Good Deal on Good Tyres

[Andy Stanton]

My W211 E220 CDI has worn all four corners and I need a complete replacement. I've never shelled out for 4 in one go before so I was keen to get the best ones at the best price. Or as good a compromised as possible at any rate given I'm looking for convenience too.

Having scanned our forum and other random sites last night it fell onto two tyre choices (both premium). Conti Premium Contact2's (Mercs originals) or Michelin Pilot Primacy HP's (225/55/W16).

I looked at three options - Kwik Fit, ATS Euromaster and Costco anmd the respective deals they were offering. All costs shown are fully fitted (inc disposal & balance) but not tracking.


Kwik Fit ATS Costco

Conti £124.75 £166.75! n/a

Mich £139.75 £134.50 £131.00

For reference, Kwik Fit charge almost £29.00 for tracking, Costco don't do tracking (bah) and I haggled ATS to do 'less than half price' tracking - £12.00.

I was going to go for the Contis at Kwik Fit at £529.00 all in but instead I've plumped for the Michelin's at ATS for £550.00 all in. No idea if the extra £21.00 will be money well spent but I'm really pleased with the deal and the garage is walking distance from my home so I can drop it off at 8.00am Saturday morning and pick it up later in the day.

I'm sure there are 'slightly' better deals out there from the likes of blackcircles etc but as I said up front, convenience is also a factor in this.

I spent ages looking at various snippets of threads in the forum but none of them gave comparisons or useful prices so I hope this helps anyone looking for the same info.

never used ATS before so I'll lset you know how I get on. Kwik fit have been up and down over the years (shockingly poor with exhausts) so happy to give them a miss. Very disappointed with Costco's prices. Their price even reflects a 20% discount voucher on the go at the moment. Oh well.

 

[crockers]

Are these prices based on the price of a tyre then multiplied by 4 ? Or did you tell the garages that you wanted 4 and therefore divided their price to give the price per tyre?

The reason I ask is that often buying 4 tyres gets a big discount - I think KwikFit offer something like 25% off.....

Surprised to see Costco not way cheaper...

One last thing -- have you considered your local MB dealer? You may be pleasantly surprised....mine matches any deals out there locally.

 

[Andy Stanton]

Hi, Yes, these prices are based on the purchase of 4 and associated discounts. I took the based price of 4 (inc discounts), added in the extras for fitting, disposal etc and divided by 4. The fitting seems to equate to £10.00 a tyre.

MB did quote £120.00 per type for conti's plus the usual fittings etc so about on par with Kwick fit. However, I just had a poor service with them so didn't want to give them further business in my fury!

HOWEVER!!! I too was really dissapointed wtih the Costco price. So I just called them again and got a new price. It seems the person I spoke to hadn't applied the discount he told me about (20%). I should have double checked I guess. They're new price is £110.34 per tyre fully fitted. That's more like it !!! They don't do tracking so I need to add £30.00 to the price which takes me to £470.00 fitted. That's a whopping £70.00 saving on my previously impressive price.

As you can imagine, my grin is even wider and I'll be off there tomorrow to get them fitted. Their fitting includes nitrogen gas ?!? instead of ordinary air. No idea what this gives me but it's a good bragging right in the pub!

I'm back in love with Costco again!

 

[w124coupe]

Good prices.

I did try the Michelins but didn't like the increase in road noise over the Contis - something to bear in mind...

 

[Rob77]

Their fitting includes nitrogen gas ?!? instead of ordinary air. No idea what this gives me but it's a good bragging right in the pub!

This may help:

Nitrogen Gas To Inflate Car Tyres - Pros And Cons of Nitrogen Gas For Inflating Car Tires

 

[wemorgan]

This may help:

Nitrogen Gas To Inflate Car Tyres - Pros And Cons of Nitrogen Gas For Inflating Car Tires

Sorry to perpetuate what is possibly a tyred argument

Nitrogen in tyres improves the ride quality. That gas is very slightly lighter than air and thus, benefits the tires in terms of un-sprung weight.

I'm going to go away and do some hand calcs, but I'm smelling BS here.
Air is ~80% nitrogen anyway. Is the mass of the inflating gas a significant proportion of the unsprung mass?

I'm not trying to take anything away from the OP having his tyres Nitrogen filled, since it's included in the price, so why not. It'll be interesting to hear his feedback after it's done.

 

[cl55 amg]

I have always found mytyres.co.uk very good, also Costco have had some good feedback from customers reference nitrogen ( a friend works in there tyre bay)

 

[Andy Stanton]

I've just read the link re Nitrogen usage and I can't see any compelling reasons to use it, just some vagueness around enhancing life at high temp and speed. Not my profile at all.

Anyway, if it's free then I'll do it and see what happens. I can't see it being a problem. I'm getting them done tomorrow night and will let you know how I get on in a few days.

Re the increased noise: I did consider this but I'm running Dunlop something or others at the moment so I lost the quiet luxury of the Contis some time back. I read an AutoExpress (so it must be true) report comparing many tyres and there was only 1-2 decibels difference between them. I didn't consider it too much of a factor, also, being a premium, I assumed it would be 'reasonable' in this respect. Again, I'll report back in a few days.

 

[flango]

Sorry to perpetuate what is possibly a tyred argument



I'm going to go away and do some hand calcs, but I'm smelling BS here.
Air is ~80% nitrogen anyway. Is the mass of the inflating gas a significant proportion of the unsprung mass?

I'm not trying to take anything away from the OP having his tyres Nitrogen filled, since it's included in the price, so why not. It'll be interesting to hear his feedback after it's done.

I always have Nitrogen fill on my cars including the rally car, not sure of some of the claims in the link but there is no doubt the pressures are a lot more constant with Nitrogen than air, also less sensitive to temperature fluctuation which I believe is why aircraft tyres are all nitrogen filled having to cope with temperature extremes. Also nitrogen eliminates any oxidising effect on the inner rim and valve so they are less susceptible to leaks and slow punctures. Not sure how much people charge for a Nitrogen fill as I always do it at work on a Saturday morning

 

[wemorgan]

I always have Nitrogen fill on my cars including the rally car, not sure of some of the claims in the link but there is no doubt the pressures are a lot more constant with Nitrogen than air, also less sensitive to temperature fluctuation which I believe is why aircraft tyres are all nitrogen filled having to cope with temperature extremes. Also nitrogen eliminates any oxidising effect on the inner rim and valve so they are less susceptible to leaks and slow punctures. Not sure how much people charge for a Nitrogen fill as I always do it at work on a Saturday morning

Yep, I agree with the temperature stability claim. I just have some doubts over the mass claim.

 

[flango]

Yep, I agree with the temperature stability claim. I just have some doubts over the mass claim.

Yep I doubt the mass claim too

 

[Mactech]

Sorry to perpetuate what is possibly a tyred argument



I'm going to go away and do some hand calcs, but I'm smelling BS here.
Air is ~80% nitrogen anyway. Is the mass of the inflating gas a significant proportion of the unsprung mass?

I'm not trying to take anything away from the OP having his tyres Nitrogen filled, since it's included in the price, so why not. It'll be interesting to hear his feedback after it's done.

The advantage of nitrogen over dry bottled compressed air is very small. However, most of us use very 'wet' air to inflate our tyres unless the compressor has a very effective inline drier. Have you checked the humidity today? Having filled our tyres with humid air, the 'steam' causes 'huge' pressure fluctuations with heat generated as the tyre works hard.
This is the main reason most racing tyres (and damper reservoirs) use nitrogen.
Unsprung weight?? Have a word!!

 

[x332race]

I would be very wary about letting either of these outfits loose on the tracking.....I made this mistake several years ago on my wifes CLK 320 .....they completely messed it up and the steering wheel was misaligned too....

It is much better to take these cars for a full 4-wheel alighment....a bit more expensive but is worth it..... Wheels in Motion based in Chesham are supposed to be one of the best in the country for this and come highly recommended.

By the way, a lot of people on this forum (and others) use Falken FK452 tyres...these can be purchased for around £75 from Camskill in your size....you would then need to get them fitted...local fitters charge around £10 - £15 per tyre....or get them fully fitted for about £80 per wheel from Black Circles..

 

[SimonsMerc]

I bought 4 Michelin 215/55/R16's from Costco on Sunday, priced at £135 per tyre but with 25% off so one of them was free ;-)

Most importantly, the fitting was done very well. They took care with the wheels, balanced them carefully, and used a torque wrench to tighten. Very impressed with the price and the service.

-simon

 

[crockers]

I fill my tyres with Hydrogen and float over the traffic jams..........

 

[franey]

..........try Helium, that would be a laugh.

 

[GordonTarling]

The reason that nitrogen is used in aircraft tyres is that the wheels are made from magnesium alloy, which is highly inflammable. If an aircraft brake catches fire (they do), then an air filled tyre would be a large source of high pressure oxygen (and nitrogen) just feeding the fire. Someone, somewhere obviously thought there was some sort of value in promoting its use in car tyres - frankly, I've never heard so much BS in my life! Granted, there may be a very small grain of truth in the atmospheric moisture thing, but any air supply from a typical garage compressor should have an oil and moisture trap in the line anyway. All the other 'advantages' are pure BS as far as I'm concerned!

 

[stevieb15]

Anywhere in Hampshire should try Micheldever tyres, as well as being a wholesaler they sell to the general public at fabulous prices and offer a while you wait or by appointment fitting service.

 

[bennesspipers]

i cant believe you are paying that much for your tyres ! There are some super buys on e-bay,& in particular 2 dealers in Macclesfield, & if you fetch them they fit for free. Much cheaper than than you mentioned.

 

[et0609]

2 tyres for my W204 Conti Sport Contact 3 245's has just me £360 fitted. Cant shop around where I am and hes a mate who did me a deal.