I just changed my tires (MXV4's) for the 3rd time in 103K, but this time there was a groove worn on the inside edge of both front and rear tires on the drivers side.

The groove was down to the tread and it was only a pencil sized or less width. Both front and rear had the same groove. Looked like someone took a router around both tires on the inside edge.

Otherwise the tires could have gone another 4,000 or so miles.
In fact, I saved one of the passenger side tires (no groove) as a spare.

Needless to say, I've had MB do an alignment, balance, whole works. Has anyone else ever experienced this? I've been driving since 1964 and this is the first time I've seen something like this.
Has anyone else had this problem? I wonder if it will repeat?

BTW, I would have changed to something other than Michelin, but couldn't wait a week.....the "groovy" tires were that bad.

John

sounds like a possibe worn suspension component or alignment issue to me

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Thanks Luke. I will. I am now checking air pressure and inspecting my tires & wheels on a regular basis. Next time, I will take pictures to share.

This is so unusual, at least to me, that I suspect something in the suspension. Not knowing much about the suspension, I looked for some pointed sharp object that could have scraped the inside edge. Of course there wasn't anything like that, so, I bought Stu Ritter's "E-Class Owner's Bible" to learn more about my car. Thank you Stu, good reading.

Needless to say, I gave the mechanic who discovered the groove a dinner for two. Whew! I'm lucky they didn't blow at high speed.

So I wanted to share this with others - just in case. I'm driving a super car - 1994 E420 with 103K miles.

Please refer to this thread ...if you read my post, I had excessive wear on the inner edge of my MXV4's, to the point where I could put my fingers under the tread on the inner-edge of my front tires...it seems blackmercedes' had a similar experience...could it be similar to your situation?

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1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

That's it! I remember being shown how a fingernail could lift the tread edge and worried that I wouldn't make it to the nearest tire store.

So, was it just one tire and did you think it was tire related or something to do with the suspension or alignment? What's the cause?=I'm trying to figure out if I still have a problem.

I would have Bridgestone right now if they had been in stock. I wasn't smart enough to wait. I took the car to another dealer who had the car aligned and tires balanced twice before I took it to the MB dealer to fix. Next time I will be smarter.

I still have a Pirelli as a spare, came with the car and has been used once with 10 miles on it. Has white junk on it, but the pressure is good. Maybe I should replace my spare after 10 years.

Thanks for the info DuckMuck!

JMurray,

The "tread seperation" along the inner side of the tire happened on both the front tires...the wear on the front was significantly more than the rear, since the Accord was a front wheel drive car...when the tires were off when I was at the shop swapping for a new set of tires, I had a look at the rear, and it seems the seperation problem was about to happen to them also...at first, I suspected that the odd wear problem was due to camber problems on the front, but the tire shop said no...the car is fine...I did some snooping around the net and also after readin' blackmercedes' post, it seems this "inner tread seperation" problem seems to happen quite often with the MXV4's near the end of its life...the tires were OE on the Accord when I bought it...so they ran a good 7 to 8 years, and 70,000km...it was time for new tires, so I did not look into the problem much...

Anyhow, I swapped the MXV4's for a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE930i's at Costco...I am quite happy with them on the Accord...the MXV4's were around $20CAD more expensive a piece compared to the Potenza's...I didn't see the point for opting for the Michelin's again so I gave the Bridgestone's a shot...

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1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

DuckMuck, thanks for your response. You inspired me to pull out the passenger side tire I had saved as a spare. This is an 89V tire, the other 3 were 89H.

When I took off the plastic wrap that the tire store had neatly tied up, I discovered that the inside edge was worn much more than the outside edge. I looked real close (noticed the small Michelin Man symbol);= it appears as if the tire has plenty of tread in the middle section. But both edges look worn. The inside edge looks more worn & smooth up to the very edge but then the rubber changes color and pattern. I can see where this would turn into the groove I was seeing on the drivers side tires.

So, based upon your description and my review of the one tire I had saved, I HAVE TO BELIEVE it's not a tire issue, but I have (had? see next paragraph) alignment/suspension problem(s). All four tires were worn on the inside but the drivers side was worn more than the passenger side.

Do you think I still have anything to worry about? I spent $249.95 at the MB Dealer for a 4 wheel complete alignment, RFV balance and the "The Hunter GSP 9700 Vibration Control System" measurements. They looked at my suspension and replaced part number 124-463-04-32 shock absorb which was explained as a steering wheel damper/shock($46.50).

Do you agree with my conclusion and/or have any further recommendations?

:-)

Well, from my experience, I would say the "groove" on the inner edge is just a chracteristic of the Michelin tires as they near the end of its life...however, the fact that the two Michelins on the driver's side exhibited the "grooving"/excessive wear more than the passenger side tires could most possibly be a suspension problem...since you have already gone all out to get an alignment and get your suspension checked out...and have a new set of tires on already...I think I would not worry about it more...however, most shops give a warranty for alignment/suspension components for around a year...within that year (well, you should always be checking your tires anyway), I would keep a close eye on the tire wear to see if you can spot any odd wear problem with your tires...that way, at least you can spot if the problem has been corrected, and the shop will at least try to fix the problem within the 1 year work warranty period...

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1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

Thanks very much, DuckMuck, for your feedback.

I check my tires so close now that I'm picking out little stones/glass and other debris that get caught in the tread!

Three of the new MXV4's were made in Italy week 28/2002, one was made in the USA on week 29, 2002. I'm going to see if the one USA tire (Dot M3TA) will wear differently than the others.