tire mileage.... what r u guys getting on your MLs??

[smarten]

Originally Posted by roughyear

finally got to conti warranty repair/exchange...they gave me a 40% credit towards a new set of contis...so instead of paying $172/tire i paid $104/tire. Fight with conti to get them replaced (at least discounted)

Good for you! I think most of us are in the same position [I've just hit 20K miles and I've got about 1/8" of tread left notwithstanding regular alignment and tire rotations].

But my question is what model Continental are you getting for a replacement? Quite frankly and IMO, their entire line for MLs is crap. With no treadwear warranty [which guarantees a repeat performance 20K miles or less from now]; the high add-on costs of tire installation, balancing, disposal, tax, etc.; in the long run, you do yourself no favors by buying another Continental tire even if it is discounted in msrp [which everyone discounts anyway].

I'm hoping I'm wrong about this and you'll point me to some tire on par [performance and treadwear guaranty wise] with the Yokohama Geolander HT-S.

[smarten]

A follow up Roughyear.

I recommend you NOT take the financial offer Continental has given you. Continental DOESN'T make a tire for our SUVs [whether the Contact 4x4 or otherwise] that is going to give us in excess of 20K miles of treadwear; PERIOD [I just got off the telephone with them and received confirmation]. Can you believe Continental has just come out with the Contitrac SUV which comes with a 60K factory treadwear mileage guaranty, but doesn't come in a size that works on our vehicles?

Even at $104/tire, by the time you pay for sales tax, disposal, valve stems, installation and balancing, you're going to be at well over $500 for the same garbage tire that have written about.

I've been doing a very comprehensive study of the options out there and if you're talking about a high performance M+S rated tire; in a size used on W164s [and believe me, I've tried all the permutations to come up with a more mainstream size that's used on vehicles other than MBZ, BMW and Porsche]; that offers a 60K treadwear factory guaranty; from a mainstream tire manufacturer; you've really only got 2 or 3 options and the best of the bunch in my book is the Yokohama Geolander HT-S.

If you go to the Discount/All American Tire web site [http://www.discounttiredirect.com] you'll see 235x65x17 Geolander HT-S's [this is the standard factory size you're presumably replacing with Continental] available for $123/each. Shipping to your doorstep is free; they won't charge you any sales tax; and if you call them up and ask nicely, they'll even send you free valve stems. Thus when you compare apples-to-apples, these tires are really priced LESS than the Continentals you're contemplating with your 40% discount! And they're superior tires.

I'm contemplating an upgrade in size to 18" OEM GL wheels I have purchased. 255x55x18 Yokohama Geolanders are priced at $167 each, tax, tip, delivered to your doorstep. Try finding a Michelin or Pirelli priced anywhere near this number for a tire this size [and if you do, please let me know before I place my order with Discount Tire Direct].

Are Michelin Lattitudes a better tire option than the Continental Contact 4x4s? Absolutely [because essentially everything is a better option]. But you're going to pay a price premium of at least 25% [over your $175 msrp] for the Michelins and in the end, you're going to be lucky to get 30K miles of treadwear [and no, there's no factory treadwear mileage guaranty with the Michelin either].

So as the old Fram oil filter commercial used to say, "you can pay me now or later."

[Chauss]

I got @ 40K out of my Nitto's on my ML55. Rotated every 5 to 7K miles. So happy I bought another set!

[lkchris]

Careful on those tires with big mileage warranties. They'll probably have little wet traction.

Here's what a tire warranty is:

It's a sales gimmick to keep you coming back to the same brand.

What it is is a promise to give you a "discount" on your next purchase ... of the same brand. Every seen a tire warranty that allows you to replace with another brand? Didn't think so.

And, like any other warranty, it isn't free. You pay for it.

You wouldn't put Sears Roadhandlers on your Ferrari because they have a 60K mile warranty, would you?

Your ML comes with H-rated (130mph) tires because it's a performance SUV. Your ML500 will indeed do 130. I sure wouldn't want to do that on traction-free high mileage tires.

If high mileage tires is what you demand, you own the wrong vehicle.

Mercedes "status" isn't just about the looks. It's backed up by performance. Are the looks all you want?

[roughyear]

guyz ur probably correct in that these contis will wearout in another 20k, i was thinking about going with the Yokohama Geolander HT-S (extra $280 for set of 4), but am hoping these conti tires last until the end of my lease next september... if they wearout permaturally again, i'm gonna tell MB-usa to shove it, if they attempt to get me to pony up another $500bucks to put replacement tires on lease turn-in

conti's phone # is 800.847.3349

[smarten]

Originally Posted by lkchris

A tire warranty is...a sales gimmick to keep you coming back to the same brand.

So I guess the Continental, Michelin and Pirelli people aren't interested in sales gimmicks?

I disagree. The DOT requires tire manufacturers to rate their tires for things like mileage wear, speed and M+S. If a manufacturer were to misrate its tires, it would be hit with deceptive advertising litigation and penalties. So they don't!

I just purchased the Yokohama Geolander HT-S' after 20.5K miles on the Continental Contact 4x4s [I was down to the wear bars]. I'm very pleased with the decision. Much quieter riding than the Continentals [which I knew would be the case ahead of time], a far more aggressive tread pattern [the lay person can see the difference just by looking], H rated [just like the Michelins] and they're M+S rated as well. So what "performance" am I sacrificing?

Oh BTW, I was able to find two tires at $95/each new from a local after market wheel dealer that was blowing out its excess inventory [they only had two of the Geolanders left in my size]. Then went to my local tire retailer [which guarantees it will beat the competition (which it did)]. So $450 installed, balanced, tax, tip, out the door for all four! I'll let you guys know how they wear 60K miles from now [after you've gone through three more sets of Continentals, Michelins or Pirellis].

And even if I don't get 60K miles of wear and have to purchase another set "at a discount," I figure I'm still ahead of the pack.

Oh BTW again, I installed the same tires on my W163 last year [before I sold it in favor of my W164] and drove them in the snow [sometimes 1-1/2 feet or more] at Lake Tahoe. They performed flawlessly for me and never did I have to use chains. So I expect this set is going to perform similarly this winter.

[GregW / Oregon]

My truck came with Bridgestone Turanzas (255/50-19) which are so-so performing, (rated 140 A A), but still have 8/32" left when I took them off with 13k. Continental SportContact 4x4 is rated 280 A A; reviews of them on Tire Rack website validate the low mileage. The Continental CrossContct UHPs (stock on the ML63) I have now are rated 420 AA A so, far better specs, at least as the manufacturer rates them. That's what I'm running now, and we'll see.

I guess I'm in the monority in placing ultimate performance over mileage. I run summer tires March - November here in Oregon, then switch to snows. I'm delighted to get 20k per set, since my M3 gets 15-18k on max. performance tires.

For general information, the user review averages on Tire Rack.com for the above-mentioned tires are as follows: Conti CC 4x4, 7.40; B'stone Turanza, 7.66; Yoka Geolander HT-S, 8.29; Conti CC UHP, 9.10. The Yokes seem to be a good choice for an all-season, though their Parada Spec-X all-season scores an even higher 9.36 (only 20"+, though).

[jimrgraham]

And am on my third set of Conti's. The last 5k miles on both previous sets were horribly loud with a lot of vibration. Rotated every 5k miles and still no life. I cannot believe that MBZ would even allow a tire like this on an AMG!

[MB-SV]

Originally Posted by jimrgraham

And am on my third set of Conti's. The last 5k miles on both previous sets were horribly loud with a lot of vibration. Rotated every 5k miles and still no life. I cannot believe that MBZ would even allow a tire like this on an AMG!

Uhhh, wasn't the first set enough of the crappy Conti's?....

[am_beagle]

Originally Posted by roughyear

well.... finally got to conti warranty repair/exchange.... they gave me a 40% credit towards a new set of contis... so instead of paying $172/tire i paid $104/tire.

fight with conti to get them replaced (at least discounted)

conti's phone # is 800.847.3349

I would stay away from Conti forever. Even with free tires.
I use lots Mics and Bridgestones, they are fine.