Beemie

TLDR: Please recommend wheels & tires for my GLS 550 that are appropriate for all-weather, all-season, all year round. I drive all over southern California (but am not an aggressive driver - care more about safety than anything else), I pull a horse trailer regularly, sometimes drive on dirt/gravel roads, and occasionally drive on snowy, hilly roads. I want to permanently switch from 21" rims to 20" (or even 19" if it will clear brakes and not otherwise be an issue), and get tires that are appropriate to safe driving (not high performance driving) in mostly dry but sometimes wet/snow conditions without needing to change out during the year. Thank you!

I've had my 2018 GLS 550 since June 2021, but only just experienced for the first time how absolutely horrendous it is in a few inches of slushy snow with its stock tires. Of course, after my harrowing experience of having to stop myself from sliding down my road by turning into the hillside because I simply had no traction to creep down the hill like our Volvo XC90 does, I immediately jumped on the forum and saw many others' similar experiences, along with the recommendation to get better tires, etc. (I have the standard Conti UHP tires, w/10k miles on them, on 21" rims which I now know is the reason gravity overcame any efforts to control my speed down the hill). I live in southern California, and though I'm in the Sierra foothils at 5600' and we do get snow, it's not too frequent and it disappears after a day or two. So I really don't need dedicated snow tires.

I saw many of you switch to smaller wheels for your winter driving, and my husband switched from 21s to 20s on his XC90 and it handles great in rain/snow as well as on dry pavement, which is 95% of our driving. If I'm going to have to spend $2k+ for better tires for all-weather (rather than UHP), I'd rather change out my wheels completely, to have more rubber which seems more appropriate for the type of tame driving and hauling I do. I don't want to sacrifice handling to the extent that it interferes with safety, but I'm not cornering fast or driving aggressively so I'd rather minimize chance of a pothole incident by having more rubber, and also better traction in rain and the occasional snow if possible. Does anyone run 19 or 20" year-round on their GLS 550? Any recommendations on 19 or 20" wheels that would still be essentially Mercedes spec? Recommendations on tires to go with those wheels? I saw Toyo Celsius recommended for year-round, and grateful for other recs.

Thank you!

wyatt88

I have a 2018 450 and was disappointed how it performed on snow. Came with Continental tires from the factory. They slid all over the place and wore out at 14,000 miles.

I now have Michelin Cross Climate SUV tires and traction, stopping, etc in snow is far better. They are still good with 23,000 miles on them.

As an aside you probably know that all GLSs absolutely eat tires.

Beemie

Wyatt88, thanks for the reply. Yes, I have learned that the GLS eat tires (and brakes). Thanks for the rec on the Michelin Cross Climate - I had seen those recommended elsewhere, but it does not look like they come in a 21." There seem to be more plentiful tire options for 20" wheels (which would also suit my lifestyle better), but I'm not sure where to begin a search for new wheels. I expect the dealer will not be helpful for anything off spec, though I will query them after I'm better informed myself. I would like to understand how going down a wheel size, from 21" to 20" might affect engineering/programming specs on the car, as I don't want to worry about odo or other issues.

Serhan

You need to keep the tire size within 3% of the spec. The wheel size should be good as long as it clears the breaks. Below is the wheel sizes for GLS550 shows 21"/22" wheels vs GLS 450 with smaller 19"/20", so you need to check wheels within your break clearances. Hopefully sb will give you info on using 20"... 2 good videos on the All Weather tires below:

https://www.wheel-size.com/size/merc...ls-class/2019/


Results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=742439515
https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/...-Tyre-Test.htm
https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/...-Tyre-Test.htm

Results: https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tes...-Tyre-Test.htm

Beemie

Serhan, thanks for this trove of info - the spreadsheet in particular is helpful. After spending some more time browsing around, I've come to the conclusion that finding new wheels with smaller rims is an expensive and time consuming research project that I'm not prepared to take on. So, I'll be trying to find some better, more appropriate tires. This whole experience - and reading the threads - has made me second guess buying the GLS550 over the XC90. After hauling with my husband's XC90 for a few months, I went for the V8 solely for more power for hauling long distance and through mountains, but you're only as safe as your tires and it seems like this beast of a car is high maintenance on that front, and limited options unless you want to depart MB-spec. Sigh.

Serhan

I had problems with finding A/S and winter tires with 21's also... Your recommended winter tire size is 275/45R21, so it shows Vredestein Quatrac Pro as all weather tire choice in addition to the Toyo that you mentioned. Usually wider tire is good for dry braking, but narrower tire helps in wet and snowy conditions. Vredestein excels in wet as you can see it in above reviews and it is highly rated at tirerack reviews:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...erformance=ALL

There is no winter tire test, but you can see both tires compared in dry and wet tests at tirerack:
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...y.jsp?ttid=287

bakestein1

I’ve put Yokohama Geolander X-CVs on. My dealership recommended them. Longer life, tried in snow and they were fine, however, I was not on very high grades.

I live out on country roads as well. Multiple rim issues…I just have to slow down.


In Christ,

Steve

John CC

Never mind, I see you already own the 550...

Look around for a place that sells take-off wheels. Maybe you can snag a bargain.

Beemie

I just had those same Geolandars put on yesterday (295/40R21). We will see how they do for the rest of the winter which, admittedly, is pretty mild here - just a few snow days a year and otherwise very dry and sunny. I drive back to LA at least monthly so didn't make sense to go straight for winter tires. I definitely drive conservatively and the 21" rims are just not appropriate for my use, but I'll try them for a winter before going through the apparently immense hassle and research of switching wheels. (I mean, shouldn't the GLS 450's 20" wheels work ok on the 550? If so, anyone in California want to swap with my 21" AMG-style wheels? I want to stick with OEM if I do this but I don't think it's worth five figures to me.... we'll see).

John CC

I just spoke with a friend who owns an "Auto Recycling Center" (né junk yard) and he throws out a 10 yard dumpster full of perfectly good wheels about every 3 months because there is no market for them. (Actually he sells them by the pound as scrap aluminum.)

Geolanders is what we have on the 450. You'll do better with a narrower thread, if you can fit them on the wheels. The diameter doesn't much matter.

BTW, the 450 has 19" rims. Maybe they would fit. Only reason they wouldn't that I can imagine is if you have bigger front brake disks. We're running 275/55-19s here in northern New England and never had a problem. However, we've both also got over half a century of experience driving in nasty winter weather, much of it pre- ABS, AWD and Traction/stability Control.

WillieMack

Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 in 295/40/R21.

However it sounds like you need a vehicle more appropriate to your needs and a GLS550 is not it. The 550 was built for more on road performance oriented driving. That’s why it came with low profile 21” wheels and no other lower tire option size. The front track of the 550 is even wider than the 450. All of this was most likely taken into account with drivability in mind when the engineers chose the 21” tire size. Trying to find smaller tires and wheels for which the car was not designed is counter productive. There are plenty of other vehicles that might check the box for you.

Towing trailers on hilly dirt gravel roads and docile driving with a 449 hp biturbo beast with 21” AMG wheels are 2 different purposes going in the opposite direction.

John CC

Here's a guy selling 19" 450 wheels with near new Continental Contact tires.

FWP!

For what it's worth, I put on the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season's and they're fantastic.

Serhan

I like PS A/S 4's as well, but again it depends on what your individual needs are... There is no perfect tire for all conditions, so you have to compromise somewhere. Comparison of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S vs PIlot Sport AllSeason 4 vs CrossClimate 2 vs X-Ice Snow:

FWP!

He asked for a good all season tire, and I gave my $.02.