Page 329 of 446

Preceding letter1:RWithout :passenger vehicle tires according to
Europea nmanufactu ring standards.
R"P": passenger vehicle tires according toUS
manufacturing standards.
R"LT": light truc ktires accordingtoUSm anu‐
fa cturing standards.
R"T": compact emer gency spa rewheels with
high tir epressur ethat ar eonly designe dfor
te mp orar yuse in an emer gency.
Aspec tratio 3
:
Ra tio betwee ntireh eight and tir ewidth in per‐
cent (ti reheight divided bytirew idth ).
Tir ec ode4
(ti re type):R"R"r adial tire
R"D": bias ply tire
R"B": bias belted tires
R"ZR": radial tir ewitham aximum speed abo ve
14 9m ph (240 km/h) (optional) Rim diame
ter5
:
The diam eter of theb ead seat (no tthe diame ter
of ther im flange). The rimd iame teriss pecified
in inches (in).
Load-bearing index 6
Numerical codethat specifies them aximum
load-bearing capacity of atire( e.g. "91" cor re‐
sponds to1356 lbs (6 15kg)).
The load-bearing capacity of thet irem ustbea t
leas thalf thep ermissible axle load of your vehi‐
cle. Do no toverload thet ires byexc eeding the
specified load limit.
See also:
RMaximum permissible load on theT irea nd
Loading Info rmatio nplacar d(→page319)
RMaximum tir eloa d(→pag e325)
RLoad index
Spee drating 7
:
Specifies thea ppr ove dm aximum speed of the
tire. %
An electroni cspeed limiterpreve nts your
ve hicle from exceeding aspeed of 130m ph
(2 10 km/h).
Make surethat your tires ha vether equired
speed rating .You can obtain information on the
re qu ired speed rating from aMercedes-Benz
servic ecenter.
Summer tires
Inde xS peedrating
Qu pto100mph(160k m/h)
Ru pto106mph(170k m/h)
Su pto112mp h(180k m/h)
Tu pto118mp h(190k m/h)
Hu pto130mph(210k m/h)
Vu pto149mph(240k m/h)
Wu pto168mph(27 0k m/h)
Yu pto186mph(300 km/h )
Wheels andtires 327
Page 330 of 446

IndexS peedrating
ZR...Y
1up to186m ph (300 km/h)
ZR...(..Y)
1ove r186 mph(300 km/h )
ZR
1ove r149 mph(240k m/h)
RSpecifying thes peed rating as the" ZR" index
in tir ecode 4is optional fort ires up to
18 6m ph (300 km/h).
RIfyo ur tir ecode4 includes "ZR"andthere
is no speed rating 7,f ind out what them ax‐
imum speed is from thet irem anufacturer.
RIf load-bearing index 6and speed rating 7
ar einb rack ets, them aximum speed rating of
yo ur tir eisa bove 186m ph (300 km/h). To
fi nd outt he maximum speed, ask thet ire
manufacturer. All-weather tires and winter tires
Inde
xS peedrating
QM +S
2upto100m ph (160 km/h)
TM +S
2upto118m ph (190 km/h)
HM +S
2upto130m ph (2 10km/h)
VM +S
2upto149m ph (240 km/h)
Winter tires bear thei snowflak esymbol
and fulfill ther equirements of theR ubber Manu‐
fa cturer sAssociation (RMA) and theR ubber
Associatio nofCanada (RAC) rega rding traction
on sno w.
Load index 8
:RNo specification given: standar dload (SL)
tire
R"XL" or "Extra Load": extral oa dt ireorr ein‐
fo rc ed tire
R"Light Load": light load tire
R"C", "D", "E": aload rang et hat depe ndso n
th em aximum load that thet irec an car ryat a
cer tain pressure
Definitions fort ires and loading
Ti re stru ctureand characteristics: describes
th en umber of la yers or then umber of rubber-
coated belts in thet irec ontact surf ace and the
tir ew all. These ar emade of steel, nylon, poly‐
es tera nd other materials.
Bar: metric unit fort irep ressure .
14 .5038 pounds per squar einc h( psi) and
10 0k ilopasca l(kPa) is thee quivalent of one bar.
DO T(Department of Transport ation):DOT
mar kedt ires fulfill ther equirements of the
US Department of Transpor tatio n.
Av erag eweight of thev ehicle occupants: the
numbe rofvehicle occupants forw hich th evehi‐
cle is designed, multiplied by150lb( 68kg).
1"ZR" stated in thet irec ode.2Or "M+S i"for winter tires
328
Wheels and tires
Page 331 of 446

Unifor mT ireQ uality Grading Standards: a
unifor mstandar dtog rade theq ualityoft ires
wit hregar dtot read quality, tiret raction and
te mp eratur echaracteristics. The qualityg rading
assessment is made bythem anufacturer follow‐
ing specifications from theU .S. go vernment. The
qu alityg rade of atireisi mprinted on thes ide
wa ll of thet ire.
Re commende dtirep ressure :th er ecommen‐
ded tir epressur eist he tir epressur especified
fo rt he tires mounted tothev ehicle at thef ac‐
to ry.
The tir eand information table conta insther ec‐
ommended tir epressur efor cold tires, them axi‐
mum permissible load and them aximum permis‐
sible vehicle speed.
The tir epressur etable con tains ther ecommen‐
ded tir epressur efor cold tires under various
operating conditions, i.e. loading and/or speed
of thev ehicle.
Increased vehicl eweight due tooptional
equipment: thec ombined weight of all standard
and optional equipment available fort he vehicle, re
ga rdless of whe ther it is actually ins talled on
th ev ehicle or not.
Rim: thep artoft he wheel on whic hthe tir eis
mounted.
GA WR (Gross Axl eWeight Rating): theG AWR
is them aximum gross axle load. The actual load
on an axle mus tnever exc eed theg ross axle
we ight rating .The gross axl eweight rating can
be found on thev ehicle identification plat eon
th eB ‑pillar on thed ri
ve r's side.
Speed rati
ng: thes peed rating is pa rtof thet ire
identification .Itspecifies thes peed rang ef or
whic hatireisa pprove d.
GV W( Gross Vehicl eW eight): theg ross vehicle
we ight comprises thew eight of thev ehicle
including fuel, tools, thes par ew heel, accesso‐
ri es ins talled, occupants, luggag eand thet railer
dr aw bar nose weight,ifa pplicable. The gross
ve hicle weight mus tnotexc eed theg ross vehicle
we ight rating GVWR as specified on thev ehicle
identification plat eonthe B‑pillar on thed rive r's
side.
GV WR (Gross Vehicl eW eight Rating): the
GV WR is them aximum permitted gross weight of
thef ully laden vehicle (weight of thev ehicle
including all accessories, occupants, fuel, lug‐
ga ge and thet railer dr awbar nose weight if appli‐
cable). The gross vehicle weight rating is speci‐
fi ed on thev ehicle identification plat eonthe
B‑pi llaronthed rive r's side.
Maximum weight of thel aden vehicle: the
maximu mweight is thes um of theu nladen
we ight of thev ehicle, thew eight of thea ccesso‐
ri es, them aximum load and thew eight of
optional equipment ins talled at thef actor y.
Kilopasca l(kP a): metric unit fort irep ressure .
6.9 kP acorresponds to1p si.A nother unit for
tir ep ressur eisb ar.1 00 kilopasca l(kPa) equals
1b ar.
Load index: in additiontothel oad-bearing
index, thel oad inde xmayalso be imprinted on
th es ide wall of thet ire. This specifies
thel oad-
bearing capacit
y of thet irem orep recisel y.
Cur bw eight: thew eight of avehicle wit hstand‐
ar de quipment includingt he maximum capacity
of fuel, oil and coolant. It also includes thea ir
conditionin gsystema nd optional equipment if
Wheels and tires 329
Page 332 of 446

these ar einstalled on thev ehicle, but does not
include passenger sorluggage.
Maximum tir eload: them aximum tir eload is
th em aximum permissible weight in kilog rams or
lbs forw hich atireisa pprove d.
Maximum permissible tir epressure: maxi‐
mum permissible tir epressur efor one tire.
Maximum load on one tire: maximumloado n
one tire. This is calculated bydividing them axi‐
mum axle load of one axle bytwo.
PSI (pounds per squar einch) :st andar dunit of
measurementf or tirepressure .
Aspect ratio: ratio betwee ntire height and tire
widt hinp ercent.
Tir ep ress ure: pressur einside thet irea pplying
an outwar dforce toeve rysquar einc hoft he tire.
The tir epressur eiss pecified in pounds per
squar einc h( psi), in kilopascals (kPa) or in bar.
The tir epressur eshould onl ybecorrected when
th et ires ar ecold.
Cold tir epressure: thet ires ar ecold when the
ve hicle has been par kedf or at leas t3hours without direct sunlight on
thet ires or thev ehicle
has been driven forl ess than 1m ile (1.6 km).
Ti re contact sur face: thep artoft he tir ethat
comes int ocontact wi th theroad.
Ti re bead: thep urpose of thet ireb ead is to
ensur ethat thet ires its securel yonthe wheel
ri m. Ther eareseverals teel wires in theb ead to
pr eve ntthet iref romc omingl oose from the
wheel rim.
Side w
a ll: thep artoft he tir ebetwe en thet read
and thet ireb ead.
We ight of optiona lequ ipment: thec ombined
we ight of theo ptional equipment weighingm ore
th an ther eplaced standar dparts and mor ethan
5l bs (2. 3kg).T his optional equipment, suc has
high-per form anc ebrake s, le velc ontrol sy stem, a
ro of luggag erackorh igh-per form anc ebatte ries,
is no tincluded in thec urb weight and thew eight
of thea ccessories.
TIN (Tir eIdentification Number): auniqu e
identification number whic hcan be used bya
tir em anufactu rertoi dentify tires, fore xamp le,
in ap roductr ecall, and thus identif ythe pur‐
ch asers. The TIN is made up of them anufactur‐ er's identit
ycode, tir esize, tir etype code and
th em anufacturing date.
Load-bearing index: thel oad-bearing index
(also load index) is acode that con tains them ax‐
imum load-bearing capacity of atire.
Tr action: traction is theg ripr esulting from fric‐
tion between thet ires and ther oad sur face.
We ar indicator: narrow bars(tread wear bars)
th at ar edistributed overthe tir econta ct surf ace.
If th et iret read is le velw itht he bars, thew ear
limit of 1/1 6in(1.6m m) has been reached.
Distribution of vehicl eoccupants: distribution
of vehicle occupants over designated seat posi‐
tion sinav ehicle.
Maximum permissible pa yload weight: nomi‐
nal load and luggag eload plus
150lb( 68kg)
mu
ltiplie dbyt he number of seats in thev ehicle.
330
Wheels and tires
Page 333 of 446

Changingawheel
Note sons electing, mounting and replacing
tires
Yo uc an ask fori nformation rega rding permitte d
wheel-tir ecombinations at an authorized
Mercedes-Ben zcenter.
&
WARNING Risk of accident duetoi ncor‐
re ct dimensions of wheelsa nd tires
If wheelsa nd tires of thew rong size are
ins talled, thew heel brakes or wheel suspen‐
sion components ma ybedamaged.
#Alwaysr eplace wheels and tires with
th ose that fulfill thes pecification sof
th eo riginal part.
When replacing wheels, mak esuretof itth e
cor rect:
RDesignation
RModel
Whe nreplacing tires, mak esuretoi nstallth e
cor rect:
RDesignation
RManufactu rer
RModel
&
WARNING Risk of accident duet o
exc eeding thes tatedt irel oad rating or
th ea ppr ove dspeed rating
Exceeding thes pecified tir eload rating or
th ep ermissible speed rating ma ylea dtot ire
damage andtothet ires bur sting.
#Therefore, onl yuse tir etypes and sizes
appr ovedfor your vehicle model.
#Obser vethet irel oad rating and speed
ra ting requ ired fory our vehicle.
* NO
TEDama getovehicle and tires due to
non-app rove dt iret ypes and sizes
Fors afet yr easons, onl yuse wheels, tires
and accessories whic hhave been appr oved
fo ry our vehicle byMercedes-Benz.
These tires ha vebeen speciall yadap tedf or
use wit hthe control sy stems, e.g. ABS or
ESP
®,a nd ar emarke dasf ollows:
RMO = Mercedes-BenzO riginal
RMOE = Mercedes-BenzO riginal Extended
(run-flat tires onl yfor cer tain wheels)
RMO1 = Mercedes-Benz Original (onl ycer‐
ta in AMG tires)
Cer tain characteristics, e.g .handling, vehicle
noise emissions or fuel consum ption, may
ot herwise be adversely af fected. In addition,
whe ndriving wi thaload, tir edimension var‐
iations could caus ethe tires tocome into
contact wi th thebody and axle components.
This could result in damag etothe tires or the
ve hicle.
Wheels and tires 331
Page 334 of 446

Onlyuse tires, wheels or accessories tested
and appr ovedbyM ercedes-Benz.
*NO
TERisk todriving saf etyf romr etre a‐
de dt ires
Retreade dtires ar eneith er tested nor recom‐
mended byMercedes-Benz, since pr evious
damag ecanno talway sbed etected on
re treade dtires.
Fo rthis reason drivin gsafet yc anno tbeg uar‐
anteed.
#Do no tuse used ti resify ou ha veno
informatio nabout their pr evious usage.
* NO
TEPossible damag etowheels or tires
when drivin govero bstacles
Larg ewheelsh avealow er tir esection wid th.
The lo werthe tir esection width, theg reater
is ther isk of dama getowheels or tires when
drivingo vero bstacles.
#Av oid obs tacle sord rive part icular ly
carefully.
* NO
TEDama getoelectronic component
parts from theu se of tire-mounting tools
Ve hicles with atirep ressur emonitoring
sy stem: Electronic component parts are
located in thew heel. Tire -mounting tools
should no tbeused in thea reaoft hevalve.
This could otherwise damag ethe electronic
component parts.
#Ha ve thet ires changed at aqualified
specialis tworks hop onl y.
*NO
TEDama getosummer tires at low
ambient temp eratures
Using summer tires at very lowa mbientt em‐
peratures can caus ecrack stof orm, thereby
damaging thet ires permanentl y.
#Attemp eratures belo w45°F(7°C) use
M+S tires.
Ac cessor yparts that ar enotappr ovedfor your
ve hicle byMercedes-Benzort hat arenotbeing
used cor rectl yc an impair ope rating safe ty. Befor
epurch asing and using non-appr oved
accessori es, visitaqualified specialis tworks hop
and inquir eabout:
RSuitability
RLegal stipulations
RFa ctor yrecommendations
Obser vethef ollowing when selecting, mounting
and replacing tires:
ROnl yuse tires and wheels of thes ame type
at ag iven time (summer tires, winter tires,
MOEx tende dtires) and thes ame make.
ROnl ym ount wheels of thes ame size on one
axle (lef tand right).
It is onl ypermissible tomount adiffe re nt
whee lsizeint heevent of aflat tir eino rder
to driv etot he specialis tworks hop.
ROnl ym ount tires of thec orrect size ont othe
wheels.
RVe hicles with atirep ressur emonitoring
sy stem: All mounte dwheels mus tbeequip‐
ped wit hfunctioning sensor sfor thet ire
pressur emonitoring sy stem.
332
Wheels and tires
Page 335 of 446

RAttemp eratures belo w45°F(7°C), use win‐
te rt ires or all-seaso ntires mar kedM +Sfor
all wheels.
Wi nter tires bearing thei snowflak esym‐
bol in addition totheM +S marking pr ovide
th eb estp ossible grip in wintr yroad condi‐
tions.
RFo rM +S tires, only use tires wit hthe same
tread.
RObser vethem aximum permissible speed for
th eM +S tir emounted.
If th is is belo wthe vehicle's maximum speed,
th is mus tbeindicated in an appropriat elabel
in thed rive r's field of vision.
RBreak-in ne wtires at moderat espeeds for
th ef irst 60 mile s(10 0k m).
RReplace thet ires af ters ixyearsatt he latest,
re ga rdless of wear.
RWhen replacing with tires that do no tfea‐
tu re run-flat characteristics: vehicles with
MOExtended tires ar enotequipped wit ha
TIREFIT kit at thef actor y.Equi pthe vehicle
wit haT IREFIT kit af terr eplacing wit htires th
at do no tfeatur erun- flat characteristics,
e.g .winter tires.
Fo rm orei nformation on wheels and tires, con‐
ta ct aq ualified specialis tworks hop.
Be sur etoalso observ ethe following fur ther
re lated subjects:
RNo tesont irep ressur e(→page312)
RTire and Loading Info rmatio nplacard
(→pag e319)
RTire pressur etable (→pag e314)
Note sonr otating wheels
&
WARNING Risk of injury thro ugh dif fer‐
ent whee lsizes
Inter changing thef ront and rear wheels if the
wheels or tires ha vediffere nt dimensions
ma yseverel yimp air thed riving characteris‐
tics.
The wheel brakes or wheel suspension com‐
ponent smayalso be damaged.
#Rotate front and rear wheels only ifth e
wheels and tires ar eofthe same dimen‐
sions.
The wear patte rnsont he front and rear wheels
dif fer:
RFr ont wheels wear mor eonthe shoulder of
th et ire
RRear wheels wear mor einthe center of the
tire
On vehicles that ha vethes ame size front and
re ar wheels,r otatet he wheels according tothe
inter vals in thet irem anufacturer's warranty
book in your vehicle documents. If this is not
av ailable, rotate thet ires every
3000 to6000 mile s(5000to1 0000 km),
depending on thew ear.Ensuret hat thed irection
of rotatio nism aintained.
It is impe rativ etoo bservethei nstruction sand
saf etyn otes on "Wheel change" when doings o.
Wheels and tires333
Page 336 of 446

Notesons toring wheels
RAf terr emoving wheels, stor et hem in acool,
dr ya nd preferably dar kplace.
RProtect thet ires from conta ct withoil, grease
or fuel.
Preparing thev ehicle foraw heelchange
Prerequisi tesRThe requ ired tire-chang etool kit is available.
If yo ur vehicle is no tequipped wit hthe tire-
ch ang etool kit, consult aqualified specialis t
wo rkshop tofind outa boutsuitable tools.
RThe vehicle is no tonaslope.
RThevehicle is on solid, non-slipper yand le vel
ground .
#Applythee lectric parking brak emanually.
#Movethef ront wheels tothes traight-ahead
position.
#Ve hicles with automatic transmission:
shif tint op osition j.
#Vehicles with AI RBODYC ONT ROL:setthe
normal vehicle le vel(→pag e171).
#Switc hoffthee ngine.
#Mak esuret hat thee ngine cannot bestar ted.
#Place choc ks orother suitable items under
th ef ront and rear of thew heel that is diago‐
nall yopposit ethe wheel youw ish tochange.
#Re mo vetheh ub caps if necessary
(→pag e334).
#Raise thev ehicle (→pag e335).
Removing and mounting hub caps
Requirements
#The vehicle is prepared foraw heelc hange
(→pag e334).
Plast ic hub cap
#Toremo ve:tur nthe center co veroft he hub
cap counter-clockwise and remo vetheh ub
cap.
#To mount: makesurethat thec enter co ver
of theh ub cap is turned counter-clockwise.
#Position theh ub cap and tur nthe center
co verc lockwise until theh ub cap engages
ph ysicall yand audibly.
Aluminum hub cap
#To remo ve:positio nsocket2 on hubc ap
1.
% The soc ketc an be found in thev ehicle tool
kit.
#Po sition wheel wrench 3on soc ket2.
#Using whee lwrench 3,t urnh ub cap 1
counter-clo ckwise and remo veit.
334
Wheels and tires