MB-F1

My ML350 has been trouble free execpt for the Continental tires:

First of all service, inspections, and tire rotations have been done by the book.

The tires are part of the option R38: 18 inch wheel package.

The tire wear is very even, with no strange wear patterns or other issues. After only 9000 miles, the tires are down to the wear bars.

There have not been any unusal operating conditions or other factors that would accelerate wear:

I live in sunny So. Cal. so no snow chains
No offroading available in suburbia
Tire pressures checked and corrected frequently
No road hazards, obstacles, etc.

The local MB dealer states that tires can last as little as 3000 miles, so I just need to buy new tires. Outside of a Testarossa from the '80s, where tire lifespan was the same as a fly, I have never had this experience. I suspect that the motivation of the MB dealer is simply for me to buy tires, and I do not believe the 3000 mile thing.

Anyone else with similar experience? Did MB do anything for you?

Thanks
Eric

MercedesFTW

But...you wouldn't buy the tires from them would you? They wouldn't be making anything.

Plus don't the tires have some warrenty on them? The P-Zeros have a limited one year warrenty for strange wear on their tires. As long as its even wear (like in your case) that is.

MB-F1

The tires do have a warranty, but MB dealer says that Continental only honors it if the tires are deemed by the dealer to be "defective"

I have put a call in to Continental's warranty dept. so we'll see...

Eric

sheepdog

With approx. 11,000 miles I have 1 rear tire than is almost bald on the outside edge. Alignment was done at 6,000 miles. Will be taking it into dealer next week. For what its worth, continentals on my clk320 only got 12,000 miles and I don't drive the car hard. Definitely will not replace with contis.

mtrandpm

I rotated the tires per manufacture suggestion. After rotation, there was a lot noise. I took it back at about 11,000 miles and they said the tires are wearing very uneven. I asked them to check the tire alignment and possibly the front/rear end alignment. I dont think they checked my front/end alignment. Because the tires were unevenly worn out, the replaced all my 4 tires.

I dont buy when the dealer told you the tire can last only 3,000 miles. What BS. hehe...

Since I had the "Mercedes" 2006 ML350 for only 4 months, the following was worked on: 1. Brake master cylinder replaced; 2. Transmission valve replaced; 3. Tires replaced; 4. Console reprogrammed.

So WHAT ELSE? hehe...

BTW, I had Japanese cars (Honda/Toyota) and nothing major has gone wrong. I finally decided to go to American/German car and everything goes wrong. Oh well.

Live and learn.

dan1495

I would contact Continental. While the Continentals on our ML500 seem to be wearing reasonably, the ones on our Chrsler 300C wore out after 15,000 miles. Discount Tire worked with Continental and I got them for about half price.

e500

Eric,

I would call Luke @ Tirerack to get his opinion on your situation. He's very knowlegable of tires and MB vehicles. If worse case happens, you'd get the best prices from him anyway.

AR.Shah

Making a complain, not to your local dealer but DaimlerChrysler does pay off. My Pirellis on the e-class wore off after 14000km and I sent a letter to DaimlerChrysler, they replied and I took the letter back to the dealer and got the tires replaced.

Avoid cheap tires! After buying cheap tires and putting 4-5000km on them, the weel noise in the cabin increased and it was unbeareable. Took it to the dealer who suggested the the wheel bearings may be worn (My E-class had 200.000km on it at the time), had both front wheel bearings replaced. They were very expensive because the w211 has integrated wheel hub and bearings. Anyway it did not help at all and finally I had the tires changed and problem was solved.

sosh

Interesting, The Continentals on the 02 ML500 that I traded a year ago had 45000 on them with lots of tread remaining. The same tires on my 06 are fine with no abnormal wear. I also have continentals on my 05 E 4 matic and they are fine. Either you got a defective set or you drive in a way thats very tough on tires. FYI as far as bad or rapid wear is concerned its usually caused by an under cure in manufacture.

AR.Shah

Yes you're probably right, I believe thats why DaimlerChrysler decided to replace the tyres without making any fuss about it

jwchi

I have 10K miles and only have about 3/16'' left. Wear is even. Just purchased the 2006 ML500 used and haven't discussed with dealer. Additionally, two of the tires have already been replace due to a curb 'jumping out in front of' the prior owner. So I need to replace the two worn ones to feel comfortable.

I had Conti's on a BMW 330 and only got 18k, so I'm not surprized at this threads content.

mhaskelo

so what tires are recommended for replacement? I have 10,000 miles and it seems like the Cont. tires are hydroplane prone??