maybe, seems more plausible. It had the same tires 70mph no problems to suddenly sliding crazy across the highway and it's been bad since. I'm not a Pirelli fan, and generally take them off everything I've ever owned, but I didn't this time, actually, bought a new set? Maybe I'm overthinking, maybe it is tires. I have a MBII scanner, I'll check it tonight, and if I don't see anything on it, off to the stealership it goes I guess.

IF that doesn't fix it, I'll change tires again. If that doesn't fix it, it's gone!