Yes, I couldn't agree more that lack of maintenence results in most avoidable tire problems. Regarding spares, I just read an article from AAA stating that over 1/3 of new cars today come with no spare and that that number will continue to rise.

As I see it, I'd sooner go thru the unlikely event of getting towed a couple of times rather then shelling out for a spare, hauling it around, and having it take up valuable trunk space.

 

More excellent points. I know that more than 1 person has been killed attempting to change a tire on an interstate highway. Actually today, I'm not sure I want to change a tire anywhere other than in my garage.

 

I feel like I'm talking to my Aunt Sarah!
Like I said, I can't help you.
Good day sir.

 

Your Aunt Sarah sounds like a smart woman . It appears I can't help you either. At least perhaps you'll eventually recognize that there are some good points being brought up.

 

Nah, fugged-bout-it...

 

I know these threads always get dominated by people on a mission to deride run-flats, but I am genuinely happy that my S560 came with run-flats. I'll gladly accept the extremely small reduction in ride quality in return for the piece of mind that run-flats provide.

 

Have you ever thought of running with 2 spares? Just think of the additional safety that would provide. I know, blah, blah, blah.

 

Unfortunately I have have recent experience with flats on run flats (‘16 S550 4matic) and flats on non runflats (‘19 S63). The first two pictures are pictures of the six inch bolt that pierced my ‘19 S63 AMG tire and wheel when I was about 1300 miles away from my home in PA on my way to visit relatives in Houston, TX. This bolt pierced not only the tire but the wheel as wheel. The nearest dealership was about 50 miles away from where I had the flat. It took a flat bed two hours to get to me on a major highway north of Houston. This little issue not only had me flat bedded to a dealership but also took the dealer four days to find and get the new AMG wheel to the dealership. What a pain in the u now what.

The third picture is a picture of a blown out side wall on my run flat tire on my ‘16 S550 4matic. Here I was on the PA/Ohio turnpike right at the state border when I hit a famous PA pothole going about 65 mph when the pothole put a huge hole in the side of the tire. Here I decided (since it was late at night on a Sunday night) to drive about 45 miles to my home on a run flat with a huge hole in the side wall knowing that I would probably have to purchase a new wheel due to the drive home instead of having to wait hours for a flat bed truck. Amazing—I did not damage the wheel at all and the car was stable driving about 45 miles at about 45 mph.

Runflats are amazing tires! It literally pisses me off that MB does not put a spare in cars like the AMG S63. That ordeal in TX was a royal pain. The good thing is the dealer that I worked with to get a new tire and wheel was great (Mercedes Benz of the Woodlands).

I thought like a poster above that I would never get a flat. But WHEN you do, you are going to wish you had a spare in the trunk or run flat tires at a minimum.

 

Weight of a car matters, at least as long as we use ICE engines. The environment matters too. Due to the current SUV craze with car manufacturers happily obliging, Mercedes is not meeting it's CO2 targets.
The current penalty in Europe for not meeting the emissions targets is 95 Euros per gram of CO2 over the target limit per car. This will likely amount to a Billion Dollar penalty for Mercedes in 2021. This changes how companies think... Less weight, smaller and different engines, more EV tech.

In terms of spare tires, weight has been often brought up and it does make some difference. More likely though is the fact that most people wouldn't change their flat tire even if they had everything in the trunk. This had been studied in the past and proven. Too risky to do by the side of the road, lack of interest or skill to actually do it or just not wanting to get dirty.
Statistically the spare is just unused dead weight so it made sense to get rid of it.

That said, I absolutely agree that there should be space in the trunk (below the floor) to place at last an inflatable spare in case somebody likes to add one...

https://www.daimler.com/sustainabili...tp-part-5.html

 

100% agree. My risk benefit analysis suggests there is absolutely no need for a spare tire to be sitting in the trunk at all times. Unless you live in a desert with no cell reception but I doubt that's the case for any of us. Old school mentality is hard to get rid of though so I'm not surprised to see people who can't accept this. Fact is in 10-15 years there will be no cars with spares. Period.

 

You are lucky. Are you toting any tire repair kit? You're running RF or NRF?

Thanks.

 

As stated earlier, I drive an AMG and the 63 models and up have NRF tires and come standard with the tirefit mobility kit. The kit includes a compressor and a can of tire sealant so that gets me going if I should ever have a flat on the go short of complete disintegration of a tire. I didn't mention this, but I had numerous punctures over the years. I'm actually quite unlucky when it comes to picking up nails and screws, but the thing with punctures is that they are usually a slow leak and by regularly visually inspecting the tires I've caught them all with the car in my garage at home, so I could get them repaired before I ended up stranded. I've never needed the repair kit so far. In my previous car which also had NRF tires and the same kind of tire mobility kit I carried an additional mushroom plug repair kit, because the car still came with a jack, so if worse came to worst I could have plugged the tire on the side of the road. Also never needed to use the repair kit. I actually used it for the first time since I bought it 7 years ago when my wife came home with a nail in her tire during COVID lockdown. I wasn't keen on taking her car in just yet and she actually needs new tires, so I used the mushroom kit to plug it in the garage. It loses about 1 psi over 24 hours, so I have to keep putting air in the tire, but she barely drives at the moment. Before I plugged it the tire went completely flat over the same 24 hour period. I'll soon order a new set of tires for her and get it taken care of. Her car would actually have a spare, but the spare is like 16 years old now. Her car is a 2004, but has very low mileage, so I decided to rather plug the tire than have her drive around with such an old tire. She didn't drive much even before the lockdown, so it's all not a big deal.

More info on the Mercedes Tirefit Kit:

http://www.mersag.com/cmer-4383.html

 

My plan exactly but I will carry a spare.

i travel where changing a flat is far more preferable to waiting mucho hours for a roll back and the being hauled to a town that has never even heard of your tire size much less has one in stock.....so there's a two day vacation waiting on a tire to be delivered. And that's with a satellite phone.

My trunk is work space with room for a spare. I get it that city guys can survive on RFT with ease. Not so if you run remote. And all it takes is once to make you a believer.

I would prefer a spare be offered as an option.

 

Thanks.

 

This exactly. Although I live in the city, I find myself driving rural every couple weeks more than fifty miles from any where that can help (which I believe is the range of a busted RF) and at times out of cell coverage. Now I can go with non RF's and a repair kit but what if I shred or damage this tire beyond repair? Odds low but still a real inconvenience for what we spend on our cars.

 

Small to some, huge to the others.

 

This. "Small" reduction? Huge difference in ride quality. Lol.

 

I keep a spare in my w222 trunk as well. Stupid that its not offered.

 

I would assume MB has digested sales demographics ad infinitum and they see no economic reason for catering to this market wish for a spare.

Ill just carry my eBay special in the trunk.

 

Speaking of spare tires, has anyone seen one of these, factory part # A222 610 2000, referred to as a "spare tire well" ? Maybe every S-class comes with this but filled with stuff so not available for spare tire storage?

 

Iis that the stock tub? If I recall, OD of doughnut was to big for OEM tub.

 

Exactly, especially if you have staggered tire widths on an AMG car!!!. Having a flat tire on a west Alabama state road 100 miles from a tire store , and upon arriving they say they will have to order the tire. Will take 24 hours to get......NO SPARE!!! Not a hotel, but a motel stay. Loss of a day's work......the nightmare is atrocious.

 

Thanks for sharing! It's making me rethink replacing MO Extended tires..

 

Good thread everyone makes some good points, I just read through the whole thread missed it before in June. I went both ways, lol. I have a 2019 E450 Wagon and with that car after 10K miles on the stock Goodyear sport tires I could not take the horrible stiff ride anymore, the car is the luxury line too and I really wanted a better ride. at the time I also had a 2019 E450 Cabriolet and that car had Micheline Primacy 3 Run Flat tires and rode like a S class, so at 10K miles on the wagon I purchased the same tires for it. For whatever reason the Wagon still rode no where's as good as the E450 RWD Cabriolet, don't ask me why as the Cabriolet is the AMG line and was also very low. Anyhow, that sort of solved the issue for the Wagon just going with a better Run Flat as they do seem to vary. Last November I traded in the E450 Cabriolet for the 2017 S550 I currently am driving now. The Cabriolet was too low for me getting in and out causing me health issues otherwise I most certainly would have kept that car. The S550 had Pirelli Run Flat Tires on it and did not look in very good shape, one was getting a bubble on the sidewall, they were the OEM tires and the car only had 16K miles on it but they were getting older and I threw caution into the wind and replaced them with non run flat Uniroyal Tiger Paw tires which are up to nearly 9K miles on them now. No issues at all but I don't have a spare or jack or even fix a flat in the car. I figure if something does go wrong I'll call a flat bed. I really agree with what was said of the dangers of changing a flat on the side of the road these days, things are different now with people on Cell phones and maybe even texting god forbid. Not worth the risk. After reading this thread though I just think I might go with the Micheline Primacy 3 tires on my S550 in around another 10K miles, just looking them up now to see if they even make the size I need on my 20 inch rims. It is kinda risky running non run flats with no backup plan.

Editing this, just did some investigation. Micheline does not make the Primacy 3 in the size 20 inch that I need. I may try these tires when the time comes. All the other run flat tires in this size are kinda expensive and most are Goodyears and I've not had very experiences with Goodyear tires in the past. I use to run the Bridgestone on my 2012 E63 AMG Wagon and had good luck with them. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...port%20Package

 

Three days ago while driving 2 1/2 hours to a business appointment, I hit a pothole that sliced a four inch gash in the sidewall of my run flat tire. Called Mbrace and they scheduled a tow truck that would arrive in 140 minutes. AAA said they could provide a tow truck within 70 minutes; however, they didn't show until almost two hours after they were called. Had to cancel all appointments, find a new tire, and drive back home. Second time I've had to be towed in six years. Will never buy another vehicle with RF tires!