ajm0623

yesterday, i started out on a 9h road trip and 1h into it hit a massive pothole at 70mph. the goodyear runflats (i have the 20" "+1" sport package) developed a bulge the size of my fist. no kidding. and i had all of 400m on my new sled. i contacted roadside assistance ("wrench button"), and they were over the top helpful. told me where the nearest benzo dealership was to my current locale, directed me in to the store and even contacted the svc mgr for me to have him arrange the tyre swap when i arrived mitigating my "down time" given the long journey ahead. now. the dealership store was 1h or so away from where i had the incident, and the runflats did their job. i was able to drive the car to the dealership and get the tyre replaced. more importantly, i didn't have to pull over on a busy motorway and get out a jack and change the tyre and risk getting run over by an articulated semi truck or something moving along at 70+ mph. so all in all - a very safe feature, i think. just sayin' (oh - and major props to roadside assistance; they were brill the whole way through.)

elmalo

ajm0623 -- you were really lucky. Next time you may not be within driving distance to a tire shop and will have to wait hours for a wrecker, maybe in the middle of the night. In addition, the ride quality with runflats is worse than with standard tires. Mercedes should copy some other car manufacturers that offer runflats as an option; the car has space in the trunk for a spare, if you want standard tires. Thinking about your experience, a spare might not be a bad idea even with runflats.............

Streamliner

LAST chance to vote, poll closes THS AM.

Caeruleus11

I agree with you 100%. I just get a full size wheel and tire and put it in the trunk along with the hardware needed such as jack etc. I tie it all down and now I have much less trunk space and more weight on board- but I usually don't need all the trunk space for me its worth it.

Streamliner

Well, the poll closed a few days ago and I have sent the results to MBUSA. Nobody will probably pay any attention, but you never know. The results show that a solid 88% of us would prefer either a compact spare in the trunk or would be willing to pay extra for a full size spare as an option. Only 9.33% like the car just as it is and the rest just don't care. Thanks to all who participated.

wows500

Streamliner its almost 6 months plus did you hear anything?
What a shame when the manufacturer does not care once the car is sold.
May be we don't mean anything to them. A courtesy reply would be appreciated from them.

Streamliner

Never heard a word.

wows500

Thanks for the reply. Interesting you have the same color and car as mine S550 4Matic Palladium Silver 792 with Black Nappa Leather 801. Built date March 2015.

Streamliner

I like that '60. 348? 3 2's? 335hp, 4 speed?

Tropical

Nothing to really add to the discussion except it was informative for me.
Makes me want to keep my 2010, rather then buy a 2015 or 2016 in a year or two. Ran a 1989 300 E to 120,000 so an S should be up to the same mileage?
Why did MB eliminate spare tires in the S 2015? Run flat tires, save overall weight? For those who want to go to 60 mph in 5-6 seconds?:

Small and smaller side walls are a real problem especially if you happen to live where the road crews can not bring the manholes level with the new road surface! Now that is a pot hole!

Jason B

One would also think that the spare would provide some extra safety in a rear end collision. Right?

hyperion667

funny thing: was showing my S class to a friend the other day and when I popped the trunk and mentioned there was no spare he couldn't believe it LOL.....yep, no spare

Streamliner

I had a funny thing as well: I popped the trunk on Christmas morning, to unload gifts at our daughter's home and her husband couldn't believe it when he saw my spare sitting on top of the truck floor.