So I finally diagnosed my vibration.....it was the Kuhmo Exsta SPT tires that I put on the car. All of them were out of round, every one.
I initially tried to save some money and read good reviews on the Kuhmos, but they are not the right tires for our heavy cars.
I am now sending them back to TireRack and purchasing Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

Kuhmos - $775 - for all 4.
Micelins - $1450 - for all 4.

I will report back how it all works out....

 

Wow! So Tirerack is returning them? How long have you had them?

 

Did you consider Ventus Hankook V12's?

 

Ive had good luck with Fuzion on my w220...very nice tire and low priced.

 

I just replaced Michelin Primacy Mx4's with these tires and wow! What a difference! The Hankook's feel like I am driving on clouds..

 

They are taking them back due to the manufacturer's defects of all 4 tires. I do have 3k miles on them, but reported this problem the same day, on the way home from installing the tires....
And especially since I am dropping additional $700 on new tires.....

I have also heard great things about them, but I recently had 2 separate tire shops tell me that I may have similar issues with Ventus V12's because they are not meant for very heavy sedans, like the S class. What do you think about their opinion? I only know of people who have those Ventus tires on smaller, lighter cars...believe me, if I could spend less on tires I would, but now I'm a little gun-shy.

Is Fuzion a brand name? I will do some reading on them, since you have had good luck with These tires on your car. Thanks.

And just a side note to everyone reading this. Just because someone road force balances your tires on a Hunter machine, does not means you are vibration free. A very reputable shop near me told me the tires were perfectly "balanced" and even gave me the printouts to prove it. But there was still a major vibration that existed....they were out of round and if a tech does not take a moment and examine each wheel by spinning it slowly by hand, you may never know this apex in the tire/s exists....

 

Wouldn't higher PSI offset bigger car weight?

What PSI were you riding in the Kumho's?

Oxygen was pushing around 45 PSI ! If I remember correctly.

The Ventus is the best tire I had on my car in the past 4 years of ownership, everything else was utter garbage in comparison. It really does feel like clouds, super smooth. You can tackle the Southern State twisties at the governor with no sensation of danger or even close to pushing the limit.

 

I was at 40 PSI. But I also tried different pressures, thinking I could help the vibration by that same method you mentioned.....I think I may just spend the money and buy Michelin Pilot Super Sports.....
What car are you driving with the Hankook's?

 

Appropriate thread as I was about to ask what tyres people are running on their cars, particularly 600s or higher horsepower W220s as my rears are due for a swap pretty soon.

At the moment I've got Potenzas and don't have any particular gripes with them but the ride isn't quite as silky smooth as on my father's W220 S500 back in the UK but that could be for a multitude of reasons....

Looking on Tirerack.com it seems that the Michelin Pilot Super Sports get the highest rating of those that match the W220 S600, but I assume these ratings are for anyone using those tyres not just W220s.

The Continental Extreme Contact DWs come second but I thought Continentals were a bit crap... When it comes to tyres I don't have a budget, when you're running an expensive, powerful machine it's stupid to skimp on tyres.

 

I'm using hankook v12's on my 03 s55. No problems yet.. almost 100k miles on them so far. I changed tires twice within those 100k

 

Yes fuzion is a brand name, tire rack sells them. Pretty sure I have the vr1 which is on closeout at tire rack and is made in japan. But watch out their new line is made in china

 

Well after dropping $1500 on Michelin Super Sport tires, having them balanced & installed, the vibration has been completely eliminated.
Tire Rack took back the front set with full reimbursement but is giving me a hard time about the rears......Not totally sure about their rule, but it has something to do with 8/32's of wear (or maybe what is left in tread) and I'm at 7/32's. So I am calling to complain and try and push them to stand behind their rules with defective products.

All 4 Kumho tires were out of round....

 

Michelins are the way to go. I just went thru the same experience with Kuhmo's. I originally bought Kuhmo's due to the cost and tread wear warranty. I wore my tires out in 6k miles. I got 70% of my original expense back from Kuhmo. It took 3 weeks!

 

Avoid Kumho

Hankook is widely praised. And I have had good experience with the olde Fuzion made in Japan

Michelin is good but the price is insane

 

I got a REALLY good price on the Michelin's from Sam's Club. List on the tires was $430/ea retail and they gave them to me for $285! They even special ordered them from their warehouse in Denver to sell them to me. I did, however, neglect to get the road hazard warranty and ended up getting a drill bit (of all things) in my rear tire. I needed the replacement quick and Goodyear had them in stock. I still had my invoice from Sam's in the car (OCD record keeping) and Goodyear MATCHED THEIR PRICE!! They are awesome tires-quiet, smooth, sticky. If you have your foot into it a lot, like I do with my S600, the treadwear can be a problem, though. I only get 15-20K out of the rears.

 

Which M's?

Thanks for the datapoint on an ahem 'footed' 600's rear wear expetancy... just got mine, was wondering where to set expectation.

That's up from the 10k I figured, which was up from 5-7k on my 930 8-/...

Hear you on flatspot'd cheap tires - I wear thru tires so quicklike (I have issues) I usually buy the CUMho's, Sumi's, etc. But they flatspot like MAD.

I'm aiming to take the higher road w/ this car, mostly as I feel cheaping out on rubber does it a disservice... never felt that way w/ a car before (even my //S8 or 930). The car' stature overwhelms / demands! 8-)

 

I got the Pilot Super Sports. I felt the same way about cheaping out on the tires. I originally was sporting the Goodyear Eagle F1s which were about the stickiest tires EVER as long as you were on dry pavement. The car would handle like it was 1500# lighter with those. HOWEVER, these would get about 7-10K miles on the rear. This got expensive very quickly. I also foung that I was pushing the limits of the suspension since I would have to have the front end aligned with every new set of tires.

Sam's Club definitely has the best prices I've found for tires, including mounting and balancing.