czachari

Got delivery of my new 03 c230 sport sedan. Drove home for 15 minutes. Everything was nice except the following:
It seems that the steering wheel is not perfectly centered, when I take my hands off it tilts to the right by an inch or so.

When I arrived home I started going up my driveway which is very steep, we're talking 30-40 degrees steep. Immediately an intense burning oil smell came through the vents. It was just as strong from the outside. Anyone else experience anything like this?

Thanks

CZ

c230 sport

Congratulations on your new ride. My last car had that smell too when I took delivery of it. The dealer told me that it was from some under the hood coating/dressing (not for salad). When the engine is warm enough, it'll cook slightly but it doesn't do any damage, it did go away after a few days. Nothing quite makes sense when told by dealers, but nevertheless my car is still running (knock on wood)!

artw

I didn't have a burning smell but I had sooty looking output from my exhaust for about a week. It was leaving large splotches on my garage floor when starting up cold. It seems to have gone away after 750 miles and warmer weather.

czachari

Couldn't find any and I was amazed to find that the computer can check the oil level. How did they do that? Is it reliable?

CZ

p.s. None of my other new cars ever had a burning oil smell. I've driven 4 cyl. Turbo, V6 and V8 cars.

Lynn

Some people have reported that their cars were delivered with the steering wheel off center because it was mis-installed by a spline or two. However, being off an inch is more than a spline or two. Have the dealer fix it.

The smell is common. Don't worry unless is doesn't go away in a week or two.

czachari

It seems that the wheel "pulls" to the right. Basically when it centers itself it's off by an inch. I checked the tire pressures. I am going in 1st thing tomorrow. The car is ver impressive otherwise. Solid as a vault and fast even though I did not rev it above 4k rpms. I am impressed....


CZ

mayday

The smell is from the cosmolene (sp?) that's sprayed on the metalic parts of the engine to protect from the salt environment that the vehicles may be exposed to on there way to North America via the sea. It goes away after a few weeks.
I'd put up with the off center steering for a few weeks, make a list of that and any other problems and take it back to the dealer to have them fixed. The 2002 C230K's had a problem with off center steering wheel and pulling to the right or the left but I don't recall exactly what the problem was for sure. I do know it was corrected. Congrats on your new vehicle!

2002 C230K six speed c5 c7 bose paprika 21K miles

Outland

Translated out to the diameter of the steering wheel, one spline width may very well indeed be one inch.

Buellwinkle

We all lean to the right where I live so that steering wheel would probably look straight to us.

Lynn

I hear that orthopedic surgery can cure that.

mleskovar

Off center steering wheel usually requires realignment. It doesn't take much for the eye to see the problem. Figure it out, there are only about 16 splines (if that many) which would mean 22.5 degrees per spline and that's more than an "inch" at the steering wheel outer edge. The "oily" smell is common for all new cars and I'm surprised you didn't smell it with your other new cars. Don't wait for the "A" service to get the wheel straightened. Alignment is only good for the first year and the A service may come after that.

czachari

The smell has diminished quite a bit so I won't worry about it for now. I paid more attention to the steering wheel and it seems that it's not out of alignment. What seems to happen is that the wheel will sometimes turn right on its own. Maybe it's following a groove on the road surface. It actually resists when I try to keep it straight.
Mayday, is this what you were talking about the '02s having this issue? If they fixed it for the 02s why do the 03s still exhibit this behavior?

Thanks a bunch.


CZ

Lynn

If you have the C7 tires and wheels, those tire follow road imperfections quite badly. This is called tram lining. The only way to fix it is to use narrower tires. My car does it with the C7's but not when the 205/55 16 snow tires are on the car.

czachari

CZ

Thanks

Lynn

Yes, they are 225/24 17 on 7.5" wide wheels.