Table 1 shows three common tire related problems of the 2005 Mercedes Benz E320.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Tire Blowout problems | |
| Tire Tread/belt problems | |
| Tire Bead problems |
The contact owns a 2005 Mercedes Benz E320 cdi (na) equipped with michelin tires (model and size unknown). The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the tire blew out. The contact had the tire changed. The vehciel was taken to a tire dealer to replace the tire. The contact wrote a letter to the manufacturer but had not received a response. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
Electrical problems out of service 18 days, srs/airbag failures out of service 18 days, ac/defrost blower motor failures out of service 12 days, brakes out of service 9 days, transmission (idle surge/up shifting/stalling) out of service 10 days, front end/tires out of service 10 days. During the lemon law final repair attempt, the dealer wrote on work order that they had installed new brakes because they found "after market brakes" on car. The only place the car has ever been serviced was the dealership where we purchased it. We asked the service advisor and assistant service manager (first they said the brakes were thrown out and then they said the parts were shipped to mb) and wrote two certified letters to Mercedes Benz for the removed parts so we could track the serial numbers. We were ignored. The regional representative who initiated the "brake replacement" was conveniently "promoted out of the area" just before the lemon law hearing so he could not be questioned. We had been complaining about the brakes, especially the stopping distance, from the beginning and they kept saying no problem found. The dealer would not document it on the work orders.
In June of 2011 I purchased a set of four michelin p215/60r16 primacy mxv4 tires for my 2005 Mercedes Benz E320 automobile. In July of 2014 one of the tires failed (lost air pressure while parked) while my wife and I were on a weekend trip out of town. The local tire shop that repaired the flat informed us that the tire could not be repaired – the sidewall had failed and the tire would need to be replaced. The failed michelin tire had been installed for 3 years and had 50% of the usable tread wear remaining (measured later by discount tire). We temporarily replaced the tire with a non-michelin tire and saved the failed michelin. When returning from our trip we took the failed michelin back to the discount tire shop where we had purchased the set. Using the road hazard guarantees when purchasing the set, discount tire replaced the failed michelin with a new michelin. While performing other vehicle maintenance in September of 2014 I observed a second michelin tire with a sidewall crack following the wheel bead for several inches before progressing radially. I again took the failed michelin back to the discount tire shop where we had purchased the set. The failed michelin tire had approximately 50% of the usable tread wear remaining. Using the road hazard guarantees when purchasing the set, discount tire replaced the failed michelin with a new michelin. In October of 2014 I purchased a used car with michelin tires installed. Since recently experiencing michelin tire failures I examined the used car michelins and, sure enough, I discovered a tire with three significant incipient sidewall failures. These sidewall failures of different year manufacture michelin tires seems to me to indicate a pattern of quality control problems. My limited experience with these failures seems to indicate that having the tire on a vehicle front position accelerates crack propagation. I would like to attach pictures of the tires (foot long crack - worst case).