Need for C220 W202 wheel alignment?

[mike18hc]

I made comments about noise from my new tyres at the end of another thread and now my attention's been diverted to wheel alignment.
Things I've been told since by people in the know suggest this noise is made by new tyres on misaligned wheels which make modern tread patterns flex out of line on the road. This will improve as the rubber wears down from 8mm to, say, 6mm...if you can tolerate the noise in the meantime.
Can a car need wheel alignment when, hands off the wheel, it always drives straight unless there's a lot of camber?
I also read 1) that loads of people say misalignment can't cause wheel drone, 2) those who had alignment done to get rid of this type of noise mainly got no real improvement and that 3) misalignment usually shows by producing uneven tyre wear, which I didn't have.
What's the reality about alignment and does my car need it?

 

[mike18hc]

Alignment's OK

The camber and toe measured OK, which wasn't surprising as all previous tyres had always worn down evenly.
So the instant change from old tyres with quiet driving to new tyres with noisy driving looks to be down to tyres and not alignment.
Should be getting 2 alloys with old Pirellis next week to see if that's true.

 

[mike18hc]

And it wasn't down to tyres as the new ones resulted in exactly the same growling noise!

 

[HarioH]

And it wasn't down to tyres as the new ones resulted in exactly the same growling noise!

So what are you saying?

 

[mike18hc]

Growling tyres

Unless I bite the bullet and get both rear wheel bearings changed I won't know if they are the cause.
With the back seats down the noise is louder but all noise from that area would be anyway.
I recorded the noise and analysis showed the frequency could be related to the number of balls in the races and it was directly related to speed.
The car's always made a bearing noise when turning. I though it was from the front left but bearing changes made no difference...so it could always have been from the back.
I can't explain why new tyres made the really bad noise appear but that's why I thought the tyres created it.
As renewing the bearings will cost the value of the car I'd like to know there would be a good chance of success before doing that!
As the months roll by I notice the noise a little less and other cars seem a little quieter, so maybe I'm adapting, or going deaf.