Align Your CLS
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Align Your CLS
Hey Everyone,
Just got my car back from the shop yesterday where they were gonna throw on camber links to take out some of the camber. Turns out the entire alignment of the car was off - tow was way out of factory spec s was the camber. I thought MB would have fixed this problem since my E class two years ago, but I guess not. From the first day I got my E until it was aligned it pulled hard to the right - when I took it in, mercedes said it was unebliveably out of alignment and what had I hit - then they realize dit had under 1,000 mile son it and that it was Mercedes own fault. I could tell my CLS had some Tow and camber issues, but I had no idea of the degree. Lowering a car will cause several things to go out of spec of a normal alignment, but it was out even before it was lowered.
My advice to everyone whether your drop the car or not, take Mercedes up on their free alignment (I think they still offer it free under 10k miles) or have another shop do it. MB has a nasty reputation of the alignment either not being done when they leave the factory or being affected while strapped down on the voyage over. What a difference it makes now that it is aligned - they didn't even need to replace the camber links - once the tow was adjusted and the camber was adjusted, they got it within 2 degrees of factory specs.
Hope this info helps - *** Mercedes and their usual quality control.
Just got my car back from the shop yesterday where they were gonna throw on camber links to take out some of the camber. Turns out the entire alignment of the car was off - tow was way out of factory spec s was the camber. I thought MB would have fixed this problem since my E class two years ago, but I guess not. From the first day I got my E until it was aligned it pulled hard to the right - when I took it in, mercedes said it was unebliveably out of alignment and what had I hit - then they realize dit had under 1,000 mile son it and that it was Mercedes own fault. I could tell my CLS had some Tow and camber issues, but I had no idea of the degree. Lowering a car will cause several things to go out of spec of a normal alignment, but it was out even before it was lowered.
My advice to everyone whether your drop the car or not, take Mercedes up on their free alignment (I think they still offer it free under 10k miles) or have another shop do it. MB has a nasty reputation of the alignment either not being done when they leave the factory or being affected while strapped down on the voyage over. What a difference it makes now that it is aligned - they didn't even need to replace the camber links - once the tow was adjusted and the camber was adjusted, they got it within 2 degrees of factory specs.
Hope this info helps - *** Mercedes and their usual quality control.
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 700
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From: Bay Area
06 CLS500 + 99 ML320
Originally Posted by john87699
Hey Everyone,
Just got my car back from the shop yesterday where they were gonna throw on camber links to take out some of the camber. Turns out the entire alignment of the car was off - tow was way out of factory spec s was the camber. I thought MB would have fixed this problem since my E class two years ago, but I guess not. From the first day I got my E until it was aligned it pulled hard to the right - when I took it in, mercedes said it was unebliveably out of alignment and what had I hit - then they realize dit had under 1,000 mile son it and that it was Mercedes own fault. I could tell my CLS had some Tow and camber issues, but I had no idea of the degree. Lowering a car will cause several things to go out of spec of a normal alignment, but it was out even before it was lowered.
My advice to everyone whether your drop the car or not, take Mercedes up on their free alignment (I think they still offer it free under 10k miles) or have another shop do it. MB has a nasty reputation of the alignment either not being done when they leave the factory or being affected while strapped down on the voyage over. What a difference it makes now that it is aligned - they didn't even need to replace the camber links - once the tow was adjusted and the camber was adjusted, they got it within 2 degrees of factory specs.
Hope this info helps - *** Mercedes and their usual quality control.
Just got my car back from the shop yesterday where they were gonna throw on camber links to take out some of the camber. Turns out the entire alignment of the car was off - tow was way out of factory spec s was the camber. I thought MB would have fixed this problem since my E class two years ago, but I guess not. From the first day I got my E until it was aligned it pulled hard to the right - when I took it in, mercedes said it was unebliveably out of alignment and what had I hit - then they realize dit had under 1,000 mile son it and that it was Mercedes own fault. I could tell my CLS had some Tow and camber issues, but I had no idea of the degree. Lowering a car will cause several things to go out of spec of a normal alignment, but it was out even before it was lowered.
My advice to everyone whether your drop the car or not, take Mercedes up on their free alignment (I think they still offer it free under 10k miles) or have another shop do it. MB has a nasty reputation of the alignment either not being done when they leave the factory or being affected while strapped down on the voyage over. What a difference it makes now that it is aligned - they didn't even need to replace the camber links - once the tow was adjusted and the camber was adjusted, they got it within 2 degrees of factory specs.
Hope this info helps - *** Mercedes and their usual quality control.
Thanks for the tips! So did you lowered, hit something or like that from factory in order to get that out of spec alignment? What if you lowered or hit something, will they still give you free alignment under 10K miles?
Thanks,
hlkc
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From: Treasure Coast
2018 Mclaren 720s, 2021 Aston Martin DBX
Originally Posted by john87699
Hey Everyone,
My advice to everyone whether your drop the car or not, take Mercedes up on their free alignment (I think they still offer it free under 10k miles) or have another shop do it.
My advice to everyone whether your drop the car or not, take Mercedes up on their free alignment (I think they still offer it free under 10k miles) or have another shop do it.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 288
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Actually depends on how good the shop is - mine had to actually research it for 2 hours and finally found the CLS specs - the dealership here didn't have the alignment specs for it as of last month. 
The shop I went to doesn't recommend lowering it below the acceptable Mercedes range of 1.2 inches - any lower you can start blowing out struts and all sorts of s**t - trust me - i wanted to go a bit lower, but we weighed out the pros and cons and it wasn't worth it.
Also, there were several reports of lowering problems with the airmatic suspension on Mercedes when they first lowered them by tricking the sensors - ones that were lowered using this method could all of sudden have the suspension go out and drop the entire front end and it became a liability for a lot of shops. On some just one side would go out and the car would veer off the road- anyhow, pretty dangerous. My E was dropped this way and I was lucky I never had any problems with it.
I would imagine most Mercedes dealerhsips have the specs for aftermarket wheels up to 19's considering the CLS55, but if it's lowered, you probably need to find a reputable independent shop that can find the correct specs and doesn't just "wing it" as mentioned above. Mercedes dealerships are lazy by nature and if they see it's been lowered, even if they could align it as close to spec as possible, they probably can't be bothered.
If anyone else has any other info on this, please post.
The shop I went to doesn't recommend lowering it below the acceptable Mercedes range of 1.2 inches - any lower you can start blowing out struts and all sorts of s**t - trust me - i wanted to go a bit lower, but we weighed out the pros and cons and it wasn't worth it.
Also, there were several reports of lowering problems with the airmatic suspension on Mercedes when they first lowered them by tricking the sensors - ones that were lowered using this method could all of sudden have the suspension go out and drop the entire front end and it became a liability for a lot of shops. On some just one side would go out and the car would veer off the road- anyhow, pretty dangerous. My E was dropped this way and I was lucky I never had any problems with it.
I would imagine most Mercedes dealerhsips have the specs for aftermarket wheels up to 19's considering the CLS55, but if it's lowered, you probably need to find a reputable independent shop that can find the correct specs and doesn't just "wing it" as mentioned above. Mercedes dealerships are lazy by nature and if they see it's been lowered, even if they could align it as close to spec as possible, they probably can't be bothered.
If anyone else has any other info on this, please post.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Originally Posted by hlkc
john87699,
Thanks for the tips! So did you lowered, hit something or like that from factory in order to get that out of spec alignment? What if you lowered or hit something, will they still give you free alignment under 10K miles?
Thanks,
hlkc
Thanks for the tips! So did you lowered, hit something or like that from factory in order to get that out of spec alignment? What if you lowered or hit something, will they still give you free alignment under 10K miles?
Thanks,
hlkc
Wasn't aligned properly from the factory or from transit just like my E two years ago.
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Originally Posted by adam76
did they do it with your aftermarket wheels on, i assume so? did they give u any sh*t?
www.rbtechla.com - I think i might have posted their info in a post before on here. The site takes a little while to load, but is well worth it and their 'Gallery' section is off the hook.
Mercedes wouldn't do it - they actually might have but they first said they couldn't and when I pushed, they eventually told me they didn't have the specs for them yet - again, typical of Mercedes.
I really don't trust Mercedes for much anymore except routine service and providing me with the CLS itself...lol.
Last edited by john87699; May 4, 2005 at 10:27 PM.
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Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Taiwan, ROC
FX35 plus
Changed suspension & rims in day 1, the shop did all the
alignment perfectly.
They swapped the custom rotors, rear brakes efficiently & easily, the SBC is nothing difficult to them even mine is the first CLS they deal with.
This's the truth, chassis shops know(do) better
than MB dealers.
Most MB dealers subcontract the suspension issues alignment,adjustment to professional shops here.
alignment perfectly.
They swapped the custom rotors, rear brakes efficiently & easily, the SBC is nothing difficult to them even mine is the first CLS they deal with.
This's the truth, chassis shops know(do) better
than MB dealers.
Most MB dealers subcontract the suspension issues alignment,adjustment to professional shops here.
