Lanzz

Took my 2017 E300 for Service B today. It is two years old and has 10,000 miles on it. The service writer pointed out that the inside of both front tires are starting to wear unevenly - they are getting that "scalloped" look where the front of each tread block is wearing at a different rate than the back. I don't think the tires have been rotated before (I assumed it was part of the standard maintenance, but apparently it is not...) so, the tires have 10,000 miles of gentle driving on them. Is this normal? I had a 4 wheel alignment today and had them rotated in addition to the regular Service B. The repair order states that the alignment was out of spec - surprised me for a new and lightly used car. I am not worried about needing tires before lease end, there's plenty of tread and the rotation and alignment should take care of the issue, but I was surprised to encounter it...

jhpmbusa

so whatever impacted the front tires, effected both of them at once? where was service A done and did they inspect the tires then?

Lanzz

Good question - Service A was done at the same dealership and it was not raised at that time. So, yes, both front tires exhibited the same wear pattern and it was only raised to me when I went for Service B. (Car only had 5,000 miles on it at time of Service A, so maybe it hadn't become apparent that that point...)

jhpmbusa

i think if you can get them to cover the alignment under warranty it would be great, i just find it funny that the alignment would go bad in both front tires the same way.. for example people usually hit a pothole on one side of the car... not like with both tires at once?

I had alignment covered by warranty on my e300

Lanzz

jhp, I wish I thought of that - cost me $39 for the tire rotation and $179 for the alignment. I wish I'd thought more about it at the time... As much as I love the car, I don't really feel like the service experience is all that great. I used to own a Chrysler 300 and the service was pretty decent - for what it was - but my expectations weren't high. I feel like MB sets expectations through the roof in terms of the experience and it doesn't really get there...

nycebo

Complain aggressively to the service manager, not the service rep. Often times, they need to be made aware of your disappointment. Thereafter, I expect that your experience with them will improve dramatically. Do not let it slide or the scenario will play out the same in the future.

jerrya

If your toe in is out of spec, the tread blocks will wear in a wedge shape. You can tell by running your hand across the tread. If it grabs your hand more in one direction, that's it. It also does bad things to your gas consumption.
​​Cupping is two to three inch dents in the edge of a tire. It is usually caused by damaged or loose suspension parts. It can also be caused by the wrong part number tire on an all wheel drive car.
When you get the alignment right and the cold tire pressures right, you will notice that the car takes a long time to slow down at a highway service area. (Long, straight off ramp.)

Lanzz

Jerry - the repair order mentioned toe being out of spec - not sure if it was in or out, but I definitely feel the uneven tread blocks with my hand. I just wondered how toe even gets out of spec in a car that I barely drive and only on smooth southern roads. ( When I lived in Manhattan, any car needed an alignment yearly, given the rough terrain...)

nycebo

It may not have been set up correctly out of the gate.

jerrya

All it takes is once. In addition to potholes, all it takes is hitting a ridge while cornering hard. Like on a ramp.
What I do is track my gas mileage. If it drops for three fill ups in a row, I start hunting things; Tire pressure, alignment, engine... Note that running the air conditioning appears to be worth about 1 mpg.

How do you know that you have hit a pothole in Boston? All four wheels drop at once!

JTK44

Hitting a pothole does not explain both tires being out of alignment.

To me this definitely sounds like out of alignment from the git go from the factory.

I would push hard to have this as a warranty item and push even harder to get some sort of allowance on the tires. My 2016 E350 Mercedes has 27,000 miles on it and the front tread depth is still 8/32 and even wear. I expect minimum of 45,000 miles. The rears have 6/32. As I lease do not bother to have the tires rotated. - unless the dealer wants to do it for "gratis".

Have never needed an alignment, nor needed one, and I do drive into NYC and winter skiing in Vermont!

jerrya

Look at your feet. Pigeon toed and you wear the outside of your soles, toes turned out and you wear the inside.

Toe in is a measure of how parallel the tires are when pointed straight ahead. If you bend any suspension component, then the toe in will change.
What an alignment is is checking camber, caster, and toe in both front and rear. If it is out of spec, you look for bent parts to replace. You may need shims, eccentric bolts, or bushings. The last thing you adjust is the toe in because it is dependant on everything else.
The last check is: Is the steering wheel pointed straight ahead when the car is traveling straight ahead?

My E350 Wagon 36,000 miles has its original 17" tires and no alignment problems. My E550 Cab, also has 36,000 miles, 19" sticky Michelin Super Sports. It has had three alignments, one set of eccentric bolts, and is on its fourth set of tires. Guess which one I drive like a little old lady and which one I slide through the corners sideways occasionally.

JTK44

If you equal toe in on both tires, the car tracks straight and the steering wheel will be straight. Ditto if you equal toe out.

You only have "pull" if one side is different from the other.

This was not a case of shims, eccentric bolts, etc. An alignment corrected the problem.

As both tires had wear on the inside, this is an indication of a misalignment from the beginning.

As I previously posted, this imo should be covered by warranty.