snarlingchicken

Hello everyone. So about a week ago, I had my car aligned since I had it lowered on Eibach springs and had some tires changed. I had my car due for service and had a coupon so I actually took it to a local dealership to get the job done.

To sum it up quickly, the reason I needed an alignment was because since the install, the car pulled left when the wheel was held straight, and the car drifted left whenever the wheel was let go of while driving on a flat/straight road. (Also, it required less effort to turn the wheel left after the install as well, while you could feel the effort/responsiveness when turning the wheel right).

Now I figured, since they're the dealership, and I called my SA (who is actually quite helpful) ahead of time to confirm that they would be able to perform the alignment on my car, making it clear that my car was lowered. He said the techs there gave him the green light.

Fast forward to the day of, and after I picked up the car, I noticed that it felt off. I basically drove it for the first night after picking it up, as the service department had closed, and I was honestly dead tired. But on my drive back, I noticed that the wheel is not centered. When I hold the wheel dead center, the car quickly pulls to the right. I find this to be the most concerning. However, should I hold the wheel when it is turned 5 degrees to the left, my car drives straight. Should I release the wheel however (while driving on a straight flat road), the car STILL drifts towards the left. In addition to this, the car still requires much more effort to turn right, while it takes almost no effort at all to turn the car left, or rather, as I mentioned above, there is much more feedback when turning the car right than there is turning the car left. In fact, the wheel favors turning the car left at this point. Even when the car is parked and not in motion, it turns much more easily to the left than the right.

So of course I addressed this with my SA and the dealer (and I mentioned it in the survey that came after which asked me to "rate" the service). Both my SA and the customer service rep are willing to work with me again to resolve the issue, but here's what I am asking. Is it worth going back and having them look at it again? Jim had mentioned on the phone that a fix for all the camber issues can be addressed with the addition of a few bolts, which would run me about $300, but seeing as there are several W204s that are lowered without this issue, I find it to be unnecessary. There's a reputable alignment shop called West End Alignment not to far from where I live back home actually. They do their work the old fashioned way but are apparently legendary in what they do and the outcomes they achieve. Should I just take it there and pay the normal cost for another alignment rather than pay more money at the dealership than I already did?

Honestly, I've had so much bad luck modding this car that if I could, I would just sell it and get a nice, reliable DD. I loved this car but now I'm constantly banging my head against the wall. Sigh. Inputs would be appreciated.

Also, I'm running stock 17" wheels. I'm afraid that if I get new wheels at this point, some bolt or hub ring will break and have me careening into the center divider on the 405. Maybe I should just go back to stock springs.



Edit: Forgot to mention. What makes this all worse is that I'm actually out of the country right now until August 6. T_T. Can't get it fixed until then.

SuPERSaK

1st off, wow what a read !...... LOL

2nd, I would try an independent alignment shop first... I recently lower my c300 on H&R SS and am due for an alignment also.

I will be taking my C300 to my local BrakeCheck since they have the $99 lifetime alignment/tire balance. Make sure they have LASER Alignment and the ramp is the lower one..... The local BrakeCheck I go to deal with a lot of SLAMED 350Z so they know what they are doing.

Plus they will let you stand there and watch them do it and if for some reason can't do the alignment becuzz you need a toe bolt or something they will ask you what you would like to do. If you decide to not do it they will not charge you.

Hope that helps...

snarlingchicken

Haha, sorry. I was kinda thinking that I was being a bit overwinded in explaining my situation, but hey, doesn't hurt to be thorough.

And the shop I'm looking at actually deals especially with track cars and whatnot, with the owner personally asking you what sort of set up you're looking for, (whether it be reduced tire wear, running canyon twisties, or playing around at the track). In addition to that, he has you sit in the car to get a measure of the weight that would offset the suspension as well. If you wanna yelp him or something, his reviews are top notch. Family run with old fashioned methods, but gets the job done. It's not like the 4 wheel laser alignment at the dealer did me any good :3



Edit: I counted 30 commas in my main post. Woo! Too many compound/compound-complex sentences. (or comma splices)

SuPERSaK

Yeah I never trusted the Stealership. I feel they RUSH doing their stuff a lot.

Glyn M Ruck

If your car is pulling left something is screwball. It should tend to pull right. You need to fit the 3 way fluted castor & camber bolts after lowering to achieve proper alignment. You are in no mans land but get the alignment as close to stock as possible.

EDIT. If everything is correct & the car still pulls then dialling on positive castor up to 2 degrees on the side of the pull will help. With the camber of US roads however, that would tend to mean dialing extra castor on the RHS to stop pulling right.

MBFLO

Since you allready paid for a visit at dealer and it wasnt corrected , they need to correct it .. They shouldnt charge you again if they didnt do the job right first time.. If they come back with Camber BS and try to charge you then state it should of been addressed previously .and you not willing to pay anymore fees and to no do anymore work to your car and get out of there before they try to stick with a big bill , always state if you didnt ask for it dont perform it or else it will somhow end up on your bill . But alot of time they dont get the alignment right on first crack and need to be done more thoroughly . In my area no USA branded franchise will touch my car all tell me take to dealer their machines are equipped for our cars .Goodluk

jimmythegreek

I would see what MB will do for you as a retry without charge. If theyre gonna whack you more $$ go to someone that knows whats up. When I picked up my newer 350 in May it pulled slightly to left from the dealer lot, 3 miles on it. When I threw the 19s on next day it got worst. BUT when Im going highway speeds its straight as an arrow mostly, only tracks a little w the road wear. I change rims constantly (have 3 sets) and stopped by my buddies shop that has the newest hunter laser alignment and the camber and toe settings were diff on each side of car from the factory. my 2008 was dead straight from dealer and so were teh settings on camber and toe. Funny thing is the machines computer has is as an option according to my VIN to be + or - a hair on passenger side only because I have dynamic handling and the ride height changes w the suspension settings on the dash, so go figure

Glyn M Ruck

Without installing fluted bolts there is no caster or camber adjustment.

xXHotelCrazyXx

what did the dealership charge you for an alignment?

snarlingchicken

Those are my thoughts exactly on what I want to do. The dealership said they'll have a tech drive with me to see what/how bad the problem is. Hopefully they'll be willing to resolve it.

Well that's a darn shame. Maybe I will consider this down the road should tire wear and alignment issues become absolutely unbearable.

The dealership charged $130 but I had that $100 off service coupon so I ended up paying $30 for it. Although I did have to get service done too.

xXHotelCrazyXx

nice!

sebydeleon

Never align again in the dealer
Leave it to an independent shop

hyperion667

I would raise hell.........diplomatically of course.......
seems like a task the dealer would be capable of....

sometimes you cannot take no for an answer....

good luck

snarlingchicken

I'll let the dealership try and make it right. If they say they need to install the bolts in order to fix it, then I think I'll take it to an independent shop. It's not so much the camber/tire wear that concerns me. It's that the car doesn't go straight when you tell it to. If they can't at least line up the steering wheel correctly...that's a problem.

Glyn M Ruck

What is your reluctance to fit the bolts? Everybody should do it. They should be fitted at assembly. The fact that they are not is just Benz being cheap & fitting a standard bolt that only fits the center position in the bushes. Had bolts fitted to my 240 & our C350 at the first tyre change. All the dealer can do without the bolts is set the toe. Make them set the rear toe while they are about it. By fitting lowering springs you have taken the car away from standard & require to align it to compensate.

jctevere

Definitely go back to the dealership and complain some more. Make it clear that if something has to be done that will cost money to call you first for prior authorization. But at the very least they should re-center the steering wheel. Also, ask for a printout of the alignment before and after report of what they changed and what the settings are at now.

snarlingchicken

It's not so much a reluctance. If it ultimately has to be done, I will have it done. But seeing as I won't be holding onto the car for that much longer, and there are many a W204 who have gone without them, I don't see the need to splurge if it's only an option and Mercedes themselves have opted out of making them a standard "feature" if you will call it that. But as you said above, you simply called it Mercedes just being cheap. Perhaps it's just me being cheap too in a way :/ It's not completely out of the picture in any way. It's just a last resort for me is all.

Will do. I asked for a before and after the first time, but they only printed me the results, while mumbling some sort of excuse as to why they could not procure the initial settings. I'll make it clear with my SA/techs this time.

zankok

encountered the same problem, i noticed wheel pulling right when i drove it out of show room,
had the alignment checked several times, couldnt fixed that, wheel shops gave me all sorts of reasons like the tire pressure is uneven, psychological problem etc.
went to an MB associated tire shop, they said the c class came broken alignment from factory, robbed me on a set of new screws. after install, the car drives like a dream until today, when i think back the screws were certainly expensive but it sure fixed my problem
I have the same eibach springs with 5mm pads too

hope this experience helps

snarlingchicken

How much did the screws run you Zankok? I might go around and compare prices then if I do go through with the install.

zankok

this cost roughly USD300 in Asia, so I would expect them to be more expensive in western country?
according to the guy he said these are special screws design to solve this particular issue, when it came it has all that MB spare part packaging, took it out it looks just like normal screws with some flat face on the side

Glyn M Ruck

Bolts cost $13 to $16 each at RMeuropean depending on whether you want Febi or genuine. They are a rip off outside the US.

snarlingchicken

Thanks Glyn! I think I'll look into this then! I've RMEuropean trying to find them now. I'll have a word with my SA about installing em. Hopefully labor charges won't be ridiculous. But from the pictures you posted I'm guessing I need quite a few things per wheel. Hate to ask you ask you've already been so helpful but do you have a part number or link to the bolts on the website? I can't quite find them...unless I'm looking in the wrong category.. (I would assume they would be under "suspension, steering system")

Glyn M Ruck

I have quoted W203 bolts. The bushes are interchangeable between 203 & 204 so I'm presuming the bolts are as well - tell RMeuropean to check this but if you look at the part number it is multi model. I don't know why they don't list them under the W204.




These bloody bolts cost $142 a pair in SA

snarlingchicken

Thanks for the reply Glyn! I just send RMEuropean the inquiry. Wow that's quite the markup! I thought it was bad over here in the states D:

JimPap

If I had any doubt that MB is going to boink you on repairs, its gone now.