wyelit239

01 e430; the dealership tells me that mercedes starting designing their cars to pull to the right ever so slightly? Anyone else been told this? Had a 98 c230 that tracked perfectly straight

Brau0318

yeah i was told the same thing when I brought in my 05 c230, it doesn't make sense to me but my 05 and 01 both pull, I just got an alignment done too.

wyelit239

yeah they told me that an alignment doesn't affect the pulling, just glad its not just me, drives me nuts though

Brau0318

Yeah I dont understand it because i had a c300 loaner and it never drove like that. I know that if a road is slanted one way for water run off, then i have a 10 degree tilt in my steering wheel in the oppsite direction to compensate for it. I know that seems normal but other cars I drive dont seem to have as much of a problem with it. But then again other cars i drive aren't benzes and they dont drive half as nice as mine either soo....

Racin_fool

The road being slanted for water run off is referred to as road crown, where here in Texas it is horrible.. There are a few different ways to align the car to adjust for this and not effect tire wear. However I have had more problems with directional tires or extremely cheap tires causing a tire pull to one side or the other even if the car is aligned to drive straight and even if the tires are brand new. If your car is still pulling after getting an alignment done, they probably didn't do a proper alignment or you have possible tire issues.

Doing an alignment on Mercedes is not hard, you just have to have a little experience with them and someone competent enough to do it right.

RichardM98

MB cars require a 4 wheel alignment. Very few independent shops have the correct alignment machine and experience but there are lots of people who will take your money.

Dealerships charge about $175 to do it right.

Brau0318

Yeah I just had my tie rods replaced and had a 4 wheel alignment from the dealership it was tight and nice for about a week then it went back to acting "normal"

dsmith

The problem is simple. There is no provision for caster adjustment on a w210. That and it doesn't have enough caster in the first place (my opinion).

There's nothing special about the alignment. It's only toe. If any other readings are out of spec, something is bent or worn and needs to be replaced.

dwnsouf7

U NEED TO ALIGN ANY WHEELS U REPLACE...U CANT JUST SLAP ON A NEW OR USED TIRE WITHOUT THE TIRE AND RIM BEING PUT ON A HIGH SPEED ALIGNMENT MACHINE, WHERE THE SPIN THE WHEEL AND PUT AN APPROPIATE WEIGHT ON THE RIM