[Roman]

I would like to know from people with all season tires, what do they have? and how do they like their tires? noise wise and traction wise.
I would like to know if Mercedes had a ceratin type of "original tire package" for a 1998 ML320.
I would like to know if anyone knows anything about Motorcraft tires. The guy who does our tires said that they are very good, and will get better traction then Michelins because of the type of protector Motorcraft tires have.
Right now I have Michelin Cross Terrains. They are very nice, but I don't know how long they have been on the car. 3 tires are really bad, 4th tire is almost brand new. So I seriously need all 4 new tires as fast as possible.
Any recomendations?
Possible to make it a sticky even? So that other people with tire questions can come in here and read ...

Thanks!

 

[marcelc]

Look at http://www.whnet.com/4x4/, scroll down and look at the various sections on tires.

Otherwise, perhaps a survey?

 

[JG]

I have had the Michelin Cross Terrains for about 20k miles. Prior, I drove about 10k on the OEM Dunlops. I personally like the Cross Terrains, no complaints here. In general, I have found Michelin's to be a very well built tire but they are always more expensive.

 

[GregW / Oregon]

Tire questions

Roman - 1/26/2005 9:12 AM

I would like to know from people with all season tires, what do they have? and how do they like their tires? noise wise and traction wise.
I would like to know if Mercedes had a ceratin type of "original tire package" for a 1998 ML320.
I would like to know if anyone knows anything about Motorcraft tires. The guy who does our tires said that they are very good, and will get better traction then Michelins because of the type of protector Motorcraft tires have.
Thanks!

Motorcraft tires? I didn't know there was such a thing, and didn't turn them up with a Google search. Mastercraft, maybe? And I don't know what you mean by "different type of protecftor." Anyhow, I'd avoid them and stick with major brands. The '98 came originally with General Grabber 255/65-16s. You can get the Grabber AT in that size. Newer MLs have gone to 17s.

Personally, I use a high performance summer tire (18" Yokohama AVS S/T) and have separate rims with dedicated winter tires (17" Pirelli Scorpion Ice/Snow). All seasons are always a compromise. I would trust Michelin, though. They make very high quality tires.

 

[Roman]

thats what it said, Motorcraft, he gave me a printout

he said they are made by Cooper, or Kooper, or w/e ...

I'd like to keep the tires just like how they came from M-B originally

 

[JG]

Motorcraft must be a Cooper house brand then. Cooper makes decent tires for the price but they are after the average car buyer who thinks tires are just rubber injected into a mold. Tires are very very important to your vehicle's performance so make sure to look past prices and marketing claims. My MB came with Dunlop Grandtek originally, I was not aware that generals were from the factory. If you are the average driver that wants an all season tire, the michelin cross terrain would be an excellent choice. They are expensive but their mileage warranty is about twice as long as competitors. Check out www.tirerack.com. You can search the tire surveys for other opinion and I think you can filter by vehicle as well.

 

[candrews]

I'm another who believes in the dedicated setup

I use 17" Pirelli Snow & Ice for winter.

20" Dunlop SP 9000 for Summer.

Both awesome tires but neither would be good year round.

 

[kenyee]

Go here and look at the Tire Logs link

http://www.keysolutions.com/M-Class

No Cooper reviews yet...


ken

 

[ron in sc]

58K miles on my Cross Terains, not to wear bars yet but very close, probably replace with same tire when I have 60K on them.

 

[Roman]

if you go to Cooper.Com and click on SUV, they have a picture of ML on there ...

tire guy also said never to shop by brand, but by the "foot print" of the tire (what I called protector, screwed up sorry)
"brand name will only tell you if its a good quality tire or not" which got me confused ...

prices on Tirerack are pretty close to prices he gave me; with shipping from tirerack to me, it will cost pretty much the same as buying tires from a shop installed

I'm not sure if I will get the wheels or not once snow comes off, other wise I would simply cut back on driving ML right now

 

[Radomir]

costco has $60 off a set of michelins.. which I took advantage of and replaced my old cross terrains with a new set... wouldn't consider anything else..

 

[JG]

Roman - 1/26/2005 6:50 PM

if you go to Cooper.Com and click on SUV, they have a picture of ML on there ...

tire guy also said never to shop by brand, but by the "foot print" of the tire (what I called protector, screwed up sorry)
"brand name will only tell you if its a good quality tire or not" which got me confused ...

prices on Tirerack are pretty close to prices he gave me; with shipping from tirerack to me, it will cost pretty much the same as buying tires from a shop installed

I'm not sure if I will get the wheels or not once snow comes off, other wise I would simply cut back on driving ML right now

I am curious to know one can shop by the tire foot print. I actually worked for Cooper while in college as an engineering co-op. Tread design was only one of many parts of a tire's design. Sure, you can tell generally how a tire will perform but most people are not trained what so ever on this topic. So frankly, this sales person is BS'ing you. On another note, while at Cooper, Michelin was almost always the reference tire that they strived emulate. One exception that I remember was the snow and ice performance of the Bridgestone Blizzak. This was in the mid 90's when those first hit the market. Michelin seemed to implement newer technology faster and therefore make better tires. I am in no way a tire expert so I would recommend doing your own research. I guess I am just Michelin bias based on my experience at Cooper.

I agree that a dedicated setup is hands down the superior option. However, I personally do not want to sink another couple thousand dollars on rims suitable for an MB and the extra tires. Somehow steel rims with hub caps and snow tires (cheap option) just would not look very good on an MB!

 

[GregW / Oregon]

JG - 1/26/2005 6:30 PM

Roman - 1/26/2005 6:50 PM
I agree that a dedicated setup is hands down the superior option. However, I personally do not want to sink another couple thousand dollars on rims suitable for an MB and the extra tires. Somehow steel rims with hub caps and snow tires (cheap option) just would not look very good on an MB!

I got a set of used ML430 17" wheels (perfect condition) from a forum member for $400 with shipping recently. Just need to shop around.

 

[GregW / Oregon]

Roman - 1/26/2005 3:50 PM
if you go to Cooper.Com and click on SUV, they have a picture of ML on there ...

tire guy also said never to shop by brand, but by the "foot print" of the tire (what I called protector, screwed up sorry)
"brand name will only tell you if its a good quality tire or not" which got me confused ...

prices on Tirerack are pretty close to prices he gave me; with shipping from tirerack to me, it will cost pretty much the same as buying tires from a shop installed

Sorry, but you're getting loads of sales bullsh*t. "Footprint" means little by itself. Most all tires of the same size will have nearly identical footprints.

Stay with a mjor brand tire (Michelin, Pirelli, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Dunlop, General, Continental, Yokohama, etc.). Saving a few buck on Cooper or whatever is not worth it on a $40k vehicle. Your tires are all that connect you to the road.

 

[Roman]

Mastercraft has same website as Cooper basically ...

as soon as he said that a brand name really means nothing, I just started shaking my head

I guess he was really trying to push these tires then, maybe they were laying around for a while or something?

so I made a mistake, not Motorcraft, Mastercraft ...

and Michelins do cost alot

I think I'll also stop b y Sears and see if they have anything, but I doubt it
I'd like installation the same day ofcourse []

 

[00 ML430 Bulldog]

Roman - 1/26/2005 12:12 PM

I would like to know from people with all season tires, what do they have? and how do they like their tires? noise wise and traction wise.
I would like to know if Mercedes had a ceratin type of "original tire package" for a 1998 ML320.
I would like to know if anyone knows anything about Motorcraft tires. The guy who does our tires said that they are very good, and will get better traction then Michelins because of the type of protector Motorcraft tires have.
Right now I have Michelin Cross Terrains. They are very nice, but I don't know how long they have been on the car. 3 tires are really bad, 4th tire is almost brand new. So I seriously need all 4 new tires as fast as possible.
Any recomendations?
Possible to make it a sticky even? So that other people with tire questions can come in here and read ...

Thanks!

I have Michelin Cross Terrains on my ML. I am very happy with them.... They give excellent all season performance.. Plus they are quiet at highway speed... The others are just junk if you ask me..

 

[Roman]

Michelin Cross Terrains are $166 each installed, before tax

that comes out to about $700 total with tax

plus I need alignment, the other guy said that they dont do alignment on ML because "its a Benz, and you need 80 pound sand bag in front, and 2 60 pound bags on each side in rear, then you align it" which had me confused

so now I'm thinking, buy tires from TireRack, then take the car to dealer, have them do alignment and put new tires on, but I have to find out what dealer will charge me first

 

[Roman]

so when should tranny fluid be changed?

what type of fluid to use when putting fresh fluid in?
does changing it at 80k miles sound reasonable?

 

[bigcatny]

The cross terrains are $150 installed at Costco now with the rebate coupon. If it's in stock as many places carry this size now, it's also same day. Thats's with the tire disposal fee which you can deduct if you want to throw away your own tires. That's around $145 installed each of course with lifetime service from costco.

How much less can you go. What can you save $200 total? That's one dinner for 2 in New York. What's that over the 60K life of the tire. It's a $40K car and the only thing between your car and the earth is the tires. Well that and your pocketbook of course.

Good luck on your decision.[]

 

[Roman]

costco.com?