jsoloddss65

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.

dfride

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.

Indyberetta

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.

bishop64

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.

13dkmbenz

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

mfhashmi91

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.

Streamliner

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?

Baloo588

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

Frenetic

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.

Baloo588

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.

crabman

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.

Frenetic

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.

Baloo588

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.

Baloo588

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.

kontiki

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

Streamliner

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.