evanswan

Just picked up a new c300. the car pulls to the right noticeably. Went on a cruise the next day with a tech, he says they all do that because they were designed for German roads that don't crown to the right. It's really starting to bug me. So why don't they offset camber or adjust something on a U.S. car. don't get it. Any one have this issue.

angeloxnet

sounds like bs to me...

JimPap

Seems that when I first got my C300, 11,000 miles ago, the car wanted to steer itself and I was having to fight it. I don't remember exactly when, but it started steering like you would expect. Its very precise and doesn't pull one way or the other unless I'm on some werdo asphalt that wasn't layed properly.

As a side note, I thought I'd get my alignment checked. Not that it needed it, just because I wanted to. Turns out that regular alignment shops can't work on it. You have to take it into the dealer for that.

micropower99

Mine steers fine

tanktube67

At the beginning it felt like the car had a mine of its own

AkaSigFreak

Yeah right! The Autobahn is an uneven road that pulls to the right? Can you imagine doing 160 and having the fight the wheel? This Tech need to be

puzzled

I've driven on the Autobahn and it's just like driving on a highway here except there are parts without a speed limit. I would recommend you speak with the service manager.

Derspeed

Mine doesn't pull. Dealership service techs will say anything to shut you up. Be persistent.

matsi

My C300 4Matic was pulling to the left after the first week. I took it into the dealer and they said they fixed, but after driving it home it continued to pull.
I called the service manager and complained to him and threatened to not come back to that dealer, they wanted me to go in the next day and they fixed it right away. Now its driving fine.

pgaduane

Mine's straighter than a wedding night peter.... They are pulling (no pun intended) one on you. Take it back and pound them to the ground

zebra1550

Do you have the 18" AMG's on your car? Because if you do, it's most likely the rims. I'll help you out by trading you my super sweet 17" 7-spokes for your 18" AMG's and we'll call it even, no need to thank me. On a serious note though, the tech is full of crap. Go to another dealer and have it checked, my C300 Sport 4Matic is straight as an arrow.

RLE

<<Just picked up a new c300. the car pulls to the right noticeably. Went on a cruise the next day with a tech, he says they all do that because they were designed for German roads that don't crown to the right. It's really starting to bug me. So why don't they offset camber or adjust something on a U.S. car. don't get it. Any one have this issue.>>

This is an old time favorite of some service writers and is absolute baloney. If you want to do some diagnosis of your own you could swap the front tires left to right, assuming that whatever tires you have are not directional. But, this can be caused by the rear alignment being off a bit, also.

My experience with this was with my '01 C320 which developed the same problem early in it's life. What finally cured it was a slight caster adjustment on the right front.

It used to be that warranty would cover one alignment in the first 12K miles but in any case the dealer needs to fix it with no further arguments.

Aggressive

Total BS!! Go back there and rip into the Service manager.

Baron Samedi

Don't go to another dealer. Making the rounds of dealers does nobody any good. Speak to the Svc Mgr at the original dealer and I'm sure he'll make it right. I guarantee he has no idea that his techs/svc advisors tell his customers that B. S.

st13phil

What on earth's he smoking? That is pure, unadulterated BS. You drive on the right, Germany drives on the right. Their roads are like yours except better surfaced

My RHD car drives arrow straight unless there is a really strong camber in which case it will gently follow it - and I drive on the left of the road. Ask the tech how he explains that

mikefili

My car drives perfectly, I have always felt that there is a prize for the most absurd thing that the service people in the dealership can come up with to tell the customers, they really still do beleive, that the folks who make enough money to buy these cars are complete morons.

evanswan

thanks for the posts guys. I'm taking it in. I also notice on freeways at high speeds 60 to 85mph, I can feel a woble in the rear. It is a quick back and forth movement. Feels unstabel, like the tires are following creases in the road. I had this feeling on my c32 and there was a striped tie rod bolt or something like that in the rear. I am going to have them check out the rear and make sure everything is tightened up. Starting to wonder if quality control even looked at this thing before they shipped it and put it on the lot.

ColoradoDriver

Sounds like tire tread catching on the grooved payment.

sjeric

I noticed that too with my car with Michelin MXM4 tires. At first it felt like the car was being buffeted by wind gusts, but there wasn't any. I finally realized that it only happened on the grooved pavement at speeds >60 mph. It's pretty irritating.

Anyone else with different tires experience the same thing?

Txhurdle

Your alignment is completely covered under warranty for the first year, up to 12k miles. Most dealers will want you to wait until your 1k service to seriously look at any perceived alignment issues.

rolodoc

I have felt a mild pull to the right also. On the freeway cruising at 60-70mph, I center the steering wheel and let go. The car starts moving to the right gradually and after 5 seconds I have to steer back to the left. Car has 4000 miles now.

Should I bring it to the dealer for front wheel alignment?

oblu

Sun spots!

jrct9454

These cars should run straight ahead like a train...period.

I've heard all kinds of excuses, mostly from clueless service reps....but I can tell you that a skilled alignment tech will fix this every time. The secret is to find this individual, if he/she exists at your particular dealership.

Our W203 C240 was delivered with a pulling problem. I told them at the sale close that I would be back the same week. It took them two tries, and some creativity on the part of the lead tech in the shop, but when they were done, that thing tracked straight at any speed up to 130 mph.

In my case, he had to use a differential caster setting, that is, the caster on one side was set a little bit differently from the other [caster affects how easily the car will change direction]....but the point is, he solved the problem.

DO NOT GIVE UP ON THIS UNTIL IT'S FIXED. Our '08 C300 tracks beautifully, and all claims by service people that the car "should" fall off to one side of the other are complete claptrap.

JimPap

John,

Which model do you have and what's your highway miles per gallon. Just wondering if and how their adjustments may have affected fuel economy.

jrct9454

Our C300 has never had an alignment problem, and is running with the factory settings, whatever they are. We see 20-22 mpg in local errand-running, and 27-30 mpg on longer trips [depending on all the usual variables].

Our '02 C240, which did have the alignment corrected [but within a week of initial delivery - I never drove it more than 100 miles before it was fixed] averaged almost exactly the same kinds of numbers, under the same circumstances as the current car.

That's just one of the things I like about the C300 - 35% MORE horsepower with the same or better fuel consumption.

A severe alignment problem will indeed show up in lots of ways, including excessive tire wear and higher fuel use; the kinds of relatively mild pulling issues we're talking about are annoying and unnecessary, but have effects that mostly speak to tire wear [and wear on the driver on a long trip].

And incidentally, our '98 E320 wanted to wander, too, and also had the "dartiness" that was a characteristic of the W210 - the techs at MB Sacramento [who also worked on the C240] fixed this car also, on the first try, and it was a real pleasure to drive on long trips as a result. Point: if the dealer has somebody on the staff who really knows how to use the alignment rack, there is no problem that can't be solved.