E-Class (W211) 2003-2009

03 E320 Pulling to the right

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Old Sep 20, 2006 | 05:33 PM
  #1  
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03 E320 Pulling to the right

Hello,
I bought this e320 right when it came out and it had the dreaded drift to the right. I've brought it in numerous times and it never got fixed. The two dealers I brought it to in Austin and Georgetown have no idea what it is. Can anyone help? I know numerous ppl had this fixed. Currently, the jerks at MB austin are telling me that it is an alignment problem which I have to pay for because I already used my one time alignment with them. What kind of crap is that? Thanks.

On a quick rant and vent, I HATE MB's service. This car has had the same problems for nearly 4 years now and have never been fixed. A few months ago I took in the car for a "battery" light that kept coming up. MB tried to quick fix it and made the light disappear. 15 minutes after leaving the lot, the light turned back on. Had to waste more time and go back to MB to get it fixed and this time they actually fixed it. To me, MB service isn't even trying to fix the problem but rather trying to get rid of the customer asap.
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Old Sep 20, 2006 | 06:28 PM
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From: North Scottsdale, AZ
'71 Pinto
Originally Posted by jwc
I bought this e320 right when it came out and it had the dreaded drift to the right. I've brought it in numerous times and it never got fixed. The two dealers I brought it to in Austin and Georgetown have no idea what it is. Can anyone help?
They need to install L & R camber/caster kits (normally to correct for road crown) inclusive of wheel alignment. PM your email address and I’ll forward a couple of invoice copies from other dealers. Present to your dealer and you should no longer have a problem
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Old Sep 20, 2006 | 06:47 PM
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when you say inclusive of alignment, do you mean they have to align the car as well as install that kit?They want to charge me for alignment but I think that is BS since they never fixed the problem.


Oh yea The service advisor told me that it pulls right as a safety feature...LOL
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Old Sep 20, 2006 | 06:58 PM
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"...as a safety feature" or "...they all do that" seems to be the answer of clueless technicians.
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Old Sep 21, 2006 | 01:17 AM
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That is pretty much normal for them to come from the factory like that. Between the suspension design and MB's alignment specs it just happens to be some kind of flaw. What we did on a customer's car who complained about it was adjust the toe and camber to have it pull a little more to the left to counteract the natural tendency to pull to the right... of course these numbers were out of spec to what Mercedes wants you to use, but the end result was the customer was happy when it stopped pulling to the right.. My advise would be to have the dealer do the same or take it to an alignment shop and have them re adjust it to pull a little less that way regardless if they say its out of factory spec...
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Old Sep 21, 2006 | 03:32 PM
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I have 03 E320 with 44K miles and I just had my right front camber replace for $150 (warrenty only cover it for 12K miles) and the car is still drifting to the right. My car is in the shop today for the third times because the steering wheel was off center. Any1 has this problem?
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Old Sep 21, 2006 | 06:37 PM
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From: North Scottsdale, AZ
'71 Pinto
Originally Posted by TECHR46
That is pretty much normal for them to come from the factory like that. Between the suspension design and MB's alignment specs it just happens to be some kind of flaw. What we did on a customer's car who complained about it was adjust the toe and camber to have it pull a little more to the left to counteract the natural tendency to pull to the right... of course these numbers were out of spec to what Mercedes wants you to use, but the end result was the customer was happy when it stopped pulling to the right.. My advise would be to have the dealer do the same or take it to an alignment shop and have them re adjust it to pull a little less that way regardless if they say its out of factory spec...
Curious, why didn’t you use the front wheel camber/caster kits method and realign?
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Old Sep 21, 2006 | 09:28 PM
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I wonder that as well. I think the whole line about "it is a safety feature" is BS.
Update* Dealership would not perform alignment or camber adjustment for me under warranty. Sorry MB, you just lost a customer for life.
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Old Sep 21, 2006 | 11:27 PM
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From: North Scottsdale, AZ
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Originally Posted by jwc
I wonder that as well. I think the whole line about "it is a safety feature" is BS.
Update* Dealership would not perform alignment or camber adjustment for me under warranty. Sorry MB, you just lost a customer for life.
Okay, dealer said no, what did MBUSA say?
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