61plate wheel alignment probs

[keyi]

Hi everyone.
Nort been here for a while but after having loads of problems with my cars wheel alignment I thought I'd come pick your brains.
Since getting my 61plate c200 20months of so ago I've been hAving problems with it pulling to the left. A long story short ..... The Merc dealer I got it from has re aligned the wheels 4 times and still it's the same if had another dear do it too and still now it's the same. I've had to buy 5 new tyres all withing 12month and about 10000miles, I've had loads of excuses Including
'they are meant to pull to the left because they are made In Germany and their roads are flat'.

'It's because it's a rack and pinion and not electric, if it was electric it wouldn't do it'

'Merc are so advanced and have that much tech that sometimes you have to sacrifice one thing to have something else, they pull to the left at slow speeds to enable it to drive straight at high speeds, if you go 100mph it will be ok'

The thing is everytime I take it back to be done the test drive it and say its fine but a couple of days later when I get to drive it it's still the same. I went out with one engineer to show him what it's like and while driving at 70mph I let go of the wheel and he said' get off the the next junction and take us straight back because there is something defo wrong'.

Can anyone please help?

 

[toby1]

Take it to Wheels in Motion and they'll sort it.

Mercedes Pulling Problems | Car Tyres Fitting and Wheel Alignment Specialists

 

[keyi]

Toby I'll look at the link in a min thanks.
Thing is I shouldn't have to pay for it putting right!!!? Plus I shouldn't have to have forked out for 5 new tyres!!!??? 2 maybe over 12month but surely not 5!!??

 

[selphy]

Take it to Wheels in Motion and they'll sort it.

Mercedes Pulling Problems | Car Tyres Fitting and Wheel Alignment Specialists

...and tip up a king's ransom. They charged me £270 for 3 camber bolts and a hunter alignment and it was all done in 40 minutes so that's about £200 per hour labour. They did a reasonably good job but it would probably have been cheaper to go to Mercedes and have a free cup of coffee.

 

[tonysmb]

Well, as you suspect, and assuming you drive under normal conditions, there's clearly something wrong, despite what the dealers say. It's amazing what excuses they can come up with when they can't resolve a problem.

When they have had it back for realignment, has it needed resetting each time? If so, something is obviously changing, which you wouldn't normally expect under normal circumstances.

Is the wear only on the front tyres? Presumably, you are fitting new tyres, same make/correct spec. on each front wheel.

I would hazard a guess at some sort of suspension problem, either worn items allowing movement, or previous damage (kerbing, potholes etc, if not accident damage) resulting in misalignment.

Has anybody checked the wheelbase measurements on each side and compared those with specifications.

 

[alexR1]

Every one of the three Mercs I've had do it. Don't listen to the lie that the dealer staff actually seem to believe about it being a "safety" feature! It's basically because Mercedes set up their suspension (and steering wheel angle - that's another story!) to suit the camber of continental roads I.e. the cars are designed to drift slightly to the left to counteract the right hand camber when driving in the right hand side of the road.

I wish they'd set up the cars for RHD markets more accurately!