I bought a new e500 w/ sport package and 245/45/17 tires. The factory tires should have been W rated. However, Mercedes did a last minute change put H rated Continental touring tires on all of the sport packages.

Two Questions:

1) What type of W rated tires does mercedes typically put on new cars / cars with the sport package at the factory?

2) What are good W rated all season performance tires with a good tread wear rating?

Thanks!

skymast, I have been thinking of the same thing even before I got my car today. The standard 500 should have an aggressive wheel and tire package, never mind the sport package. What's strange is that the CLK 500 (standard) comes with AMG wheels and Michelin pilot sport tires. My E430 even came with Eagle F1 tires. I have spent a lot of time on tirerack.com lately and will probably order a wheel similiar to what comes with the sport version with Bridgestone pole position tires, and use what came with the car for a winter set. Although I don't plan on using this car to much in the snow. It seems that the hottest All season tire is the michelin pilot sport A/S. Let me know what you do.

skymast, I was just thinking, Mercedes should foot the bill for W rated tires. That's what the car is supposed to come with. I know they can make changes, but geez, you just spent a lot of $ on a car with a "sport" package. The least they should do is put the appropriate tire on the car. Michelin pilot sport typically come with the AMG cars. I"ve also seen Dunlop sport, usually on the S class that have AMG wheels. Tell them you want the pilot sports.

here is a picture of one of the new AMG wheels, it is targeted to the CL and CLK, but apparently will fit on the E.

I agree, MB really is a disapointment by not making their Sport packages on the E-cars similar to the Sport option on their other lines with AMG styling and hp tires. The U.S. version is really designated by MB as an Avengard version in all markets except North America, but they call it a Spot version here. The real Sport package with AMG wheels and styling is available for the rest of the world, but not in the U.S. and Canada. Go figure? I think that's an insult to this market. The dealers don't have a clue why the real Spot package is not available here and Mercedes Benz of North America won't even acknowledge the opition exists elsewhere.