Inner edge wear

[Funkyboy]

Hi All,

Been reading that Mercedes are susceptible to inner edge tyre wear. Does anyone have any experience of this? I've just had to change tyre on front of car that had worn to cords on inner edge. While guy was changing tyre I noticed the rear tyre on same side was worn more on the inner edge than outer.
I'm prepared to have it checked with four wheel alignment but have read that others have had this done and vehicle was to specification on machine?

 

[Teego]

Have the 4 wheel alignment checked by a good tyre outlet. It's not expensive and you can talk to people who know what they are doing.

 

[Hakon]

I too seem to have slightly more wear on the front inners on the 63.
I had alignment carried out whilst I watched the spanner work and the screen prior to a new set of rubber....all within spec.

Alignment guys said once uneven wear starts on a tyre, an alignment job won't correct it.

 

[Dickster]

So long as you get decent mileage I wouldn’t worry too much. I’ve had it on my cars and I don’t think it’s that unusual.

 

[fabes]

Do you stradle speed humps.....?

 

[Larkone]

Just getting the tracking (toe in) adjusted will not solve the problem. It is related to castor and camber adjustment which most tyre places do not fix and it may require some MB adjustment bolts to be fitted. I solved mine by taking it to Wheels in Motion in Chesham UK Tyres Online Cheap Car Tyres Shop | Blackboots Wheels in Motion

Lots of others on here have used them successfully as well.

 

[Larkone]

In fact there is a sticky on this thread from Wheels in Motion explaining the issue and the solutions

Definative explination.... Pull left | Wheels, Tyres, Brakes & Suspension

I would like to give a definitive explanation for the historic "pulling left" complaint. We've all read, heard, experienced this condition, concluding with an official explanation from MB UK it's a "safety feature". It's not. My field is the chassis but trust me i'm not God in this field nor...

forums.mbclub.co.uk

 

[st13phil]

I have had one W204, three W212's, an R171 and an R172. All have had 4-wheel alignment checks and proven to be within spec, and all have worn the inner edge of their front tyres. So in my experience, with those chassis, yes it is normal.

 

[Deleted member 149005]

When i had my realignment set at Wheels In Motion (Chesham, Bucks) we had a discussion around the compromise between minimal inner wear (but the steering wheel is often offset) or a straight wheel (but greater wear on the inner edges).

 

[Funkyboy]

Do you stradle speed humps.....?

Mostly but wouldn't that effect both sides?

 

[Funkyboy]

When i had my realignment set at Wheels In Motion (Chesham, Bucks) we had a discussion around the compromise between minimal inner wear (but the steering wheel is often offset) or a straight wheel (but greater wear on the inner edges).

Couldn't cope with offset wheel! Rather buy new tyres

 

[Deleted member 149005]

Couldn't cope with offset wheel! Rather buy new tyres

that is the conclusion i came to

 

[fabes]

Mostly but wouldn't that effect both sides?

If you mean tyres on both sides of the car, yes it would.

Speed humps grind the inner tread and wall of tyres, both sides, front and back

 

[bolidemichael]

I have this issue (inner edge wear) on a 211 with aromatic all around and my usual man cannot address the alignment with his regular hunter.

I'm going to go and see 'Wheels In Motion/Blackboots' next week to get it sorted.

 

[Larkone]

@bolidemichael Report back on how it goes.

 

[Funkyboy]

If you mean tyres on both sides of the car, yes it would.

Speed humps grind the inner tread and wall of tyres, both sides, front and back

I only have it one side of car

 

[leef44]

I have had one W204, three W212's, an R171 and an R172. All have had 4-wheel alignment checks and proven to be within spec, and all have worn the inner edge of their front tyres. So in my experience, with those chassis, yes it is normal.

I wonder if the performance cars are set up with a bit of negative camber for "fast-road set up" as original spec.
In my younger days, I had a Subaru Impreza STi. I had a "fast road set up" adjustment done on it which gave sharper steering with less understeer. After a year, I noticed the increased inner tyre wear. So this could be normal set up for performance cars in Mercedes language.

 

[Larkone]

I wonder if the performance cars are set up with a bit of negative camber for "fast-road set up" as original spec.
In my younger days, I had a Subaru Impreza STi. I had a "fast road set up" adjustment done on it which gave sharper steering with less understeer. After a year, I noticed the increased inner tyre wear. So this could be normal set up for performance cars in Mercedes language.

Don't think so, as is explained in the sticky it has more to do with setup for German roads. Lexus also had exactly this problem on some models and eventually it was WIM that worked out what the correct setting was and advised Lexus. The thing is it can be sorted and I have had mine sorted by WIM. My steering wheel is straight and I do not get inner edge wear anymore, sorted by adding three adjusting bolts to the suspension and a proper setup by people who properly understand wheel geometry - WIM. They have done all of my cars (MB/Lexus/BMW/Audi) and cannot fault what they do. I am sure there are others that can also do this work properly but they seem few and far between.

When I had the Lexus GS (fitted with BC Racing suspension) I had two rear tyres replaced by a local garage and the owner (who used to race his own cars) said that the evenness of the wear across the rear tyres was like nothing he had ever seen before and was extremely complimentary about the person who had set the geometry. That was WIM and a setup on non-standard suspension; I will always remember being asked when I took it in after fitting the BC Racing setup how I would like the car to drive and it was setup accordingly and it drove exactly as I had asked.

 

[McT]

I came on to this forum as I have exactly the same wear on the inside of my 2010 C207 tyres. The geometry is checked annually and was done last year when i got new tyres put on and done again two months ago. I was wondering with mine being a 2010 with 120k on the clock if it was possibly due to wear in one or many of the suspension components.

 

[Larkone]

@McT When you say the geometry is checked annually do you mean just the toe in or castor and camber as well? It is the latter two where the issue occurs. Hopefully if you had any wear on the suspension components this would have been advised on the MOT.