Anyone experienced looseness in their stock suspension. Here is what I am dealing with... it almost feels like I am constantly hydroplaning or getting pulled into groves in the road all the time while driving. I drive about 55 miles one way to work so its not just a few roads I am on. Its gotten progressivly worse since the winter. I guess it just feels like I am not firmly attached to the road in anyway.

Any ideas what may be causing this?

I have it in the shop already and am just trying know what to expect.

 

When I swap on the C7 wheels the car wants to follow every crack and dip on the roadway. I really have to grip the wheel and pay a little more attention until I get used to it. It's just the way it is with wider tires.

 

The C7 tires are notorious for tram lining, meaning they will follow every road imperfection. If you used standard size snow tires during the winter and just switched back to the summer tires, it can be very disconcerting.

 

Ok well I just got off the phone with the dealership and they are trying to tell me that the castor is off on the allignment and that the C230 does not come from the factory with an adjustment for this so they have to order two bolts to make the adjustment ....

This bringing the total cost for an alignment to $300+

WTF!

 

My car doesn't have the C7's but when I put the AMG swaybars on, I noticed more of what you are describing. The more rutted the road from trucks, etc, the worse it is. I think it is "normal" to some degree. You have to decide how bad yours is and if you want to spend money to try to change it.

 

So how much should I expect to spend?!


Since I havent put on aftermarket rims and havent put on new springs or shocks why do I need a castor adjustment.


Thats crap that they cant get it back to manuf specs just by making the proper adjustments, without adding bolts that should have been in place to begin with.

 

I would recommend everyone try this. Most of us with Evolution (C7) replace their 17" for something else (presumably 16") for winter driving. If, like me, you do your own tire changes, make sure you check your tire pressures!!! A pressure imbalance or low, can cause the tramming effect to become quite exaggerated. I noticed this on my car when I swapped out my winters for the Evolutions. Checked my pressures, and viola... better. Tire wear also has a roll here. The more worn your tires, the more trammy they will become. Remember, these are performance, low profile radial tires with a stiff sidewall, they are going to PERFORM! Performance has a price.

Good luck with Castor fix!

 

All four tires are brand new...
Never have used anything But C7 wheels on my car.

I refuse to pay more money to mercedes for the Castor fix because I have a stock setup still and they cannot explain to me why the car cant be put back to the manufacturer's specifications without new bolts.

When I goto the shop to get work done I am paying for the fact that they have to tools to do the job.

 

Youre wasting your time and ours. Welcome to the world of large, low profile, stiff sidewall tires. I've had this same issue come up when similar tires were used on my Vette, my Saturn Coupe, and my wife's former Probe GT. My Opel was a bit squirley as well, even without super large tires. The Mini S I drove exhibited this even more so than a C230 with the C7 package does.

Unless the car is consitently pulling in one direction, there is nothing wrong with the alignment. About the only thing you could do is ask more more tow in...it will reduce the car's agility, and increase tire wear, but should make it less prone to following the pavement.

 

I owned a 99 M Coupe with 35 series tires on it and it never tramlined. Same with my 740i It had 45 series tires and it never tramlined either. It must be something with the suspension geometry that's causing this, let's not blame the tires. It seems that my brand new C230 Sport sedan is exhibiting the same problem. Are those rims the same as what you guys call the "C7" package?

Thanks

CZ

p.s. I will be bringing the car in for that shortly...

 

Yes.

 

Air pressure also has a big effect on this problem. The higher the air pressure, the more pronounced it will be. Try running 30psi in all 4 tires and see if it changes/helps. Heck in Nascar they change air pressure by .25psi in one tire sometimes to change the handling characteristics.

 

The car was delivered with 37-38 psi in the front tires. Is this ok? I didn't check the rears.

CZ

 

37-38 is way to high... try 32 in all 4 tires and see how you like it. I even put 30 in for hwy trips since handling isn't a concern, but comfort is.

 

Comfort is nice, but so is gas mileage. On a highway trip you will definitely get better gas mileage if you run it a bit higher than that.

 

My car gets 31 mpg at 75mph on the hwy. two more psi might get me 31.2mpg. I'll take the comfort.

 

You might be burning oil, but at least you get good gas mileage. I have never gotten over 30 mpg over a long duration. So yeah, I would go for the comfort too.

 

Yep, the car runs great, and gets good mileage, but I'm very worried about the long term oil problem.

 

how many miles? i recently had my car in for service A and they did an alignment AND replaced the bolts UNDER WARRANTY. they said it was covered up to 12K miles. so, if you are under this you may want to ask why they are charging you.

 

After reading this post, drove two co-workers cars:
2002 330Ci w/sport package
2002 330i w/sport package and M-wheels

Both above cars follow pavement seams, road crowns, etc., like a dog following a racoon. Same feel as my 230SportSedan, but with a ride that will knock your fillings out.

This effect is most likely due to the large tires - and is not limited to C-sport cars.

 

It is not the width that causes tram lining. It is the short, stiff sidewalls and the circuferential grooves in the tread.

 

The C230K sedan has Michelins. The MCoupe had even lower profile tire ( 35 series ). I remember that the front shocks were not screwed in vertically. They were screwed in at an angle pointing backwards a bit to enhance high-speed stability. That car was awesome even @ 140mph.

CZ