Also dangerous. Doesn't Mercedes see the potential for accident/lawsuit?

 

Looks like a fairly old thread, but perhaps we can shed some light on what folks might be describing here. As far as I know, the steering in the C63 is a variable ratio steering rack. Meaning the steering ratio dynamically changes based on speed, drive mode and steering angle. I'm used to this and like it a lot as I had it in my RS5. Audi calls it their Dynamic Steering (not to be confused with the Dynamic mode) and it's optionally available on some of their models. Audi's standard steering is a fixed ratio steering. The purpose of a variable ratio steering is to change the steering dynamics based on the driving mode and situation. In Comfort, the steering gets direct at low speeds for easy maneuvering in parking lots and gets more indirect at higher speeds for increased straight line stability. I think the latter is what folks are observing. Basically at highway speeds, the steering sort of resists to minor directional changes at the center point. This is so when the driver ever so slightly jerks/wiggles the steering wheel due to bumps in the road etc., the car doesn't immediately follow with an actual directional change. This basically makes long distance mostly straight highway driving more comfortable as fewer steering corrections are necessary, but it does make the steering somewhat lazy if you expect quick directional changes.

The C63S adds another level to this with the dynamic engine mounts. In Comfort mode, the engine is mounted with more slack, so when turning in, the chassis turns, but the heavy engine follows slightly delayed due to the slack in the mounting. The suspension also adds to this as in Comfort mode the initial turn in is much more absorbed by the suspension before the chassis itself actually turns. This all adds Comfort, but makes the car feel more loose. A good analogy to the dynamic engine mount are standard seats with less side bolsters. As you turn, your body doesn't immediately follow the directional change because there isn't as much side support to force the body to immediately follow the directional change.

As you move up to S, S+ and Race, everything starts tightening up. The steering becomes more direct and responsive at higher speeds, the engine gets mounted to the chassis more rigidly so it follows changes in direction quicker. Again the analogy here would be heavily bolstered seats that hold your body in place and makes it follow the direction of the car. The suspension also tightens up, so there is less delay in the suspension loading up before the car actually turns.

This is the old game of comfort vs dynamic handling and the nice thing is that we have plenty of ways to adjust the various components to find our personal preferred balance between comfort and dynamic handling. The difference in the steering between Comfort and S+/Race was very apparent on the German Autobahn at higher speeds. I ended up setting up the Individual mode with AMG Dynamics in Pro, otherwise driving at those speeds was a bit scary as the car didn't turn in as quickly as I expected. The new AMG Dynamics system in the 2019+ is pretty impressive and the difference between Basic and Pro/Master is very noticeable in particular in how the car turns into corners.

I've currently setup my Individual mode with Drivetrain in S, Suspension in C, AMG Dynamics in Pro. This worked very well on the German Autobahn for fast, but still somewhat comfortable driving. The car responds quickly to directional changes and is a good setup for dynamic street driving. My wife complained yesterday that her stomach got queasy on the way to a dinner party that involved some nice curvy hill roads, so I left the car in C on the way home. It definitely mellows down in C quite a bit and looks like that has to be the wife mode in the future at least for around town driving.

In summary I would say take advantage of the Individual mode and setup the car based on your preferences. I think there is a mode for everybody. In the 2019+ it's very convenient to activate I* from whatever mode the car is currently in by simply pressing the drive mode selector on the steering wheel. I really like that about the new AMG Drive Unit.

 

Nope, the below described is not the issue.
It's not about the initiation of the turn, but about the wheel returning back to the centre. And it only happens on left turns.

It's as if you had a faulty ball joint or really screwed up caster settings.

On a left hand bender the car will freeze in the position. Naturally the wheel will unwind with montion, but the car will instead keep lock on that angle and drive into a tree

 

its even more noticeable if you are lowered . It drives me crazy and I have complained to Mercedes and they told me its normal .....

 

Ok, I'm gonna have to pay some attention to this, but over the last roughly 6500 miles, I can't say I have this issue. However, this is my second car with EPS. Return to center issues has been one of the common complaints with EPS. Most EPS have assisted return to center and it feels different than traditional HPS. Traditional HPS systems rely on the suspension geometry for the steering to return to center, but a lot of EPS don't and instead help with the e-motor to return the steering to center. This can feel odd at first and in my experience can also be very sensitive to the condition of the tires and the tire pressure. I somewhat had what you describe here in my RS5 at times. The PSS tires also have a somewhat strange off/on center feel I've noticed. I had one set on the RS5. The steering in my RS5 felt best with the last set of tires I had put on, which were PS4S. I'm planning to put PS4S on my C63S pretty soon. They are better than the PSS in many areas and steering response is one of them.

 

Similar issue to report here. Doesn’t happen very often, but when it does it’s pretty much always on gentle highway curves. It was off-putting at first but I’ve gotten used to it. Happens in both C and S, but have not experienced it in S+.

I will say though, never experienced this in the 2017 non-S C63

 

Is it only with left-hand turns or with both left and right hand turns? I haven't noticed this but I haven't paid explicit attention to this, so I might have just missed it.

 

When I was considering S5 Sportback before I purchased my Tesla I read a lot of complaints about Audi's "Dynamic Steering". I'm surprised you liked it... Anyway, I don't think its the same with the C63 as mine "locks in" only when turning right. Yesterday night it was fine, today in the morning its really bad, feels like the steering wheel lives its own life

 

Audi's Dynamic Steering IMO has an undeserved bad rep. Most people who complain about it just repeat stuff they've read, and don't actually have their own experience. There have been some journalist who gave it bad reviews after using it for a short time only. There is a bit of a getting used period required before it felt natural (training one's muscle memory). Early on it was also a bit wonky and they issued a software update, which fixed the strange behaviors. Most folks also didn't fully understand how it works. On the RS5 for example, the ratio was only variable in the Comfort and Auto modes. Both were meant for DD and long distance cruising where it made a lot of sense, but in the Dynamic mode, the ratio was actually fixed for a more predictable steering response when the speed of the car changed quickly such as on a track or when busting up a windy mountain road. Generally the car journalists didn't pick up on this, either and left it in Comfort or Auto when they went on the track for example, resulting in a bad experience.

Are you sure your car isn't tramlining? I definitely have the steering seem stuck sometimes, but it generally is due to the road surface. That's a somewhat common issue with fat front tires. They tend to follow the contours of the surface much more than a skinnier tire. The coupe has 255s in the front, which is quite wide, but not as bad as the 275s I had on my RS5.

 

Just thought I post an update. It's not like that I think I wouldn't have picked up on this over the last 6500 miles, but I specifically paid attention to the steering today. I went back to the dealership to have my car properly detailed and a couple of scratches buffed out today. There are some nice left and right sweepers on this particular highway leading through a hilly area. I could not discern any issues with the steering. In fact the steering is excellent as many reviewers have commented. I partly went back to RWD for the purer steering feel. As much as I liked quattro, AWD does muddle the steering and causes ever so slight torque steer. Completely different in this car. The steering is communicative and feels solid in pretty much any situation. I was driving in Comfort mode all day. FWIW, I keep my tire pressure at 33f/32r as recommended by AMG for a normal loaded car not exceeding 155 mph for a sustained period. We do have pretty good road surfaces by now. There's been a huge effort to repave the highways and surface streets with rubberized asphalt. The highways are pretty smooth for most parts. Temperatures were in the low to mid 70s today. The steering unwinds naturally and goes back to center.

To anybody who has issues, I would recommend to get the alignment checked. Get a printout showing proper alignment. It's not unheard off, that the alignment is off from the factory. I would also check if there are any software updates. Maybe it's placebo, but I get the feeling that my car has gotten some updates at the VPC. After all it spent 3 weeks there and the build date is February, so I'm sure there was newer software by now. I know for sure they had to reprogram the ECU for the US, but the transmission seems a lot smoother now at low speeds driving around town in Comfort. It was a bit touchy feely at times in Europe. I'm quite pleased with how the car drives now. Also, so far I haven't gotten any of the spurious oil level warnings I got regularly in Europe. I did mention it MBUSA ED, so maybe they replaced the oil level sensor at the VPC.

 

I have had the 2019 C63S for few months, and so far I've not come across the issue which is described in this thread. I drive 50% of the time in Comfort mode. The steering mostly turns back after the turn with relatively less or no effort.

 

I currently own a 2018 Macan Turbo. Last week, I accidently turned on the LCA. Holy *****! On the beltway around Houston, it's four lanes wide. Over the years they've expanded it here and there. The Macan wanted to track THE OLD LINES in the road. NOT the new ones. I turned that sucker off in a heartbeat. To others that have mentioned this issue, it will cause a wreck if one hasn't happened already. IMO, it's dangerous.

 

A quick update... I brought my new car in (<700kms) and the tech saw the issue.
They reset the electric steering and supposedly placed it back learn mode (????). The steering is 200% better and returns to centre. However, it is still delayed and needs abit of manual input as compared to the right side.
They mentioned the left motor could be faulty and is causing a delay. So, I am waiting for the diff oil change and booking both things in at the same time.

Fingers crossed they can fix it

 

Car went back again. No avail. Everthjng checks out and no errors on their scanning tool. I got the car back today and will video the issue and raise the issue with Mercedes australia.

This isn't on all cars, but I test drove another face life model and it has the same issue.

 

THe car is definitely not tramlining, left turns are OK, only right turns are getting locked it. I specifically drove the car for the whole week without switching to Tesla and already thought that I'm getting used to it when the steering wheels started "glitching" again in the morning. I'm sure it has something to do with the sensor as Tuesday- Thursday the car was almost fine and didn't brake on its own, butt today it braked on the front driver side wheel and than the steering wheels started to lock up.

 

This car has way too many issues for a facelift. Really do not understand what Mercedes is playing at.

 

I'll try and get some better videos of the issue from the rear seat when I get a chance... but the wheel essentially doesn't return to centre on left bends (10 to 11 o'clock positions) and I'll have to counter steer the car straight.
The car has just came back from the dealership (Australia) and no faults were found via their star tool. They have advised me that the issue (or feature) is noticed on another 2 demos they had.


C63S S205 Steering issue (2019 model)

GLC63S Steering without issue (2019 model). Also tested on another preface-lift 205 coupe without an issue.

 

I do not see this ending good at all if this is not fixed. How often does one force the steering wheel straight?

 

Yup, exactly the same thing with mine
I emailed my local AMG Performance to see if they know a fix to this.

 

Hi NYSoil,
Did you get a response to this?

 

Yeah, service manager said that they've never heard about anything like that and I can bring the car in if I want. I'm sure it will be a waste of time… The issue is driving me NUTS!

 

It would drive any person who pays attention while driving nuts.

 

So a little update, the part has finally arrived from Germany (steering rack) after being on backorder for 3 weeks. Going back on Monday to have it replaced. Will report back

 

Hey guys,

Good news and all the best NYCSoiL.

Issue is now resolved by the installation of a brand new steering rack.

The car was initially purchased from AMG Sydney (Specialist AMG dealer). The car went back 3 times and they finally handed the car back saying there were no faults (nothing came back on scan) and its most likely how it was designed.
They advised me they tested another 2 AMGs and both had same issue.. Mind blown....

Being a major car nut, I was pretty pissed with their lack of knowledge and willingness to help. There is no way Mercedes or any car manufacturer would have released a car with a notched steering. I would have to counter-steer the wheel back to centre.
Escalated the issue with Mercedes Australia who requested that I bring my car back for another check.
Car was due for 3000km diff service so I booked it back to my regular dealership (they didnt have the car I wanted hence I bought the car elsewhere). After consultation with Mercedes Australia, a new steering rack was put in.

Car now steers perfectly. Be persistent on the issue and good luck.

 

I just took delivery of a 2020 C63s coupe, and got to testing for any steering issues. I've been in the default comfort setting through break-in period. In most cases the steering wheel does return back to center from turns in either direction. However when I turn the steering wheel to full lock either left or right, the steering wheel stays in place without any input from me. In this case, the car will just keep going in a circle, apparently for a long time, before I turn the wheel back to center. Is this some kind of 'driver-assist' programming, or is what I've described not normal?

I should also mention, my car doesn't have any of the driver assist or distronic or parking packages equipped. This straight up bare bones aside from cosmetic options.

Thanks