LuvMyMercedes

Is it just me?

I have the same problem I had with my old ML320. If I'm driving straight on a road, I always have to keep the steering wheel turned a LITTLE bit to the left to keep the car straight. If I center the wheel, I end up veering to the right.

Is this normal? Is this correctable? Am I just being very **** rententive?

Thanks.

DWP

You didn't say what year of W211 you have, but there have been several threads in the past about "pulling to the right", particularly with '03 models. You may want to search under those terms to see if the symptoms described in those threads match yours. I don't recall that there was a solution; somebody suggested that the W211 steering was over-sensitive and tended to roll off the crown of the road - which would be to the right, in the US. That's not much of an answer on flat roads, like freeway lanes.

Barry45RPM

You're not crazy. It is, probably not, & no. These cars are so good, we tend to think they can/should be flawless... My way of handling it? look out over the hood, see the star & enjoy the car!

LuvMyMercedes

Thanks, guys.

I have a brand new 2004 model. I experienced the same problem with my 1999 ML320, but whenever I brought it to the dealership's attention, they weren't ever able to fix it to my satisfaction.

I'm guessing I have to live with it, but it is annoying.

oalvarez

i have a brand new e500 w/ amg kit. it definately has the same problem, i forget which way it pulls, but the wheel is not straight if i drive on a perfectly flat road and straight.

HELL ONA HARLEY

Sorry, No pulling or off center problems to report here....

lyrixmajor

It all depends on the guy centering the steering wheel and if he takes the time out to make sure its correct. will he? hell no.

getting paid not enough to center luxury car steering wheels. i'm sure its high on his priority.

my advice. live with it. i was getting pretty **** about every small thing thats wrong with my car and you know what i realized. they are so many good things with this car. the engine is perfect, the transmission perfect. for all the options i have not too many computer glitches.

this is what i have done and its helped me enjoy my car. dont carry your car in for everything. make a list. when you need to carry it in, have them go over the list.

my steering wheel was off center the first 2 times i asked them to fix it. the last time i changed my tires and balanced my car, i didnt even ask them to fix it and now its straight. go figure.

no one will know its off center anyway....


ENJOY DA BENZ....LOL

D-5

well... my engine is not perfect (think it's the motor mount) my brakes aren't perfect (buzzing+vibration from SBC) my car still pulls to the right after alignment(dealer said adjustments and algnment are only cover within the first year) my a/c has problem (sometimes it blows out cold air instead of warm air in winter,) Right now my car is at the dealer for a loose passenger side door handle. For the aengine and brake noise... dealers are not willing to fix (said they're normal, the tsb# that I provided are useless!? us cars and canadian cars are different...) Anyways, they gave me a lot of BS!! So far I've tired 2 dealers out of 4 in my town and they are all owned by the manufacture (there is no private own dealership here in Vancouver) Love and Hate...

glojo

But apart from the ENGINE, the BRAKES, the WHEEL ALIGNMENT, the AIR CONDITIONING, loose DOOR HANDLE, poor DEALER RESPONSE are you happy???

I'm must confess that you have a much better tolerance level than what I possess.

Nice speaking to you, and thanks for rekindling memories of such a beautiful part of the world.

Regards,
John
Sunny Torquay

cschow

It is quite astonishing to me that people who paid so much for a car would have such an attitude. Simply put, the car should steer straight on a flat level road. Aside from being able to accelerate and decelerate, that is the fundamental function of the car.

Luxury? Prestige? Safety? Performance? Driving excitement? All these things are only meaningful if the car can be properly driven, and pulling off center all the time, under all conditions, simply isn't it. Mercedes has been making cars for over 100 years, they know how to make a car which can steer without pulling off center. The fact that so many W211 have this issue, especially for MY2003, indicates that something was wrong. Make them fix it.

The Chevy, Buick, and BMW I've owned in the past all steered straight. So does my C-class and my Lexus. So should your E!

Spartan

My '95 use to pull off center into the right and it drove me crazy. Then I took it into a shop that aligned all FOUR wheels and the problem went away.

My '05 goes straight but it WILL pull to the curvature of the road. On a three laner, if I am on the middle, it will run for a long time in a straight line with no correction.

One more thing......

Caster allignment is what sets up your vehicle to go into a straight line. Have them check it out.

CALBenzo

Fortunately, mine steers straight. I agree that a fundamental function of ANY car should be to steer straight.

Hell Ona Harley,

Like your new Sig.

Barry45RPM

I think (we) people are so horribly afraid of being caught up in the poor quality whirlpool of the '03s, and all the bad press & possible problems that can crop up with the car, that we are simply trying to love the great, accept the sligtly imperfect, and not open a can of worms that might leave us with a big debt with no pleasure. Been there, done that. It doesn't feel good....

The fact is, these cars (W 211s) are NOT perfect (like they used to be) but they do give the owner a solid car, extremely beautifull style, prestige, and those not measureable feelings one gets intrinsically when one owns a top line luxury item. I don't know if MB will get the W211s perfect before they introduce its successor, but you can bet its successor will be perfect before it is released, because the W211 has the style to stick around and look good for the time necessary untill the successor is really ready. That will put the quality issues to bed for them finally. If MB doesn't do that, others will deservedly steal the crown.

Although I do occaisionally "hold my breath" waiting to be tortured by some product failure in the car (it cost a lot & I am **** about my cars), this is the first car in my life (age 54, 1st Benz I wanted to own) that I have been completely satisfied with, and didn't wish I had ordered anything differently on. There is the very occaisional wrong screen or track # listed on the command display or other stupid thing, but if I shut down & restart they always clear... all liveable for the MB experience of a lifetime.

DWP

Well put, Barry. A lot of us - and I don't exclude myself - have unrealistically high expectations of perfection in a car. Maybe it comes with the personal and professional characteristics that put us in a position to acquire a W211 in the first place.

As it so happens, our E500 has been basically flawless in the year that we have had it. We had the usual '03 audio system bug, but the dealer fixed it in a few hours, under warranty, and that's about it for problems. No pulling to the right, no engine mount noises. So am I willing to give the complaining a rest? Noooooooo. Of course not. Instead, I find myself carping about really minor design boners like the Soil-o-Matic (Stone) carpeting on the door sill and dead pedal, the unlit light switch, or the screeching auxiliary fan. Maybe I've just been lucky, but in my more rational moments I have to concede that DCX did a good job of designing and building an extremely complex car, right from the early days (9/02, in the case of our car) of production. Is it twice as much car as a fully-loaded $30,000 Accord or Camry? Objectively, no, but as you point out, prestige and the satisfaction of owning a top-end luxury item count for a lot even if it's hard to put a dollar value on it.

glojo

Ah, but what about the car??? (Your motor cycle is in the foreground)

Take care,
John
Sunny Torquay

HELL ONA HARLEY

And so it shall stay.... Don't get me wrong, I love my Mercedes but Harley Davidsons will allways be my first love.

HELL ONA HARLEY

Thanks bro....

glojo

I always used to describe riding a motorcycle in an enjoyable (I was going to say professional) manner as, "Man and machine as one"

A car journey is about getting from 'A' to 'B', a motorcycle ride is an experience.

Happy days

Regards,
John
Cool, sunny Torquay

Alias

I don't have that problem...

W210

My Mercedes (W210 E55, R230 SL500, W211 E55) steer straight. One time the technician did not center the steering wheel properly (after working on the airbag unit) but fixed it after my complaint.

Alex Veksler

Took delivery of '04 in Aug.

returning home in a new car noticed steering wheel shaking at 50 -60 mph and also car pulled to the right.
All this at 68 miles on odometer makes me wonder about quality conrol at the factory...

Anyway, had dealer balance and align the wheels. The problem gone.
Now, the steering wheel is not perfectly centered (turned left)....may be few degress off, but at least the vehicle moves straight . Will live with this for now.

alex

lyrixmajor

its actually not a problem if you have performance tires. i thought so initially. its seems that once the tires warm up the shaking goes away. if the shaking is still their after the tires warm up then its needs an alignment