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My car has XL tyres - can I change them?

In 2020 I replaced my 13 year old Mercedes S Class for a 2 year one with a premium pack. On my last one I replaced the Continental Tyres with what I thought were identical new ones but noticed they were much noisier. At a service I mentioned this to the technician and he looked at the tyres and immediately diagnosed the problem - the tyres fitted were Extra Load which he said were really only for very heavy vehicles, vans etc. As soon as I replaced them with non XL tyres I noticed a difference. The drive was much quieter. On my new S Class which I bought with 6,000 miles on the clock, I looked at the tyres and saw these were XL which because of the low mileage I am assuming they were fitted from new. The road noise is louder than my last S Class. Can I use non XL replacements or is it advisable to stick with XL because of the car's spec?

Asked on 15 March 2022 by Terry Hopkinson

Answered by Lawrence Allan
Having done some research it appears that Mercedes fitted Extra Load tyres to some S-Class models out the factory, depending on spec and wheel size. This wouldn't be done without a reason. It's worth speaking to Mercedes and to a tyre specialist to see if it's possible to fit non-XL tyres. Fitting tyres with the wrong load rating can mean the sidewall deteriorates more quickly, which is dangerous.
Tags: tyres
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