Uneven Front Tyre Wear - Again

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

mbenz76

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 11, 2009
Messages
1,055
Car
E350 AMG Night Edition Premium Plus Saloon
Car is a 2010 E350 CDI owned from new (so I know it's history).

I noticed recently that my front N/S tyre is wearing smooth on the outer edge. The front O/S tye is also wearing smooth on the outer edge it is nowhere near as far gone.

The car has done 42k and these tyres probably about 12-15k. The rest of the tyre is in excellent condition with lots of tread left.

My previous set of front tyres had the exact same problem. With the exact same wear pattern even down to O/S wearing quicker. At that time I asked MB dealer to look as it was in for a service and they said all alignment was fine and they considered it normal wear on a heavy RWD car. I didn't follow it up as the tyres in general were reaching the end of their life so I stuck with then a little longer and then changed to these.

Now is it worth me taking it in to get looked at or is it actually normal? I have only ever seen this sort of wear when something is out of alignment.

I do corner quicker and harder than I should most of the time so I could be contributing to it (which I can accept and try to do better at :)) but I estimate the main tread area of these tyres has a good 5-10k left in them so don't want this ending their life early if it can be fixed with some simple tracking.

Any advice much appreciated.
 
Bit far to travel. I'm in Sheffield. Should have said.

I am always use MB dealer so happy to continue doing so (and we have an MB workshop here as well which is competetive) but want to know there is actually a problem to fix first.
 
Lighter shoes may help, so the pedal does not go down too hard, could put it on a Hunter alignment machine to check MB are checking it.
 
[S-TAG][/S-TAG]

I have uneven wear on front inners, on c63 estate. MB said its OK and everyone on here says go to WIM. I'm sticking with 'OK'. I don't see the point in spending nearly £300 at WIM to adjust the car because MB didn't engineer it for RHD. I mean, great as WIM maybe, I don't want to mess about with my car. By the time wear on the inside gets 'worrying', I'll be at 2mm elsewhere so would be changing tyres anyway.
 
[S-TAG][/S-TAG]

I have uneven wear on front inners, on c63 estate. MB said its OK and everyone on here says go to WIM. I'm sticking with 'OK'. I don't see the point in spending nearly £300 at WIM to adjust the car because MB didn't engineer it for RHD. I mean, great as WIM maybe, I don't want to mess about with my car. By the time wear on the inside gets 'worrying', I'll be at 2mm elsewhere so would be changing tyres anyway.

Why do you think it will cost £300 to adjust it? Tony tests the car and then charges per adjustment, it could be as little as £40 or as much as £300 - but if the test does show that the car needs £300 worth of adjustments, then you don't want to drive it in this condition....
 
Why do you think it will cost £300 to adjust it? Tony tests the car and then charges per adjustment, it could be as little as £40 or as much as £300 - but if the test does show that the car needs £300 worth of adjustments, then you don't want to drive it in this condition....

That's what I was told as estimate. Money aside, and I haven't used WIM so can't really have an opinion on their work (probably great), I disagree with the idea that MB don't set their cars up for RHD. I may get uneven tyre wear, which WIM may be able to correct but it's 'normal uneven wear for an AMG' so why mess about with the settings?
 
Why do you think it will cost £300 to adjust it? Tony tests the car and then charges per adjustment, it could be as little as £40 or as much as £300 - but if the test does show that the car needs £300 worth of adjustments, then you don't want to drive it in this condition....

At those prices it's probably cheaper to spend £30 down the road on alignment and get things close and then if you want it fine tuned and exact make the trip to WIM.
 
I've found that a good alignment really does make the car feel grounded [especially in cross winds and heavily cambered roads] and improves the way the car turns in to corners. Something you will not necessarily know can be better until it is set up spot on and you can compare it to how it was before.
If near enough is good enough for you then yes it may be a waste, but so is buying a Merc and not having it ride correctly IMHO.
 
Bit far to travel. I'm in Sheffield. Should have said.

I am always use MB dealer so happy to continue doing so (and we have an MB workshop here as well which is competetive) but want to know there is actually a problem to fix first.

Excessive outside wear means wheels are likely to have too much toe-in.

This could mean suspect worn bushes in suspension links.

Abnormal ride height can also affect toe.

Does car ride height seems normal, or is it perhaps lower/higher at front ?
 
Ride height seems fine.

Most of the front suspension parts have been changed between the first set if tyres wearing and this set due to a creak they couldn't identify. Ended up with loads of new parts.
 
The 639 Vito/Viano (heavy & RWD) wears the outside edge of the front tyres too. We've had ours from new and it's always done it, so not wear/damage related. It's a well known 'issue'.

I'm reluctant to have the geometry changed from M-B's standard setup as I'm very happy with the handling & roadholding. So I live with it, the tyres actually look worse than they are as the outer edge is so visible.

One thing that helps is swapping the tyres front to back on each side, to even the wear out. Obviously you can only do this if the sizes are the same (not a staggered setup) - don't know about the OP's car.
 
Front and rears are different sizes. You're right about it looking worse than it is. I have a out 4-5mm left of tyres but outer edge is almost bald.

Does anyone know what the law says? Is there a point at which I would risk a fine if they were seen like this?
 
Front and rears are different sizes. You're right about it looking worse than it is. I have a out 4-5mm left of tyres but outer edge is almost bald.

Does anyone know what the law says? Is there a point at which I would risk a fine if they were seen like this?

You need 1.6mm across the central 3/4 of the tread width. So a smooth strip on the outside edge isn't necessarily a problem ... mine has passed the MOT like that several times.
 
Just watch carefully for any canvass or metal cord that has been exposed. If it's through the top layer of rubber then it's illegal.
 
Sounds like my tyre is still legal at least. Might mention it next time I go to MB for something rather than make a special trip.

Thanks everyone
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom