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For those that experienced tire blowouts with 21” Pirellis
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!
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!
The other option is to buy the 2022 Audi S8. It has 21" Pirelli zeros on it and I've never driven a car this smooth and quiet after being in and out of over 60 vehicles.
The other option is to buy the 2022 Audi S8. It has 21" Pirelli zeros on it and I've never driven a car this smooth and quiet after being in and out of over 60 vehicles.
Yep, that'll be a great option once MB buys my car back
Yep, that'll be a great option once MB buys my car back
I would definitely contact corporate of your issues. Saying nothing allows them to keep getting away with this mess. Good luck with getting it fixed up.
I've only had one person reach out to me so far with the information. Frankly, I am amazed. From reading the threads, we have so many people that had blowouts yet no one is willing to do anything about it, even something as simple as putting together information about their problem? I am going to try contacting MB Customer Advocacy today because I am not willing to sit on this any longer and would like a resolution before my tire gets replaced next week and I drive away from the dealer only to wait for the next blowout. I was really hoping to have a few people behind me but I won't sit on my hands any longer.
Have you tried doing a search to identify your fellow sufferers and PMed them? Many of these people may not frequent the forum and remain unaware. I'm bringing it up because I agree with you, I'd be all over the effort if I was an involved party.
UPDATE: Spent about 40 minutes on hold with customer support, eventually got case number assigned and escalated to an Executive Referral Manager, who should be contacting me within 24-48 hours. Also commented on Mercedes's post on twitter asking if they are aware of this issue. They know Twitter gets a lot of attention, they responded with a "talk to customer support" lol. I'm gonna keep dragging them there to see if it gets any traction.
My s class has been at the dealership since Memorial Day !!! Tires on BACKORDER !!!
PLEASE send me the information I asked for in the first post of this thread. I am compiling a spreadsheet of people suffering from this issue. I am making (slow) progress with Mercedes and I am very determined to see this through.
Interesting tweet by Pirelli.
if their 21”winter tires have the same sidewalls as their summers, they’re in for a slew of failures. I assume they never acknowledged your response as to existing failures on the 21”/Pirellis on S580s.
Hopefully the campaign to get these tires recalled from the s580 will continue to gain momentum. S580 owners: if you have 21” wheels, check and see if you have Pirellis because, if you do, chances are you will experience what many of us already have, a blowout when you hit a pothole or some other obstruction.
And Odesskiy, thanks so much for leading the effort to get these unsafe tires off our cars.
Well, folks, Mercedes basically just told me to pound sand. Their position is that since the wheels (rims) aren't defective, they aren't going to accept responsibility for the tires and told me to take it up with Pirelli. They refused to replace the 21" wheels with 19" base wheels as I requested. There is no recourse if you purchase optional equipment that does not operate as promised/designed. Because of the additional issues that I am having, they are going to submit my case for repurchase review. That in itself is an interesting process as Mercedes removes itself completely and sends it to some anonymous "third party", which determines whether the vehicle qualifies. Takes 4-8 weeks. This is based solely on my complaints and my position that the vehicle is not safe to operate. Based on that, I have a feeling that the determination will be negative, they won't deem the car unsafe based on a singular tire failure.
The lady handling my case was not interested in the slightest in the fact that this issue is widespread and many owners have experienced it.
So there's that. That's the service we get from the "best or nothing" brand. What are the options at this point? Class action against Mercedes, Pirelli or both?
Very disappointing.
As for Class action, don’t know what that takes of how to do it. I guess the atty. that takes this case - hopefully on a contingency basis - would have the best idea on whether to sue Mercedes AND Pirelli, but we bought these cars FROM Mercedes. Seems they are the responsible party.
Very disappointing.
As for Class action, don’t know what that takes of how to do it. I guess the atty. that takes this case - hopefully on a contingency basis - would have the best idea on whether to sue Mercedes AND Pirelli, but we bought these cars FROM Mercedes. Seems they are the responsible party.
I agree. Mercedes is responsible. I think the position they are taking is caused by the fact that they know they are responsible and that they need to issue a recall and carry the cost, both monetary and PR. They may buy my car out based on that, just to keep me quiet and "happy".
From the stats that I can find, about 23,000 S-Class cars have been sold so far between MY' 21 and 22. I don't know what percentage of those was sold equipped with 21" wheels. Maybe seven-eight thousand? You are probably looking at what, $5000 per recalled unit to replace wheels and tires? About $35-40M in total, a rounding error for a multi-billion dollar company. Much less that it will cost them if someone dies because of these **** tires and it comes out that they knew about the issue and did nothing.
We should all be filing complaints with NHTSA. The more people complain, the higher the chances of them investigating the issue and possibly forcing MB to issue a recall.
Last edited by odesskiy; Jul 21, 2022 at 03:29 PM.
So lesser means goes up a notch; the next one being the media. In MY04 the C6 came out with what later would be known as the doughboy; imagine anthropomorphizing a 4 post steering wheel by adding a head to it. That's exactly what someone did and posted a photoshop of the C6 steering wheel with the Pillsbury Doughboy superimposed in the center; the spokes of the wheel were the legs and arms. I don't remember which site picked it up off corvetteforum, I want to say it was Jalopnik. In any event that took off and was reposted around the web. This lead to GM changing the steering wheel to a version of the corporate wheel at no small expense. The irony there IMO was that the C6 wheel for 05 was bespoke and very nicely done although a little large for a sports car. It's replacement wasn't nearly as nice and similar could be found in any entry level GM car. Way to go on that one... But I digress...
If it were me and I had been left on the side of the road, I'd have enough energy to do a search for flat tire here and elsewhere and then briefly explain the circumstances combined with pertinent links in an email to jalopnik and other major sites. Most of them have a link you can follow to report news as well which might be another way in. You never know what they'll pick up but this one might be seductive as it has clickbait built in: "Mercedes best sedan suffering potentially dangerous blowouts. Click here to read more." That's just an example, I'm sure those experienced at coming up with clickbait titles could do better.
Well, folks, Mercedes basically just told me to pound sand. Their position is that since the wheels (rims) aren't defective, they aren't going to accept responsibility for the tires and told me to take it up with Pirelli. They refused to replace the 21" wheels with 19" base wheels as I requested. There is no recourse if you purchase optional equipment that does not operate as promised/designed. Because of the additional issues that I am having, they are going to submit my case for repurchase review. That in itself is an interesting process as Mercedes removes itself completely and sends it to some anonymous "third party", which determines whether the vehicle qualifies. Takes 4-8 weeks. This is based solely on my complaints and my position that the vehicle is not safe to operate. Based on that, I have a feeling that the determination will be negative, they won't deem the car unsafe based on a singular tire failure.
The lady handling my case was not interested in the slightest in the fact that this issue is widespread and many owners have experienced it.
So there's that. That's the service we get from the "best or nothing" brand. What are the options at this point? Class action against Mercedes, Pirelli or both?
I've decided to leave the brand. Sorry Mercedes but I miss the days when you were the best. Accountants don't care about our past but I do. After 50 years of loving Mercedes Benz, it will take a heap of efforts to win me back. I am stunned that I've been forced to post this.
I've decided to leave the brand. Sorry Mercedes but I miss the days when you were the best. Accountants don't care about our past but I do. After 50 years of loving Mercedes Benz, it will take a heap of efforts to win me back. I am stunned that I've been forced to post this.
You still have your 2019 S560 though!
So far, how do you compare the strengths and weaknesses of the MB and the S8?
Leaving the brand? Nah!
''You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave''....(Don Felder playing acoustic guitar in the background)
I've decided to leave the brand. Sorry Mercedes but I miss the days when you were the best. Accountants don't care about our past but I do. After 50 years of loving Mercedes Benz, it will take a heap of efforts to win me back. I am stunned that I've been forced to post this.
I don't blame you. This is going to be my first and last Mercedes.
I found this thread after searching "class action" looking for more victims of Mercedes faulty wheel & rims particularly on sport models. I purchased a CLA250 and after 7 months of ownership and 6k miles, I have two cracked wheels, two bent wheels and the dealership recommended I replace all 4 tires and 2 wheels for north of $4k.
This all came about when I asked they diagnose a 'humming' issue that has been occurring since I purchased back in December. Prior class action regarding wheels was dismissed and ruled 'user error'.
As you can imagine, this has NOT been the quality or service I expected when buying a Mercedes. The dealership basically told me tough ****. No accountability whatsoever.
I’d be willing to join a class action suit with regard to faulty 21” Pirelli P Zero tires on 21” rims. Considering that probably only a small percentage of S580 owners even read what’s on this Forum, and the large number of blowouts with this 21” combination discussed, I imagine there are many more such failures on other S580s. A class action suit would surely bring these to light. I have made a complaint with the NHSTB, as did at least one other owner that I know of. More complaints would certainly help. It’s been over 2 weeks and I have heard nothing back from them. Meanwhile, I am waiting for Michelin to fill my back order for 4 new tires. (at over $2k on my dime!)
I just had a sidewall blow on my 21" Pirelli tire. I have not had a tire failure in 30+ years. I am not happy as it damaged my wheel too. Mercedes needs to change tire suppliers.
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