The Shoeman

Warning....LONG STORY.

I have a 2005 S430 4matic which I use as my daily driver and I drive a lot for work.

I purchased this car in December and I replaced the engine with one from a 2001 E430 Sport which I owned. My wife was in a minor accident but it caused enough damage to the rear/side of the car to be a total loss to the insurance company. I bought the car back from them and used the very strong engine for this beauty I have now.

This car came fairly cheap because of the issues it had. Some of the issues, aside from the engine, were front passenger sided air strut, collapsed rear suspension, catalytic converters on the passenger side, tires and loose steering rack. The rack had what translated into about a 2 cm dead spot. A spot where I could turn the steering wheel either direction and it wouldn't do anything to the direction of the wheels. This would happen while driving straight or while in corners. I replaced the steering rack and at the same time I replaced the inner and outer tie rods on both sides. I figured if I'm going to get new tires and an alignment, I might as well use new parts for this whole process.

Parts swapped out, alignment done and new tires mounted, balanced and installed. Drives tight and straight. I'm happy.

Two months after the steering fix, my wife and I take the car for a cross country trip to view the Great American Eclipse. From Massachusetts to Wyoming and back. The only problem we had during the trip was the front catalytic converter broke apart inside and clogged the rear converter creating severe back pressure causing misfires on the whole right bank of cylinders. After thinking about my options while 2000 miles from home.....finding a shop to fix this for free (I have no extra money) was not an option. I found a hardware store and bought a couple drill bits that would work with my battery powered impact driver. I figured the rear converter was junk so I drilled enough holes in the front of the converter to relieve some pressure while running so I wouldn't get the misfires. This worked well with the exception of the hills in Pennsylvania. Codes would fly as soon as you get your foot in it to make it up the long and steep hills. Not a huge deal....just would pull over, clear the codes and then get back on the highway with a little less effort in the throttle department.

Made it home Saturday evening and started to work on the exhaust on Sunday. While jacking the car up I noticed the inside of both front tires are smooth. WTF??!! Brand new tires...now junk.

What would wear the tires like this...toe alignment is all I can think of. But why would the toe alignment be off? I just replaced the rack and inner and outer tie rods just before the alignment. What else could throw off the alignment? I don't see anything that's loose. Upper and lower ball joints seem good.

The only 'odd' feeling I've had with the steering was an occasional 'slipping on a small patch of ice' sensation when turning a bit aggressively in a corner. It was very slight....and I only thought it was just a weak sidewall because they're nothing special for tires.

What would cause this sensation? Possible ball joint going bad? would this also cause the alignment issue?

Any thoughts? Follow up Questions? I'm open to anything.

Thanks in advance.


PS. The "Total Solar Eclipse" was absolutely amazing! I would do this trip again in a heartbeat to see it.

MikeKerr7

Sorry you are having the issues. I also have had a like wear on the front tires of my 2006 S430 4matic, and also the weird slippage. It has been an ongoing project and I am not sure I have resolved it. I did find my front left caliper was sticking after braking, but showed no signs of a stuck caliper. I discovered the issue as the front left rotor was smoking hit, where the front right and rears were not. I replaced the caliper but did not solve the tire wear. I also found the left cv axle leaking grease, replaced the axle, but still had bad tire wear. One thing I found was my first and second set of tires, although had a 500 wear rating, were low quality. I am now running bridgestone and monitoring for unusual tire wear.

On the catalytic convertor, I sense you can pick up a assembly from a parts car. The issue I have had with a S430 in the north has been the exhaust bolts and flanges rusted and melted together. What would be a 60 minute exhaust system replacement for a southern W220 took me excessive time and retrofitting because of the exhaust system flange, bolt, and nut corrosion.

I will be monitoring your thread, keep us up on what you are finding....

tusabes

I have the exact same front tire wear issue

car has 220,000 miles and suspension is original . I just buy from a reputable tire shop with a good mileage warranty

the wear is even across the tread so it's baffling

The Shoeman

I'm going to look at my car a bit closer this weekend. Looking at anything in the front end of the car. I still don't understand what could throw the car off so bad (so quickly) that it eats the inside shoulder off of the two front tires.

It's very frustrating. I work on my cars to save money....and this just feels like I'm pissing money away.

I'm attaching pictures of the tires.

After getting the new Bridgestone tires, do you still get that slipping feeling? How long have you had them? Any signs of abnormal wear?



I'm a bit confused? Do you just keep throwing new tires at your problem? Or, have you had your reputable tire shop fix the issue? If so, what was the issue?

The Shoeman

Just thinking....would a heavy load in the rear of the car cause the front wheels to toe in or out? During the trip out to Wyoming, the trunk and back seat were fairly full of stuff.

tusabes

Mine is an even wear across the entire tire , not just the edge

but they wear out within 5000 miles . It's covered under warranty because the wear is even across the tread

Icarus747

Bought car and drove it from Texas to Wisconsin. Tires were shot all around. Bought new rims and Michelin tires. Changed pads to all ceramic and put new rotors on front. Took it to get alignment at ordinary car shop. They said it had no camber adjustment. I didn't believe them. Took it to a Benz dealer and the pull it had was gone after they did the alignment. Cost $140. $$$ well spent vs chewing up tires.

The Shoeman

So, I haven't figured out what the issue is yet. However, I decided to put the bad, worn out inside edge front tires onto the rear and put the 'good' rear tires up front. While doing so, I noticed the drivers rear also had some wear on the inside edge. This didn't make a whole lot of sense to me on why there would be wear on the inside edge on the REAR??!!!



I went to change the right side....and this is what I saw!!!!!



I'm thinking the ride height of the car might have something to do with it.

What does anyone know about having a 'low' ride height and wearing out the inside edge of ALL 4 TIRES on a 4Matic w220?????


I'm going to start a new post about the ride height potential.... Here

https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ml#post7258652

The Shoeman

So as a follow up with what I found. Multiple issues.....

The front tires were worn because even though I had replaced the inner tie rods and the tie rod ends during a steering rack swap, I found one of the inner tie rods prematurely had some in/out play. This wrecked the front tires.

The rear tires were worn/destroyed because at some point during the trip the upper control arm's rubber bushing essentially fell apart. This threw the camber WAY OFF! And with the added weight of our traveling gear, the lower ride height the car is typically at and the even lower ride height while traveling at highway speeds, stressed the tires beyond their point of reliability.

As far as the catalytic converter....I bought a front pipe off ebay and installed it.

2 things I should have been aware of when searching on eBay for this pipe....I found these things out because I didn't pay attention to these details!!!

Fortunately, the pipe fit. It was fairly close to the front drive shaft but not touching. The pipe came from a 2000 S500 and the O2 sensors are definitely different than what I needed in my 2005 S430 4-Matic. Threw a couple codes pointing directly to the O2 sensors. I was able to remove my sensors and reuse them.

I hope this helps with anyone's situation with similar wear on their tires. I'm sure there are more issues that can cause the same wear, but this is what I found on my car.

Good Luck

compaddict

iTrader: (1)

My car did that. I brought it to my race car alignment guy and he adjusted the toe to compensate for the wear. I don't remember what the settings were but the tire wear was perfect after.
Vince

Das Geld 2

If the car is lowered..it will eat the insides..its the negative camber. rotate to compensate

The Shoeman

What is the correct ride height?