W211 Wheel Alignment

[pmtx]

Firstly it's my first post so Hi! I've recently bought a 2004 E270 and I'm loving it.

Upon closer inspection of the tyres, I noticed that the off-side front had been wearing a little more on the inside than the rest of the tyre. So I decided to get 4-wheel alignment done. I went to BMTR in Birmingham as it's fairly local to me and reading around the web, they have some reasonable reviews.

I have to say that whilst the staff were nice enough, I'm not particularly impressed with the results. It took them 10 minutes to work out it was a W211 (presumably to enter into the machine) and then an additional 45 minutes to do the alignment. I got a before and after print-out which shows some improvement, but they told me that the front camber cannot be adjusted on the car? This doesn't seem right to me, is this the case as the printout still shows both sides as being out of spec. with regards to front camber?

This is the report :

The car drives okay, it seemed to pull a little to the left before, but now there's less pull. They've cocked up the centring as the steering wheel is no long straight when driving straight which is a shame.

The front tyres have probably only got a few thousand miles left on them so I think I'll get it sorted properly when I replace them. Lots of people seem to like Wheels in Motion, which is quite a trek for me, but I'm quite fussy and it's worth it if they'll do it right.

This is a great forum btw, looking forward to many more posts.

Andy

 

[BlackC55]

The camber and castor IS adjustable. Take it to WIM for a proper alignment.

Before alignment checl all suspension bushes and joints. No point in aligning a worn car.

 

[Paul XE]

If you want I can get you the wheel alignment settings from Autodata for a w211. I set mine today (w210 estate) and camber, castor and toe are adjustable on the front. Only found toe adjustable on the rear though.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Welcome to the forum!!

I've used BMTR a few times - I bought four sets of four tyres from them in less than 12 months, and they were great. My opinion was tainted later when a manufacturing fault emerged with on the tyres - they dragged their feet and weren't particularly helpful. Needless to say I go elsewhere now.

Supposedly they do wheel alignment on behalf of Porsche Centre Sutton Coldfield, and I've read decent reviews on the web too. I would take it back and ask that they adjust the steering wheel as a minimum.

Wheels-in-Motion seem to be a different league though, so may be worth a day trip later - as BlackC55 says, make sure all the suspension components are good before making the trip!!

 

[flango]

Firstly it's my first post so Hi! I've recently bought a 2004 E270 and I'm loving it.


I have to say that whilst the staff were nice enough, I'm not particularly impressed with the results. Andy

We used to use BMTR for all the race cars we did but they seem to have got worse over the Years. We wont use anyone now other than WIM and we are based in Yorkshire but still worth the 300 mile + trek to get it done correctly. Never had an issue with WIM its done once and done right

 

[pmtx]

Thanks for all the replies, I'm pretty sure a trip to WIM will be on the cards within the next month or two. What's the typical damage (in terms of cost) btw? Is it worth buying the replacement tyres from their sister company?

I'm not really sure how to check the suspension before going to WIM, I'm not really all that mechanically competent. I could probably take the wheels off if I had to, but I don't have a trolley jack and other useful tools.

Going to the dealer and saying "Can you check my bushes, joints, etc" sounds like a recipe to spend a lot of money unnecessarily. Car's only done 32,000 miles btw.

Any pointers for checking the suspension or recommendations of an indie around South Brum who would do it, would be appreciated.

Thanks again,

Andy

 

[p12009]

2007 w211 suspension

I recently bought a 2007 e350....non sport model....i just had eibach lowering springs put on the car with after market wheels and tires...lowered the car about 1.5 to 2 inches all aroundnow obviously the front camber needs adustmnet...i am getting different answers as to whether the front camber at least can be re-adjusted...i have been told can by front camber adjustment bolts from Mecedes to have camber set...any answers for this?

 

[jasonyw]

I tried to get mine aligned at the beginning of this year. I took it to KwikFit, they would not do it saying the only people who can do it is a Merc dealer, and there is a procedure to do it like putting weights to balance the car.

Don't waste money to go anywhere else or don't do it.

 

[pmtx]

I cracked and went to WIM yesterday and I'm pretty happy with the results, they certainly knocked socks off BMTR. Tony was very friendly and clearly knowledgeable. He was more than happy for me to be involved in the process, watch them align the car and ask questions, which showed they knew what they were doing and had nothing to hide. They fitted the adjuster bolts which sort out the camber and got the alignment looking good.

The car certainly feels a lot better and hardly pulls at all now. Tony was a little baffled by the pull as the geometry of the car suggested it should be pulling the opposite way to the direction it was. He suggested it could be lateral drift in the tyres and swapped the wheels on the front axle to test this. I'd say the results of this are inconclusive and I'm not sure I'll be completely happy until I've swapped the two front tyres and the problem will hopefully go away.

I'd certainly not hesitate to recommend WIM, I think they're probably the best in the UK at making a w211 go in a straight line.

 

[corned]

Nice one, fella. Glad you're sorted.

I'm just waiting for the opportunity to get down there myself.