Hi - I am a newer MB owner and have been lurking here for a few months. I am having what I feel to be a serious issue I am hoping someone in this community can help me. Please let me know if you have any ideas. This is the description I have provided for the local MB dealer.

My primary concern is that the car has some type of steering issue that causes the car to pull to the right, and then almost push back to the left. The best way to describe the problem is that the car feels “loose” or almost “unstable” and it will almost drive itself out of the lane. The car turns fine; the problem is with the car staying straight. It feels like you really have to “work” to keep the car straight, constantly very slightly correcting the car. The feeling is definitely more pronounced at a higher speed, and almost undoubtedly when the car is driven on the freeway 60-70MPH you will feel what I am describing. I drove the car 250 miles yesterday, on a variety of different roads, and it did this the entire drive, so I am confident what I am feeling is not road drift. It was particularly bad when the road was wet.
If you drive the car around the block you will likely not experience the problem I am having. It has to be driven on the highway.

I personally feel like this is a safety issue. I need to be 100% confident driving the car on the highway, and right now I am not. I had several moments of concern yesterday on the freeway, feeling like the car reacted in a way I wasn’t expecting.

I do not know exactly what part of the car to pinpoint, but there is undoubtedly an issue. I don’t know if it is a tire issue, a steering issue, if it is some type of tie rod, or stabilizer issue, but I have never had a car react this way and I most notably drove our ML350 - it does not react like the E350.

 

I would certainly take it to the MB dealer now and would ask for a test drive after they finish before accepting the car back.

I had what sounds like a similar issue in a Nissan 300ZX Turbo. It turned out to be a faulty power steering mechanism (don't recall the proper terminology but it was the hydraulic cylinder that actually moved the wheels when the steering wheel was turned).

Good luck.

 

Sounds more like an issue with your car and not something that is across the board for all W212s, as my car does not have this issue.

You definitely want to take it to service. If you can not pinpoint the problem, have a service advisor/manager go out for a spin with you. Have them drive the car with you in it so they can experience/feel the problem and can diagnose/fix it correctly.

 

Thank you for the responses.

So as an update, I went over to the MB dealer at lunch, the service advisor took the car for a drive with me. He agreed the car pulls to the right, and he agrees it is sensitive to correction.

I have nothing special done to the car, by the way, stock Pirelli P-Zeros and the car has 2900 miles on it.

He is telling me that the way these cars are set up they do not drive straight. He told me, based on the crown of the road, the grooves of the road, etc, the car will never drive straight. He said, and I quote, "I have driven a lot of other cars that have pulled worse than this." He said, the car is so sensitive that once it drifts to the right, it’s hard to accurately correct it to the left, and so that is the reason for the back and forth. So we got back to the service drive and he didn't even want to put the car on the rack to take a look at it. He said, there is nothing to look at, I don't think there is a problem.

I am really disappointed. I get that the road has crown, it is uneven, etc....but I think he is using this as an excuse.

What do you guys think? Does your car drift in to the next lane if you take your hand off of the steering wheel? He is saying you will always been in constant "correction" based on the way these cars are setup. I get that the car has a "sport" setup, but there are cars that are far sportier than the E, and I am doubtful all of those cars have this problem.

By the way...we live in a very nice part of town with nice roads...my real concern was yesterday when I was on a road that wasn't very nice, the car felt almost out of control.

I have had a lot of cars and we have a ML350 too, and I have never had these problems, driving on the same roads. I don't know where to go from here, but I would expect a car of this caliber to be complimented with a comparable level of service, and I don't feel like I am getting that. Do you guys think they should have put the car on the rack and looked at it for me?

Thanks for the help.

 

Demand to speak to the service manager and ask him to check the alignment and anything else that can affect the steering. Also to satisfy yourself that this is not normal, take another e coupe for a drive to compare.
If you are still not satisfied,speak to the GM and if that fails, MB.

If all this fails,sue everyone's ***.

 

so, just for clairtys sake - your car drives straight ?

Also, just FYI, not that it matters to much, but mine is the 4DR.

 

My E550 is a sport. I also drove an E350 sport. Neither car had a steering issue at all. In fact, they were very solid, tracked true, and did not require "constant correction." In fact, neither care required any steering correction on good or bad roads.

I think you are getting a line of BS and need to bump it up to someone with more authority.

 

I can't stand MB service. Always dread going there for a problem.

I had a W211 that I bought CPO and Los Angeles Downtown Motors blamed my overheating problems on rats. I had the car less than 3 weeks when I had my first problem. I took my W211 to the same service, Los Angeles Downtown Motors 2 different times for the same problem and they blamed it both times on rats.

Since then the dealer I bought my car from bought back my car thru the lemon law. I vowed never to go to Los Angeles Downtown Motors again.

I don't think your problem is as big as mine was. Sounds more like a wheel, alignment, steering problem.

Talk to a supervisor. If they don't check your car in, go to a different service. Make sure you document each time you take your car to service and make sure they notate the specific problem you are having in the repair work order / invoice.

ON A SIDE NOTE:
If anyone knows of a good MB service / advisor in the Los Angeles area, please let me know. One that doesn't mind doing work on MB's dime and not mine...

 

I drive on some pretty crappy New Jersey roads and have not had that issue. I would agree with the others here that you need to go to a hire authority. It was certainly never mentioned in any review that these cars naturally pull to the right or the left or had any particular steering issues that others cars clearly don't. Good luck. Ned.

 

Thank you everyone for the helpful responses.

I have always enjoyed and been around cars, but like I said, I am new to MB and needed to make sure there wasn't something I was missing.

It is truly a shame that this has been such a strong source of frustration because the car really is nice and I would like to enjoy it.

What he said to me today didn't seem to line up, literally, but he truly shut down everything I asked him, so it seems like the only option is to go above him.

Is anyone on here in the DFW area? Can they recommend a service advisor?

Thanks again - if anyone has any other feedback/ ideas I am certainly open to listen.

 

My 2010 E350 Sport with staggered wheels is very very solid and straight, rarely needs correction even on rough roads. Not sure if your wheels are staggered. Have them check all possible components involved (including Attention Assist sensors, alignment etc.). This might simply be an alignment issue but Good Luck. But At least have them re-align the wheels.

 

Thank you for the feedback. That is exactly what I need to know. I am going back to the MB dealer this evening.

By the way, my wheels are staggered...I have 245's up front and 265's in the rear...so I will have them look at everything you mentioned.

 

Tire inflation issue? If a tire is low the TPMS should warn you, I'm not certain if the tires were overinflated or inflated to the wrong pressure it would do so.

Are the lug bolts secure?

Dragging brake pads?

You should not have any steering issues. I own a 2010 E350 4Matic W212 and it holds the road like paint. No wandering, no pulling. We have potholes and lots of poor maintained road surfaces and it is not a problem. Dodging potholes is the only problem.

Ask to take a check ride with a shop foreman instead of a service writer. The shop foremen are master technicians.

 

M-B's have always been designed to run down the crown of the road and this has been built into the steering geometry for 40 years so that if a driver collpases behind the wheel the car will tend to run to the side of the road. But it should be a lot more subtle than you have.

RHD cars pull left and LHD cars pull right. The factory also supplies the geometry (or it did through the 70's 80's and 90's) to prevent this from happening if it was excessive or an owner was unhappy so that the car can be set to zero.

AMG 164 ML's seem to have this as a problem and my previous ML 500 started doing it after I ran over a large stump.

Your car sounds like it has a major problem with either geometry or something malfunctioning.

Have the front tyres any wear patterns yet?

I would write to your dealer saying you are unhappy and request a front end alignment check as well as a mechanical check.

With my ML 500 I had an independant front wheel alignment done at my own expense - didn't cost much.

If they are not coming to the party in Australia I have written to the National Distributor expressing my dissatisfaction with the sevice and have received better service after that,

Don't be brow beaten by a Service Manager if you are not happy.

Keep complaining.

Bill

 

So I went back to the MB dealer this evening and the GM offered to send a car to my office tomorrow, pick up my car and try to determine the problem.

He told me that these cars slightly drift to the right, he has an E550. This directly conflicts with a lot of what I have heard on here...

Here is where it gets a little complicated.

Based on RSIKR's suggestion I looked at the tire pressure. The TPMS didn't warn me the tires were low, but the fronts were at 29 cold and the rears at 36 cold, lower than the sticker in the door indicates they should be at. I bumped the fronts to 33 cold and the rears to 40 cold. Seems like the car is a little stiffer on its feet, but I haven't driven it enough to determine if the problem is still as bad. Do you guys think this could have been this significant of an issue?

I am trying to decide if I should drive the car for another 24 hours to see if this helped, or if I should still let them pick the car up tomorrow.

 

Let them take your car and see what comes up. Sounds like they are at least willing to help you figure this out.

My car when started in the morning has 29 in the front and 32 in the rear. On hot days (hot like 80-90) after driving, the fronts get up to 33 and backs up to 35. I think if you started at 33/40, you might have problems on hot days after driving a while with overinflation of your tires...

 

I have the same wheel setup on my 2011 E350 sports. Car never pulls either left or right and I am driving on the "excellent" condition Louisiana roads if you know what mean. The crown on roads moves the car left or right but very slowly. It does not pull.

Your car has a serious problem with front suspension. Could also be rear alignment issue.

Ask the service tech to give his statement in writing and then ask the service manager to sign on it. Don't just take the computer printout as it means nothing. If you ask for the signature it sends a message thru their system.

Nex thing to do if they don't react the way they need to is to find a local car inspection service to inspect and test drive it. If there is a problem MB will pay for all this.

MB cars are known to be some of the best for steering/tracking for decades.
Your dealer service sucks!

 

Take your car in.

When I referred to the tire pressure and the TPMS I was looking at a possible imbalance in pressures from the left to the right side which could cause the car to pull in one direction. I think you now have them set on the high side especially the rear tires. 40psi in the rear tires sounds like the recommended pressure for a heavy or maximum load. The car will ride hard now. I hope i didn't mislead you. Do follow the pressures listed on the B pillar post.

 

If you search the web you will find numerous threads on MB's drifting to the right. The challenges is some cars are more sensitive to camber adjustments than others, my W212 MB E550 tracked perfectly until I put 20" tires on it, then it started drifting to the right. I was lucky enough to have had them installed by an excellent shop that did see this frequently on cars with new rims and without them. The attached link describes the alignment process, sometimes the alignment is on the edge for some cars and hence MB has a camber kit that allows for expansion of the camber adjustment (the MB part number is in the link). Once the camber kit was installed in my car with 20"s and realigned the car tracks perfectly. Read the attached it will educate a little more on the issue. Good luck.

http://www.continentalimports.com/ser_ic4232.html

 

40 psi is definitely too high for the rears. M-B makes this confusing, so everyone seems to think that's the recommended pressure.

I think it should be 30-33F, and 35-ishR (cold).

 

MB Dealer just picked the car up from my office...I will keep everyone updated.

I really appreciate all of the helpful responses I received.

Thanks,
Michael

 

Nov 09, I was at Grand Canyon when the weather was ice-cold. My Front tires went down to 24 and rear went down to 28 or so, no steering issues at this low psi either. As we drove around Grand Canyon the tire pressure caught up to normal (above 30).
Now (on my staggered wheels) I have 33F & 36R at clod, they go up to +5 as I drive. No steering issues even at 40R. Just an FYI.

 

+1

This has been talked about a lot. Check the AMG forums (where there tends to be more technical info and several sponsors responding to questions.) Your dealer was not totally wrong, the factory alignment is set up in a particular way but not always noticeable by all drivers and in all cars. It can be corrected but may end up being out of factory spec (which is okay.) Do a search for member, "Jangy" on the AMG forum and you should get a lot of good info on camber adjustment and the OEM kit (and aftermarket, too.)

Also check the BMW 5 series boards for some of the same issues on those car's factory alignments.

 

**Update**

MB Dealer has had the car since Wednesday afternoon.


I finally spoke with them yesterday…that is an entirely different issue, but – they said the car seemed to drive fine to them, BUT – they went ahead and checked it out, aligned the car and put brand new wheels and tires on the car.


They said the wheels and tires have zero miles on them and they think I will be happy with the way the car drives.


So, what do you guys think?


The original wheels/tires had 3K miles on it, leased the car end of November. They obviously thought something was wrong to justify putting brand new wheels and tires on the car.


I still don’t have the car back yet, they said they wanted to drive it one more time and then clean it up for me. I likely won’t have it until tomorrow morning.


I hope this resolved my issue, but I am curious as they were a little evasive as to why they did this…

 

We shall see. Let us know. Thanks. Ned.