I am split between a choice of tires,

1 is General Altimax HP UTQG 440, (used on a w124 and they are pretty good)
2 is Continental Extreme Contact DW UTQG 340. (Ive heard these are fantastic)

I drive 80% highway and quiet and smooth are my priority, it never snows here but rains a lot and I dont want a plastic tyre that runs for 80,000 miles. I believe 30K is about the max on any good tires Ive run.

Both tires are same price.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

I have the general brand tires for my snows, and the conti's for my summer tires. Both are very good companies.

I have had very good experience with the conti pro contact tires from tirerack. They are $80 each. They had plenty of tread left when I replaced them with the same tire 7years and 50k miles later.

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

The Conti DW is an extremely high performance summer only tire. If quiet and smooth are priorities for you, not sure why it is under consideration. It is likely to have a much stiffer sidewall than anything typically mounted on an E320. If you take a look at Tirerack reviews there are lots of complaints about noise after 10K miles. It is inexpensive though, I'll give it that.

For quiet and smooth I've used the Michelin Primacy MXV4 on both 124 and 210 cars. However, cheap it ain't.

The reason I included the continental tires was that I drove a car with them, its a BMW 530i - and it was eerie quiet, you only could hear the engine in that car on the same concrete highways I drive where all other tires have some noise.

The general tires on my w124 are also quiet (not ghost quiet like the ones I mentioned above) and water does not bother them at all.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Recommend buying Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires for your MB vehicles.

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Fred Hoelzle

I think Michelins makes boring tires,no directionals,or aggressive tread patterns.I live where gravel roads are common,and deal with mud,and snow.they make your Grandpa tires

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Mine has Primacy MXV4 that are old and about shot. They are silky smooth tho. And quiet. I want to gain a little more sport tho. I feel like I have to constantly correct the steering on the freeway versus my 91 300d w124. That car drives straight as an arrow!

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Current stable......
17' Rogue SV 70k
11’ Saab 9-5 NG 94k
10’ e550 4matic 185k

sold
02' e320 210k
00' e430 167k
01' e320 171k (regret sale)
91' 300d 2.5t 300k (sold to ecoofidaho)
79' 240d 177k (old yellow my avatar)
87' 300d 169k (junk but fast)
85' 300tdt 261k (RBM parts delivery)
85' 300dt 68k (one owner cream puff)
82' 240d 250k
84' 300dt 198k (sold to diesel don)
91' 190e 2.3 61k
88' 260e 140k

I own a set of Michelin primacy and the conti's and I can say that the michelins are not worth the extra expense. The conti's are nearly identical at 50% less.

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

Michelins are just overpriced versions of BFGoodrich, Kleber, Tigar, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal brands.

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

Joe, if your car wanders on the freeway it's likely the car needs a wheel alignment, or replacement of old/worn suspension components. As far as I know tires will not cause that problem.

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Fred Hoelzle

yeah the alignment seems good as far as not pulling left or right. I just find myself always having to correct the wheel to stay in my lane. Still a smooth runner tho. quiet with no clunks or rattles. But at 161k Im sure there is some slop in there somewhere.

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Current stable......
17' Rogue SV 70k
11’ Saab 9-5 NG 94k
10’ e550 4matic 185k

sold
02' e320 210k
00' e430 167k
01' e320 171k (regret sale)
91' 300d 2.5t 300k (sold to ecoofidaho)
79' 240d 177k (old yellow my avatar)
87' 300d 169k (junk but fast)
85' 300tdt 261k (RBM parts delivery)
85' 300dt 68k (one owner cream puff)
82' 240d 250k
84' 300dt 198k (sold to diesel don)
91' 190e 2.3 61k
88' 260e 140k

FWIW I just got a set of Continental Extreme Contact DWS on my CDI and so far love them. The road grip is awesome in wet conditions. I will test them on snow today, so I'll let you know later on.

Here are some reasons that led me to choosing the Conti:

Warranty on Conti: 50,000 miles
Warranty on Michelin : 50.000 miles

Road hazard protection Conti: Stantard
Road hazard protection Michellin : extra per tire.

Set of 4 Conti as described above delivered to my local installer: $540.00
instalation was $70.
The comparable tire in Michelin closest in price was the Pilot MXM4 with lower consumer reviews than the conti for $658.80 and tirebuyer.com was the only seller that had them avalable.

I went to my local MB dealer which is one of the biggest in NJ and the tire they had available AND recommended for my car was the Conti Extreme Contact DWS except their price tag was $700 for the set plus mounting, balancing and taxes.

I purchased from TIREBUYER.COM on Friday around noon and within 24hrs the tires were ready at my installer. I was out of their shop by 2pm on Saturday with my new tires installed. I'll continue to update my thread as I put miles on the tires and try them some more on wet and snowy conditions.
They are very quiet and the ride is fantastic, maybe a bit soft but I can live with that since I don't drive a high performance car.
Lastly, we won't put many miles on our CDI per year, if lucky we may see 5-6K miles a year so a high price tire really makes no sense for us. I also think that given the reviews on the Continental Extreme Contact DWS it can't be that bad of a tire even compared to Michelins. This specific model has been out there for many years and some reviews are from owners that are into their second and third set on the same car.

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W211 B-PILLAR TRIM PANEL REPLACEMENT
My Continental Tire Experience

By Land:
2005 E320 CDI (Unnamed as of yet)
2011 Toyota Tundra DC limited 4x4 "Big Red"
1965 euro import VW Beetle "Mojo"
By Sea:
22' Grady White Seafarer "SeaSun Pass"

Are the tires you are considering steel belted radials? Or is having steel belted tires of import to you?

Both are steel belted I beleive, I bought the General Altimax HP tyres in V rating. They are made in Czech Republic - only two tires took some weight to balance, 2 were good as it is (tyre tech thought his machine was duff - placed it on another - still the same).

Rolling smooth (still spitting the mold compound and oiling up the plastic liners in the fenders) - but they are very quiet (most important to me). Driving 3 hours on buzzing roads gives me headaches.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Tire Details - Discount Tire Direct

I can get these tires shipped for free for 259.88 and installed for $66 mounted and balanced...

Now that's some cheap tires for my e320.. I bet they are square

__________________
Current stable......
17' Rogue SV 70k
11’ Saab 9-5 NG 94k
10’ e550 4matic 185k

sold
02' e320 210k
00' e430 167k
01' e320 171k (regret sale)
91' 300d 2.5t 300k (sold to ecoofidaho)
79' 240d 177k (old yellow my avatar)
87' 300d 169k (junk but fast)
85' 300tdt 261k (RBM parts delivery)
85' 300dt 68k (one owner cream puff)
82' 240d 250k
84' 300dt 198k (sold to diesel don)
91' 190e 2.3 61k
88' 260e 140k