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Going thru my newly acquired Sclass and coming to the trunk this was found in the lower compartment: wheel locks are no mystery but what is that giant eye bolt for?
As mentioned above, it is the tow hook. If you look on the front bumper of virtually all cars now there will be a little square ish flap that can be popped out to reveal a hidden threaded mounting hole. Some hooks can be left hand thread , I don't know about the Mercedes ones as never trued it !
The other items that are sometimes in that foam tray are the compressor and the sticky stuff to try to repair a puncture, that is the two moulds in the foam showing
If you ever need to have your car pulled onto a flat bed truck, that eye bolt is for them to hook their winch. These high end German cars use frames that can sustain damage from improper towing. The hook provides a safe and convenient place for them to hook up and winch the car onto a tow truck.
You've never seen a towing eye? These things have been around for decades. As said, in some cars they screw in to a dedicated spot behind the front bumper and other cars have them permanently bolted to the frame. Those who do track days are perhaps more familiar with them as track rules often require the towing eyes to be installed front and rear where applicable and brightly marked to easily spot, so the marshals can quickly pull vehicles out of a ditch w/o causing more damage. You can get these with the loop painted red, especially for track days.
I have been driving since 1977 and owned a lot of cars (no German ones) but only knew about that because my cousin had a race-read Porsche race car and used it at the end of the day. Then saw it in trunk and knew what it was, but none of my other cars ever had that part.
OK so looking at the photo at the beginning of this thread there are obvious things missing so what do I need to recover from a flat tire? The car does not have run flats and that is a good thing IMO.I have found this https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...mer-0005830712 on FCP WEB site. Should there be some type of jack? what about a lug wrench? Are there MB part number for these things. What about after market equivalents?
OK so looking at the photo at the beginning of this thread there are obvious things missing so what do I need to recover from a flat tire? The car does not have run flats and that is a good thing IMO.I have found this https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...mer-0005830712 on FCP WEB site. Should there be some type of jack? what about a lug wrench? Are there MB part number for these things. What about after market equivalents?
I have been driving since 1977 and owned a lot of cars (no German ones) but only knew about that because my cousin had a race-read Porsche race car and used it at the end of the day. Then saw it in trunk and knew what it was, but none of my other cars ever had that part.
Thanks, John. Are you saying MB roadside assistance will come out for a older, in this case a 2018 car? At what cost? Where would they tow the car to?
Tire issue for a vehicle out of warranty? You are paying for the tow. They will insist on towing it to closest MB dealership. AAA with long distance towing option may be in order.
I keep fresh tires on my car.... Easy as they never live longer then 20,000 miles. I've not had a blowout with the 222 car. The 221 had a space saver spare that got used once. But not over 50MPH.... and they mean it. It is a really flimsy tire. I'm unable to fit any spare in my trunk or I would have one.
Last edited by JohnLane; Dec 26, 2025 at 12:27 PM.
Does the car have MOE (Mercedes Original Extended) tires, that is the Mercedes-Benz version of run flats? If not, the owner switched them out to non-run flats, which many people do as they run smoother. I still have the MOE's that were put on new when I bought my CPO, I have only put 17k on them, but I plan to replace them due to age next year. I have a slime kit in the trunk and a pump just in case of flat, since there is no room for a spare in my even smaller 550e trunk. The Michelin MXM tires are not my favorites when compared to tires I ran on my Q45 (Michelin PS3-4), but I'm not sure I will no non-MOE's next change yet as I am always leery of no spare on longer trips. That said I have the highest level of AAA coverage just in case I am in the middle of a drive from SF to LA, the 150 miles would get me to someplace that I can get a new tire.
Tire issue for a vehicle out of warranty? You are paying for the tow. They will insist on towing it to closest MB dealership. AAA with long distance towing option may be in order.
I keep fresh tires on my car.... Easy as they never live longer then 20,000 miles. I've not had a blowout with the 222 car. The 221 had a space saver spare that got used once. But not over 50MPH.... and they mean it. It is a really flimsy tire. I'm unable to fit any spare in my trunk or I would have one.
That's what I thought but really need to find some sort of DYI roadside solution. If you are trying to get somewhere having your towed away because of a flat? Now what? There are aerosol Slime implements that should be good for emergency short hop transportation.
Does the car have MOE (Mercedes Original Extended) tires, that is the Mercedes-Benz version of run flats? If not, the owner switched them out to non-run flats, which many people do as they run smoother. I still have the MOE's that were put on new when I bought my CPO, I have only put 17k on them, but I plan to replace them due to age next year. I have a slime kit in the trunk and a pump just in case of flat, since there is no room for a spare in my even smaller 550e trunk. The Michelin MXM tires are not my favorites when compared to tires I ran on my Q45 (Michelin PS3-4), but I'm not sure I will no non-MOE's next change yet as I am always leery of no spare on longer trips. That said I have the highest level of AAA coverage just in case I am in the middle of a drive from SF to LA, the 150 miles would get me to someplace that I can get a new tire.
No MOEs herre. Currently running Goodyear Eagle F1s that will not be replaced with same. Not sure what replacements will be but a good chance they will be some flavor of Michelins.
That's what I thought but really need to find some sort of DYI roadside solution. If you are trying to get somewhere having your towed away because of a flat? Now what? There are aerosol Slime implements that should be good for emergency short hop transportation.
I have one of those in every car I own even the ones with a full spare, they are not ideal but if you're out somewhere that a tow isn't going to work it can at least help you limp to a place for tire repair.
I have one of those in every car I own even the ones with a full spare, they are not ideal but if you're out somewhere that a tow isn't going to work it can at least help you limp to a place for tire repair.
Have you ever used one of those one of those aerosols? I am wondering if the wheel needs to be rotated when the sealant is injected in which case a jack would come in handy. Did it have enough air to properly inflate the tire? Do you also carry a compressor?
Have you ever used one of those one of those aerosols? I am wondering if the wheel needs to be rotated when the sealant is injected in which case a jack would come in handy. Did it have enough air to properly inflate the tire? Do you also carry a compressor?
I haven't used it on my own car but my friends car had flat and it was 11pm at night so no place to take the car to repair and just wanted to get home. The system has a pump built into it, we used that to inflate the tire and didn't need to rotate it, the thing held, got if fixed the next day and the shop charged him extra to clean out the gunk but it was cheaper than other options at the time (round-trip uber)
I haven't used it on my own car but my friends car had flat and it was 11pm at night so no place to take the car to repair and just wanted to get home. The system has a pump built into it, we used that to inflate the tire and didn't need to rotate it, the thing held, got if fixed the next day and the shop charged him extra to clean out the gunk but it was cheaper than other options at the time (round-trip uber)
Thanks for that! Would you mind sharing the name of that system?
Tire issue for a vehicle out of warranty? You are paying for the tow. They will insist on towing it to closest MB dealership. AAA with long distance towing option may be in order.
I keep fresh tires on my car.... Easy as they never live longer then 20,000 miles. I've not had a blowout with the 222 car. The 221 had a space saver spare that got used once. But not over 50MPH.... and they mean it. It is a really flimsy tire. I'm unable to fit any spare in my trunk or I would have one.
Towing to the nearest MB dealership with roadside is always free, regardless of warranty status. In addition, vehicles under warranty are eligible for soft services.
If you ever need to have your car pulled onto a flat bed truck, that eye bolt is for them to hook their winch. These high end German cars use frames that can sustain damage from improper towing. The hook provides a safe and convenient place for them to hook up and winch the car onto a tow truck.
I respect your message but I just wonder how on earth such a strong chassis German Car (Mercedes-Benz ) can sustain a damage from improper towing is beyond my approach. Because, I had seen a W222 sent a Chevrolet Tahoe into the junkyard after a collision and I have to admit , I was surprised albeit I knew Mercedes-Benz models come with the strong chassis as well .
Happy Driving (hope you never have to use that thing at all )
Towing to the nearest MB dealership with roadside is always free, regardless of warranty status. In addition, vehicles under warranty are eligible for soft services.
That's what I thought but really need to find some sort of DYI roadside solution. If you are trying to get somewhere having your towed away because of a flat? Now what? There are aerosol Slime implements that should be good for emergency short hop transportation.
The goo in a can doesn’t help when a tire has gone from seemingly fine to shredded in ten seconds of feel a vibration to hearing parts of the tire hitting the car + seeing them flying in the rear view as you get to the shoulder quickly.
I wish for a spare bit would give up far too much of the trunk for it.
MOE... Mercedes Original Extended. German speak for run flat. ‘Up to fifty miles of driving with no pressure.’ So you *may make it to Discount Tire before the tire shreds to pieces but it will at best be a throw away, and run flats thud over every bump and zit on the road.
I prefer Michelin and Continental in three seasons flavor. Always Z rated. Quiet enough with lots of grip (zero chance of snow here).
The goo in a can doesn’t help when a tire has gone from seemingly fine to shredded in ten seconds of feel a vibration to hearing parts of the tire hitting the car + seeing them flying in the rear view as you get to the shoulder quickly.
If a tire goes from seemingly fine to totally disintegrated, you had bigger issues leading up to that, and they were most likely avoidable with proper care. Tires normally don't just do that. This stuff happens if you run at the wrong tire pressure and such. Reminds me of that one time I was driving up from LA on I-5 and as I was passing this BMW 3-series, their left rear tire exploded. They were clearly underinflated and eventually overheated. The tread separated and was heading my way, so I had to gun it to avoid getting struck by it. It continues to amaze me how little people pay attention to their tires. It's the only thing that keeps you on the road. Nobody checks their tire pressures and I stopped counting how many times I got into an Uber/Lyft with the TPMS light on. In 25 years I used a spare twice and both times was when I found my car parked with a flat. It's rare for the air to escape this fast with a puncture. Normally I find the puncture before TPMS even goes off and I never had a tire disintegrate on me, but I check and adjust the tire pressure every 2 weeks. Also helps to see the tire pressure in the instrument cluster, so I can notice right away if one tire is a couple of PSI lower than it should be, and in my AMG I can see the tire temperature, too, so I know right away when they get abnormally hot.
Last edited by superswiss; Dec 28, 2025 at 01:21 AM.
If a tire goes from seemingly fine to totally disintegrated, you had bigger issues leading up to that, and they were most likely avoidable with proper care. Tires normally don't just do that. This stuff happens if you run at the wrong tire pressure and such. Reminds me of that one time I was driving up from LA on I-5 and as I was passing this BMW 3-series, their left rear tire exploded. They were clearly underinflated and eventually overheated. The tread separated and was heading my way, so I had to gun it to avoid getting struck by it. It continues to amaze me how little people pay attention to their tires. It's the only thing that keeps you on the road. Nobody checks their tire pressures and I stopped counting how many times I got into an Uber/Lyft with the TPMS light on. In 25 years I used a spare twice and both times was when I found my car parked with a flat. It's rare for the air to escape this fast with a puncture. Normally I find the puncture before TPMS even goes off and I never had a tire disintegrate on me, but I check and adjust the tire pressure every 2 weeks. Also helps to see the tire pressure in the instrument cluster, so I can notice right away if one tire is a couple of PSI lower than it should be, and in my AMG I can see the tire temperature, too, so I know right away when they get abnormally hot.
Happened to me while driving the 221 S-65. 110 degrees of ambient. Middle of the day tarmac will burn bare feet in seconds of an ‘Ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch’ run across it. Tires were a year old and just over half worn. 80mph is speed of traffic. All is smooth... a vibration in steering for ten seconds.... About the time I selected tire pressure in the dash I hear the right front come apart. Tire parts rattling under the car and seen in the rear view, it is pulling right. Get it to the shoulder for a shredded tire and R/F fender liner. This is how I learned about the flimsy space saver spare (mounted on an aluminum space saver spare wheel that cleared brakes) the 221 S-65 was equipped with. But it had a spare.
Thank you for the clarification about MB Roadside assistance. ‘You have to buy the repair at MB or they may charge for the tow.’
Last edited by JohnLane; Dec 28, 2025 at 09:03 AM.
The goo in a can doesn’t help when a tire has gone from seemingly fine to shredded in ten seconds of feel a vibration to hearing parts of the tire hitting the car + seeing them flying in the rear view as you get to the shoulder quickly.
I wish for a spare bit would give up far too much of the trunk for it.
MOE... Mercedes Original Extended. German speak for run flat. ‘Up to fifty miles of driving with no pressure.’ So you *may make it to Discount Tire before the tire shreds to pieces but it will at best be a throw away, and run flats thud over every bump and zit on the road.
I prefer Michelin and Continental in three seasons flavor. Always Z rated. Quiet enough with lots of grip (zero chance of snow here).
Originally Posted by JohnLane
Happened to me while driving the 221 S-65. 110 degrees of ambient. Middle of the day tarmac will burn bare feet in seconds of an ‘Ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch’ run across it. Tires were a year old and just over half worn. 80mph is speed of traffic. All is smooth... a vibration in steering for ten seconds.... About the time I selected tire pressure in the dash I hear the right front come apart. Tire parts rattling under the car and seen in the rear view, it is pulling right. Get it to the shoulder for a shredded tire and R/F fender liner. This is how I learned about the flimsy space saver spare (mounted on an aluminum space saver spare wheel that cleared brakes) the 221 S-65 was equipped with. But it had a spare.
Thank you for the clarification about MB Roadside assistance. ‘You have to buy the repair at MB or they may charge for the tow.’
That's one thing I really like about the S560, you get tire pressure and temperature on all four corners.
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