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Tire noise after rotation??

7K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  jzchen 
#1 ·
Had the dealer do a tire rotation on wife's 2011 E350 BlueTec a week ago.
Ever since then, she has complained that the car was "loud", which is not very descriptive. :smile
So, we went on a trip of 70 miles one-way over the weekend, and I was able to hear it for myself.
Tire/road noise was pretty load, especially around 55-60MPH. Slight steering wheel vibration. Almost like tire out-of-balance or flat spot on tire.
Seemed to get quieter after about 50 miles of driving, but is still loud.
I think the tires are original Goodyear, although the car has 75k miles. Just can't believe that tires were changed at less than 35k miles when we bought it CPO.

Had her take it back. They had too much air in some of the tires, and told her the Goodyear tires are known to have "hard rubber":confused:
(I guess that would explain how they still have a lot of tread at 75k?)
Of course, they told her next time it is due for rotation, it may need new tires.:|

Anyways, has anyone had tire problems after a rotation? What was the cure?

Thanks
 
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#2 ·
I always check the tire pressures the morning after I get a car back from any shop, when they are cold after sitting for a night.

If the tires were rotated front to back and back to front like I suspect you could have a balance problem in the one(s) that moved to the front. (I am sorry but you didn't specify if they were in fact balanced).

My car was CPO too. Tires looked new when I got it, and probably were. Did you attempt to measure the tread depth when you got it? At less than 30k miles the staggered rears on my mother's W204 are pretty much gone. The fronts were replaced due to inside sidewall cracking sometime before that, at specified 29 PSI. Now I put 30 PSI....
 
#4 ·
Thanks.
I have always thought that the tires may have been new when we bought it.
Unfortunately, it makes the situation more frustrating, because the tires would only have 40k miles on them, a LOT of tread. Hate to give up on them so early.
New Continental PureContact tires would be over $1000, but they have a 70k mile warranty, which is pretty impressive.

Will try to get the Goodyear dealer to re-balance them to try to buy some time and use the tread up.

Had a belt shift on a Goodyear on the Explorer, and it vibrated enough to wear out the wheel bearing. Don't want that to happen to the Benz.
 
#5 ·
Staggered sizing tends to be hard on the tires and brakes. The rear brakes on the W204 also were changed. Yes, the rear. I believe the rear tires are slightly smaller than the front and traction control kicks in by activating the rear brakes because it "thinks" the rear tires are slipping, they are rotating faster because of the smaller tires. Tire manufacturers seem aware of this, and at least Continental does not warrant tread life with staggered fitment the same as uniform all around....

Anyways. Hopefully the balancing works out. If they are the same size all around you should be good regarding wear. I've had tires sold to me and then when I got them rotated the car started pulling to one side, front went back and back front. If the fronts were then rotated left right it pulled to the other side!.....
 
#6 ·
The last one I bought had the goodyears on it.. SUPER loud.. When I looked up the reviews on tirerack the number 1 complaint about them was noise. These two had lots of tread left but it was driving me insane.. New tires fixed it.. Money well spent..
 
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#7 ·
Well, it gets even better.
Finally was able to look at the actual tires on the car, and then spend some time at the tire man. websites. They are a Goodyear model that the Goodyear site DOES NOT RECOMMEND for this car. :eek

Worse yet, they are rated 95W, when they are supposed to be 99H per Mercedes, and also supposed to be the "XL" extra-load tire rating. So, they are 4 weight load classes too low. Total of about 800lbs in rating too low!
So, I was so pissed when I found out, that I looked into getting tires. Priced tires at 3 places. My local dealer was actually lowest, believe it or not.

Getting the Michelin Primacy MXM4 in 245/45R17/XL 99H MO, Which is the CORRECT tire for the 2011 E350 BluTec! Note the "XL" in the part #, and the correct 99H, plus, the MO means it is actually DESIGNED for Mercedes spec. :smile
Could have had Conti for a little less.

Will be installed Friday. Hope it goes well.
Getting mad just typing this, remembering the times I had that car at 90+, and could have had a blowout.....
 
#8 ·
Nothing wrong with those Michelins at all. I tend to lean toward the conti's lately. My go to Continental (PureContact)is not available in the size for my S-Class so I went with a Pirilli on it that I'm pretty happy with so far.
 
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#11 ·
Victory!
Dealer installed the correct Michelin Primacy MXM4 in 245/45R17/XL 99H MO.
Not only solved noise, but also eliminated vibration, rides better, and seems to handle better.

Got them to give me 10% off, after reminding them that I bought it there CPO, and their inspection should have noted incorrect tires (they SWEAR that they wouldn't have installed Goodyears on a returned lease car).

SO, even though it was not cheap, it was worth it to get our luxury car back, instead of something with the road noise of a 68 pickup truck. :)
 
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