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Yeah, that's probably where I am too BBD. Combination of resisting immediate cost, and inertia/sloth on my part mainly!
On a tangential note, the winter tyres ( yes they are full monty winters ) seem far more damage/puncture resistant than the summer ones which appear to have all the robustness of cream cheese. ( Very wide, very low profile things ) I guess the deeper tread on the winters helps.
Our main hobby is mountain biking which means the car does regularly get asked to tackle some fairly rough access trails to forest car parks etc. It copes fine if you take it slowly, but the winter tyres seem more able to resist pothole damage etc.
Handling is definitely not as sharp on tarmac, but at legal speeds it's hard to tell any difference in truth.
Noisy things though.
I might have a trawl of the breakers yard websites to see if any of them have a suitable set of rims at an acceptable price.
This car doesn't have space for a spare wheel due to the AdBlue tank so it'd be handy enough to have wheels ready to go on if needed in a hurry. ( Yes I know you can't or shouldn't mix summers and winters, ) but all I'm thinking is to have the option of a "get it to the garage slowly" tyre rather than having to call out a breakdown service.
Edited by Alby Back on 10/06/2020 at 11:23
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i'd just leave on the winter tyres.
This should read, "I'd just leave the winter tyres on till it is more practical/safer to have them changed".
Also, as well as looking at online breakers, look on Ebay. And if looking for an extra set of 2nd hand rims, have a look at a PCD list to see what other cars have the same size/fitment rims.
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If you are keeping the car indefinitely I would invest in a set of rims (bound to be some on ebay) so no need to pay to change them. That's what we did for our old Focus estate - one duff and three good tyres on four alloys (coincidentally the same age as our originals!) for £60. MBs will probably be more. I'm surprised you find the winters noisy - on our Focus they are quieter than the summers, presumably because of softer tread. Alternatively, wear out all the tyres and replace with 'all seasons', but then you won't have a spare.
This car doesn't have space for a spare wheel
What...... an E class estate? I find that hard to believe. Perhaps the rear suspension is not as smart as that of the Mk1 Focus estate - plenty of space at the back for a spare, bicycles and a fuel tank. I suppose MB's antediluvian winter-unfriendly rear wheel drive arrangement is also to blame. (That's one of the many reasons I would never have considered such a car needed at all times in all weathers). I'm surprised anyone is brave enough to drive on our jagged roads without a spare these days, let alone up your rocky tracks!
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Got to be honest and say I now keep my Dunlop winter tyres on the Yeti all the year round.
They're on a set of steel wheels, bought specifically for the winter tyres when the car was new.. I used to swap them over, Spring and Autumn, and store the original tyres that came with the car (on their alloy wheels) in the garage.
Now I just keep the original wheels and tyres in the garage and use the winter tyres all year round.
I don't notice any issues with grip or excess wear (but then I don't drive like a racing driver). The winter tyres are certainly not wearing down at some incredible rate.
When they wear out I'll put the OE tyres and theeir respective alloys back on.
Buying winter tyres and steel wheels was a waste of time, money and effort for me - if it snows I'll simply not go out in it. If I was someone who HAD to use the car in all weathers it would be a sound idea - but, with the benefit of hindsight, I wouldn't do it again myself.
I would say that something like the Michelin Cross Climate would be ideal and that's what I'd buy next time..... OK in the summer and (hopefully) usable if you werre to get caught out in bad weather.
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Sorry to be a bit ( actually possibly a lot ) thick ;-)
But what's a PCD list please?
@John F, yeah they put the AdBlue tank where the spare should be on this model.
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PCD Pitch Circle Diameter. The diameter of the circumference of the fixing holes.
You also need to consider the offset - the distance between the back of the fixing holes and the inner edge of the rim. Put a straight edge across the rim and measure the distance from that straight edge to the back of the fixing holes.
The Centre Bore diameter - self explanatory.
www.carlsalter.com/wheel_fitments.html
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>>I suppose MB's antediluvian winter-unfriendly rear wheel drive arrangement is also to blame.
Y'know this old chestnut comes up from time to time, but to badly mis-quote Mark Twain, reports of this are I think, greatly exaggerated.
I first started travelling to Germany, France and Italy by road nearly 40 years ago, crossing and re-crossing the Alps 2 or 3 times every winter. Regular more "local" business trips to the North of Scotland too.
Many different cars of all drive configurations have been used over the years, but some were Cortinas, 3 series, 5 series, C classes and more recently ( past ten years ) E Classes.
Never even been close to being stuck due to traction issues in sometimes really quite severe winter conditions.
In fact, I'm more wary of the dynamics of a FWD vehicle on a low friction surface than I am of those of a RWD. A FWD will just want to keep going towards what you don't want to hit if it loses grip, whereas a RWD just hangs its tail out a bit.
Granted, a FWD or even better, a 4WD will get away from rest a bit easier, if its really bad, but once on the move give me a RWD every time. Much easier to predict and control in my ever so humble. ;-)
If it were true ( as sometimes is alleged ) that RWD cars were "undrivable" in snow then there would be a great many German taxi drivers unable to work for several months of the year.
But, no doubt it will continue to be believed and purported by many.
Not that it matters a jot to me, I'm happy with my car, and happy to use it whatever the weather. What others choose to do, buy, or believe, is of course entirely up to them.
Thanks again for the comments and advice above.
Keep safe and well.
;-)
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Our summer this year was in May.
As we have now gone straight to October keep the winter tyres on!
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@KB >> something like the Michelin Cross Climate would be ideal...
They almost certainly would, and indeed we have those on my wife's car. Trouble with my car is the front tyres and the back ones are different sizes. Crossclimates come in one of the sizes but not the other, in fact, last time I checked, there were no all season tyres from any tyre manufacturer available for one end of the car. ( can't remember which )
Anyway, it's seeming unlikelier by the day that it'll be doing any cross continental trips this winter, so whatever I end up doing should be fine.
The summer ( back ) tyres I have in storage are in very good condition ( Continentals ) so it'd seem a shame not to use them at some point, but, as mentioned above, the fronts are pretty worn at 3mm and barely worth the effort of putting back on.
Not that the car is likely to go anywhere far for a while in any event.
I've decided to stop worrying about it now and have a cup of tea.
;-)
Edited by Alby Back on 10/06/2020 at 17:56
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Trouble with my car is the front tyres and the back ones are different sizes. Crossclimates come in one of the sizes but not the other, in fact, last time I checked, there were no all season tyres from any tyre manufacturer available for one end of the car. ( can't remember which )
I'm quite interested now!.
What are the tyre sizes, and what is the age and model of E-Class?
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@ BBD it's a very long name...E220 AMG Night Edition Premium estate. 2016 (last of the "old" model), 245/40/18Y 97 fronts and 265/35/18Y 97 rears
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@ BBD it's a very long name...E220 AMG Night Edition Premium estate. 2016 (last of the "old" model), 245/40/18Y 97 fronts and 265/35/18Y 97 rears
Wow, that is a bit of a mouthful!.
I buy my van tyres through Ebay and have my trusted indy fit them (that way i get the tyre i want, based on reviews), so that is where i looked. Yes, the rear size does seem to be a problem, after filling all the details and selecting 'all weather' for tyre type, only three makes came up!. Two of those were Chinese (HIFLY and Landsail) but the other was good old Michelin with the CrossClimate,
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TYRE-MICHELIN-CROSSCLIMATE-PLUS...L
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TYRE-ALL-SEASON-CROSSCLIMATE-XL...~
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I'm like you Alby.
I still have the winters on and I though I've looked at the deals on some Michelins, I haven't bitten yet.
I had my longest drive in some time today (~30 miles) and didn't notice in appreciable difference in handling, perhaps a touch noisier?
As it only reached 11.5oC here in central Scotland I am getting closer to just keeping them on all "summer".
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>>As it only reached 11.5oC here in central Scotland I am getting closer to just keeping them on all "summer".
Yes Groaver, I grew up in Edinburgh, I remember Scottish "summers" well. You could tell it was summer because the rain got a bit warmer ! ;-)
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Those are unusually expensive Trilogy. Continentals, for example, can be got for about £125 each for the fronts and +/- £140 for the rears. Not all seasons though. Other makes are cheaper still.
Anyway, I've been pondering it with the additional help/advice/comments given here and I think I'm just going to leave my winters on this year.
It'd cost me £50 to swap them over as they are, plus two new tyres by August probably at £250 (or £25 plus two new tyres at £250 now ) and another £50 to swap them back again in October.
Given that June and July are highly likely to be very low mileage months, all I'd really be gaining is a having the "right" tyres on in August and September.
If you see what I mean? I "think" I do! ;-)
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I agree with the others, Alby: I'm sure you're doing the right thing. You'd be risking it only if you drive like a young road tester to the car's limits on twisty B-roads.....which I don't think you do.
I was glad to put all-seasons on to my Q2 recently: Vredesteins which came to £516 for all 4. Less road noise than the original Bridgestones, and the ride is slightly smoother too.
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>>if you drive like a young road tester to the car's limits on twisty B-roads...
No, I save that sort of behaviour for when I borrow my son's Aygo ! ;-)
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For my car, with the original alloys fitted (a VW Tiguan), I also found that winter or all-weather tyres were really expensive as they seemed not to be one of the "bog-standard" sizes. However, I then found that if I bought slightly smaller rims I could then get the same tyres far cheaper - such that the complete package of 4 rims and tyres was about £150 cheaper than just 4 tyres to fit the standard, larger but lower profile wheels. Clearly I checked carefully that the rim/tyre combination was an authorised one (all the info is on the VW site, in the handbook, and the seller also had a full database). As well as being cheaper, I can now change them over myself, or if feeling lazy, can pay a tyre place to swap them all over for far less than if I had to get the tyres swapped onto rims each time. I did also get a quote from VW for a similar package, but they were very expensive, but there are several companies who specialise in providing winter-tyres/wheels sets.
So the VW gets a swap each spring/autumn (my second, older car, lives on Cross Climates all year round). We live down a valley in the deepest darkest countryside, and do need to be reasonably sure we can get to work etc in the worst winter weather, so it's worth the effort.
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I did once look into getting some smaller steel wheels to fit it Archie, but this car has huge brake discs that need 18" wheels to accommodate them.
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Got to be honest and say I now keep my Dunlop winter tyres on the Yeti all the year round.
Be careful. Whilst in legal terms winter tyres meet the same criteria as summer tyres for speed, load etc insurance companies have certain rules. When we planned to get a set in about 2009 the ABI rules that most insurers worked by said that you could fit winters between the 1st November and 31st March with no cost and no need to inform them providing they were the same size, speed rating etc as the summer tyres. I can only assume from that you need to inform the insurers if you plan to use winters outside that time period. We all know that insurers will use any reason to avoid paying out a claim, why give them a potential gt out of jail free card?
Buying winter tyres and steel wheels was a waste of time, money and effort for me - if it snows I'll simply not go out in it.
That works for us now we are retired but when we were both working once we were there it was nice to know we had a chance of getting home, you cannot simply walk out at the first snowflake. Many a time we both saw colleagues struggling to get out of the car park when we simply put the cars in gear and drove off. Must add we both worked in or on the dge of the Peak District where the weather was far worse than in many parts of the country.
In 2009 I did some research and chose a set of Kleber Quadraxers and found them to be brilliant on the Focus TDCi. They outlasted the OEM Contis for mileage and were much quieter and gave a smoother ride. They were replaced with another set, and the same tyre was fitted to the 1.8 Focus when it needed tyres. Even when we had 17" of snow we only had one issue which was when an idiot form down the street decided to get his Merc well and truly stuck meaning we had to leave the 2 groves on the street. Unfortunately a neighbour had piled up some ice at the end of his drive and it beached the car. Simply moved it with a shovel and drove off. Merc was still stuck revving the engine madly and spinning the wheels.
Would buy them today if we needed tyres despite not working.
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>>Merc was still stuck revving the engine madly and spinning the wheels.
And there you have it, operator error. A gentler right foot and it would most probably have been fine. Some ( many ) drivers have no idea.
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www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TYRE-MICHELIN-CROSSCLIMATE-PLUS...L
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TYRE-ALL-SEASON-CROSSCLIMATE-XL...~
Over £800 for a set of tyres! Never had to pay over £300 for any car I've owned.
Wow! Is it because they are for a MB? I've just reshod my A8 quattro (all wheels the same size) with Setula S-race 255/45ZR19Y for £260.
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>>Wow! Is it because they are for a MB?
No, it's just that particular tyre on that website is very expensive, if I shop around I can get 4 ( known/premium brand ) tyres for £500 or a set of "Singalongamaxes" for a lot less.
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