you have to know tire specs. better get educated.
quick facts:
1. read the "treadwear" number on your tires. Example: "400"; means 40,000miles worth of treadwear, less 12 to 15% depending your road conditions and how you drive them. 15% means you'll get 34000 miles on that "400"...then time to buy new tires. If you don't make to the -15% mark, change tire brand when you buy.
2. you don't need an alignment, unless you're talking frontend accident of some kind, maybe huge pothole hit? What happened?
3. rotate tires every 4500miles.
4. check air pressure monthly. I advise to keep close to max psi for your car's tire "load rating". Don't know what you drive or your tire/wheel sizes...see manf. advice.
5. If you feel vibrations in your steering, time to get them re-balanced.
6. Advise you buy "V" rated, or higher designation, tires next time...at least an "H" tire...better ride and safety (stifer side walls) at high speeds and cornering. Assuming you have a Benz, these "V" rated tires are probably on your car, unless you a previously owned Benz.
7. you better read up on tire specs and identify your car's tire's specifics.
good luck.
Most cars in US are limited @ 210Km/h 130mph e.g. the use of H marked tires is sufficient. (Car manufacturer can save a little $ for cheaper tires)
In regard to tread wear, I'm quite sure that the 400 does not indicate 40000 miles, the number is just to compare between tires, 400 and 200 the 400 will last 2 twice as long, if you treat the tires right.
My ContiSportContact 3 (on my Audi), tread wear 280 will max last 15000 miles, rougly half way down and 6000 miles.
The miles depend on where you live, like here in S FL, the cars still get M+S tires from Conti, and they will not last as long as in Boston, the temp difference will have a big factor as rubber changes carataristics in different temps....
How many miles can I expect the original installed tires to last? Also, is it necessary to get the wheels balanced at some interval?
My OEM tires, Continental 4x4 Contacts, only lasted 18,800 miles. They were kept balanced and aligned, so that wasn't an issue. Admittedly I live in a hilly area and this is a heavy vehicle, but I'm not satisfied with a tire that lasts less than 20,000 miles unless they are soft high-performance tires for a sports car.
Around Pittsburgh, frequent re-balancing (I do that very 5000 miles) is a necessity with the rough roads we have around here; in places with smoother roads, it shouldn't need to be that frequent.
I am now using Continental Cross Contacts; let's see if they last longer.
Do you mind telling me if you bought/installed them at the dealer or somewhere else and how much do they cost?
I would check TireRack or similar on the web, they will most likely be cheaper than the dealer. There are pleanty of installers recommended by TireRack.
read the reviews for different tires on tire rack and on 1010tires.com they'll give you an idea about tread life and drive feel. I have the original Continentals on mine with 7500 miles after 14 months, they're been rotated twiced and they're about 60% as far as tread left. Nice soft tires but tread wear is terrible.
Had Hankook's on previous MB and they had great tread wear and nice blend of performance to ride quality.
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