YYC53

Following some nasty rapid failure on the inner shoulder of my front Pirelli PZ4 run flats I've had A/S Continental DWS06 Plus tires installed on my E53. To be clear, I was running the PZ4's at about 36 psi cold, I believe low pressure was the cause of the failure. They were worn, but not to the wear bars, wear was otherwise normal and flat across the tire face.

Onto the Continental's, I had a few sets of them years back on early versions and was generally happy with them as a compromise tire although they did wear quickly. It is worth mentioning that the tires on my cars do tend to wear quickly for some reason... They have a treadwear rating of 560 AA A but don't carry a M&S rating. So, I was not expecting the traction of a dedicated summer tire, but I did want a non run-flat as I determine whether to keep the car or revert to my Jaguar XFR.

First Impressions

• Wow is there a gap in the limit of traction between the two. Taking some of the quicker ramps is now letting me feel the traction and stability control system at lower speeds that never gave a hint of their presence at very high speeds. It's not all that surprising but it's more significant than anticipated.
• I now have a car I want to drive, the sidewall compliance and reduced harshness is at least equally as great in contrast as the grip delta mentioned above. For anything less than track days I'm very happy with the day to day impact of getting off the run-flats.
• The DWS06 are not the quietest tires I've ever had on a car but they are good. Granted the PZ4's were worn and new tires are always quieter due to tread depth, but the DWS06 will never approach the noise and harshness of the PZ4's due to tread design and sidewall construction. More critically, the harshness of feel is gone.
  • I've recently run Pilot Sport 3's and currently have Firestone Indy 500's on the Jaguar XFR, both are quieter tires with the Indy 500's the quietest.
• Counterpoint to the above is that the razor turn-in is reduced. Surprising with an A/S - nope. But it does speak to how well the PZ4's work from a performance standpoint.

Overall I'm happy with the choice, the purpose was to see how the car is off the run-flats as I make my decision. These tires will afford that choice to be made. If the car hadn't been ruined by the PZ4's, or if I didn't mind them, I would go the route of dedicated summers and winters. So...perhaps that's the step next fall depending upon how well these last. With a treadwear of 560 I'd hope to get two years out of them.

Kjresener

I’m curious what failure you had? I just had an unusual tire failure in both front PS4s tires in my wagon. After feeling some vibrations at higher than highway speeds I pulled the front tires to examine and found the inner shoulder worn down after 10k miles, no surprise given the weight of the car and aggressive alignment, but what surprised me was that the sidewalls just above the edge of the wheel were cracked badly. As in wide cracks showing the steel belts. Tires had late 2022 date codes and only 10k miles. No signs of impact or damage other than the cracking all the way around the tires. Never seen that before.

OldManAndHisCar

I had that tire on the front of my car for under three days. Simply, they can not handle the car like the Extreme Contact Sport that I have historically had on the car.

Some lunatic at the tire store ordered me (fronts) and a replacement tire (the 06) was sent as they are apparently no longer making the EC Sport in our needed size for the front. The tires could not handle the weight in a corner...Tire Rack had some of the EC Sports, Continental paid for the tires and Discount Tire did the install for me for $50.

Next time around I am going back to Michelins. Oh, and for the inner wear...when I have my alignments done I make sure the car is "Two lights on" (Sport+) mode so that suspension is sitting where I would generally drive the car.

Baltistyle

Which tire are you referring to as “that” tire in the first sentence.

Are you referring to the dwso6? I’m surprised to hear you did not like them. I’ve been driving them for almost seven years, and the 06+ has been an improvement in the sidewalls.

This tire like many reviews echo is not the best in the dry compared to the PS4s but really excels in wet weather or snow. Anything stickier in the summer is like ice below 50, really necessitating the all weather compounds.

For rear tire wear, I usually add a little bit of pressure beyond the recommendation, and this helps with extreme inner tire wear and potholes.

Many Mercedes are known for this wear and usually KMac comes in to recommend their bushing kits

OldManAndHisCar

Yes, the 06 is NOTHING like this -

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...s&gad_source=1

YYC53

FYI, the numbers on the tire are 15-2565851 and S-256585. Built in Romania, Continental gives nothing away on their website so I can't say more. They have Extreme-Contact stamped on the sidewall.

YYC53

Link doesn't work.

YYC53

Also worth mentioning that the alignment on the front was on spec. I'm working on the hypothesis that the one inch of lowering on Sport + is the source of the camber/inner shoulder wear. Having raced a bit, it sure feels like it adds camber.

I'm not sure aligning the car in Sport+ is a great idea, you'd be removing the intended geometry of the dropped suspension and messing up everything that's not as low to the point where the car would be loose.

asinga01

Is your E53 running 19 or 20 inch rims?

PeterUbers

worked for me

Baltistyle

The link didn’t work for me, but based on peters picture, that’s what I thought you were talking about.

Yeah, of course they’re not the same thing. One is a higher performance tire and one is an all season with lots of siping. It really just depends on your average application. If I was in a place with rain or snow or temps below 45, those tires would require me to have another set. (I don’t drive in snow and very little I rain as that’s what the lx is for) Additionally I don’t track the car.

imo apples and oranges in their applications. Both are great at what they do.

YYC53

20's

I'm sure the summer Conti's are higher performance, but I wasn't looking for dedicated summers, and a bill for a other set of rims and winter tires.

K-Mac

IT’S NOT SO MUCH A TIRE BRAND ISSUE - but reality that OEM through cost cutting and ever increasing speed of new car assembly lines….

“FRONT CAMBER AND CASTER” ALONG WITH “REAR CAMBER” ADJUSTMENT HAS BEEN DELETED.

No longer being able to adjust tire contact angles / spread load more evenly to counter costly, premature edge wear.

THE OFTEN QUOTED REASSURING “Full Front & Rear ‘4’ Wheel Alignment” is now only basic Toe “directional” adjustment.

With onus now back on owners to fund premature tire replacement.

With the now one only Camber setting - FIXED TO SUIT SHOWROOM HEIGHT CONDITIONS !

NO LONGER ABLE TO CATER FOR DAY TO DAY COMMUTING - Encountering high cambered roads with excess passenger side edge wear. Altered height through lowering or extra passenger loads. Fitting wide profile tires. No longer having “ONGOING ADJUSTMENT” capability for curb knock damage.

We saw the need therefore and manufacture Front and Rear Bolt-On kits (designed so no special tools required or need for arm removal to install).

Front kits priced from $345 - less than cost of one quality tire !

FIX IT RIGHT THE 1ST TIME - W213 MODELS (ALL) SEE SPOILER





AUDI to VOLVO - K-MAC Experience Of Resolving OEM Suspension Shortcomings (and Costs) Since 1964 !

YYC53

Ok, so what's the alignment procedure after installation? Are we aligning at stock height? Lowered an inch, both or a compromise?

K-Mac

Obviously re establishing front and rear Camber “adjustability“ is a game changer.

Align shop can now (at any height) not just observe but compensate resolve that excess / premature passengers side edge wear or adjust both sides to counter wheel squat and excess premature edge wear. Excess edge loads can also lead to higher impact ruptured side walls and rim damage.

AMG (performance models - now naturally what you had presumed expected) being able to adjust alignments compensate for various heights or conditions.

Or “Performance / Track“ days being able to dial in “extra“ negative Camber to significantly reduce understeer in the pursuit of hitting those corner apexes every time and allowing to go deeper into the corners with increased traction and braking response.

lowpost

I would always align in comfort mode (stock height).

OldManAndHisCar

align it like you drive it...

YYC53

After some time on the All Seasons I have a bit more of a basis for an opinion on the tires. Again, I did not expect summer or high end performance out of the tires, I expected a compromise tire.

As mentioned before, it has been years since I've run all seasons on a car (have on large SUV), and I was most interested in figuring out where the harshness and noise in the car was coming from.

The reduction in grip is significant, and the planted nature of the car in fast corners has certainly been reduced by a margin. Is the margin more or less than I expected... honestly it's probably more. The car works around the tires a bit at their limit in a manner that the PZ4's never did. As much as I hated the PZ4's and still do, I cannot argue against the grip they deliver. The gap is huge and it's impact on high speed corner goes beyond that and into stability.

So, even allowing for my expectations, I'm a bit surprised at the delta in grip.

That said, getting off the run-flat/worn PZ4's has transformed the car from a noise and refinement perspective. On those tires and in that state the car was inferior in those regards to a 2008 MazdaSpeed 3. The car was too harsh and noisy for my taste. It simply wasn't delivering what Mercedes intended or I wanted.

My next move will be dedicated summers and winters, likely next fall when these A/S are done.

OBP

E63s - swapped out harsh riding but grippy OEM PZeros to Mich Pilot AS4 about 2k miles ago. Some moderate sacrifice in grip on cornering but the more comfy ride and reduced noise works well for me. i do not push the car hard and never track the car. High speed runs to 100+ now and then and that is about it. I'm staying with these all seasons and not going back to summer performance tires. This is a daily driver and family road trip car too so comfort matters a little more.