How long do these things last? In my 2020 S560 they are 6+ years old and I’m debating their replacement. Tires are original also, and in good condition with just over 20k miles, but their age has me thinking. Tires are date codes 2219 and 2919. Debating replacing both tires and TPMS gizmos.

 

When you decide to change out the tires, I would do the TPMS sensors also considering their age. They are within the range of the batteries going out. Then you’ll be looking at removal, mounting, balancing tires again and the associated cost and downtime.

As for the tires, personally I don’t worry too much about the age (obviously not talking 20 year old tires)considering they aren’t cracking or otherwise rotting.

 

Depends on how often you drive, because they go to sleep when the car is parked to preserve battery, so on a low mileage car they last a long time. Typical numbers you find are 5 to 10 years, or 90k to 120k miles. As said with low annual milage they can last significantly longer in terms of years. Environmental factors also play a role as batteries don't like extreme heat and if you live in a humid area, the moisture in the air can corrode the sensors.

 

My TPMS are original on my 2018, build date of 1/18 and 54K miles. I'm due for tires this year and contemplating buying new sensors since I didn't change them when I installed new tires in Nov of 2022.

 

Anyone know if Costco can replace/sync new TPMSs to a 2020 S560? Any experience with them doing if? Or do I need to see if my independent shop does tires, or the dealer? I know a lot of tire shops can’t - had this problem when I needed one TPMS replaced on a 2015 S550. They could replace it but couldn’t connect it to the car.

 

Definitely can get them done at Costco. I had mine done on another car in 2020 or 2021. Not the cheapest for the sensors, but the cheapes when you count "all-in" costs, at least that was the case when I bought tires too. BUT...they do not warranty tires with a staggered setup. I found that out the hard way. OUCH!!

I don't think you have a staggered setup so Costco would be perfect for you.

 

Who is they? Costco? The tires are warrantied by the manufacturer, not the place that installs them. However, the tire warranty gets cut in half with staggered setups. So a tire with a 30k miles warranty, only gets a 15k warranty with a staggered setup.

 

Yes, Costco. And no, they have different relationships with their vendors than other retailers, meaning Costco is the warranter not the manufacturer. That's the tradeoff they make for pricing. I know this from 30+ years in the mattress industry. Their warranty is based on Costco and they do not warranty the tires if they aren't rotated. A store might give you a goodwill credit, which is what happened in my case - and I was in no way satisfied, but tires that are not rotated are not warrantied. That is a fact. If something recently changed, let me know.

 

I see. I didn't know that as I don't shop at Costco. I guess you get what you pay for.

 

I have staggered. AMG pkg. Good to know they can sync the gizmos. And sure their warranty will be fine.

 

Costco has great prices, especially when they run their specials. But the DO NOT warranty tires that have not been rotated. Just read the back of the warranty brochure and it spells it out. No rotation, no warranty: https://tires.costco.com/RoadHazardW...sandConditions

"Conditions of this warranty:

1. You must rotate and balance your tires as outlined by the vehicle manufacturer.
2. You must operate your tires at inflation pressures outlined by the vehicle manufacturer.
3. You must keep all mechanical parts that affect tires in proper working condition.
4. You will be required to sign a "Costco Wholesale tire adjustment form"."

 

Not sure about that. I got curious and just looked up the PS4S on the Costco website for my sizes and they are more expensive at Costco than at TireRack, plus TireRack gives full manufacturer warranty and free road hazard. Moreover, Costco doesn't even list the 19/20 sizes for my car, only 19/19. On TireRack I can also get the BMW Star variant of the PS4S for my car, which is what I currently have. They are much better than the standard PS4S. They have a different compound makeup and internal construction.

My indy is a TireRack installer, so I have them shipped directly there and then road force balanced. Does Costco road force balance? Back in the days before CA forced out of state online retailers to collect sales tax, it was even cheaper as they shipped from Nevada. It's hard to beat TireRack. Tires arrive on the next day.

 

When they run their specials the prices are insanely low. Plus there are NO extra costs for anything, 5 year road hazard is tough to beat, no cost for mounting and balancing, and they fill with nitrogen. Yes, they do road force balancing. All great reasons to buy from Costco. 2 downsides; limited selection, especially for performance cars, and no warranty or road hazard coverage if you don't rotate the tires. This is NOT theory, this was my actual experience at 2 Costco stores. Luckily I have a business account, which is why they even tried to offer some satisfaction, and that wasn't even from the actual store where I bought my tires.

 

Ok, I do have to pay for mounting and balancing, but as said I get warranty and road hazard even with staggered setup. I took advantage of that several times, especially when a tire couldn't be repaired. $400 saving right there on one of the rear tires, which is usually the ones that get punctured. My tires don't last 5 years. 2 years at most. Nitrogen is a scam BTW (regular air is 78% nitrogen), but if it's free then why not, but most shops extract the nitrogen from regular air and it's not pure. As for the specials, those can't be counted on. I need tires when I need tires, not when they happen to run a special.

 

All great reasons to buy elsewhere, which is what I've done since I learned about the limitations of their warranty. I used to also like it when Tirerack was a separate company from Disount Tire and I could get the local Discount Tires shop to match the Tire Rack price, then get the tires same day at the best price.

I'll have to push back on the nitrogen. I had much more consistent tire pressures with Nitrogen than I've had with normal air. In addition to higher nitrogen content, there's also lower moisture content, which reduces oxidation. Definitely not necessary, but I appreciate the benefits of Nitrogen, when available.

 

I've been at this for a while and have a hard time believing you'll notice any material differences that aren't explained by placebo, varying ambient temps and lack of controlled test parameters. Pure nitrogen and air expand at virtually the same rates. The potential unpredictability comes from the moisture in the air, but you have to get the air inside your tires near 212F for the moisture to turn into steam, where it expands rapidly and causes this unpredictability. Actually, above 212F since the boiling point of water is 250F at 30 psi for example. You likely never had your tires anywhere near that. I do a lot of hard canyon driving and the highest I've seen even on the track is around 180F in the front tires. Still way below the boiling point of water. Summer performance tires also peak below 212F, so if you get them that hot, you'll have other problems.

I'm pretty meticulous about tire pressure. I check it every two weeks and my car is garaged with fairly consistent ambient temperature during each season. I'm consistently topping off around 0.5 psi per tire. It's very predictable. Nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen molecules, so the rate at which they escape through the natural pores in the compound is lower, but again, I doubt the difference is measurable provided you check regularly and top off. I much rather be able to top off half a psi every two weeks with normal equipment in my garage than going back to Costco or whatever to top it off with nitrogen.

As for moisture in general, admittedly I live in a dry climate, so moisture isn't really a concern for me in general. You have to live in a very humid area to trap a lot of moisture inside of the tires for it to cause corrosion during the normal life of the valves. The wheel alloy doesn't corrode anyway, so it's the TPMS sensors and valves that could corrode, but the battery likely dies before that happens. Racing teams such as F1 use nitrogen, because they deal with 10th of seconds in lap times and need to be able to exactly predict tire pressure at any temperature, so moisture is the enemy for them and they race at different locations with different humidity, so that's too many variables at the limits they are driving. Not something anybody will notice driving their AMG on public roads and even on an amateur track day.

 

I don't disagree with you at all, in regards to performance. I literally felt no difference. I was just talking about consistency with tire pressures regardless of tire temp and driving situations. My tires can vary by 5-6 psi daily, based on ambient temps and my driving style. And I live in Seattle, so we get some pretty varied temps, and constant humidity. Maybe it's a big fat nothing burger, but I like it when something is even slightly better for free. Having said that; I don't value it enough to buy tires for my car at Costco.