coolcamden

What would you do in case of a flat? Just don’t drive anywhere that would take longer than 40 minutes for road repairs? Carry an inflatable kit?

What are the option B’s you had, to put your mind at ease to make the decision to go with normal tires

carnut1

I pulled the run flats from every car I own. I guess being an older guy I look at it like this I drove for years before they invented run flats (which I hate), and managed fine. I have an inflatable kit and where I live you are never that far from help. I have found Bridgestone tires (talk to Damon at tire rack ask him to tell you the story about the guy who had the 650 and pulled the runflats) have very strong sidewalls, what many people do not think about is that the stock wheels need to be heavier to support the pounding run flats tires cause. Lot of wheels bent from those things .Some tires seem to not have as strong a side wall and they blow out from potholes much easier. I would talk to Damon, we went trough this on quite a few of my cars. In some cases I have changed wheels to lighter weight (even smaller diameter), but the 20" wheels that were on my car were turned out to be not that heavy, and I went with all Bridgestone tires, which I like much better than the summer runflats that were on it.

BenzV12

I have Goodyear Run Flat Tires installed in my car . I can't make any comparison as I have not driven same spec car as mine with conventional tires . However, from what I have heard from others is that Run Flats have made their way thru but still not as good as a conventional nin run flat counterparts in terms of road noise, stiffness ,ride quality . I'm very satisfied with 18" Goodyears ,I have seen a label on the sidewall stating Rim Protector , which is nice because I have too heard that Run Flat Tires could damage the wheels .
Carrying over inflatable kit may sound like a defeating the purpose but I see no harm of doing that

1bad540

I took them off my vette, my viper,my x5 and my prb will on the s550. I always carry a inflator w sealer and also I sourced a spare tire and jack set from my w221 s550.

superangrypenguin

Don't you guys feel the handling is compromised? The suspension is designed with run flats so thus is softer than if it was designed without run flats. I would surmise those of you running non run flats/eg conventionals would experience more body roll due to the softer sidewall. Is there any merit to my belief?

Streamliner

e55phil

Just like Streamliner I bought a spare from a 221 and put it in the trunk. I loose trunk space but it is worth it. I had to use it one time and it made it home and bought a new tire. I still have tread on the spare. I used roadside to change the tire.

I run Continental DWS and they ride better than the run flats. They cost less also and last longer.

Jason B

No, that's not true. The car in Germany does not come with run flats. They were added for the US market. An afterthought that was wrong. The car rides HARSHER with them and Mercedes did not design the w222 around running run flats. I remember reading a long article about this.

Non run flats will ride smoother, 100%! Many dealers have swapped out run flats many months down the road due to complaints about them also.

superangrypenguin

Thank you very much. I was not aware of this until you mentioned it. Much appreciated.

1bad540

Very Interesting Jay i didnt know that. Mine will prb be coming off soo too.... If I could just find the right wheel!

ChesapeakeLimo

I'll give you my 2-cents on this discussion...

We did a LOT of research and some trial & errors on tire options with our 221's. We went through the OEM Continentals and then on to Michelins on the 221 and were displeased with the tread wear and noise of both after 25K-30K miles. Moreover, the Michelins only carried a 40K mile tread wear warranty. But either tire become noisy beyond 30K and steadily more noisy as the tread wears. We rotate tires with every oil change.

One of our primary objectives is to have a quiet and comfortable ride in this flagship sedan.

After a LOT of research and reading of reviews, we switched our 221's out to Pirelli Cinturato A/S Plus tires. They also have a 70K tread wear warranty. At the time they were the highest-rated tires from customer reviews on Tire Rack for noise and comfort. I was apprehensive that such high ratings may equate to a compromise on performance and bad weather grip. After fitting a set on a 221, the ride was very noticeably quieter and smoother than the Michelins. Though initially apprehensive, they perform very well in inclement weather road conditions and no real compromise in performance. Now, I will admit we don't drive the Auto Bahn so we are not concerned with driving at speeds in excess of 100 MPH to judge that kind of highway performance. But we do drive the U.S. Interstate highways at, let's just say 'cruising speeds' and we noticed no degradation in performance, either on dry or wet highways.

We've also switched to these same tires on the W222's. Again, the same pleasing performance. And we've gotten 80K out of the tread...and they remain quiet and smooth throughout their tread wear life. We've been very pleased with these tires. I dare say they are 'whisper' quiet tires.

One thing I will emphasize, is that these are the Cinturato A/S 'PLUS' all-season tires (Pirelli makes a Cinturato version that are not 'PLUS' - I can't speak about those models.)

1bad540

are those runflats or no?

ChesapeakeLimo

No, NOT run-flats. I guess that would be the trade-off? We keep a 12-volt air compressor in the trunk for emergencies. Cost a total of $25 from Amazon...cheap insurance.

1bad540

very nice thanks! I just installed conti dws, and always keep a compressor in all my cars. I also keep a plug kit in my viper. Reminds me to pik up another one to keep now in the s550. Continental used to make a compressor/slime/plug kit, It was called the continental comfort kit, I have 2 of them not sure they still make it.
but the compressor was great and filled tires quik and quit.

swaynesworld

I would have to agree with 'superangry...' here. The non-run flats I use are M & S rated Continental Extreme Contact Sport Plus great in the snow. However, after the winter months back to the Pirelli RF where I get incredible cornering!

swaynesworld

I love my 20" Pirelli Runflats. The 20" is a big difference for all drivers here as 18" tires will, because of the sidewall difference, run much smoother. But I've gotten great mileage (keep them balanced and aligned) out of the RF's and am very pleased. I live on the east coast so if I get a flat I'm calling for a flatbed though I still have my old inflater in the trunk.

Londonbenz

Not all UK Model W222 have Runflats.

They come with tyre repair foam in the boot.