Scambo

Alignment, I know. Any other possibilities..?

Vik888

Our cars are famous for doing this. After buying mine I went with a drive with a tech who took me to a truly flat road (no crown) and it drove straight as an arrow. Our roads here in SoCal are crowned and it causes the car to pull to the right.

I've also heard that the cars are setup that way so if you fall asleep the car will drift right and all it requires is for you to gently hold the steering wheel for it to go straight. I heard in the UK the car pulls left for the same reason.

joetarin

I have the same issue with my car. It pulls to the right I suspect it needs an alignment. I highly doubt this is an intended "feature" of the car as a car that pulls right or left will cause uneven tire wear. I cant imagine MB thought this would be a good idea. I'd love to think MB was being innovative, but the botttom line is the alignment on the car is out of whack...

Diesel Benz

I've understood it takes some expertise from the mechanic to fix the alignment issue which is why many shops have this safety excuse or some other similar explanations. Many owners still report this behaviour having been fixed by an expert (may need specific alignment parts).

djmallya

This is so wierd! I thought that there was something wrong with my car.

I had a tire replaced(had screw in side wall) the car started pulling to one side terribly-don't remember which side. I drove it that way for a day, approx 100miles. The next day I went back, he lifted up the car, looked around, didn't find anything, put it down... and it's driven straight ever since.

FT Benz

I've noticed this. But I have also noticed that if I drive on the left side of the road the car seems to pull left. I've guessed it's the crown of the road that pulls the car to one side or the other. My shop has told me my tire wear is perfect so I don't think it's an alignment problem.

~Jeff~

All cars have the alignment setup to try to compensate for road crown, but very few succeed. Road crown is there to help water drain toward the shoulder of the road, it usually also makes cars drift right.

Your alignment should be setup to have more positive camber on the left and less positive caster on the left....toe settings should be equal (close to zero). Even with these settings the car will drift unless the road is very, very flat.

If your car is pulling hard to the right, you might have a problem....wouldn't hurt to have the alignment checked regardless. In some cases the tires themselves could be the issue, called radial pull. A Tire rotation would cure most issues, but with offset wheels that isn't always an option.

charliele729

I have an alignment done and sometimes it still pulls to the right and left and on certain new roads, especially new ones, it goes straight. So I know it not an alignment problem, it just the road.

hyperion667

sounds frustrating..........

hope it's resolved....

customcdseller

Check tire pressures.

Scambo

I have brand new tires all around with perfect pressure. I asked the tech to do an alignment, and he checked it and said it didn't need one. The car pulls right, from left side of road or right. If I'm going 70 MPH, and let go of the wheel, it takes a noticeable dive right. I recently had the rear drivers side airmatic air bladder replaced, and it pulled right when that was going out. They put a new one in, and although the bladder now operates fine, it still pulls right when driving. I'm at a loss.

zszalay

Left lower ball joint

konigstiger

https://mbworld.org/forums/2003982-post20.html - bolt parts kit 0003300018 (#185 in diagram)

SZMB

If the wheel alignment is checked out fine, then check out the front lower ball joints. They're known to go bad after 50k-60k mi on the E500s. How did the tech verify that the alignment was ok, by visual inspection??? He needed to hook up the equipment to check that.

My car (when it had ~45k mi) was also pulling to the right at about 70MPH. Then the dealer did the wheel alignment and the driving got much better, although it was still slightly pulling to the right. And at ~60k mi, the car was again pulling to the right, and the dealer again performed the wheel alignment. It got a little better, but the car was still pulling to the right. Later I found out it was one of the ball joint was completely worn out. I replaced the ball joint and the car has been going straight ever since. The car now has 75k mi.

Scambo

I agree it could be the ball joint. I had them done at 75k, now I'm at 145k, time to do it again.. ugh!!

konigstiger

Additional indications to support lower ball joint replacement “may” be pulling to one side when braking at low speeds and small movement in the steering wheel.

denysimo

Koningstiger, with the picture you posted, is the lower ball joint #20 or the ball joint attached to #140 arm? Do you know where I can get these parts and the part number for each? Thanks!

konigstiger

Lower ball joint is #20 in diagram, part # 2113300435 (for comparison shopping, http://www.parts.com/oemCatalog/inde...D=2&makeid1=67 $53.48 / http://www.autohausaz.com/ 31.02 – 43.16)

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...rt-design.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...oint-w211.html

FYI #140 is strut; left 2113304311 (146.05 / 160.71), right 2113304411 (146.05 / 153.80) bearing 145 is not included. If vehicle is equipped with originals installed at production they are hollow/hydro-mount type with high failure rate I recommend replacing with solid rubber 2113331114 at same time (25.88 / 23.71) for improve performance/longevity.

JoeVal

Mi C350Elegance, despite the condition of many crappy roads and hits on the suspension in crates and bumps, has 15,000 miles and inspected the alignment to a deviation of 3/16" per mile. I don't know if it is a matter of model, parts vendors for each car, point of manufacture, or what, but MB is to me what I expected in manufacturing quality. Ah if no humans would be involved, now that 'd be haven.

Dexion

My car always pulls to the right on normal roads here in NY, but on the highway its straight, try to do a 60mph test on the highway and let go of the wheel. Highways are normally flatter, especially the center lane.

fstshrk

If you move the tires from the left to the right side and the right side tires to the left, does it still pull to the right?

I had this issue with an Infiniti and after three alignment attempts, it turned out that it was the tires.

realrideracing

Had the same issue with our CLK, plus the steering wheel would point slightly off when in a straight path. All new front suspension and steering bushings and 2 alignments later, no change. Finally, I just bought 2 new front tires and the problem was instantly cured.

Petmerctech

This solves a lot of pulling/ drifting to the right issues. This should be the first thing to try if all alignment values are within spec.

Scambo

I bought new tires all around and it still pulls right.

health services

I agree tire pull, swap tires from side to side