I took my 2012 to the neighborhood garage for a wheel alignment. The mechanic told me that the instructions were very complex and would require special tools.

Is it really that difficult to align one of these vehicles? Can't they just have the fat guy sit in the driver's seat while they perform a normal four wheel alignment?

 

Yes it is a more complicated vehicle. I get my alignments at my dealer. I have not found a local indie tire shop that has the tools, equipment and knowhow to align either of my Mercedes.

 

local tire shops that can do a MB always charge 50% to 100% more compared to their alignment service. The best or nothing!

 

Watching my mechanic in Virginia, a wheel alignment on a W212 4M looks kind of of tedious. It is a juggle of all 4 wheels, and the machine uses remote sensors with prongs which go into the small holes between the wheel lugs. He says it centers the sensors in case there is an issue with the tires themselves. Interestingly, my local Mercedes dealer used sensors that clamped onto the outside of the tires; their alignment sucked, and the Virginia guy had to fix it after.

 

I got the 3 year alignment warranty at Goodyear, about $169. They didn't have a problem doing the alignment on either the W211 or W212. NTB and Firestone also do alignments and offers similar warranties although lots of people hate Firestone, more so than those other two shops, in general, most people seem to hate most car repair shops but Firestone seems to bring out that extra bit.

 

I have been told by my independent mechanic, a certified Benz master tech, that a lot of tire places like Firestone/Goodyear/etc may be capable of the alignment but may not use the correct specs. He insists there are tweaks to be made depending on the suspension (luxury/sport) and even rims. I don't know the validity of that, but I have personally had an alignment done by a tire shop and then adjusted by him. After his adjustments, the car drove much better.

 

people that work at those place are robots that do what they told
if it say set it to "certain number" they do it.
They are not trained on working on high end luxury cars , because it aint so easy , and dont know whats better and how to find a way for each different car.
..And thats why its a good idea to take it in for an alignment to a dealer or specialized shop that works on these cars , if you want to get the best results

 

The Goodyear I've been going to I've been there for several years on other cars and it seems that the guy that does it is usually the same guy and the manager seems to think he's pretty good. Anyway, I don't have any problems afterwards, it's not like it's the only Mercedes or other high end luxury car that they see. I've hit potholes a few times and it was clear that the toe was out and the fixed it fine afterwards so that it was tracking straight.

 

Oh I wasn't saying they weren't able to get it to track straight. I have had many alignments at tire shops before with no issue. But having someone extremely familiar does make a difference in my experience.

 

it sure does make a difference ^

 

mY 2005 E was going through rear tires with no indication of alingnment issues but out of alignment was the cause

 

Due to higher manufacturing standards, most cars do not need re-alignments very often, if at all. Of course, this assumes no road craters, smashing into curbs, etc.
However, I would assume any MB is going to be complicated so if I needed one I would go to dealership.