W167 GLE twitching over manholes

[craggleboy]

Hi All,
I have a '69 W167 GLE 400d Perm Plus w/22's, it had the rear dynamic shocks replaced under warranty, however, it still has the worst kicks over manholes, potholes, ridges in the road... Mercedes say all GLEs drive like it.. If so, I would suggest the car is not fit sale in the UK, its driving me crazy, I have paid for two laser alignments in 6K miles.. I think I am going to have to sell it.. Just waiting to wear the tyres out and see if new ones fix it --- Thoughts???

 

[tonysmb]

w/22's? What does that mean, 22" wheels? If so, what size tyres are fitted front/rear; if they are 22" wheels, I suspect that's the issue, rather than anything else.

 

[DGAMG63S]

Hi All,
I have a '69 W167 GLE 400d Perm Plus w/22's, it had the rear dynamic shocks replaced under warranty, however, it still has the worst kicks over manholes, potholes, ridges in the road... Mercedes say all GLEs drive like it.. If so, I would suggest the car is not fit sale in the UK, its driving me crazy, I have paid for two laser alignments in 6K miles.. I think I am going to have to sell it.. Just waiting to wear the tyres out and see if new ones fix it --- Thoughts???

I‘m running a ‘71 plate GLE 53 on the 21inch wheels and have nothing like this with the car. However, I’ve just taken a set of tyres off the car at 11,500 miles because of an alignment issue (I think this was related to generally awful rural road surfaces) and the car was feeling slightly unsettled. New tyres, same brand as previously fitted, made a really marked difference. I’ve also run 21’s on two previous gen GLE 63S’s over a lot of miles and never come across the problem you describe, but I‘ve found how they drive is sensitive to tyre wear and set-up, and that seems to be the case with the latest model as far as my experience goes. Any chance you can try another 400 to compare?

 

[Tighpr]

My 2020 GLE 400d Coupe on 22" has a very harsh ride round town. I've found that changing the tyres doesn't help. Not that there's much choice of tyre for 22" wheels. They're just too big. I think the suspension damping doesn't help. I wish 'Comfort' mode was a bit more comfortable.
The only positive thing I've found is that tyre noise varies dramatically. I still have my Pirelli Scorpion Winter tyres on and they are very much quieter than the Michelin PS4s which came off, which is not what you'd expect? I wish Michelin made Cross Climates in my size. They were great for normal driving on my CLS.
The other GLE issue of course, is the scrubbing at tight lock. I've found that different tyres scrub more or less. P Zeros were the worst. Michelin PS4s were OK and the Scorpion Winters don't scrub at all. It's all in the tread pattern I guess!

 

[DGAMG63S]

My 2020 GLE 400d Coupe on 22" has a very harsh ride round town. I've found that changing the tyres doesn't help. Not that there's much choice of tyre for 22" wheels. They're just too big. I think the suspension damping doesn't help. I wish 'Comfort' mode was a bit more comfortable.
The only positive thing I've found is that tyre noise varies dramatically. I still have my Pirelli Scorpion Winter tyres on and they are very much quieter than the Michelin PS4s which came off, which is not what you'd expect? I wish Michelin made Cross Climates in my size. They were great for normal driving on my CLS.
The other GLE issue of course, is the scrubbing at tight lock. I've found that different tyres scrub more or less. P Zeros were the worst. Michelin PS4s were OK and the Scorpion Winters don't scrub at all. It's all in the tread pattern I guess!

Hi. See my previous post. Have you compared it to a Prem on 21’s? I ask because I’m looking to change my 2021 GLE 53 SUV for a new one. Prem+ runs the 22’s whilst I run mine on 21’s. I’m worried the 22 option (which is all you can get on a Prem+ in the UK) will be a significant change for the worse. I’m running Sport Contact 6 on mine, they’re pretty good.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Re Scrubbing @Tighpr
Not so much the pattern itself but the size of the blocks....smaller more flexible blocks (like winters tend to have) the less noise....big area of unbroken or linked rubber like Zeros equals more noise....in my experience at least. But in reality how often are you making full lock turns, outside of a multi storey, for it to really be an issue. It affects our A Class W169 too......

 

[DGAMG63S]

Re Scrubbing @Tighpr
Not so much the pattern itself but the size of the blocks....smaller more flexible blocks (like winters tend to have) the less noise....big area of unbroken or linked rubber like Zeros equals more noise....in my experience at least. But in reality how often are you making full lock turns, outside of a multi storey, for it to really be an issue. It affects our A Class W169 too......

Overall, Winter tyres tend to be much softer and more compliant than a summer, whatever time of year you run them. That's why they can sometimes feel pretty "loose" if they're on when the weather is warm. Certainly when it's cold the compound in a summer hardens up, hence the scrubbing or skipping can be worse when the temperature drops. That said, I find the scrubbing isn't an issue on my summers whatever the temperature.

 

[rf065]

The OP is complaining about twitching over manholes, potholes, ridges in the road, how are we now onto "scrubbing or skipping" which is something else entirely?

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

The OP is complaining about twitching over manholes, potholes, ridges in the road, how are we now onto "scrubbing or skipping" which is something else entirely?

Exactly, two months ago, the OP raised the twitching issue.

Two months on TighPR has popped up to talk about the harsh ride on his GLE and mentions in passing that the scrubbing issue which has made Summer tyres a real annoyance on the GLE for so many members.

It's not exactly the same issue as the OP's original tyre / wheel size issue, but isn't it on a similar theme.

If we can warn people off large wheels and the GLE summer tyre issue, isn't that a "Good Thing?"

Especially when dealership staff look owners straight in the eye and say "They all do that, you'll have to live with it."