freakinfreak

If I remember correctly, Mercedes offered your first alignment at no charge before your first 12k miles/1 yr. Is this still the case?

Gullwing

yes

tbenz

yes and no, you need to tell them you have a bad pull, then they can cover it

lkchris

What an incredible question.

Alignment is ONLY EVER required if you've had an accident and suspension comonents are damaged or if suspension is taken apart for component replacement due to wear. There is NO adjustment for wear, just component replacement.

grane

My AMG was out of alignment when it was delivered. I'm told they winch them down on the transporters which throws off the alignment. Most dealers never check in predelivery.

I had mine checked by my local tire shop - they owed me a favor - they couldn't adjust it because it does take special parts but MB begrudgingly performed the alignment under warranty.

I would have a good independent check it nd then bring it into your dealer with the printout.

Nevertheless the rear Bridgestone RE 050s wore out with less than 10k miles - what pieces of crap. My friendly mechanic told me that they figure if I can afford a CL55 I can afford new tires every 10k miles.....

sosh

Actually alignment is covered by warranty up to 1 yr 0r 12000 miles IF there is a problem with it. Its not done unless a problem is reported. What is done during the first "courtesy" free service is a tire rotation.

BryanW203

The 1-3k service is the "Welcome" service, a hook up to SDS and inspection.

At 6500mi you can get a free rotation.

All adjustments - doors/wipers/alignment things of that nature are covered up to 12k or 1yr.

whoover

It's kind of the other way around. Suspension parts wear on many Mercedes models at a faster rate than you might think, and having an alignment check is the only way to find out if you have any worn joints. This, and the fact that simply curbing a wheel can be the "accident" that throws your alignment off, means that a periodic alignment is not a bad idea if you want to keep your front end in top condition. I wouldn't expect you need one in the first 12,000 miles, but I wouldn't go 60,000 miles without one, for instance, just because you're accident-free.

AH1W-COBRA

why are outer tie rods threaded?

grane

+1

As I recall my alignment shop did an adjustment to the front but they said the rears were out and needed special bolts or something that only a MB dealer could order. This is on a CL55 and the said the CLs and SLs were similar in this regard.

lkchris

They are threaded so intitial adjustment can be set.

They are NOT threaded so you can adjust them for wear.

If there's wear, you replace them.

Pretty simple, huh?

AH1W-COBRA

call any alignment shop and ask them if they replace tie rods that show no wear, to bring toe in adjustments to spec.
im pretty sure their response will be no,their is a method of adjustment.i will concede that all alignments are required based upon wear,bending or incorrect initial set up.

whoover

You're both half-right. Tie rods are threaded because toe will need to be adjusted whenever alignment has to be redialed in. But that will normally only be the case when some part wears or is damaged. It won't necessarily be a tie rod end that needs replacing. It could be a control arm or ball joint, but it's true that alignment is pretty stable until something wears or gets bent. It's just that things start wearing by about 30,000 miles. If you need new control arms, but your tie rod ends are solid, you still may very well need to trim the toe at the tie rod ends as part of installing the new control arms. Getting the alignment checked is a better way to find control arm or ball joint play than waiting for the handling to be bad enough for you to notice. You tend to get used to a certain amount of sloppiness that happens gradually.