cporterfield

I have had my 2000 S500 aligned 5 times over the last three years. At the last 2 times, the dealer used/installed a C/E class camber bolt kit. At none of the prior three alignmnets was this kit used (2 times at dealer, 1 time at independent shop).

Why would there be this change? If the bolt kit is used once, why would I need to pay for it a second time? The bolt kit has effectivley DOUBLED the price of the alignment both times.

Last info. -- my wheels are AMG 18s, staggered widths.

Mercedes Tuner

The part number for the bolt kit is 000-330-00-18 they are about $20 each.

The technician gets a half hr to install One correction bolt. Generally speaking, One bolt may or may not change the alignment enough and an additional bolt will need to be installed in another location to correct the alignment more. On the other side of the coin, if the correction bolts are already in the car, and either need to have their position changed, or have a non correction bolt reinstalled in the vehicle, the technician gets another half hr per bolt for that.

The reason why they would need to be installed is to correct alignment issues. Your vehicle can take up to 4 alignment correction bolts. One bolt for each control arm.

The alignment correction bolt for a W220:

will change the alignment on the Strut Link: Camber 46' minutes - Caster 26' Minutes

will change the alignment on the Thrust Link: Caster 40' minutes - Camber 5' minutes

In my experiences, 90% of most W220 alignments are close
the last percentage need usually 1 correction bolt for the thrust link to effect the caster. If a W220 needs more then one correction bolt, I'm starting to look for bent/damaged or worn components, or a front subframe that's been knocked out of position.

Do you have a copy of your last alignment report?

cporterfield

The last alignment was done on 6/24/04 The specs were:
LF -2.00'/7.58'/.15'
RF -1.51'/9.00'/.13
LR -1.25'/.17
RR -1.15'/.15'

A "C-Class caster camber bolt kit" was used, cost $119.50 in addition to $119.50 for the alignment. Also done: replace worn lower conterol arms lower ball joints & torque struts.

The alignment prior to that was done sometime late last year. I cannot find my receipt right now, but I recall that a E-Class caster camber bolt kit was used at a cost of 119.50. During that visit, the steering rack and the left front air strut were replaced (I think those were in the same visit).

A prior alignment was done on 5/19/03. A C-class camber bolt kit was used. No specs were given -- it was a redo of an alignment done on 3/26/03. This was because the car pulled to the right quite badly. That one did not use a bolt kit. The specs were:
LF -1.4/7.9/.26
RF -1.4/8.4/.27
LR -1.2/.32
RR -1.5/.34

Mercedes Tuner

The first alignment that you had done, these specs:
LF -1.4/7.9/.26
RF -1.4/8.4/.27
LR -1.2/.32
RR -1.5/.34

The alignment it self is ok, but it has way too much toe in both in front and back. The camber in the front is a little bit on the negative side more then it should be.

The second alignment, these specs:
LF -2.00'/7.58'/.15'
RF -1.51'/9.00'/.13
LR -1.25'/.17
RR -1.15'/.15'

I'm not sure what they did on the alignment here, but now you have too low of caster on the LF and too much negative camber on both front wheels. The toe readings front and rear are much better now. It looks like they installed a correction bolt in the LF caster, lowering the caster and increasing the negative camber in the LF. There is too much of a Caster difference in the front and too much Camber difference in the front also. Usually I will try to get a car to have more caster on the right as what was done here, but not that much of a caster difference. Then the camber I will usually try to have more negative camber on the r/f then the l/f. By doing this it helps with road crown so the cars won't drift off to the right all the time. By having too much negative camber on the l/f it could be causing a slight pull to the right, however with that much of a difference in caster, they are probably fighting each other and causing the car to go straight.

Do you have the Ride Height readings from the alignment reports? Do you know if there was a ride height calibratioin done on the car at some point? Or can you actually scan in the alignment report and post it up? Its difficult to diagnose problems with out actually being there to look at the car.

cporterfield

Mercedes Tuner:

I was not given an alignment report. The numbers came from my service invoices. No ride height has been reported to me, and as far as I know, the dealer has not perfomed a ride height calibration.

Over the course of the last 2 1/2 years, I made many complaints that the front end shimmied and seemed to be out of alignmet. That's why there has been so much work done in it. Ironically, the strut and control arms were not replaced until the car was out of warranty. Thankfully, I have an extended warranty, but the costs are now greater for me because not everything is covered. I began focusing on the alignment because even though the parts and installation were covered, the alignment cost has not been covered.

Interestingly, the dealer has consitently told me that my choice of tires is the problem. Because I am using the same wheels and tire sizes as on the MB S500 Sport, which has the same suspension, I have always thought the dealer was full of it. The only time the dealer seemed to be right was when I replaced the tires because I was told one of the fronts was out of round. I replaced all 4 wheels at that same time.

What I am gathering from your two posts is that the problem may be with the front subframe, but that it has not been idenitified by the dealer, or at least not communicated to me. Do you think the dealer is attempting to mask the problem by using some strange alignment specs, which necessitates the use of the caster/camber bolts?

What would you do/what is your recommendation? I realize it's difficult to assess because you don't have the car in front of you. Is there any other information you need?

I greatly appreciate your help.

Mercedes Tuner

If your initial complaint was a shimmy while driving, that has nothing to do with needing a wheel alignment. A shimmy is caused by either a tire being out of round, a wheel being bent, or worn suspension components. If you are using the 18 inch AMG wheels as found on the Sport Model, then you should not have any problems with using them. There is no difference between the models.

If your steering wheel is not straight, or the vehicle is pulling to one side, or the tires are wearing unevenly, that has to do with wheel alignment.

The only way to really find out if you need the front subframe is to have an alignment done, have all the alignment correction bolts removed, then have the original bolts installed. Then you will be able to see the true alignment readings of the car. If anything is out of place then, its more obvious to see.

As far as the dealer trying to mask a problem. I doubt it, unless the technician who's performing the alignment just doesn't know what he's doing when it comes to wheel alignments and just installs correction bolts to even the alignment out.

Its hard to say what to do. If the car is going straight and you don't have any vibrations. I would just leave everything alone, or else you may just open up pandora's box.