I find my S550 (staggered wheels) unstable in rain
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Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 194
Likes: 1
From: Houston
08 S550, 10 GLK350, 05 Clk500
I find my S550 (staggered wheels) unstable in rain
i have new front tires and half worn rear tires (275/40/19). I find the car scary at highway speed in heavy rain. Car is new to me so not much to compare to. Are 275 prone to hydroplane?
Member
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 100
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From: Indiana
2007 W221 S550 (mine), 2006 W211 E350 (family's), 2015 W205 C300 (family's)
I had the same issue in my car with the staggered setup and actually did hydroplane. The car ended up hitting the side of the curb at about 35 on a side street (speed limit 40) and curbed the wheel up pretty bad and bent the strut control arm so bad the car was undrivable. Had it towed to my family’s business and replaced the arm for about $100~ dollars from an online vendor (can’t remeber specifics as it was over a year ago.) After I replaced that stuff I took it to my local tire shop and they found that the insides of the tires were super worn and needed replacement (1/32 tread.) The outsides looked fine, but the cords were showing on front and rear edges. I replaced all tires with Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires and don’t like them at all (lots of road noise and little grip, but great in snow and rain.) I also had the car aligned and tires rotated at MB dealer for $300. (Side Note: is it true that MB is the only place you can have the car aligned properly? That’s what they told me and the car drove so much different after. They did something to the Airmatic properties and the ride height increased prolly half an inch or so. ) Anyways back to topic. Make sure your car is properly aligned and tires aren’t wearing on insides. I had just bought my car 4 months prior to this happening and only put about 4K miles on the car when they looked trashed. The tires looked fine when I bought the car (were only a year old Michelin PSS.)
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 713
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From: Aridzona
'15 S550, '10 E350 P1/P2, '02 ML320
Just another point of view, my staggered setup is perfectly stable in rain so far. I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tires, 255 fronts 275 rears. When we get rain here in the desert it's typically a lot of rain in a short period of time or a lot of puddling due to the runoff taking some time. We got 3" in an hour recently where I live and I had no problems getting around safely.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 389
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Mercedes Benz S600
I don't think tire width matters by itself. A good tire will resist hydroplaning regardless of width. I just got back from the east cost and drove through torrential rain for a solid 4-5 hrs in my S600 with staggered, 19" wheels. Never had an issue, even going 80 mph.
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Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 194
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From: Houston
08 S550, 10 GLK350, 05 Clk500
I looked at the inside of my right tire (most worn). It is indeed very close to the bars... Seems I have my explanation. These 275 wear our quite a bit more on the inside.
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,430
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From: USA
W140 Mercedes S350, W221 S550 sport
Just another point of view, my staggered setup is perfectly stable in rain so far. I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tires, 255 fronts 275 rears. When we get rain here in the desert it's typically a lot of rain in a short period of time or a lot of puddling due to the runoff taking some time. We got 3" in an hour recently where I live and I had no problems getting around safely.
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 2,012
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From: Newyork
s550 Diamond white amg pano
I don't think tire width matters by itself. A good tire will resist hydroplaning regardless of width. I just got back from the east cost and drove through torrential rain for a solid 4-5 hrs in my S600 with staggered, 19" wheels. Never had an issue, even going 80 mph.
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Joined: Apr 2019
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W204 C63 ; W204 C200 CGi; W221 S320 CDi
Hello,
have you got to the bottom of the instability issues on Airmatic ?
I have a w221 S320 CDi running staggered 19” winter AMG line wheels. The vehicle feels very dangerous in the wet currently. For such a barge of a car it’s something unexpected for me. This is also my first Airmatic vehicle so I have little context on how these behave.
Any advice would be appreciated
thanks
have you got to the bottom of the instability issues on Airmatic ?
I have a w221 S320 CDi running staggered 19” winter AMG line wheels. The vehicle feels very dangerous in the wet currently. For such a barge of a car it’s something unexpected for me. This is also my first Airmatic vehicle so I have little context on how these behave.
Any advice would be appreciated
thanks
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 56
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2007 Mercedes S550
Just another point of view, my staggered setup is perfectly stable in rain so far. I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tires, 255 fronts 275 rears. When we get rain here in the desert it's typically a lot of rain in a short period of time or a lot of puddling due to the runoff taking some time. We got 3" in an hour recently where I live and I had no problems getting around safely.
I do have a set of snow tires and rims for the winter, even with the 4matic. The car is a tank in the snow, best car and setup that I have had in my lifetime.
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 328
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2012 S350 Bluetec 4MATIC; 2011 ML350; 2005 C230k;
Do you have OEM brakes? One of the features of adaptive brakes on W221 is in the rain, Automatic Brake Drying periodically applies the brakes just enough to sweep water build-up from the discs.
