Our S430 came with Michelin Symmetry tires (lovely "S" rating) and the poor speed-rating selection is rearig its ugly head (vibration). Is there are good touring or Sport tire out there that will provide a great balance between wet & dry traction? Plus light snow? Here are the two I seemed to like best. Suggeestions? Can't be Ultra-performing tires, since we are not blessed with California-like year round weather!

225/60R-16

Michelin MXv4

Continental ContiTouring(stock)

 

I would highly recommend that you go with two sets of tires, one for winter and one for the rest of the year. I also live in Ohio and can easily say that the S430 SUCKS in snow, even light snow, with standard tires. With snow tires, though, (I use michelin pilot alpin) the car is very acceptable in snow.

 

MVX4 is a good choice, nice and quiet.

Also check out dunlop SP5000s.

 

I have some Continental ExtremeContact tires in the size 245/45/18 and 275/40/18 on the stock AMG wheels are I absolutely love these tires. These tires are ultra-high performance all season tires. They are very quiet and handle very well for this heavy car. The traction rating is AA and temperature is A. Treadwear is somewhere around 400 range. Check out The Tire Rack for fitment sizes. These are ALOT quieter than the original Dunlop SP9000 tires that the car came with.

 

litespeeds, how many miles have u put on these tires? Have they maintained their quiet ride? please keep me updated.

 

Put these tires on at 54K miles and I currently have 60K miles. Just as quiet as day one. When the Dunlops were down to about 1/2 tread, they were extremely noisy and I hated to hear a truck-like tire sound from the MBZ. Did alot of research and almost bought the Continental Sport Contact 2 tires as I had them on my 2000 Audi S4 and loved them. Thought about how heavy the S-Class is and didn't plan on hanging corners with the car so I went with a tire that is rated for mud and snow and was relatively inexpensive. Only spent about $600 for all 4 tires. Not bad for 18" tires. Just not really excited about the way the tire looks. But for the money, I would definitely buy them again.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2431842860

 

I put these, the same sizes, on my S 55 and everything you said is true, especially that they are a lot quieter than the Dunlops. The reason I changed them is because the Dunlops were becoming noisy and I wanted something that could also perform in snow. It seems I am picking up a minor vibration that is not coming through the steering column on some road surfaces. I'm having it checked out on Tuesday but I don't think it is the tires.