Geez, yet another one! I'm sorry that happened. Hopefully you were not far from home and safe. My salesperson told me when I ordered the car with 21's that they were going to include a full size spare and tire for me to keep in the trunk or at home. My 580'"should" be here next week. I'll need to check which tires it came with.

 

I think we have reached a point where manufacturers have gone a little too far with their wheel sizes. Too many compromises to get the look. Bent wheels, blown tires, horrible roads in the north, pot holes everywhere and at the same time getting rid of full size spares or none at all. Seems odd to me. Anything over 22" to me looks like what you would see in the hood. Sorry. Not for me.

 

I had to ride on my flat to get to a local tire store about 2 miles. It did mess up the wheel, but I was not stopping on the freeway. Luckly I had already ordered my set of replacement wheels (Brabus Monoblock 21") and they were able to switch out the sets. Unfortunately I had already purchased Pirelli tires for the new wheels because I didn't know the issues.

 

I reckon this has more to do with the car buyers than with the manufacturers.
Manufacturers know about the larger tyres are mostly good for the looks but more prone to blowouts.
And the consumers know that too, but still a number of them would take the risk and buy larger tyres.
Take the 223 as an example, for the 3 lines (Luxury, AMG and Executive), both Luxury and Executive offer 3 choices of wheels, in 19'' and 20''. Only the AMG line offers two 21'' among the 5 choices.
I think MB is doing their job fairly OK in this aspect. They do offer 21'', in a limited scale to satisfy the smaller number of the customers who emphasizes looks over the blowout risk.

 

Stuggling to get any support from the local dealership or Mercedes corporate to resolve this. From service professionals to Mercedes contracted tow drivers. This tire is a known issue. Any help or guidance would be appreciated. I have filed complaints with the following organizations:· CFPB

· NHTSA

· The Ohio Attorney General’s Office

· Better Business Bureau

 

After last night and it being my 9th tire change this is a clear issue of low profile tires, heavy car, and bad quality tires. I barely even hit a pothole and the run flat does not work. If anyone can reach out to me that would be great. I’ve been lucky enough to get the tire and wheel insurance policy but god forbid if I did not I would have blown through a LOT of money.

 

You know, the new Genesis G90, in top trim, comes ONLY with 21’s. I wonder if their customers are experiencing anything like W223 drivers with 21’s are?

 

Interesting article on the issues with the 1992 s class and vibration with pirellis etc. Seems like Mercedes hasn't learn a thing. Honestly best switch out to Michelins 4s in size 21s or just downsize to 20s. I'm at 25k on the s580 and no blow outs with the 21s and 20s and Michelins tires.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...411-story.html

 

I wonder if it’s a mixture of the size and run flats. I know run flats have very stiff sidewalls, that might be more prone to sidewall type blowouts due to potholes. The X5 I had came essentially standard with non run-flat 22’s, with a comparable if not thinner overall sidewall, but there were no reported blowout complaints, at least not of this magnitude.

 

The 21s come with Pirellis non run flats but when I took them off I was shocked as to how soft the sidewalls were and I could bend it back and forth easily compared to other tires I've had. Pirellis made these tires so soft for smooth ride but compromises the sidewall strength in return.

 

Insofar as tire sizing, it's the aspect ratio that kills you, not the diameter. It isn't like low aspect rations killing tires/wheels is a new thing, it's been going on since it got down to stupid sizing like you have now across most brands. BMW will warn you about issues right in the configurator when you select low aspect ratio tires, it's probably something Mercedes should do as well.

In any event it's certainly worse here than on other cars. You can hardly find a flat tire thread over on the Panamera forums, and plenty of them come rolling on 21s. Here you've got a combination of a crap tire, a very heavy car, and possibly, poor wheel design. The latter because a lot of guys a rolling on the similar aspect ratios in other big heavy sedans have fewer issues so you have to figure the tire and wheel are suspect.

 

Yeah, the sidewall thickness of the S Class 21s versus BMW’s 22 is thinner front and back. It’s almost a third of an inch thinner than the X5. Is that enough to cause so many more perceived failures? I don’t know, maybe?

BMW X5 @ 5,260 lbs (V8)
285/40 R22 front @ 3.8 inches
325/35 R22 rear @ 3.7 inches

Mercedes S @ 4,775 lbs 580
255/35 R21 @ 3.5 inches
385/30 R21 @ 3.4 inches.

 

Good point. My 2021 Audi RS7 has 22 inch rims and at 3 years no issues with the stock pirellis and current Michelin 4s. No one complains on the RS7 forums too.

RS7 tire size@ 285/30 R22 which is the same thickness as the 21 inch rears on the S.

I think it's more of the type of pirellis they put on the S because I ran the Michelin 4s on the 21s for half a year on the S without issues and the sidewall was stronger than the Pirellis. The front tires on the S class is 255 width which is a bit narrow for this heavy car and that size wheels tend to fill into the potholes or more prone to damage than the wider rears.

 

Another point to make is that the 2024 S63 amg has thicker profile tires for size 20 and 21s.

The 21s ride on 255/40R21 front and 285/35R21 rears compared to the standard S class with 21s on 255/35R21 front and 285/30R21s rear.

ITs a big difference and I think Mercedes should of used these thicker tires on the standard S from the beginning and using Michelins. It wont hurt for those to upsize a bit for their 21s and avoid all this issues. Speedo will be within margin of error of 3% or less.

 

I'm curious. Do the 21" tire blowouts occur as frequently on Mercedes models other than the S580, e.g., GLE SUV's?

 

I have no 21” experience, but I can’t believe the same issues would affect SUV’s with much deeper sidewalls. LOTS of SUV’s out there with 21’s & 22’s. Comparatively very few S Class sedans running them.

 

Yes I am on my second tire in 4 months and only 1800 miles. The first was a pothole but this one is unexplained. Sitting at the light and it lost all of its air. Found that air was coming out of the side wall as fast as it was being put in. Definitely something wrong with these tires.





QUOTE=odesskiy;8596132]Seems like we have quite a few people with multiple tire blowouts. I would like to compile a list of people and data and start a conversation with MB Corporate. I have contact info for a lady in Customer Advocacy.

I will ask for one of the following remuneration options for those on the list:

a) For those that did not have rim/tire hazard insurance, full reimbursement for all amounts spent to replace failed tires.

b) For those that paid out of pocket to replace OEM Pirelli tires with Michelin tires after having at least one Pirelli tire failure, full reimbursement for the entire set.

c) For those that want to replace their 21” wheels, a refund of the cost of the 21” wheel option ($1900) and replacement with a full set of base 19” wheels and tires or optional 20” wheels and tires and refund of the price difference ($1900 - $850).

If you see another option that I missed, please let me know.

The bigger the list that we can put together, the better our chances of them listening. If interested please send me the following information to odessit12 at gmail.com:

VIN number and registered owner of the vehicle
Date and location of each occurrence
Receipts from dealer service to replace failed tire(s)
Receipts for purchasing Michelin tires out of pocket if you’ve done so.

Mercedes is using substandard tires with high failure rate and we are entitled to have the situation addressed and resolved. Tire failures can lead to accidents and loss of life and limb. Let’s make our voices heard![/QUOTE]

 

It looks like you curbed your wheel and tire and maybe that caused the air leak? Did they just replace the tire and not the wheel/rim? I’m wondering if it will leak again or if the leak was caused mostly by the tire getting curbed and not a result of the wheel damage.



[/QUOTE]

 

Nope that was from the pothole. The second one is on a brand new rim and has no apparent damage to the tire.

 

There was a class action lawsuit, but they've closed access for new plaintiffs

 

How many people actually reached out to you about this?