jstein

I am getting delivery of a new S550 4matic with the AMG package. Do you know what kind of tires will be on the car? Allseason??

I live in Milwaukee and would like to avoid changing to snow tires and prefer
a year round tire but I am conerned that with the AMG package, the tire might not be good for winter driving. I traded in my 2000 S Class and never
had trouble with the factory tires but that was not with an AMG package

What do you suggest?

Luke@tirerack

your car will arrive wearing summer only performance tires. It will be one of these three

Pilot Sport PS2
SP Sport 01
ContiSport Contact 2

jstein

Thank you, should I put all season tires on?

If not my only choice I suppose is to get snow tires and mount them each year.

What a pain.......

jmf003

You'll give up some performance switching from summer-only to all-season tires. That said, the top performing all-season tires are pretty decent. I keep summer-only tires on my SL but my son has all season Conti Extremes on his Mini. He's happen with them. I drive his car from time to time and the tires do perform reasonably well.

Check out Tirerack's surveys to get more detailed info on what tires are working well for other people.

You could sell your summer-only tires in the Classified forum to defray part of the cost, too.

Good luck!

jstein

Thanks again

I will probably go with the all season tire and try to get my dealer to arrange a swap or try and sell the summer tires. Would your shop take the summer in trade for all season when the car arrives this month while the summer tires are brand new? I would want one of the best high performance all season made. I think the size would be 255/40 R19 (all four the same, no staggered
set up because of the 4 matic. There doesn't seem to be a lot of choices.

Thanks

jstein

well my S550 4 matic with AMG sport package finally arrived. It is Obsidion Black with Sahara cashmere premium leather. It is magnificent. I waited for night vision, back up camera, electric trunk closer, and all the other goodies including wood steering wheel, heated seats, contour seats, and much more.The list was over $112,000 but well worth the wait and the cost.

The only down side as Luke predicted, the car came with ultra high performance SUMMER tires which makes no sense with 4 matic. Even the window sticker said all season tires, but that wasn't true. I put on Avon all season ultra high performane and so far they are great. Good traction even in snow here in Wisconsin, and a quiet comfortable ride. Thanks for all the help.

valiumvilla

Great question and answer. I too have a S550 4 matic w/AMG coming very soon and interested how you changed the tires at the dealership........or elsewhere. Were able to get them to trade the tires out for all season tires at the dealership? If not what did you do? Thanks in advance for your reply.

jstein

The dealer purchased the tires from Tire Rack at their price of $200 per tire plus mounting, balancing etc and I had to pay it myself when I paid for the car. I had the dealer talk to Mercedes about some financial help but so far it is falling on deaf ears. I think it is misrepresentation on the window sticker but who knows. I have the original tires still brand new but Tire Rack doesn't take trades so the dealer will look for someone who has snow tires and kept the summer tires. When they wear out, maybe I can sell them for some amount. I will be anxious to see if the same thing happens to you.

valiumvilla

Well, sorry first of all, but what can you expect. My 25 plus yrs with Mercedes cars and dealerships tells me...........don't hold your breath. It is absolutely misrepresentation and in writing! Even if a tire has 5 miles on it for some reason it is considered "used" by tire dealers, in my experience, as I have done the same thing you have done. Clearly, a one way street here. In reality, the tires should be replaced at little or no cost to you to meet the sticker description statement of "ALL SEASON TIRES". I am going to lay some ground work here before my car gets here in about a week and I'll let you know what happens as this is totally unacceptable. There is one situation which could explain this problem. Does the manufacturer of your original tires consider the tires you removed as "ALL SEASON TIRES". Have you checked this possibility out? If they make an all season tire then there should have been a swap and the difference refunded to you or you pay the difference...........pretty simple business transaction at most places..............most. If they don't have an all season tire then this is total misrepresentation. Good luck to you. Keep me posted as I am interested in your outcome.

jstein

When the car arrived, it had dunlaps and I called Dunlap who said they couldn't be all season since they don't make them in that size and that they were definately summer tires with a snow rating of 2 out of a possible 10!!!!!!!!

Good luck with your dealer. I will be anxious to hear what happens.

valiumvilla

I checked with the dealer about the All Season Tires and they told me the car will have them on it when it arrives in 10 days. If it comes like yours and is listed as All Season Tires and not, then I will have them replace them as it is not as declared and assured. I'll let you know. You should have a case for a complete refund as it was completely misrepresented. Give it a try.....nothing to lose. Good luck.

valiumvilla

Well, mine showed up the same way. I thought that it would have all season tires as requested and as listed on the car sticker and as assured to me by the dealer that it would have them.............but no! Mercedes says that with the Sport AMG pkg you get sport tires. No chance for option here apparently and no mention of this prior to delivery. It does not make any sense to not have an option when ordering a 4matic regardless of sport pkg or not. Why list A/S tires on the sticker if they are not on the car? The Conti sport tire recommendations that were put on my car are that they NOT be used on ice or snow. I, like you, live in an area where it is important to have good traction in inclimate weather which is the reason I have the 4matic. I intend to have further discussions with Mercedes in Germany and my dealer on this issue.
Are you still happy with the Avon A/S tire? I see Yokohama also makes an A/S tire in this size. Would appreciate comments from anyone with experience on either tire.