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Jetbags

Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2021
Messages
41
Location
Kent
Car
S500e
Hi All,

So the S Classs finally returned from the garage after a long wait over the Xmas period for parts to arrive from Germany. It's had new bearings, new disks all round, new pads all round, new centre propshaft bearing and housing. To top it off she has had a brand new set of Pirelli run flat tyres all round to finish the job.
New brakes and bearings, centre prop bearing have made an enourmous difference to the car, so silky smooth now and stops on a sixpence!
My only regret is the new tyres..... they have made the ride harder and there is definately more road noise, which is exactly the opposite of what anyone wants in an S Class, but at £260 per wheel its not a case of just swapping them out for another brand..... will have to run them for a while and see if they soften up.

Out of interest, what makes of tyres are you guys running on your S Class cars... i always thought that Pirelli was a good make, but maybe not so sure when they are on an S Class.
 
Hmm, my first question was going to be how do you find the ride now.

They won't soften up. They have to have a strong-enough sidewall to support the car without air so that will never change.

I was considering run flats at one stage but I'm concerned it will ruin the ride quality.

I have an S500 (222 like yours), and I currently run Goodyear F1 Asymmetric 5s on the front, chosen by me, and the Continentals I inherited with the car on the rear which despite being 3mm now, are not great on wet traction.

My previous modded E55K running 600BHP and 800NM was fine with the Goodyear Asymmetric rears below 3mm, and my car produces slightly less power but the same torque as a standard E55K.

Once the rears go, I will probably replace with either Goodyear F1 A3s or just give up on them and go for something else that I can get the same all round from (probably still Goodyear though as I like the current fronts so much which I've used on my last 3 cars to some extent).

What mileage has your car done to need new propshaft bearings and the housing?
 
Hmm, my first question was going to be how do you find the ride now.

They won't soften up. They have to have a strong-enough sidewall to support the car without air so that will never change.

I was considering run flats at one stage but I'm concerned it will ruin the ride quality.

I have an S500 (222 like yours), and I currently run Goodyear F1 Asymmetric 5s on the front, chosen by me, and the Continentals I inherited with the car on the rear which despite being 3mm now, are not great on wet traction.

My previous modded E55K running 600BHP and 800NM was fine with the Goodyear Asymmetric rears below 3mm, and my car produces slightly less power but the same torque as a standard E55K.

Once the rears go, I will probably replace with either Goodyear F1 A3s or just give up on them and go for something else that I can get the same all round from (probably still Goodyear though as I like the current fronts so much which I've used on my last 3 cars to some extent).

What mileage has your car done to need new propshaft bearings and the housing?
The car has only done 77,000 miles, which is nothing for one of these, i was really suprised when the centre bearing failed but that's just luck i guess. The ride with these new Pirelli's on is very different now, its much harder and you feel more of the bumps, which is so opposite of how it used to be with the old tyres on, i dont think i will renew with Pirelli's ever again.
I was told that this car has to have run flats due to there not being a spare wheel..... maybe i should have done more research first.
Maybe if i cover them in WD40 they will soften....... !!
 
How about running the tyres at the lowest air pressure figure within the permitted range?
 
I had run flats on my last car ,couldn't wait to get rid of them. A lot smoother with normal tyre's
 
I never thought of that.... is it safe at motorway speeds?

Yes. Just don't go below the minimum.

Reducing the tyre pressure will make for a softer rude, but sadly it will also increase fuel consumption and tyre wear.
 
Pirelli are known to be hard and noisy - you should have researched them.

RF also known to be a contributor to bad ride many folk go non RF.

I went from Pirelli P Zero to Dunlop sport max on my w220 years ago. The difference was night and day.

The tyres wont soften up or get better I am afraid.

I always look at tyre properties (the label) of noise, fuel, stopping ability when replacing to make an informed decision.
 
The car has only done 77,000 miles, which is nothing for one of these, i was really suprised when the centre bearing failed but that's just luck i guess. The ride with these new Pirelli's on is very different now, its much harder and you feel more of the bumps, which is so opposite of how it used to be with the old tyres on, i dont think i will renew with Pirelli's ever again.
I was told that this car has to have run flats due to there not being a spare wheel..... maybe i should have done more research first.
Maybe if i cover them in WD40 they will soften....... !!

At 77k miles, it's reaching "run-in".

Yeah true. You can be unlucky with stuff no matter what you do.

It's probably advisable to use runflats if you don't have a spare wheel. I don't have a spare wheel either but by no means do you have to have runflats.

I would only use runflats in certain scenarios (for example if I did a lot of miles or I often drove through areas where the mobile signal is likely to be patchy albeit not so common these days or for my other half if she used her car more to save her the hassle).

Not sure if your one did but mine came with a bottle of water-based (so apparently doesn't kill the tyre like previous ones did so it can be repaired if possible) tyre sealant just under the boot floor.

Obviously useless if the tyre is destroyed but then one would typically have breakdown so you shouldn't be left in the proverbial.

You might find another runflat tyre is better but at the end of the day, they will always be a compromise given what they have to do when needed.
 
dont have an S class but my W212 Estate came with Conti runflats even though its a full Airmatic it crashed a bit especially on ridges a Week later new Wheels and Michelin Cross climates problem solved, run flats are the Devils work horrible things
 

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