All C43 AMG owners - What shall I do?

[dejongj]

Maybe dejongj can throw some light on this re whether owners can keep their original tyres as he seems to be in regular contact with his dealer?

Unfortunately it comes down to the dealer interpretation. I'm not accepting a swap, I don't want to have reduced performance in my car by moving to all season tyres. But my situation is slightly different as there are no tyres available. So I only accept 20" wheels and tyres as an addition to the 21" wheels I've got. And I would suggest you also discuss storage with your dealer

 

[DRIVER200]

My caller said I could keep the old tyres - they have done 9k miles

Tony

To save me trolling back through this post did you have any uneven wear on the fronts? Just to show my ignorance on the topic of changing tyres is there any detrimental effect on a tyre if it is frequently taken off and then put back on a wheel?

 

[Tony Mac]

Well it's actually moved on from that onto whether MB will let you keep your original summer tyres for future use!! crazy or what?

Do you really want to be loading old tyres in and out of your squeaky clean MB, not to mention finding somewhere to store them

Our front tyres are showing significant wear on the outer 2" - Rear tyres look like new

No idea if refitting a tyre has any impact on it's useful life

Tony

 

[bunky561]

My caller said I could keep the old tyres - they have done 9k miles

Tony

Some have said MB are willing to sell the summer tyres back to the customer if they wish to keep them.

What a joke.

 

[DRIVER200]

Do you really want to be loading old tyres in and out of your squeaky clean MB, not to mention finding somewhere to store them

Our front tyres are showing significant wear on the outer 2" - Rear tyres look like new

No idea if refitting a tyre has any impact on it's useful life

Tony

Just to throw a big spanner into the works. This is what's going through my mind at the moment. MB are offering to give owners a free set of All Weather tyres which they say will sort out the crabbing issue during winter months. Now that's all very well but due to a possible design fault owners' summer tyres have taken a bashing and in some cases will soon be illegal. So to me MB should be offering to replace owners' summer tyres who are experiencing uneven wear and also offer free AW tyres for winter use. As in your case Tony Mac how long do you think your summer's will last or do you think come the warmer months that the uneven wear will reduce? Either way you will have to replace them sooner than you should through no fault of your own.

 

[Tony Mac]

Well it's actually moved on from that onto whether MB will let you keep your original summer tyres for future use!! crazy or what?

Only those owners who are accepting MB's offer of replacement tyres as a solution to the crabbing and juddering problem, may have moved on. In my opinion - these tyres will not provide the answer MB are hoping for, but I hope I'm proven wrong.

 

[DRIVER200]

Just to throw a big spanner into the works. This is what's going through my mind at the moment. MB are offering to give owners a free set of All Weather tyres which they say will sort out the crabbing issue during winter months. Now that's all very well but due to a possible design fault owners' summer tyres have taken a bashing and in some cases will soon be illegal. So to me MB should be offering to replace owners' summer tyres who are experiencing uneven wear and also offer free AW tyres for winter use. As in your case Tony Mac how long do you think your summer's will last or do you think come the warmer months that the uneven wear will reduce? Either way you will have to replace them sooner than you should through no fault of your own.

Tony Mac: Not sure you have seen this but appreciate your thoughts on your current tyre wear and what action MB should be taking.

 

[Riverside Red]

Can't believe you C43 drivers are prepared to accept AW tyres, it seems a bit like putting a sprinter (albeit a slow one) in a pair of wellies.

There's no way on God's earth would I buy a new 400hp E43 with a set of all weather tyres on it..........

RR

 

[DRIVER200]

Can't believe you C43 drivers are prepared to accept AW tyres, it seems a bit like putting a sprinter (albeit a slow one) in a pair of wellies.

There's no way on God's earth would I buy a new 400hp E43 with a set of all weather tyres on it..........

RR

I think owners' just need to go through the motions on this one to prove either way whether it will make a difference or not. Get your point though but guessing that in colder countries seasonal change of tyres is pretty normal even on performance cars.

 

[dejongj]

Can't believe you C43 drivers are prepared to accept AW tyres, it seems a bit like putting a sprinter (albeit a slow one) in a pair of wellies.

There's no way on God's earth would I buy a new 400hp E43 with a set of all weather tyres on it..........

RR

I agree and a point I've raised with my dealers for my GLC43 AMG. Naturally as none actually exist it is an academic point as no specification is known.

But I agree, I would inspect the speed rating, the performance specification etc.

 

[crockers]

If the dealer is going to put a set of AW tyres on and let you keep the summers.......Why????

Surely if you're going to keep the summers you should be given winters.

AW are for all time...All weather....All seasons.....Seems a mad idea.

 

[grober]

Just to show my ignorance on the topic of changing tyres is there any detrimental effect on a tyre if it is frequently taken off and then put back on a wheel?

Every time a tyre is fitted or removed from a wheel there is a slight risk of damage depending on the skill and diligence of the tyre fitter. The main areas at risk are the bead [ surface damage ] and the bead wire [ stretching] resulting in a poor seal with the wheel. The risk is multiplied by the number of times the tyre is fitted/removed. For this reason and because narrower higher aspect ratio tyres perform better in snow many GERMAN motorists have a set of winter wheels complete with tyres. This is the reason there are no suitable 21 inch tyres as standard practice would be to move down at least 1 inch in wheel radius or maybe more depending on brake caliper/disc clearance [ which is what Mercedes suggest and probably why suitable winter tyres are only available at 20 inch diameter]

 

[stevebgt1]

We don't get severe enough winters to worry about this. It`s a load of ******.

 

[Tony Mac]

We don't get severe enough winters to worry about this. It`s a load of ******.

Well put Steve - it's been one of the warmest winters on record ( just watch we'll have 3 feet of snow next week )

 

[Tony Mac]

Just to throw a big spanner into the works. This is what's going through my mind at the moment. MB are offering to give owners a free set of All Weather tyres which they say will sort out the crabbing issue during winter months. Now that's all very well but due to a possible design fault owners' summer tyres have taken a bashing and in some cases will soon be illegal. So to me MB should be offering to replace owners' summer tyres who are experiencing uneven wear and also offer free AW tyres for winter use. As in your case Tony Mac how long do you think your summer's will last or do you think come the warmer months that the uneven wear will reduce? Either way you will have to replace them sooner than you should through no fault of your own.

Not sure you have seen this but appreciate your thoughts on your current tyre wear and what action MB should be taking.

Our local tyre dealer thinks we will be lucky to get another 3k miles out of our front tyres = 12,000 in total, which he thinks is criminal for a 200bhp diesel family car I took this up with the dealer and they said it's not unusual for the new MB's with the drive by wire technology.

Personally I would expect at least 18k miles from a car like this, previous X3 did 30k - but as with the crabbing and juddering the dealers just listen and ignore you - no offer of replacement tyres. Will have to make more noise when they become illegal and see what happens - will probably / hopefully have moved out of the GLC before then

Have to say not many owners appear to be complaining about abnormal tyre wear - apart from JP who was told he's driving around to many right hand corners

Tony

 

[stevebgt1]

They wont listen to you . It's normal for performance front tyres to wear quickly on a heavy car with Automatic transmission .,
How do they know how you have been driving it ? And if you are blaming the crabbing for it , you must be doing about 40 , 3 point turns a day , in which case , you bought the wrong car !


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[dejongj]

They wont listen to you . It's normal for performance front tyres to wear quickly on a heavy car with Automatic transmission .,
How do they know how you have been driving it ? And if you are blaming the crabbing for it , you must be doing about 40 , 3 point turns a day , in which case , you bought the wrong car !


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My dealer has changed my front tyres free of charge. I did demonstrate them how bad it was on the brand new tyres before I drove off, and told them that if I don't see them before, I'll look forward to seeing them in another 4,000 miles for a new set of tyres.

 

[stevebgt1]

Rears too ?


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[dejongj]

Rears too ?


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Good question - I was about to say no. But according to the paperwork from Mercedes it seems they have changed them as well. I'll double check

 

[Deleted128943]

I'm finding this quite bizarre, new car owners talking about regular tyre changes to compensate for a defect on their new 40k+ vehicle. Eventually the structure of the tyres will be affected by continual being fitted/removed and there's a risk of your lovely alloys being damaged.

Apologies to those that have read this in my previous posts. My 3 week old GLC started life on MO tyres and skipped during full lock manoeuvres in low temperature conditions, run flats were fitted by the dealer as the temperature increased to double figures and the skipping reduced significantly which was either the tyre change, temperature change or combination of both. I drove 270 miles yesterday some of it in the wet with the temperature back in single figures and I noticed during full lock manoeuvres in the wet my GLC still skips and what's more unnerving is whilst turning out of side streets into heavy London traffic a number of times I felt the front end of my GLC skip/skid slightly and I wasn't going particularly fast and I suspect the road wasn't particularly greasy, I put it down to the skipping issue.

I for one will be going for the all season tyres for all year use, I wouldn't consider continually changing tyres to accommodate the seasons, I haven't had to do this on any of the other 25+ vehicles I've owned why should I have to start because I've purchased a Mercedes Benz. If the all season tyres don't improve matters as MB suggest it will I shall be continue to pursue the matter and if necessary seek legal guidance.

MB themselves said in their letter "Due to the positioning of the front axle differential on right hand drive cars, the steering position differs very slightly compared to left hand drive models. When the steering is on full lock this steering angle difference can result in the front tyre skipping sensation". This admits that a design change has caused the issue, as left hand drive GLC's don't do it then I'd assume right hand drive GLC owners are well within their right to expect right hand drive GLC's not to do it. I for one would be interested to here the opinion of a legal representative on the contents of the letter.