Just wanted to warn anyone out there who is considering Michelin Pilot Sport All Season (A/S) tires for the E55. Use the Stock tire sizes!

Don't get me wrong I'm not bashing the tires, so far they are great tires, MUCH quieter than the Dunlop SP9000's. Seem to have good grip too. Haven't tried them in snow yet, but we just got 4" in Detroit area today, so will probably find out soon!

My Dunlop SP9000's were bald at 20,000 miles (and noisy as hell), so instead of buying new snow tires then having to buy new summer tires in the spring; I decided to buy one set of High performance All Seasons.

I went onto the tirerack.com website and ordered the tires. They did not have the exact front tire or rear tire sizes in stock (at least as shown on-line).

So I ordered the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 235/40YR-18 in front and the 275/40YR-18 in the rear.

I got a call the same day (Thursday) from Bernie telling me that the 235's did not have the proper weight bearing capabilities of the recommended 245's. He told me the 245's were in stock and switched me to then. Curious--why did they not show up on website?

Anyway, he further mentioned that the 275/40's were not the OEM size and were .8" taller than the 275/35's. They did not have the 35's in stock, and wouldn't get them for about 4 days (Monday/Tuesday). the 35's were also $20 a tire more. I decided to go with the 40's as they were cheaper and only 'slightly' bigger. How much could 3/4 of inch mean??

Big mistake.

They mounted the rear tires (at Auto Europe in Birmingham, MI) and they looked like crap. They were very tall and took up the entire wheel well. What was worse, they were a scant .5" from the front of rear fenderwell. The technicians, bounced the car a few times to check clearance and it was very close.

They further cautioned me that the wrong tire size could screw up my cruise control, the ABS, as well as the traction control system.

I decided that I had best send the tires back. When Auto Europe called 'Jerry' at the tire rack, they miraculously had just gotten them in that day (Friday) and could have them shipped out to arrive Monday.

Anyway, they mounted the 35's and they looked great.

My special thanks to the Joe and Tom at Auto Europe for not charging me the extra $80 for mounting the 240's, then remounting my 235 Dunlops to drive home!

All told, the 275/35's were $291 each, the 245/40's were $256 each.

$30 for shipping, About $100 for installation (tire disposal fees, mounting, misc).

About $1,225 all together. Now I don't have to buy a seperate set of snow tires.

Last thought... the tires ordered were YR, but the wheel says 'ZR'. Curious...

 

really? I drove on some newish SP9000s and found them to be very quiet and an excellent tire.

 

Don't worry. W- and Y-rated tires are just extensions of Z-rated tires. So your tire should read 275/35-ZR-18 99Y (or something like that) -- the Y rating is right after the weight code.

Interestingly, Tire Rack still doesn't have the 275/35-18's listed on their site...

 

I have posted about Pilot A/S on this site before, raving about their dry/summer performance, but had not had the opportunity to experience their winter handling. Having had three days of snow here in Toronto I can now say they have exceded my wildest expectations. The grip on fresh snow is phenomenal, while slush driving is sure footed. I have stock E500 sizes 245/45 17, and felt like I was driving skinnier winter tires for traction, but without the wabbly and vague steering feedback so common with the softer, and taller treads generally found in the winter tires. On very cold days (- 15 C) this tire does not feel hard and remains both quiet and grippy at up to 160 Km/h unlike the hockey puck feel you get form the summer tire at these low temperatures. So far I can say I am delighted with this product and can highly recommed them for the kind of climate we have here

 

Hmmm...I'm on Toyo FZ-4's right now (which is an okay tire). I might have to upgrade when it comes time for new tires. (OTOH, I can't complain about US$95 + tax per FZ-4, mounted and balanced...)

 

In a January 2004 tech bulletin M-B does not approve the use of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires on the C32, C55 AMG. I just found this out after purchasing these tires earlier this month!!! I have talked to both M-B and The Tire Rack and they have conflicting responses regarding these tires. As soon as I get a definitive answer with documentation on this subject I will post. For now beware of any tires listed as "applicable" through any tire seller without contacting M-B first.

 

Well......settle down.
The bulletin of 01/04 is old news.
Luke mentioned about 6 weeks ago, that all their in-stock Michelin P/S, A/S are a newer upgraded version, than the ones mentioned in the above bulletin.

 

I'd love to "settle down" but guess what, the new design is not approved by M-B for use on their cars either.

 

Then do as I did.
Wear out the A/S's as fast as possible & buy the new Pilot Sport PS-2.
Fantastic tire !!

 

Considering my last tires lasted 10K I'm not worried about these rotting away!!

Anyway, I just got this direct from Michelin.....it's conflicting with what the M-B tech told me so I'm going to call a different tech, also The Tire Rack is suposed to send me a memo that should put the whole thing to bed...


"In North America, roads have a slight slope towards the outside of the road built in to evacuate water. Unchecked, this road slope or "road crown" would normally cause a vehicle to pull to the right. Vehicle and tire manufacturers design in a slight left hand pull for North American applications to account for road crown. This characteristic in the tire is known as Residual Aligning Torque.

In original equipment programs, tire manufacturers work with OEM's to achieve the perfect Residual Aligning Torque balance between the tire and vehicles. The OEM specifies the amount of left hand pull for the specific original equipment tire. Replacement tires, on the other hand, are designed to match a broad range of vehicles and therefore employ an "industry average" approach to drift. Depending on the specified drift for the original equipment tire, some vehicles may be more sensitive to alternate, replacement tire fitments. Some Mercedes customers experienced vehicle
drift after mounting Pilot Sport A/S tires. This does not reflect an issue
with the tire or its manufacture but points to an application issue - one of matching tire drift to vehicle drift. To accommodate Mercedes customers, we made a very slight modification to the Pilot Sport A/S to increase the level of left pull and eliminate the sensation of drift due to the road crown.

You may view a Mercedes Star Bulletin on Mercedes STAR Tekinfo for a bulletin concerning this issue. This bulletin, states that the Pilot Sport A/S is now approved for Mercedes Vehicles.

If you have additional questions, you may call us at 1-800-847-3435
(toll-free) between
8:30AM and 6:00PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday to allow one of our Consumer Relations Representatives to assist you.

Michelin North America
Consumer Relations Department"