Over the last month ,I have been seeking a solution to find tires to meet the needs in ALL SEASONS. The MB Forum has been helpful in making that decision and my Final decision was 4 Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Seasons Plus to replace 4 Pirelli PZERO Summer Tires (RunFlat)
The Spare selected was one Pirelli Pzero tire from the old set of four placed on my roof rack mounted on a Mercedes Benz Reconditioned Used Rim.
At this time,I am confident that my choice will meet the needs & price point necessary to insure safety throughout the year.In a situation that require additional traction and not to be stranded ** ,I have Kevlar Strap Chains to get off the road as is required in certain situations, only for short distance until road conditions are satisfactory.MB FORUM GLK owners from Canada, Snow Country USA seem to use a separate second set of 4 Studded Snow tires during allowable months for safe passage.Friends in Northern Maine ,USA ,it is a given to have a second set of tires for Winter Weather.

 

good choice, i went with the same tires recently.

 

Thanks for the vote of Confidence Super Member AzCamel
I believe the Pirelli's will be helpful

 

For our Canadian climate, unless in a severe winter area, the new All Weather tires that have the Snowflake Symbol (meaning that they qualify as winter tires), seem like a good choice. They can be left on year round like all-season tires, but provide better winter performance, at least for the first few years. Don't need tires for GLK yet, but will look at those for E320 next year.

I think it was Nokia that originally had them, but others have followed suit.:

https://www.kaltire.com/all-weather-tires-comparison/

http://www.toyotires.ca/all-weather-tires

Snowflake symbol:

 

107123210
Senior Member
I have gotten most of my advice from Canadian forum members.
The 2014 MB GLK250BT ,as you are aware was imported differently to Canada with the option of the special spare with space for air inflator /flat fix.
USA sourced OEM Tire were Dunlop Grandtrac MOE Run flats lasting 8,000 miles .
The assumption of all Mercedes Benz owners have deep pockets in the replacement of run flat tires with few options in the USA for any 235/50/R-19 at the time of purchase.
I was fortunate that the Forum Members provided sound advice ,so I made some better future choices . The Run Flat tire provides the element of Safety at a high cost of replacement. I hope that my new Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Seasons Plus will provide the necessary safety as an all season tire.My Spare tire is locked on a roof rack .

 

Haven't test the Pirelli Asymetricos in freezing weather but I'm happy to say after 60,000 mike I have 6/32 of tire left and they are wearing perfectly. It looks like I might be close to getting 100,000 miles on these tires in mostly highway driving. I have 235/44 R20s.

 

In Canada, we got Conti all season tires (not all-weather). Not runflats thank goodness. No option of a spare because there is nowhere to put it, so we were given a compressor and a bottle of sealant.

I bought a compact spare as used on GLK350 from wrecker. Keep it behind driver seat in a canvas bag unless we need back seats. We have a roof box used on long trips. Not sure if it would fit in there, but not easy to lift a compact spare up onto roof, never mind a full size. But I suppose at least you can get at it.

 

107123210
senior member
It seems regardless of the country ,region ,MB owners figure out the convenience & placement of a spare tire. The compact spare was an idea but was not available in the USA.
Vreststein Compact Spare. My choice was to purchase a reconditioned spare rim identical to the one that came with the vehicle at the less the cost of the compact spare.It took much research to obtain the right tire, roof rack ,spare rim and cover for the spare. The MB GLK 250 BT _diesel is similar in appearance as a GLK350 gasoline except in price point.I tend to fold down the back seat ,to carry groceries rather passengers...space for a spare tire in a small space was not my choice. I do not know why the GLK was discontinued but I enjoy my Baby Benz other than the spare tire debacle.

 

In a recent Post on the forum by a senior Member it was noted that Snowflake symbol was on Canadian sourced Tire. My New tires Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Seasons Plus 235/50/R-19 has a number of symbols but after the 235/50/R-19
it has two letters M /S Mud & Snow with no snowflakes.
I am fairly confident that an all season tire will allow good traction in the snow with sound judgement to drive in snow below the top of the tire.
Being October ,the tire dealers are pushing winter snow tires which are just as specific to Winter..One Season Summer being 3 seasons but not Winter....
of course in daily drive in the Snow Area in Winter conditions ,I Know People that put a set of four Snow Tires on their 4X4 or AWD vehicle.
Perhaps in Canada MB Owners place 4 snow tires on their vehicle.as for Marketing one tire dealer from next has an opinion ..I am fairly sure that any Run Flat tire will not last ..In my case and with poor Judgement I had to replace a total of two sets of run flats in less than 20,000 miles. The OEM Dunlops and my Pzero also at 8,000...All the tire were rotated on a regular basis ,all wear was the same to wear line on the tire bar.
After said & done, my local tire dealer said he knew of one customer that their set of run flats wear out was 4,000 miles. As is known in the Tire industry Run Flats have no wear guarantee, thus run flats get the big thumbs down...but any tire dealer will put on run flats despite this fact of poor wear history.

 

All season tires can perform ok in the snow. The real problem is the cold. Real winter tires are made of compounds that remain flexible in very cold conditions, whereas all season tires become too hard to perform adequatly.

 

It's a real pain in a$$ that Bluetec comes with TireFix package and not an actual spare tire for Canada. The liquid resin that they have in the TireFix is good quality and lasted me for a week with a screw in the tire until I found place to patch it up.

However, when you get something like this, in those 20'' Dunlops:



nothing will help Thank God it was almost winter season so I threw set of winters on and called it a day. The only tires that come in that size (235/45/R20) are Dunlop's, Michelin's and Pirelli's for ... "drumroll" $450 a pop from dealership So I have time until spring to find either a pair of 20" tires for the back or get all four and sell the three I have now. Had I gone with smaller size tires - I wouldn't have this problem now

 

We have several choices in Canada:

All Season tires with M+S symbol, but no snowflake. I have used these in our fairly mild part of Ontario. But they are not good in snow & ice or at low winter temperatures.

All Weather Tires with snowflake symbol. These tires are made from a compound that allows them to be approved as winter tires, but they can be used year round. Wear likely not as good as All Seasons but no need to have two sets of tires. Becoming more popular as public learn about them.

Snow/Winter tires with snowflake symbol. Made to work under snow, cold and icy conditions. Not good for summer use but are needed in some areas to survive our winters.

Some northern or mountainous areas also allow studded tires for winter use.

In some provinces, it is compulsory to have the snowflake symbol during winter months. In others, insurance companies are required to provide a discount for snowflake tires to encourage use.

Our GLK spends most of winter in southern USA, so we stayed with OE all seasons. Our E320 has two sets of tires (winter & all season). My other two cars don't get driven much in winter and have all-seasons.

 

Actually, a nice nail hole, as long as it's not in the sidewall, can easily be patched up. I do them myself and it works wonders.

Instead of just using the plug, or a glued on patch from the inside, here's what I do : I remove all the air from the tire, I then put some of the glue that you'd normally use for the patch in the hole. I then plug the hole with the plug (duh), then I drop some more glue, liberally, on it, and then I finish it up by burning the whole thing ever so slightly with a propane torch.

I never, EVER had a leak after that.

BTW, best prices for tires = 1010tires.com

 

Thanks Hugo. I will definitely check 1010tires.

I patched up the passenger side tire earlier this year BUT the driver side tire comes with a little twist the end of the nail actually rubbed out a chunk of sidewall

 

Hondo, where did you get the compact spare, if I may? Was it online store or local wreckers?

I'll use one of my 20" wheels this winter as a spare up on the roof rack if I am going on a long road trip + TireFix bottle / compressor. Not the best setup but better than nothing

 

If he got what I got, it's Vredestein Spacemaster. My local tire shop ordered it for me, around 200$ish CDN.

I leave it at home, except for long highway trips, where I take it along.

 

There are many presentations on YouTube showing this Compact Spare.
A non-starter for this US Customer .From a price point , it was not my selected course of Action.
I have learned much from the Canada Forum Members , spending over $400 to obtain this compact spare would have been expensive move.
A spare rim and tire on my roof rack was a more logical choice.
Getting the "demon Run flats" off my MB GLK250BT was a goal accomplished .
The Roof Rack "Basket " has a front air foil to reduce wind resistance & the spare tire with rim is locked & secured in the basket with some limited room for cargo.The selected tire 4 Pirelli Scorpion Verde All season Plus Mud & Snow came in at $180 per tire mounted & balanced .The Spare is a Pirelli Pzero run flat.placed on the roof .
There was initially a USA Shortage of this tire in the H speed ,my alternate was a V speed ...
I freely admit that my foolish move to purchase another set of Run Flat tires was a stupid move. The Dunlop Grandtreks that came with GLK lasted 10,000 miles, the Pirelli Pzero (Summer Tire) lasted 8,000, with the possible tread life 2K but would not provide safe traction into winter.
The Run Flat tire does provide an element of getting safely off the road but the end would still be a tire that would need replacement unless plugged and patched immediately at the tire monitor alert.
Unfortunately for many, the amount of road hazards present on the road I have traveled is a horror story...I have attempted many times to avoid Tire Casings, Bolts, wire ties and nails on the US Inter-States usually found in construction zones with mandatory low speed * Helpful to avoid visually the shiny stuff :crazy. The MB Forum has provided valuable advice ,so I do carry tire patch kits, a tire inflator . In the USA ,I have not traveled far before there is a road construction project, their has been a problem to clear road junk off the road surface in time, tractor trailer tire recaps , tire blow out can stop a car dead in their tracks, or the belt wire destroys your tire..."It happens frequently!
Fortunate that I was able to pick out a piece of metal before it entered the tire .

 

The spare that was supplied in USA and Canada on the GLK350 can sometimes be found at wreckers for more reasonable price. These wheel are quite often totally unused. You do need to get the bolt set that goes with them at same time.



GLK350 spare

 

Yup, I got that, except it doesn't fit in there of course.

 

The recent photo concerning space for a Sourced Tire would not be representative a 2014 MB GLK 250 BT- an owner opening the Storage Area would find a very small area . The owner can remove a cover insert and would find fuses , the diesel emission system ,the cover reservoir for DEF (diesel emission fluid and DEF reservoir fill point.The exhaust system is different as well as the wiring junction . If these diesel related part were not present there would be room for compact spare . The weight of tire and rim would be great..thus the reason the MB GLK250 BT has no spare of any kind and the run flat tires are OEM for USA sourced vehicles, NOT Canada Sourced.
As noted before US Sourced 2014 MB GLK250 BT lack the DC Tire Inflator, or kit flat repair ..Run flat tires are not mounted on Canada Vehicles..the great debacle of Canada/USA
Side access space to Jack and tire tools is a separate area to the left of access area.
Since the MB GLK 350 is a gasoline powered vehicle ,the system is different.
THE MBWORLD forum provided advice ,yet few were aware of the problems with the longevity & cost of a Run Flat Tire if replacement was needed ODD Size and the availability of Dunlop GrandTrek in the US Market

The MB Dealer wants to sell cars , never mentioned that Run Flat tire don't last long , just states the positive aspects of Run flat tires....nor mentioned that Dunlop Grandtrek have no wear warranty being owned by GOODYEAR ,the only warranty is for minor flaws.
No beef with the Car just the tires sourced to the USA
These are lessons learned after the purchase of my MB Glk 250BT ,love the diesel but hated the tires and stupid things I did in the purchase of another set of Run Flats

 

It wasn't supposed to be!

Picture was just to show that whether you are in USA or Canada, there is a ready supply of compact spares (off GLK350s).

Where you store it on GLK250 is your own problem.

Anyone sourcing one of these also needs to get the matching lug bolts because the alloy wheel bolts don't work with that spare.

 

The idea concerning a compact spare was a good one, and over the time ,other members of the MBForum have been trying to figure out where to place any spare in a "Baby Benz GLK "
As mentioned I decided to place the spare in a roof basket using a heavy full size tire matching the size 235/50/R-19 , I would probably call AAA and have them change the tire.
My MB GLK250 BT looks like a car ready to fight the rigors of environment with back roads and some weather conditions that include snow.

The idea of purchasing a compact spare crossed my mind but the cost of purchasing a used Vrestein spare from a Recycled Source I decided not to do.
I purchased a used reconditioned rim exactly matching the rim that came with the car. To be honest, I hope I will never have to use the spare ( a RunFlat tire-Pirelli Pzero 235/50R-19)
Your technical explanation about matching lug nuts/holes of was not aware of and as ever I appreciate the advice of a Senior member.
Possibly others will benefit when decisions are made to get rid of the demon Run flats and make better choices in future selections of a suitable tire choice.