mjcw77

Hi all,

Ive got a 2016 C63s Estate. I just got my car back from having cosmetic work done. Got it back December 23rd and the place that did the work is closed until January 10th. They are very well known and I have used them a few times before with never an issue. I now have an issue with steering since getting my car back. Part of the job was removing the front bumper for some paint work on the grill, they also removed the steering wheel to change my gear paddles plus removed all the wheels to paint the brake callipers (along with a tonne of other things). The issues are below and wanted your feedback on what you think the issue(s) are...I have emailed them but wont hear back post January 10th.

Steering:

• The steering wheel isn't centred properly. Just off to the left (probably wheel alignment?)
• The steering pulls to the left ever so slightly (probably wheel alignment?)
• The steering wheel feels floaty and not tight like it used to be (probably wheel alignment?)
• when turning wheel left or right there is now a weird noise mid way through the turn. Not at full lock or straight, just when halfway turning
• Forward or reverse parking is difficult as the parking "guidelines" on the camera are now off centre due to the wheel being off centre (probably wheel alignment?)
• The "lane assist" feature and "steering assist" feature are now compromised and don't work properly (probably wheel alignment?)
• The "parking assist" feature will now not work properly and won't park the car. It activates but will not auto steer the car into the parking spot. (not sure if wheel alignment being out would cause this?)

I'm unsure if all the above is to do with the steering wheel not being put back on correctly and/or the connectors inside the steering wheel not being plugged back properly and/or the resetting of the steering wheel/aig bag by the hand-held computer. In relation to the "parking assist", maybe the sensors in the front bumper are now not working properly since the front bar was removed and put back on?

Any suggestions appreciated. From what I can see no settings have been changed re lane assist, steering assist etc. Can this all above be resolved by a simple wheel alignment?

Thanks in advance guys...

superswiss

This will obviously require thorough diagnostics, but it sounds to me that something isn't right with the steering angle sensor. If they didn't reset it after doing an alignment or the steering wheel was not put on center then you'll ultimately have all kinds of issues. The steering angle sensor is quite an important sensor these days. So many systems now rely on it to know where the driver is pointing the car and then the yaw sensor measures the actual rotation of the car. If the two are not in line, then the ESP kicks in to make corrections. Things like the e-diff also rely on the steering angle sensor to determine the locking ratio and how much torque to send to each wheel. If that's off, then the diff will induce a yaw moment when you are driving straight and so it'll pull to one side or the other. Things can feel quite odd if this sensor isn't reading correctly. I had an alignment done by an indy shop with my previous car and they just couldn't get it right. They tried to reset it with their laptop, but something just wasn't proper. Car drove very odd afterwards. They tried a couple more times, but just couldn't get it. Took it to the dealership for a full alignment and it drove properly again after that. Especially with all the driving assist features, things need to be calibrated properly and indy shops generally don't have the necessary equipment to do it. It's expensive and often the car manufacturers don't actually sell it to anybody other than their dealerships.

matto357

If they had reason to remove the steering wheel more than likely they didn't put it back on correctly.

It will cause issues with lane assist etc. if it's not put back on correctly, that being said, installing it correctly should cause those issues to go away without have to re-program anything.

I would take it back to the shop and have them check it out, but if you're feeling handy and have the right tool to remove the bolt holding the steering wheel on, it's about a 15 minute job to pull it off and realign it (that includes unplugging the battery etc.).

mjcw77

Hi mate,

Yes, Ive emailed them and hope to hear from them later this week. I think they re-open next Monday. Im hoping its a simple fix like you've said and I dont want anyone playing with the ECU as my car just had a major tune (bigger turbos / WMI etc) all done on the dyno so dont wany them screwing that up. I'm just surprised how the wheel being offline has mucked up so many features!

mjcw77

Hi mate,

Yes, Ive emailed them and hope to hear from them later this week. I think they re-open next Monday. Im hoping its a simple fix like you've said re the sensor as I dont want anyone playing with the ECU as my car just had a major tune (bigger turbos / WMI etc) all done on the dyno so dont wany them screwing that up. I'm just surprised how the wheel being offline has mucked up so many features!

superswiss

Hope they sort it out. Yeah, there are a few sensors in modern cars that are used throughout many systems. The steering angle sensor is one, the yaw sensor another and the wheel speed sensors. They basically fundamentally tell all these electronic systems where you are pointing the car, how fast it is going and if all wheels are turning at the expected speed and how is the car actually rotating in response to the steering angle. If any of these sensors are not in line all these systems will get super confused.

matto357

Yeah, it's weird. I swapped out my wheel a few times since the previous owner didn't take care of the dinamica and I caused the issues you described, if it is indeed the sensor in the wheel just being off, the fix is simple.

p.s. super jealous of an estate owner, we don't get those in the US and it makes me sad.

mjcw77

Hey mate, yea, I do hope it's an easy fix. I appreciate your feedback... The Estate kicks butt. Shame you dont get them. I would have the most "done up" one getting around and it certainly stands out from all the coupes and sedans everyone drives... see it below... Its since had all the red chaned to "Petronas" Teal green to give it s different look... you can see that in the pics along with my engine bay... Hope you like...