When I first bought my car I could feel a vibration through the steering wheel starting at about 41 mph under acceleration and ends near 50 mph. When I took the car back to the dealer they came back with saying the right front tire has a flat spot. It just happened that at this same time the dealer was sending my car out for all new tires anyway. Because several members here recommended the Continental ExtremeContact tires I asked the dealer to give me those instead of the ProContact Run Flats. As far as I can tell the Extreme Contact tires were at least the same if not a better and quieter ride (the story doesn’t end here). Within a week I felt the same vibration return, this time I opted (and with permission) to take my car to a Mercedes dealer close to to me. Late today the service writer called and said the tech could not detect any vibration but found two wheels slightly bent. In stead of spending $3000 on a new set of wheels they can have an outside vender come to the dealer and straighten out the two wheels with heat right in the dealer’s place.

This service writer doesn’t like the ExtremeContact tires. He says they are not on the list of appropriate or approved tires for the S Class. According to this guy these tires - when broken in, become hard, give a harsh ride and develop a choppy tread right away. I’ve only had these tires a little over 2 weeks and certainly not even 1,000 miles yet and he’s recommending I go back to the ProContact tires. I have some reservations about that - your thoughts?

One last issue, one of the key fobs has stranded me in the worst times, the car won’t recognize the fob and won’t start the car no matter where I position the key. I couldn’t find key fob #1 so I used #2 (the bad one). It worked like normal but 15 miles from home it stopped recognizing my key and left me stranded. The Mercedes dealer is recommending to Carmax that the key fob must be replaced and will get a price tomorrow.

Rich

What version of s class do you have?
What size of tires did you fit?

I've been using Continental Extreme Contacts for years with zero issues and will put them on my 550 when it's time for replacements. Currently running Pirelli run flats and have to admit that they seem okay but I typically stick with what's been successful for me when it comes time to change.

I'd be leery of a wheel straightened by anyone that's not at a shop that specializes in wheel straightening with the equipment to verify that the job was done properly. Not sure how the service advisor wasn't able to detect the vibration with two bent wheels....

Best of luck with the key fob.... I need to get a second one as my car came with only one and every dealer I've contacted quotes roughly $700 for the fob plus programming. I plan on getting one soon but my nearest dealer is 175 miles away so I'd like to make it happen on a Friday and stay a night or two as a short getaway.

2018 S560 4matic

245/45ZR-19 CONTINENTAL EXTREMECONTACT DWS 06 PLUS SL

275/40ZR-19 CONTINENTAL EXTREMECONTACT DWS 06 PLUS SL

The vendor comes to the dealer and does the work there. They heat the rims and have some gauge that verifies that the wheel is true when they are done. Otherwise the price quote (I was told) is $3,000 for a pair. The dealer said the heat will burn the paint on the inside of the rims but they repaint the back sides when done. I’m really not thrilled with this and would rather have the rims replaced. I wouldn’t have bought this car if I knew I was buying repaired and repainted wheels.
I believe Carmax uses a car warranty company that pays for their 90 days bumper to bumper warranty repairs - that’s how they are letting me go to a MB dealer near me. The Mercedes service guy said the key fobs are not usually paid under such warranties so Carmax would have to pay for it.
This time I got a brand new 2025 GLE as a loaner for a week or more.

Wheels get bent--don't get bent yourself--just get wheels that are perfectly round--either by fixing the bent ones or by getting new round ones.
You cannot balance a wheel that is not round.

Screw his opinion.

Are you using the proper battery in the Fob ??

What do you do when you are the only one that feels or hears something wrong with your car? I’m not imagining this vibration, it’s there at normal acceleration starting close to 41 mph and tapering off before 50 mph. My wife, who doesn’t agree with me that it’s daylight outside at 12 noon can feel the vibration. You would think that techs working on cars at a Mercedes dealership would be able to detect a vibration in the steering wheel especially when they are told the conditions under which to duplicate it.

OP the tires you chose are excellent. SA is blowing smoke about something he knows nothing about.

Wheels.... Once bent they will never be repaired to be ‘As new.’ Buy a pair of straight wheels and mount your new tires on them. Be done with it.

Key Fob. Pull the button out of the ignition and insert key. Turn to start. Be sure you always have two fully functional keys and don’t go swimming with them in a pocket.

Those are great tires but I prefer Michelin Pilot Sport or MOE labelled ones .
As for your key fob ,please do this trick it should work at least works in other Mercedes-Benz vehicles :
Press unlock button
Press lock button
Press unlock button again

Do this only once

You will be able to see gauge clusters starts to flash and your keyfob should be in use again . Mine started to act weirdly as well . I will have the dealer look at it

I have to disagree with you here. I’ve had three aluminum wheels repaired. Two were bent on my E90, one cracked on the wife’s W212.

All three were repaired by a place here in Charlotte, and all three balance and drive like new - zero vibration. Sure, the paint on the W212 isn’t perfect, but it’s on the inner edge, and will only be seen by maintenance techs or when new tires are being installed.

The E90 wheels were straightened (rounded?), and it is not possible to see any paint difference, so either the paint wasn’t affected or the paint job was perfect.

I would buy 4 new ones, check Ebay or Tire rack.
I have replaced my 19's OEM with a set of 18" from Tire Rack with Pirelli's, extremely happy with it.

You can’t pull out the start button on this car.

Mr. M, are you saying you can’t physically remove the button or are you saying that there is no button?? Not clear on what you mean.

Did they change the way the start button is in 18+ cars?

Yes ignition changed with new key.
The new key is not insertable, the button is no longer removable.
There is an RF detection area for batteryless keys in the center console.

100% correct - however, the RF detection area only works for dead or weak fob batteries. There isn’t any tricks to get the car started if the fob is damaged.

When at the Mercedes-Benz dealer yesterday I noticed Cooper Discoverer are MO on the 2025 cars. That makes 9 brands named as Mercedes Original tires. I have to find out if there is an MOS tire in some brand that is not Pirelli tires.

How well does this actually work, that RF area when your key dies? I guess you can unlock with phone but can’t start the car that way?

Ignore the dealer about the tires. They "don't like" anything that isn't an OEM tire. I have had them chastise my tires before too and I just laugh.

The vibration is the out of round wheels, hopefully they will true up but you may have to replace them...

I agree with you there. I called the dealer this afternoon. The Service writer doesn’t seem to like answering phone calls or his email. My car was supposed to be done on Monday but the wheel guy is behind, the new key just got there today. When I asked how sure he is how the wheels will come out - he says they will absolutely be perfectly round but he tells me “those tires will still be noisy.” I made it clear those tires are NOT noisy and they ride smoother, if they weren’t I have a brand new set of Continental ProContacts in my garage that would be swapped back immediately. These guys at the dealership may know more than I’ll ever know about these cars, but he never owned one of these cars and as he said - only the tech and the service manager can take customers cars out on the road so I’m not accepting his issues over the ExtremeContacts as gospel.

The 2025 GLE 350 loaner is nice but it doesn’t hold a candle to my S560, I want my car back!

Oh yeah, nothing is like the S Class! I considered a GLS580 to replace my S560 and I had a GLS450 for a week, and at the end I was ready to have my car back.

To be clear, I’m not a mechanic at all.

I love those continental tires and have used them for 20+ years now- first on a BMW and then on my S550. The name/model changed slightly over those years. They are the perfect blend of traction in snow, aesthetically pleasing tread design, life span, cost and speed rating. And I can use them without switching between summer and winter tires! I took those god awful looking OEM 18” wheels and replaced them with a modest 21” staggered set.

If they will honor the warranty and repair the wheels at no cost to you, go for it. They’ll look better and in theory be safer with a complete seal with the tire. Repair will also allow full balancing so that the wheels can be ruled out. Nothing to lose here.

Just keep an eye out on the timeline. Make sure this work and any other potential issues are addressed within your short warranty window. Soon someone in the pipeline will say something like “this is no longer covered, or expired…”

Go for a quick spin with someone there to replicate the vibrations and noise. Get someone there to acknowledge in your presence your complaint. It sounds like is not random, so this shouldn’t be a problem or waste of time.

Google how the mobile guys straighten the wheels... I would rather have the tires unmounted and get them done the right way. I would also suggest get the Michelin Pilots as continentals are not at the same level and could be the problem here

The Continentals are significantly quieter and better riding than the Michelins. Plenty of test data on TireRack that proves that.

Update -
I picked up my car at the dealer yesterday. I don’t usually examine my car when I pick it up after service was performed but something made me look around the car. The first thing I noticed was the rims were dirty. The night before I brought the car in for service I hand washed the car and used spray detail to wipe away any water spots. I wiped the rims , they looked great.

What I saw upon pick up, very dirty and where the balancing weights were they left all the White adhesive on each wheel, the next moment really set me off. The dealer had worked on 3 wheels and all of those had scratches on them. Right on the outer rim of the wheels closest to the tires. There was only one service writer on duty and he didn’t want to hear anything. He gave me a card for the service guy that took care of my car - I have to call him tomorrow.

I know they walked around the car taking photos the day I dropped off the car over a week ago. I have pictures too from a week earlier. I never parked my car near any curbing and no way anything happened in my possession. Nobody drove this car unless I was in the passenger seat. I believe some tech wasn’t careful when removing/installing the tires after the work was done on the rims.

The original service writer told me the vendor applies heat on spots around the “inside” of the rims - according to him because the work is on the inside I won’t see any repainting they have to do.
Yesterday the guy at the dealer said they repaint the outside - no painting is done on the inside because it’s not painted (I don’t think so!).

The one thing that amazed me about this car when I bought it - no curb rash, they were nearly perfect. I even mentioned that very fact in one of my threads here. I think there was one tiny little nick (not that noticeable at all). I’m very annal about my things, especially my cars - even my tractor after 2 1/2 years looks better than brand new.

I think I have to start recording my conversations when service people make statements to me.

That sucks! Hopefully your pictures will be enough proof that they boogered up your wheels.

Crazy to think that after a week they would give it back to you dirty!