e55phil

So I'm driving along on Interstate 78 headed back to New York City after visiting my 98-year-old mother. (By the way, she drives a 2001 e55).

This crazy lady pulls out in front of me and I have to veer to the left and sure enough I had a big pothole. I hear a loud bang and switch to my air pressure monitor and in a couple of minutes get a warning of my tire is flat.

I pull over and look at the tire. It looks solid no gap in the sidewall. I consult the manual which tells me that if there is no break in the sidewall it's safe to drive the tire. I call roadside and the woman on the phone confirms my understanding.

I drive 28 miles at 45 miles an hour with my flashers on but by the time I pull into my garage there is a gap in the sidewall.

When I purchased the car I purchased tire and rim insurance. I don't know if this includes checking the alignment on the car but I hope it does.

I read on this forum about another person in New York who had a flat in his car was towed to Brooklyn. I wrote to my service advisor and asked him if it was advisable for me to have the car trailered (I don't want it towed in New York City because our roads are terrible) or can I drive it to the dealership. If it has to be trailered I don't want to go to Brooklyn which is geographically closer to where my car is parked.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Will my tire be replaced? If my rim is damaged will it be repaired? Will the alignment be covered? Will it happen quickly and with out problems or will there problems or a delay because I'm running 20 inch rims?

If there is a delay will they give me a loaner car?

It's ironic because just last week another person commented that I could buy one of those donut spare tires. In a way I wish I had but at the same time the run-flat did get me back to my garage.

I will give a follow up report later in the week on what happens.

Thanks

phil

Streamliner

Just think: If the brilliant engineers in Germany had designed a space in your HUGE, $100,000.00+ luxury sedan, where a compact spare could have been stored, under the trunk floor, where a spare has been stored in EVERY S Class sedan prior to the W222, virtually ALL of this stress, hassle, inconvenience, DANGER and wasted time could have been avoided.

And STILL, there are SOOOOO many on this board who just don't seem to mind that MB SHOVES run flat tires down our throat and just don't seem to care that they no longer have even the frigging OPTION of having a jack & spare.

Run flat tires are the kiss of death to the ride quality, handling and safety of the occupants in any vehicle and should NEVER be the only choice for buyers of any car, let alone a huge, very expensive, luxury sedan like the S Class. In addition, RFT or conventional tires, EVERY car should be designed with a frigging PLACE to properly store at least a compact spare, with my preference being a place for a full size spare, as some makers, like Lexus still offer as standard equipment in their LS sedans.

OP, I hope this mess turns out well for you, but I also hope that you take pen to paper and write to MBUSA, where you TEAR THEM A NEW ONE over this ridiculous, pigheaded, asinine decision they made that took our self reliance away from us and put our safety and well being into the hands of tow truck drivers. If nobody shouts at MB, nothing will change.

e_dasani

Everyone does mind the lack of a spare Streamliner, its just until one experiences the ordeal first hand, you dont get that zeal, the commitment required to influence MB to change their decision. I think e55Phil, you will get the tire and rim taken care off and loaner vehicle given if required, but alignment cost will be on you, unless you can convince the Service Mgr, they do hold considerable discretion in these matters.

Chucky300

That member was me.

However, I must warn you. DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR TO MERCEDES BENZ OF BROOKLYN. UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. TAKE IT ANYWHERE ELSE. TRUST ME.....

Have it towed to MB Manhattan - and ask to speak with Louis DeMarco and let him know you are a friend of Brad Reisman and have the same tire and wheel insurance that I do. You'll have a $50 deductible per the policy and you'll be out the door ASAP.

WEBSRFR

Also MB of Manhattan is one of the few dealerships actually owned by Mercedes.

We bought a car there.

They seemed really disorganized but reasonable and nice people otherwise.

e55phil

Chucky300 I do remember your posting. We have the same wheels! at least you know I paid attention to your post.

WEBSRFR, When my car showed up Mr. DiMarco called me he seemed like a good guy but I had already made contact with my service advisor by that time.

Here's my experience so far for whatever it's worth.

I sent in an email and the service people but they did not call me or email me back until after I had called in myself.

I had to go to a business meeting so I just called in at noon and navigated press one for this and two for that until I reached a nice young man named Solomon, Solomon advised me to call roadside assistance which I did (800-367-6372).

Roadside assistance was efficient and quickly arranged for a third-party company to pick up my car. I asked for a flatbed only and I ask that the car be taken to Me/Bz of Manhattan. A very polite and efficient lady said she'd set it up and within 15 minutes I received the text with a link to a web-based confirmation.

Shortly after this my service advisor James did call me and told me he'd be on the lookout for my car. My experience with him has been good and I've learned that in the future I should just call roadside.

I called the tow company because their number was on the webpage. It's a good thing I called him because he had missed the phone number of the garage where my car is kept.

When the car was delivered to the dealership Mr. DeMarco called me he was a nice guy to talk to. I let him know send it to my service advisor and gave him my service advisor's named James.

Interestingly enough my salesperson Alex, who was copied on the email did call me while he was on vacation. He is definitely a good guy. Funny thing, he's been promoted now but he still cared enough to call me.

For me there are two bottom lines and I hope they both help you all:

1. In my case I won't call the dealership it's just easier to call roadside assistance, it isn't like the old days when I had my first Mercedes 1979 and some fellow answered the phone you suspected was chewing on a cigar but he knew the car inside and out. Now days you have to go through all sorts of monkey business to get what you want but roadside is a great customer service too in the end.

It isn't until the car gets into the dealership that you are even on their radar screen at least at the Manhattan dealership that's the way it seems to be.

The next time I have a problem I'm going to just call roadside.

2. I'm going to buy a spare tire and throw it in the trunk. I'm not sure one of those small donut spares will work because there's some debate as to whether or not they will clear my brake calipers but whatever I have to do going to get a spare tire

Mitch Alsup

I do not like that MB shoves runcraps down our throats.

I do not mind that MB has no jack and spare (or an option on one).

I have not had a flat in over 3 decades, and this is even considering running street tires on my race car down to slicks with the actual steel threads peaking through what is left of the rubber.

{I also have not hit a pothole in about 3 decades for lots of other reasons...... And this includes around 500,000 miles of driving in that time}

Streamliner

Some folks always seem to roll 7's and that's great. Others, like myself, don't like to gamble and much prefer being prepared for as many unforeseen circumstances as is reasonably possible.

The bottom line here, at least to me, is that there is no good reason that the W222 should not have a space for a spare and that having a jack & spare, along with a choice of RFT or conventional tires should be OPTIONS, offered to the vehicle buyer, especially in a big, very expensive car like the S Class.

It is luxurious to have the option of having exactly what one wants. It becomes less and less luxurious when we are forced to accept the "one size fits all" mentality. The W222 is supposed to be one of the ultimate luxury sedans, but the ownership experience is becoming more and more diluted as our options to "have it our way" are eliminated by bean counters in Germany, as illustrated by the OP's simple flat turning into a debacle. It didn't need to be that way and for $100K+, it shouldn't have been.

e55phil

the parts departmentAt Mercedes-Benz told me that the wheel for the w221 won't fit over my brake calipers. I'm wondering if I put a spacer to make the rim stick out further if that will allow me to carry a spare donut?

PNBLWZD

I was about to ask a similar question; What spare or compact spare can we get that will fit a W222? The wheels are staggered widths front and back to make things more complicated...

Streamliner

For my 2015 S550, I use a standard, compact spare from a 2013 W221 S550. For the AMG cars with big brakes, I don't know that there is a compact spare ghost will fit.

e55phil

I see they make these spacers. I'm not sure what therefore but when I look at them on eBay it looks like they're designed to make the room stick out a little further I wonder if that would do the job? If I find one of these spares I'm going to buy one and experiment

jcoleman310

I have an Edition One S550 coupe and just hit 20K miles and the Pirelli run flats are gone. Almost no tread left. I had a tiny puncture in one and did manage to drive it to the dealership for repair. I wished MB had put a spare but they chose not to do so. Now I am considering buying non run flats as replacements. Continental Tire has a great all season but I think I will at least need a can of Fix-A-Flat and a 12 volt pump. Any of you guys have any thoughts on this swap?

e55phil

In order to answer this question I have to ask you if you have rim and tire insurance. If you do I believe you're required to run the tires that Mercedes-Benz approves which I believe are just Pirelli and Goodyear.

I forget what page it's on but somewhere in your manual is a page that shows the approved tires for 20 inches. I think there might also be a winter tire.

I don't know about 19 inch tires but on the same few pages it gives you the approved .19 inch tires.

I like the continental DWS and if I could I would buy those tires. I would even be willing to give up the tire and rim insurance if I could find spare put in my trunk to take up the entire trunk space.

swaynesworld

I really don't care about the run flats. If I did have a spare I wouldn't use it I wouldn't risk getting hit by another car if I had to change it driver side. I have AAA and roadside assistance. I live outside of Baltimore and have hit too many potholes and I'm shocked that run flats have held up. If you can afford to buy this car then why would you waste your time to save a few bucks and risk a roadside change when all you need to do is stay in the vehicle and call a flatbed! When I wear out this set of run flats I may not get regular tread who knows.

Streamliner

Please see 5/13 reply from SWAYNESWORLD.