If anyone has tried a different tire on their s-class (AMG wheels 245,45,18 275,40,18) and were able to get more than 20K out of their tires please let me know. The Dunlop SP900s that came with the wheels are beyond shot. I have heard some good things about the potenzas but I had rather hear it from other mercedes enthusiats. Need performance and durability, bit of an oxymoron when it comes to tires for theses magnificent machines. Thanks again for the advice.

I really like my S-03's on 18" wheels on my S500. Not too noisy and handle great. I don't know yet on the wear factor, only 1000 miles so far.
I didn't like the Pirelli's on my 7 series Bimmer.

I'll need tires soon on my S 55. When the Dunlops are gone I'm replacing them with Michelin Pilots. I replaced the Dunlops on my '99 SLK with Pilots and they had better handling, ride quality and wore much better. My wife's '03 E 320 Sport has Michelins and I'm very happy with them.

William Gardner
'02 S 55 AMG
'03 E 320 Sport

My only problem with Michelin is that they are a French company. I currently have no desire to support the French in any way.

if u have a grunge against the french, just think that the french tire is running over the dirt and dust and garbage all over our american highways and roads.

Grunge?

Have tried both. Here are their charactoristics:

SP9000: harder rubber compound. Great handling, Great aquaplanning proformance. Great mileage (around 20000 miles under aggressive driving)

Bridgestone: Softer rubber compound. Very grippy. Tread will melt very easily to provide exceptional grip. Tire wear will not be as good as the dunlop. Great wet handling.

Conclusion. If you want mileage, choose SP9000. If you want grip, go for the Potenzas

Thanks for the honest assesment. I have already ordered the Bridgestones in order to try something different. The Dunlops were great but I am excited to see what the Bridgestones are like since you say they are "grippy". I was surprised to read that you thought the Dunlops were good in wet conditions as I have hydroplaned on them before when they were relatively new. Hopefully I will be able to squeeze a little more life out of the Bridgestones. Once again, thanks for the feedback.

Be careful not to push the new bridgestone during the first 300 miles in order to have a good break in for them and they will last longer. For the dunlops, maybe you run too much air pressure resulting aquaplanning. I think 32psi front and 36 psi back is the most perfect combination. Because less pressure = more grip and you will need more grip on the fronts because our cars tends to understeer when pushed.

Have fun with your bridgestones!

The bridgestones are on and I love them. I haven't put them through the paces yet because I am following your advice and breaking them in. Thus far, the ride on them is great. We have had some big storms in NC recently and the wet handling is incomparable to the Dunlop's, straight as an arrow without and pull on the wheel. The most impressive aspect of the new tires has to be the ride. Of course I am comparing them to riding on bald tires before, but I am reminded of why I bought the car to begin with. Thanks for the advice, hope to post some pics soon.

pics of the old dunlops. i hope it loads. i have not done this before.

here's the left one, not as bad

Here are the new shoes.

You have to excuse me. I'm just a picture posting fool today. The Bridgestones have some serious meat on them. Hope they stay that way for more than 17K. I promise, this is the last pic of tires I post.