300TE Tires Advice Needed I have a 1988 300TE. Last set of tires ... Dunlop Sport A2s. Good handling tires, but crappy tread wear. I am considering Bridgestone RE950s. BTW, I upgraded size from original to P205/60R15 as from the threads it looks like this tire has better handling for this car. Any other suggestions or advice. My front two tires are wearing out twice as fast as the rears. I guess this is normal on these cars if you don't rotate like I should have been doing!! I need them fast so any info would be appreciated. Thanks.
You might want to look at the Yokohama YK420 tires. I put these on my SL and handling and feel appears to be good with excellent treadwear specs. I paid about $530 total for four 245 50 r16's installed, bakanced etc at Discount Tire. Pete
Are they wearing evenly? If not your alignment is off.
Longest lasting decent tire: Michelen X-1. Longest lasting decent tire withthe correct speed rating for your car but it doesn't last as long but is a superior touring tire: Michelen MXV4. H or V rated.
I, too, put Dunlop Sport A2s on my '95 E320 Wagon. The rear tires wore out in less than 10K miles. The tire store ("Just Tires", a chain) replaced all four for about $60 (covered labor and a few $s for each of the front tires) with Goodyears. They told me that they had found that the Dunlop A2s did not last on all cars (apparently Mercedes wagons being one). Maybe not the best tire (I'd probably spring for the Michelins if I hadn't gotten such a good deal on the Goodyear), but they seem a lot better than the Dunlops.
Bottom line: you might want to complain to the tire dealer and see what they will do. I don't know why your fronts would have worn out before the rears if the alignment was done (BTW, I tend to not rotate tires - last time I did they changed the tread direction and a steel belt broke).
Tires shouldn't wear that fast... get an alignment. My fronts were wearing like crazy when I had massive toe problem, now after an alignment, 10k mi on my new tires and I can't tell what front and rear is.
I did the 205/60/15 size when I got new tires and a sportline spring package on my 87 300D. I love it... much better handling, grip, everything. There appears to be ever so slight an amount of rubbing on the strut tower up front, from the inside wall of the tire, but its barely enough to notice. Running 36psi with sportline suspension, that car is as nimble as a BMW. Knock it down to 29-30PSI and it's very tolerable.
As for brand... I'm going to break the typical mold and say: Get KUMHOs. I had Pirelli P4000s, P6000s, Goodyears, and a few other options before I went with Kumho KH11s, and I never ever looked back. They're very inexpencive, very quiet when pushed, tend to slide instead of break loose, and they are rather quiet on the freeway. Had mine up to about 125mph, very quiet and responsive. Thrown em in corners and out of turns with no problems and very predictable handling. Wet performance is simply astonishing. No mounting problems.
Hope you're enjoying your TE, and I strongly reccomend Sportline suspension :)
I just got the RE950s for my 95 E320 wagon. Only about 300 miles, so just starting to break them in. Wet performance is vastly superior to the old RE730s I have. Oh, I have 16" wheels, so they are what
205/55-HR16s. I think.
BAD BAD BAD!
Note that I only got about 25,000 from the RE730s and was not pleased, but all 4 were equally worn. Oops, error probably exists between steering wheel and driver's seat.
Interested in confirming you may have miswritten above: "all four for about $60." You didn't actually purchase new Goodyear tires for $15 a piece, did you? O_o If so, please provide a link to tire model, rating and price.
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