I need some guidance in replacing tires on my 98 SL600. I recently bought it used and the front has Pirelli 4000's and one of the rear tires is a Michelin and the other is a Toyo. They are all 225/60R/16. Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated. By the way, the spare is a Pirelli 6000 with lots of tread left. Thanks in advance, Don.

 

a little more info would be helpful ... i.e. driving conditions, geographic location, snow? , and the correct size for that car would be 225/55-16 not 225/60-16

 

There have been 5-6 sets of tires on my BMW 740. My review is from both track time (10+ days on the track), city driving and highway driving.

The best is the Michelin Pilot Sports by far....no competition...great grip, stopping and real life drivability....however I know that MB has an issue with them. Not sure why yet.

The second best was the Toyo Proxy's, not a bad second choice and a little cheaper too. They seemed to roll a'bit more then the Pilots on the track and where a bit louder around town..but I hear the new Proxy 4s are better on both fronts (in fact the 4s are going on my CLK 430 this week)

3rd is the Pirelli P-zero's... a slight drop in both areas

4th. Continental ContiSport's........for a smooth ride but not a great handling tire, when pushed super hard. (if you are an around town and highway cruiser these maybe the best...but if you drive hard or track your car...no way)

At the bottom is the Goodyear F-1's and just a small step above the bottom was the S-03's. Bridgestone's are known for their very stiff ride and they were very temperamental to balance correctly. Actually hated those ones. They made the car feel like brick. (if you were track only, they may work for you)

The previous questions are sure valid. I had 18's. The bigger you get the more your ride will suffer around town. Not to mention, I would not think any of these tires are for the snow.

 

Luke and CLKVegas,

I thank you both for the reply and I can see how additional information would be necessary for any kind of assistance from either of you. I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico where it is sunny without much precipitation year round. Occasional light rain and a little snow fall that usually is gone within a day or two and since this car is the fourth in a family of two, it probably won't be used much during inclement weather. With that said, it will be driven a couple of times a week around town, nothing extreme, and on some weekend trips of a thousand miles or less roundtrip. I am looking for a smooth ride and laid back comfort, with the top down. Tread life is somewhat significant. Since the car appeared to have been equipped with Pirelli tires, I was leaning towards this brand, but after reading some feedback on the TireRack web site about the Pirelli's, I noticed there were a lot of complaints that the PZero Nero M&S have a tendency to tramline and that the treadlife was problematic. Any feed back on this tire choice is greatly appreciated. I was also giving some thought to the Michelin brand since they have been a good tire for my other vehicles, but don't know the first thing about tires and rely on the salesperson to guide me which isn't always safe.
CLKVegas recommends the Michelin Pilot Sport, but it seems there might be different types of Sports, am I right, or are there just one type for my vehicle. By the way, I am not considering cost as much of a factor in my decision making, if they are a good tire, I will pay what the market asks.

Finally, please tell me what the significance or difference is of the 225/60R/16 I have now and the 225/55R/16 set out as the correct tire required. I have no way of knowing how this size tire ended up on this vehicle and I will replace them with the required size. I am just wondering why someone would be putting on a different size and espcially since the spare is also a 60R and a Pirelli 6000 with the two front tires being Pirelli 4000. Obviously the previous owner of this vehicle didn't have much concern for the tires on this vehicle. It was a previous lease vehicle and I suspect that during the last year or so of the lease, they didn't want to spend much money on maintenance. The rest of the vehicle is in pretty good shape, except for a few minor cosmetic repairs. Thanks again for your help and I will post what kind of tires I end up buying and post a review on this forum.

Don

 

1) If you have any snow/rain driving, you need to consider an all season tire. The Pilot's have an all season. My guess is some of the others will too.

2) Smooth ride = Continental Sports. Tread life is beyond me...mine were all on for short stints

3) Issue is the MB problems with Pilots. I am not putting them on my CLK. However, I have no idea what that problem is...can anyone tell us what the issue is?