Which tyres for E270 CDI?

[dantis]

I have just purchased my first Mercedes, a 2004 E270 CDI, which I absolutely love! The tyres are all OK, but will need replacing in a few thousand miles, it has standard 16" rims with Michelin Primacy 225/55/16 V tyres. I have googled around alot and it seems that the Kumho Ecsta KH11 are very highly rated, owners state they are superior to the Michelins in every way but less than half the price! I wondered if anyone here had any experience of these tyres good or bad.

Many thanks

 

[jberks]

Theres a lot of snobbery around tyres. Mine came with Continentals on the front and Bridgestone on the back. 17k later and they're were shot. I'm now running Federal 245/45/17's on my E270. I've never been able to tell them apart from the bridgestones they replaced, aside from the fact that they're half the price.
It may be true that they don't last quite as long but pro-rata they're still far better value.
Unless you're a racer, I reckon you'd be fine with Toyo, khumo, federal or other top end budget brand.

 

[moosehead]

jberks, how are the Federals wearing? The reason I ask is that I had the factory fitted Contis on the rear of my 'C' and they lasted 15K miles. I replaced them with Kumho KU19s and will be lucky to get 12K miles from them. That said the Kumho's perform extremely well and I have been running them on my wifes SLK and my previous vehicle (Ford Cougar V6) for 4 years. The SLK seems to achieve just over 20K from the rears and the Cougar (front wheel drive) was averaging 22K from the fronts.

I'm looking for something that performs reasonably well, lasts 20K+ miles and is fairly cost effective based on my 30K per year mileage. One of the members recommended Michelin Primacy HPs. Apparently these last 25% more than their European counterparts but they are coming in at around £140a piece.

 

[jberks]

The jury is still out as regards the mileage. I'm up to 9k and there's plenty of life left (1/3?) but, to be fair, the first 6k were motorway over 3 months and the remaining 3k has been mostly stop-start rush hour stuff including a daily wheelspin from the office carpark, with a virtual slide round a roundabout (the only way to get out sadly). I'd expect to be looking to replace by 13-14k at current usage. They'd probably have done 20k+ on the motorway, which compares well to the previous bridgestones which needed replacing after 17k of mostly motorway running.
The best I had were Vredesteins on my E240 which were at 20k and still looked new but the 240 had no torque compared to the 270 so whether they'd have done so well on this car I can't say.
The way i look at it, I don't expect budget tyres to last as well as some more expensive makes, but in some cases they'd have to last less than 1/2 as long a bridgestones to be a lesser deal - (Bridgestones £160 Federasl £80) and they've already exceeeded that. Handling, ride etc they're fine though I will be looking for something with a softer sidewall next time to improve the ride.