Just purchased a set of Bridgestone Potenzas for my W124 a month ago a Costco...shorty after, I got the flyer advertising the "$60 off sale" (aarrrghhh)!

Anyway, they seem far from second rate. My ML is about due for a set as well, and I'm probably going back to Costco to get that set...maybe I can still take advantage of the sale...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Ken,

Where did you get the balancer? My dad asked me where I can get one and a mounter.

Larry,
What is "The Goal?" What is it about? Would you recommend it for summer reading?

To all,

Cosco probably buys directly from michelin, etc a huge truck and ships all the tires directly to the distrobution center. Then Costco loads up the kirkland stuff and the tires on one truck going to one place, so it probably saves them a lot of money like that. Most tire stores a truck from michelin drives around to the stores, or they have a stock truck. But cosco moves so much material that they are doing the tires as a service for you so that you will go in and buy their food. That is why I think that they sell tires so cheaply.

Regarding the Snapon torque wrench. My dad said Austin I want one of those torque wrenches, so I said give me $300. He said ok, I went and got one from snapon. Then the next week I went to the pawn shop and got one for $100 hardly ever used. So I have one and my dad has one now.

I know the tire place real well. It is down the street from me, and the head guys do all the work for me. If its time to mount tires on the car, the head boss does it because he already knows that one of their guys didnt check the lug bolts, and stripped out the hub. They lost one of my brothers eurocaps on his 18s. I will just ask them to get me some more.

I think that if you do a lot of volume at a certain store, I dont think that they will mess your stuff up as much. But I think that if you did your own tires, I think that it would be far better.

My uncle hand balanced my dads truck tires, and they rode so smooth for about 20kmiles until it threw a weight. So if anyone has a hand balancer, I want to get one.

Thanks,

Austin

Did any of you see my last question? I want some 235/45/17, what would you recommend?

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Current Stable:
1994 S500 v140, 210k miles, white with grey.

Former Mercedes in the Stable:
1983 300CD Turbo diesel 515k mi sold (rumor has it, that it has 750k miles on it now)
1984 300CD Turbo Diesel 150 k mi sold
1982 300D Turbo Diesel 225 sold
1987 300D Turbo Diesel 255k mi sold
1988 300 CE AMG Hammer 15k mi sold
1986 "300E" Amg Hammer 88k mi sold (it was really a 200, not even an E (124.020)
1992 500E 156k mi sold
etc.

For what it's worth, I was steered away from Kirkland Signature tires by a tech working at Costco, they told me they've had quite a few problems with them.

The name-brand tires weren't much more anyway (for a Toyota pickup, anyway).

I did buy Kirkland Signature tennis shoes, but my top speed on that rubber is a bit less than my cars.

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1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon

I have purchased tires at Costco for over ten years without problems. They move a lot of tires, hand torque each wheel twice, a supervisor does the final check. I suspect some dealers may not have the volume to spread their overhead that Costco has.

I have bought tires from Costco before and no problems, they they look are are the same ones I got quoted at other places. I did notices that the speed rating is lower on some models and maybe that brings the price down?

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'02 C240
'00 LR Discovery
'72 280SE
'67 280SL

---past---

'79 280E sold (RIP)
'86 300E sold
'87 300SDL sold
'90 Laforza sold
'95 320SE sold
'98 ML 320 (sold)

I have bought tires from Costco for years and am well satisfied. One lug bolt on my daughter's Audi was cross threaded by them and they promptly sent me to another shop and picked up the ~$250 bill for fixing it.
They will install the tires that you should have and won't install the tires that you shouldn't. Simple as that. Our big, heavy MBZ cars really need a high quality tire. The Kirkland's, while o.k. quality, are for the Asian lightweight cars. They will not last on a MBZ. Fully loaded, I'm carrying almost 3 tons, 6000 pounds, in my 300's. That's a lot of strain on a tire, even at low speeds.
If you tell them at the desk when you buy the tires that you want them torqued to 85 pounds, they will do it to that spec. However, I always retorque my wheels after a few days of driving to be sure. I found one, many years ago, to be terribly tight, to the point where my sears socket broke getting it off. I complained and Costco gave me a new SET of sockets to appologize.
The guys in the shop are probably as good as you will find in most big tire stores, but Costco will take good care of you if you have a problem, which is more than you can say for most tire shops.
By the way, with this sale now on, buy the tires now and install them later, when the sale is over.

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'76 240D-Sold
'78 240D-Sold
'85 300 SD, 165K-Sold
'88 300 TE, 165K-Sold
'64 Porsche 356C Cabriolet- under restoration
'86 560SL 124K Miles-Sold
'94 320E Wagon, 74K Miles-128K Miles JUNKED
'06 E350 Wagon, 84K Miles
07 SL550, 14K Miles

For an update, I just had my aunt's Volvo outfitted with new tires. I got the Michelins MXV4. I got there at 8 in the morning, and there was a line outside the door already. I had them take the best tire out of the 4 old ones, and mounted it on my full spare tire. I was really expecting them to remember to do it, but to my surprise, it was done properly!

So from this experience, I highly praise the tire center at Costco for doing such a great job. Meanwhile, the sale is going on right now, so go and get those worn tires changed out. It might take a few hours for them to get to your car, but it is well worth it.

Thank you for all of your input.

vu

I think it's always worth a look at Costco.

The Costcos (in my area at least) will order tires for you if you don't find what you want/need lying around the warehouse. I would imagine that means Bridgestones, Michelins and the other brands they typically carry. Don't know if you could order Kuhmos or Hoosier racing tires for your track car there.

I also don't know much about their pricing of special-order tires other than from one related experience. Awhile ago, I wandered in to look for tires for my girlfriend's 4Runner and ran across a set of four Michelin Pilot XGT-V4s in a perfect size for the plus-ones on my BMW - 225/50/16. Exactly what I wanted. Someone had special-ordered them but declined them when they arrived. They looked perfect to me and I think I paid about $120 a tire ($159 at TireRack, which is where I'd planned to buy them). When mounted, only one required any balancing - with the BBS alloys as good as they are and the Michelins as good as THEY are it worked out nearly perfectly. The one with the weight resides on the right rear.

The tech would NOT mount the tires on the wheels if the wheels were on the car, however. As noted in previous posts, Costco doesn't do the plus-one thing. So I bought the tires, went home and unshod the car, tossed the wheels in another vehicle and an hour and a half later was able to mount new rubber on the BMW that really changed the feel of the car for the positive, especially once an alignment was done.

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David

His:
2003 Dodge Durango SLT
2002 BMW E39 530i Sport
1988 Mercedes 300TE
Hers:
2003 Chevrolet Suburban
1999 E430

omegabenz,

The Goal, by Eliyahu Goldratt, is written as an easy and fun to read novel, but throughout the story you learn about manufacturing throughput and work routing. The book is about 15 years old and much of what he taught in the book is now followed in MANY US factories. If you are in Industrial Engineering or otherwise involved in Manufacturing or the related software, it is a "must read."

Also, about the time Ken bought his wheel balancer I also started looking for one. I ended up buying a used Coats 1001 computer balancer for "$800. I found it at a used garage equipment place. It came with a 90 day warranty. It does a FABULOUS job and I can run any vehicle on my place to 100 MPH with NO tire or wheel vibration.

The same place will sell a top quality used center post tire machine, air powered for $1,000 or less. Most of the shops now use a rim clamp machine, so I expect that there are center post machines around for reasonable money. If you get a Coats 4050 or 5050, there is a kit you can get with Teflon or Delrin or something covers for the pieces that contact the wheel. You have to be careful, even with these no scratch kits, but you can mount tires on the fanciest of wheels with one without scratching them. The tire stores scratch wheels with this type machine if they don't use the plastic kits or more often because the operator is careless and swings the tools and everything around, beating and scratching the wheel. You just have to take your time and be careful.

I was leaning toward buying a Coats center post machine from him when I found an OLD manual machine at a flea market for $50. Unlike most of them from the sixties, it has an air powered bead breaker. It was designed in the days of skinny tires, but with just a little welding and drilling I modified it, so that it will work with whatever width wheels you wish to use. It uses a manual bar between the tire and rim, and I put a piece of agricultural plastic hose over the end to protect the wheel. I put tires on my new C with this ugly old machine and did not scratch the wheels at all. I had to pour a small slab to mount the machine on.

If you are not quite so resourceful and lucky to find a flea market machine, I'm sure there is a used garage equipment dealer in your area who could sell you a center post machine. You could be completely tire store independent for under $2,000. If you and your family drive as much as we do it would be worth it.

There was another post here somewhere that talked about manually balancing their wheels. There are many ways to balance your wheels with no equipment or inexpensive equipment (a bubble balancer,) but you are only statically balancing. This means that the wheel will not hop up and down. On a solid axle truck, you could probably get by with this approach. On a nimble suspensioned car it will NOT work. The tire will wobble and the vibration will be felt. On a modern car you MUST dynamically balance with weights inboard and outboard on the wheel.

Good luck,

I have never lived in a town that had a Cosco so I can't speak for them.

Michelin makes many different quality tires. I wouldn't put a set of XGTs on a farm tractor, although that is probably where they would work.

SAMs Club purchases a model tire from Michelin (so does Sears) that you won't find at any other outlet. They usually resemble one of the American style Michelins "Wide X".

There MXV4 tires have been the best performance/touring tire made for years.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Steve: Why the aversion to the XGTs? Something I should know about? Wear, tread separation? The tires on my BMW certainly outperform, from a handling perspective, the Pirellis which were on the car before.

Thanks.

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David

His:
2003 Dodge Durango SLT
2002 BMW E39 530i Sport
1988 Mercedes 300TE
Hers:
2003 Chevrolet Suburban
1999 E430

For my 190D, I purchased 2 MXV4 tires from Costco while temporarily stationed in Virginia, which were identical to a previous set on the car, which were purchased at Winston tires in CA. I had no trouble with the routine balancing and rotation, although most Costcos do not do front end alignments, so I bought a 5-yr package from Winston when I replaced a pair of the tires with the same MXV4s. They are not substandard tires, regardless of where you purchase them. However, in most cases, Michelin does not warranty the tire, since they are performance tires, but are rather warrantied by the seller. The standard warranties that come with tires only cover tread wear, not sidewall blowouts or holes too large for patching, or total destruction of the tire during a driving flat. That's why it's a good idea to get road hazard warranty with the tires, and Costco has the reasonable cost replacement warranty, vs. others, which can cost up to an additional $27 or more per tire, as well as replacement cost of the roadhazard warranty when replacing a tire. I would not hesitate to get another set from Costco, but would look for an alighment/balancing policy from somewhere else, so you can have it all done at once each time you bring it in.

I found Costco to be excellent.

I live in the UK and joined Costco in order to save on tyres. I bought four new Michelin Pilot Sport tyres for my C240: 2 x 225/45 ZR45 and 2 x 245/40 ZR 17 (I think that's right). They had to order them in, but then everyone has to order large-size tyres in the UK.

I was concerned about fitting quality, after National Tyre ruined one of my wheels while fitting a tyre. I needn't have. The guy who looked after me was brilliant (Tony at Gateshead Costco). While I was waiting for the tyres he would phone me to let me know how the order was progressing. When he fitted the tyres he even cleaned the wheels and gave the car a once over! And they were fitted perfectly, not a mark on the wheels.

Before ordering I spoke to technical support at Michelin. They said Costco was their biggest customer. Each branch in the UK takes a 44-tonne truck of tyres each week. There was no sense that Michelin were ashamed of Costco, far from it.

I paid £140 for each tyre instead of £210 at Kwik Fit (the leading UK brand name for tyre fitting).

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JJ Rodger
2013 G350 Bluetec
1999 SL 500
1993 E300 diesel T
1990 190

Purchase tires from Costco, Southern California, they damaged the chrome on one wheel trying to remove the center cap with most likely a screw driver, also damaged the center cap. Filed a insurance claim with Costco, received the check from Costco last week. Lesson learned, have a pre-work inspection done with the tire service writer and sign off that there is no damage before performing work.

I believe that the Kirklands are made for Costco by BF Goodrich.

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Reno

'93 300E 4Matic
'98 Nissan Altima
'00 Yamaha Road Star Silverado