[chamnya]

Hi guys,

I am not sure how but I ruined one of the tires on my 2002 e430 4matic. so I am shopping for tires right now. i had new contiextremecontacts about 15000 miles ago. they ran great and had no problem with them until now.

so here is the question- i have three contiextreme contacts that are around 6-7/32 evenly worn. if i bought one contiextreme contact dws (i guess the extremecontacts are discontinued), would that be ok? i talked to tirerack rep over phone and he suggested that since i have 4matic, i should shave the new tire down to 7/32 to be sure. they would do that for $25.

I guess my options are -
1) replace one tire as is
2) replace one tire (shaved - i fell naughty saying this )
3) replace a pair with contiextreme contact dws
4) saw a pair of 235/45/18 used local very good price. would it be a good idea to put them on rear?

thanks for your suggestions! happy riding..

 

[Check Codes]

You can't mix tire sizes on the 4matic (and aren't your stock ones something other than 18?)

Buy two new ones, mount them and be done with it. Keep the other old one in case you have a failure of one of the others.

If money is really tight check ebay, you may find a used tire just like yours for far less money. I did that once when I was in a situation just like you.

 

[j99xj]

First you need to fix what ruined the tire to begin with. I would guess you have a shot ball joint and/or tie rod end causing mis-alignment.

 

[Kajtek1]

Mixing 1 or mixing 2 on 4-Matic might make no difference.
I've been driving 4-Matic with 3 pretty worn tires and new tire on full size spare just fine.
So getting new tire from the same manufacturer than the other 3 would be my choice.
Slightly lowering the pressure on new tire might make for perfect match.

 

[Figuero]

The DWS has a completly different tread pattern.
You don't want to mix two different tires on one axle. Shop around for the ContiExtreemContact. They are still on the Continental Tire web site so there might be some still available out there.

 

[chamnya]

Thanks guys I guess I will have to suck up and get a new pair. Will look into contiextreme DWS. Thanks for your suggestions!