On the 190E 2.6 that changed hands between my Dad and I a few times recently, we had a set of MXV4's that went out of round and became undriveable.

We put Pilot Alpins on it for the winter. Fearing the tires would be ruined, we went through the suspension and steering of the 190E with a fine tooth comb and fixed the things wrong and aligned it.

Guess what? The Pilot Alpins are toast, two are out of round and casue the car to shake.

The Pilot Alpins on my C230 are now doing the same thing. Out of round and wobbling. Car is perfect and so is the alignment.

The MXV4's on Dad's 1998 C230 are also now out of round and causing the car to shake. Car is perfect and so is the alignment.

FOUR sets of tires on three different cars.

No more Michelins for us, EVER.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

Sorry to see you are having so much trouble with the Michelins. What are you considering as your replacement alternatives?

About 90% of my Michelin experience has been with 75 series passenger car tires. They have been great. The few sets of low profile, sticky Michelins that I've had have been only so-so.

Like I said, regardless of their quality or lack thereof, I will no longer be buying Michelin products or anything else made by a French company.

Have a great day,

I guess everybody's experience is different. Michelin is the only tire manufacturer with which I *haven't* had experiences such as John describes.

A few weeks ago I put a set of "Agility Touring" radials on my 124 wagon. That's the replacement for the X-one - a plain old, long life, highway radial. Man, it's like having a new car. The wagon has never been so smooth and quiet. The previous Yokohamas weren't even close when they were new, and by 25K miles they were into the base layer rubber and out of round. I'm boycotting Yokos

- JimY

As far as quality goes, comparing ANY Yoko to ANY Michelin is like comparing a new CL55 to 1973 Pinto IMHO.

Have a great day,

A set of Michelin Energy MXV4's were OE on our Accord EX-R V6...at around 70,000km of use, the car began to shake...I checked the tires, and found that the front driver's side tire had about 10% tread left...however, the tread was separating from the tire...if you rotate the tire out, you could insert your fingers/hand between the tread and the tire from the inner side of the tire...kinda creapy, but that was what was causing the shaking...I always thought tires would just wear until they became bald...never thought the tread would actually start to seperate from the tire itself...

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1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

The MXV4's on Dad's C230 have 8/32 of tread remaining, and are doing just that. Two of the tires are beginning to come apart. The dealer has gone through the car and found all the suspension and steering components in top shape, and the alignment in perfect spec.

Michelin will warranty the tires, but on a pro-rated basis, which means chipping in money for a new set of tires. Dad's afraid it's just good money after bad. The new tires will probably do the same thing.

I've had Yokohamas, and certainly wouldn't compare them to a Pinto. I've had some marginal tires from them, and some outstanding tires. I had a set of A022A high performance tires that were very good. The main reason I don't consider Yoko's now is that I hate the local Yoko dealer.

Bridgestone tires have been good for us. Comparing the Pole Position to the Pilot Sport has the PP come out on top. Better reflexes, as good or better overall grip, better wet grip, better worn grip, and better ride. They wear out faster, but the trade off is worth it. The RE950's that we had on the E300 were an outstanding tire, better than the MXV4's that came off by a large margin. Nearly as quiet, better grip, better ride, and the difference in the wet grip was startling.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

How does Michelin continue to sell tires at these prices with competition being what it is? Are they the number provider of tires for new cars? Is this why?

Duck Muck I used to have the exact same Honda with the same tires and I had them until I traded the car in with 78K Miles. They were just starting to get too pliable at the time and handling was diminishing (could have been the car too)

Anyways I agree that Michelin overcharges for tires by a significant margin and when you consider the competition outperforms them you have to wonder what they're thinking.

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Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

Okay, okay, I buy them because of the cute mascot.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

Yes, I am a big fan of Bridgestone now also...my recent tire purchases have been this brand, and they have worked out quite well...

During the 80's, I use to religiously buy Pirelli tires...nowadays, it seems nothing exciting is coming out from them, other than updates with their PZero line...

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1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

What is coming out from them is a well made and highly quality checked tire. Even with that, everyone has defects get out of their plant.

I STILL believe Michelin, by and large, puts the best tires in the world out the doors of their plants. In over a million miles of driving, I expect that probably 700,000 of those miles have been on Michelins. I have had some that wore quickly because they were gumball performance tires, but I have never had any that were not very round, smooth running and required excessive balance weight. I agree that they are TOO expensive. That's why I started experimenting with alternatives.

Now that other manufacturers are copying some of Michelins manufacturing methods, there ARE other decent alternatives, but it is hard to know before purchasing the tire.

If they are ever owned by someone besides the French and bring their pricing back to reality I will consider buying them again.

Have a great day,