When the new s class was first released there was a furor on this board about the lack of a spare tire. Nothing more has been said in months from new or old owners.

Has anyone had a bad experience with their run flats? If you replaced your tires due to wear, at what mileage did you do it and what did you replace them with? I haven't had any problems, but I drive so few miles that I'm not a good person to survey.

 

My original post was about run flats and how I was pleasantly surprised about ride quality,noise,etc.I have the Michelin MXM4 ZP tires on 19"wheels.Road force balanced and rotated every 5k. Have 12k miles and still showing 7/32 to 8/32 tread depth.I would call this acceptable wear.

 

i've has two "bad experiences" but the runflat tyres saved my **** both times. i've had two "blowouts" (or what would have been "blowouts" if i had conventional rubber) due to massive potholes. the runflats saved me as - whilst they developed these massive bulges - they continued to operate until i could get them changed out. so they operated as designed.

for reference:
i have a 2015 s550 4matic with the sport+1 package that came factory-equipped with goodyear runflats. 6mos ownership; 2,900 miles on the odo now. i think the ride is acceptable though not as soft as my 2013 s5504m that had conventional continentals.

 

The runflats were very nice on my car on 19" and as far as I could tell didn't change anything. Now I use 20" non-runflats as they apparently could crack my alloys. Just need to hope nothing goes wrong.

 

I was worried at first but not any longer. The ride is fine.

I have a set of 19 inch and 20 inch and the 19 is a better ride IMO.

 

I have a 2015 S550 4Matic with 18' runflats. My previous vehicle was a 2012 S350 with 18" conventional tires. Ride quality on the 2015 is better than on the 2012. with the 2012 I averaged 8-9 flats per year (very bad pot holes, and I use the car in emergency services as an emergency response vehicle). Pot holes have, if anything gotten worse. I have the 2015 for 11 months now, with almost 14,000 miles on it - No flats or bubbles, and insignificant wear. I am very satisfied with the runflats, and am beginning to have second thoughts about the tire warranty I bought.

 

No matter how well a car rides on run flat tires, it will ride better, smoother and MUCH quieter on certain conventional tires. You may feel that your W222 rides just fine on the run flats, but if you could do immediate, side by side tests, over the same roads, I believe that the difference between your run flats and, let's say Michelin Primacy MXM4's or Bridgestone Serenity's (what I have) would be very noticeable, especially on rougher roads, intersection joints, parking lot aprons, etc. and the noise level at highway speeds would truly be a NIGHT and DAY difference. My 2015 S550 sedan was ordered with 18" wheels. I drove the car for about 500 miles with the run flats and then the dealer put the Bridgestone Serenity Plus tires on and I was STUNNED at the improvement. If you guys are happy with your ride & noise quality with RFT's, I'm happy for you. As for me, I've never looked back. To complete the package, I purchased an unused W221 compact spare and a W222 jack, both of which now reside in my trunk, giving me peace of mind on longer trips, albeit with diminished trunk space.

 

Personally, I'm still satisfied with my runflats. However, I've come to realize that may have something to do with the road surfaces in my area...they tend to be asphalt rather than concrete (concrete seems common for Calif freeways). Recently, I drove over a short stretch of highway that was concrete, and it seemed quite loud. Would my W221 with regular tires have been quieter in that instance? Possibly.

 

While I have no problems with the 18" run flats on my 2015 I still worry. I drive from Phoenix to Yuma AZ about once or twice a month. There are long stretches (40 to 60 miles) with nothing. If I had a blowout that could not be fixed with a can and compressor I will really be up the creek.
Michael in Arizona

 

My S600 has those run flats.

While the ride is acceptable, when the run flats are done, the replacements won't be run flats any more.

 

I don't love, to any extent, my run flats. I am also not too keen on taking up my trunk space with a spare if I changed to conventional tires, so for now, I live with the 20 inch run flats.

My wife just got a new 7 series with 19 inch run flats and we took her car this weekend for a 3 1/2 hour road trip each way. I had forgotten how great the 7 series car is. I had a 2010 7 series Individual, and I really didn't care for the run flats anymore than I do on my 2015 MB.

On the other hand, the 2015 7 series, with the 19 inch run flats, drove incredibly. The ride was quiet, and the car is really smooth, much more so than my MB.

I had forgotten how nice the ride was with the 7 series. I think Streamliner will be a happy camper.

 

Well, I'm not there just yet--haven't even seen the new 7 in person. I think though, that we all need to applaud the folks from Munchen for biting the bullet and to finally offer a compact spare as an option on the new car.

 

They realized that you can a blowout even with a runflat that you can't continue driving on (cut in the sidewall) and that no shop carries run flats, so all have to be ordered.

 

I just think this whole run flat idea is a disaster waiting to happen.

For me, an equal competitor to my S class with a spare tire, will most likely get my order. That being said, on the next body change, my bet is MB S class has a spare. Don't look for it on the re-fresh.

 

I agree.
One of the original reasons for not carrying a spare was the weight savings but it turned out that the extra weight of the runflat tires (they are heavy!) offset the savings completely...

I will change from the 20" Pirelli run flats to all season tires in the next couple of weeks and provide feedback.

 

Interesting to run across this topic...

I was en route to an important function thus weekend when my tire monitor flashed and pressure fairly quickly went to zero. I have MY2015 S550 with 20" OEM goodyears, 18k miles.

I was able to safely drive a couple miles to the first tire shop (closed) and another mile to one that was open where I was able to drop the car off for a new tire (not exact replacement but will get me by for a couple weeks).

I've never had a strong opinion (or experience) with run flats in the past but on this occasion I was very grateful to have them!

As for the tire...it was completely separated around the inside edge, approx half of the way around. No puncture. I'm not sure if it separated from the 3 miles of driving or if it was the original cause. It would NOT have made it for 50 miles at 50mph (or whatever it is).

 

The last flat I got while driving was in 1977.
I have had a few flats when the car was parked.

 

My wife was had a flat in our 2014 w/20" run flats a couple weeks ago. I was out of town and she was able to experience the benefit of the run flats. Tire went to 0 psi over a couple miles, puncture in the tread. She drove about 5 miles home then made an apt with the dealer the next day and drove 20+ miles to the dealer on the flat. Worked out great for her and she is now more comfortable with the idea of the run flats now.

 

Want maximal braking vs any emergent maneuver....thus would only drive w/best factory-spec summ (or winter) perf tires...not runflats/not all-season

Reality is if have (arguably rare) flat, would call roadside assist to flat bed car to competent MB dealer; wouldn't ever risk trying to repair any tire on roadside nor driving a car w/compact spare/"repaired" tire: cars are all cheap/disposable; one's health isn't

And having replaced rears of several new 65s after ?6-8K mis at first (and only) annual oil change before trade-in, would observe big MB dealers in SF/LA sometimes lack factory-spec tires in stock&need 1-2d to obtain: tires/tire replacements are a primitive industry and most customers don't understand how critical are competent tires vs safety, yet how cheap are any tires vs critical role they provide in any car's perf/safety (and given bulk of tires (and specificity of high-perf tires), suspect many dealers avoid inventory costs)

So notion of spares, etc is an irrelev Luddite phenom; simply, having a flat in Podunk (or anywhere on rd) is a miserable/dangerous expce on many levels.....but much of advantage of life in places like SF/LA is no need/desire to traverse Podunk (and if need to, know these unsolvable risks one has assumed)

 

I recently changed from run-flats to conventional, and yes the ride is much better over bumpy surfaces, don't really notice any noise difference.

My car is a 2014 with the optional 20" wheels. The OEM tire was a Goodyear Eagle F1 performance tire run flat. Great ride and handling on smooth surfaces, but a bit harsh on bad bumpy roads. My car reached 20K miles and I may use it during the winter (which was not the plan when I bought it) so I changed to Conti All Season non runflats.

I don't know what the future will be for run flats, I'm sure that the R&D departments of every tire manufacturer are working to improve them. I think the car companies jumped on the bandwagon too soon. I had a 2007 BMW with run flats and it was awful. I actually have a 2009 Ferrari with Bridgestone high performance run flats that came as OEM tires and it is not so bad, but that car is not built for a comfy ride.

 

19k miles, 4 punctures, 3 in same tire still going.

 

This thread persuaded me to switch to conventionals (Bridgestone Turanza ER30). Here's my impressions on my petrol S400 with ABC (no MBC) and 18" rims:

+ Overall ride improved significantly (yes, day and night difference);
+ Better turns;
+ Better handling with potholes and bumps;
+ I feel as though suspension was tuned for conventional tires;

- Michelin run-flats had slightly less surface noise (surprisingly).

I wish I made the switch to conventional 25,000 km sooner !!

 

Welcome to the conventional tire club. Just curious: Did you obtain a compact spare and a jack as well? Also curious: Why did you go with the ER30's and not the Serenity Plus tires? I went with the latter and the noise difference over the run flats was dramatic.

 

Many thanks. I did not obtain a compact spare yet (AA subscription).

Although I went straight to the Bridgestone importer (freshness) they didn't have the Serenity Plus.

Importer gave me a reasonable deal on (4) ER30 wheels: USD 205 per wheel including installation and 1 additional free balance within 12 months. So I said to myself: "replace wheels first; think later". I'm glad I did

 

I was dropping off our SL for service and my wife picked me up with our S-Class so I don't have to enjoy the loaner for the day. Turned out to be wishful thinking.

5 miles from the dealer we hit a reasonably small pothole which immediately killed the front-right tire. Pirelli 20" run-flats.

I had planned to switch to non-runflats a while back but have been too busy/lazy. So now we are back to the dealer to get a loaner and now have two cars sitting there and have to wait to get the tires delivered which will take a couple of days.

Such a bummer, we barely have a 1000 miles on the car...

On the positive side, I was able to drive back to the dealer. On the other side, no way the non-runflats would have blown...