Mercedes Benz Tires

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles on Tires
March 06, 2013

These tires replaced some terrible Michelin all-seasons which made the hatchback Mercedes basically a hockey puck in the ice/snow. The LM-60 tires are absolutely the best rubber I've found, hands down, for winter sport tires. This opinion is compared to Dunlop Wintersport M3, D3, Blizzak WS-60, and Nokian Vatiiva. I have used all of these other tires extensively on multiple cars with multiple driving styles, and I would now go with the Blizzak marque in general for ALL winter vehicles from here on out.
Cons- winter tires are always noisier, and the Blizzaks fit the mold. Mileage suffers a bit, and wear is accelerated with the softer rubber. Driving with an average style can prolong life and get you hopefully 4-5 seasons out of them. Start getting some G's on your turns frequently, and you may only get a couple seasons at best. These tires will not wear well on cars with suspension work / increased cambers. Beware.

Initial Review, 11,178 Miles on Tires
March 03, 2013

After 9 months and less than 12K miles, both front tires blistered on the sidewall. Potholes are the norm in the northeast, however in forty-nine years of driving, I've never had side-walls fail. I've had lots of low profile tires, but these side-walls are dangerous. The tires performed fine otherwise, but I would not buy them for use in the northeast.

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles on Tires
January 06, 2013

I went from some cheap Toyo tires that the previous owner put on the car, and these tires transformed the car! The ride was drastically improved, handling was unbelievably good, and they performed excellent on the track. Comparing these tires to comparable tires, the value is great, especially considering they're the only max performance summer tires with a warranty. Due to having a staggered setup on my car, the rears did wear out pretty quickly, but I was not surprised at all due to the tires soft compound and not being able to rotate. I would recommend these tires to anyone that even THINKS about driving spiritedly.
These tires are seriously awesome, it's no wonder Ferrari wanted these tires so bad for the 458 and the F12.

Initial Review, 37,000 Miles on Tires
December 27, 2012

This is a good RFT tire. The options are limited, so let me say that I replaced the original set with another at 37000 miles. It was not a particularly difficult decision, really. Tread was beginning to approach the wear bars, but I felt like the grip was diminishing a bit quicker than I was comfortable with. Previous MB diesel SUV (2008 ML) came with Continental Runflats which were total rubbish. Quick wear, poor traction in dry but especially wet. The B-stone Dueler 400's are fine for most conditions. This car does stay parked in heavy snow conditions, though.

Initial Review, 7,000 Miles on Tires
January 26, 2013

The Primacy MXM4 is an excellent choice for your typical family sedan. The ride's great. There are no noise issues. I haven't been able to test snow/ice traction yet, but traction on wet roads, even in very heavy rain, is excellent. The tire does have a shortcoming, however, with dry traction, especially on initial acceleration. On hard full-throttle starts the tires sometimes lose traction and spin a little, causing the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system to activate until all four tires regain traction. This even happens if I'm starting out in second gear instead of first. That having been said, this is classified as a Grand Touring title, so it's probably not designed for aggressive driving with a 5.0 L V8 putting out 302 hp and 339 ft-lbs of torque.

As much as I like these tires, when it comes time to replace them I'll probably opt for a High Performance or Ultra High Performance tire that better fits my driving style.

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles on Tires
January 27, 2013

So far these tires have met all my expectations. They do seem to be wearing a lot longer and better than the Kumho's they replaced. That's considering they went through two intense days at Road America for a HPDE. Speaking of which, the tires communicated well, and provided huge grip for a street tire. Short of a dedicated R-compound or DOT legal slick, these tires are the top for dry grip; better yet these tires can also handle real wet days. My car is a fairly heavy, rear drive V8 and they griped the road with authority. I know they cost twice what several other brands cost in the Max performance category, but it seems like I'm getting twice the wear out of them for a car that does street and track. If you're a drifter looking for some tires to smoke up in an event, save your money and get something else cheap. If you're looking for a street tire that can handle its own at the racetrack, this is it.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
February 03, 2013

It rarely snows in Portland, but some life changes required that we drive over the Cascades to Central Oregon in winter. This is the first set of dedicated winter tires for this car, and I'm very happy with them. I had zero traction issues with my RWD car, even when climbing fairly steep hills with 2-4" of packed snow. No issues descending, either. Sure, I could slide the tail under power if I chose to; but that's not unexpected. At near highway speeds (45-50) in the mountains, I encountered patchy ice with a lot of embedded gravel and chain rutting interspersed with wet pavement at temperatures at or just below freezing. The car tracked beautifully; on occasion I could feel it squirm just a bit but that wasn't even enough motion to light up the ESP warning light...so the car wasn't alarmed by the level of traction. The tires do "sing" more on dry surfaces than my Pilot Sport Al-Seasons, but the level of grip in true winter conditions is far, far superior. I'll only put this set of wheels on when snow threatens or when we need to go over the mountains, so they won't be worn all winter. At this rate I'll get many years of service out of them.

Initial Review, 200 Miles on Tires
February 26, 2013

Very pleased with these tires so far. For the price they are fantastic.

Initial Review, 50,000 Miles on Tires
December 12, 2012

This review is re: two sets of this tire spent and replaced with 100k+ miles driven. I am now on my third set. All on Mercedes 300SE's. This tire remains a great handling tire in all weather conditions with the unknown of snow/ice where we change up to studded snows for 3-4 months of winter each year. No complaints. They are quiet, stop on a dime when req'd, corner hard when req'd, handle superbly cruising at 65-80mph wet or dry, very smooth handling. Replace at 50k+ miles or so. This review after two sets consumed with 100k+ miles. Now on third set of tires. Love the tire.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
February 24, 2013

Great 3 seasons tire. So far wear is even and road noise is a non issue. Smooth and comfortable ride. In dry and rain they are excellent with lots of grip.
My issue with these tires is that they have the snow on mountain emblem. Even with this, DO NOT assume they work in winter. These tires are horrible in winter. Traction for braking and steering is poor, and requires skilled driving techniques.
Pirelli should remove the winter emblem so people have no false expectations and know to buy winter tires when that time comes.

Initial Review, 400 Miles on Tires
January 21, 2013

I tried these tires and I loved everything about them except that they could not be balanced properly. The dealership even tried to "Load Force" balance them and could not get it done. I wanted them to work because of the price, ratings "680 AA" and ride comfort but it took so much time and money I returned them and purchased tires that cost quadruple the amount just so that I was assured of a smooth ride. Maybe it was just my set but I guess you get what you pay for. A BIG tire with 680 tread life and AA ratings for $177? maybe it is to good to be true.

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
March 10, 2012

Purchased these tires based on reviews and price. Driven year round for the past two years, grip has been exceptional all season round, winter grip was actually better than the winter set of Pirelli's I drove with previous winters. Two issues with the tires to date: i) Road noise is considerably higher than the OEM bridgestone RE060; ii) Tread wear on rear tires - although I have done extreme driving in them (Toronto - Florida 19 hours non stop averaging 75 mph) the rears are bald while front still in good shape. Purchasing a set of two to replace the rear, but definitely won't buy again in future. I'll move back to the OEM bridgestones, or to Michelin.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
February 09, 2013

This pair of tires replaced the exact same tires, both of which developed sidewall bubbles after no more than ~ 10,000 miles or so.

Initial Review, 21,000 Miles on Tires
February 09, 2013

They were installed brand new when I purchased from dealer. Alignment was performed and tires were rotated three times so far. Thought I could get at least 40,000 miles, was very disappointed to find it's not going to make 22,000 as the outer thread is completely gone.

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
February 08, 2013

Have only 2,000 miles on these tires, but so far so good. They are amazing in the cold dry and have gotten me through a huge blizzard this year. Ultimate snow traction is less than studless tires but the tradeoff is well worth it for the dry weather performance. I would definitely recommend to other C63 drivers.

Initial Review, 20,000 Miles on Tires
February 07, 2013

Not a bad tire, but expensive and wears fast. I enjoy the car but wish they would have lasted longer. I am going to try the Michelin Pilot Super Sport or Pilot Sport A/S as after only 20k miles, the tires are down to the wear bars and need replacement. They were on the rear and I don't do burnouts.. but do like to go around corners fast.

Initial Review, 12,000 Miles on Tires
January 28, 2013

I bought Kumho Ecsta 4X to replace my Kumho Escta AST tires one year ago. Both models provide extremely quiet rides and I love how my car handles dry pavement with both models. However, the Ecsta AST was AWFUL in one inch of snow for my car. My car would fishtail from a dead stop on level pavement (even starting in 2nd gear) and go no where. The Ecsta 4X lets me drive in light snow storms, but my car still fishtails on turns, & has trouble stopping without sliding in less than 5 inches of snow. It doesn't snow many days where I live and I refuse to buy special snow tires when it snows less than 5 days each winter. I am very happy with the performance of these tires in rain & dry pavement, which is the type of weather I deal with 99% of the time.

Initial Review, 65,000 Miles on Tires
February 04, 2013

Bought this vehicle new these tires came as OEM...when I replaced them at 44500mi I searched around but finally went with them again....have never been disappointed with their performance. Have driven them in deep/moderate snow as well as heavy rain, never had a worry...have been pleasantly surprised with the mileage of the 2nd set...will need new ones in a couple of months and will be choosing these again.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
January 24, 2013

These tires most assuredly saved me from an accident. While driving at about 40mph at an intersection, a drunk driver ran his stop light and T-Boned the car immediately in front of me. Had I hit the brakes I know I would have hit the offending driver. I turned the wheel hard right and although the tires were screeching and screaming their protest, I made the 90° turn at 40mph as if my Mercedes were on a rail track. Finest tire I have ever had on a Mercedes!