richard2725

Well we now have about 500 miles on the SL after 10 days. Lots of fun, great top system and the weather in Florida has been co-operating.

However, the car has been back to the Dealer 3 times for alignment this week. It seems they cannot get rid of the right drift (saying it is standard) and are having a hard time getting the steering wheel to be center when the car is going straight ahead on a road with no crown. (they have the lastest Hiunter optical alignment system). They claim the car is "aligned to factory specs" amd that a slight right drift is standard and built into the car for safety. Having had both a late model 996 Porsche and S500 neither of which had this my comment is BS. Opinions?

internet_mafia

There's no such thing as a "factory" drift built into a car. The problem with your car originated at the point of assembly, not at the drawing board. Your dealer is just having a heck of a time finding the root of the problem and hoping that you'll take the bait. If the problem is serious enough, use the lemon law. This reminds me of a 2001 Rolls Royce Silver Seraph that had a vibration that could not be fixed. The dealer disclosed the issue and obviously factored that into the price.

wait2long455

I don't know if it is B.S. or not...but my 2004 Sl has a slight drift to the right also. I was going to take it in but know after raeding your post maybe there is something to what your dealer has to say. Btw I only have 500 miles on it so it can't be from my driving.

internet_mafia

How can a drift to the right be a safety feature? How does MB know which direction is safest to drift to? Why is this "feature" not mentioned in any MB literature? If the car is turning in a direction without driver input, that's a safety issue!

vraa

'Zactly what I was thinking! I mean sure so you won't go into the left lane (oncoming) but that's horrible.

Our SL doesn't drift. Period.

benzosl

I too have a 2004 SL and have experienced a slight drift to the right since inception. I have two friends with E classes (one with a 2003 E320 and one with a 2004 E500 w appearance) and they both experience drifts to the right. I also experience this issue in my friend's parents 2004 SL. It seems to be a benz thing for whatever reason since so many are experiencing it!

gbahri

Yeah I have a clk and it drifts also. They did an alignment, it got better, but still drifts.

johnroden

I have an 04 SL500 Sport with 1100 miles on it and it doesn't drift. Does the Sport model make any difference?

blueSL

I guess there's an argument that if a road is crowned to assist with water drainage, the car should steer against the slight incline and therefore away from the edge of the road. But it would then be different according to which side of the road you are on and which is worse, a tendency to go off the road or into the path of oncoming traffic in an undivided highway?

They can't predict what sort of roads you're going to be driving on so surely the car should have have neutral steering. I think the dealer is just feeding you BS.

None of my cars drifts at all - I can take my hands off the wheel for several seconds at high speed and they're as straight as an arrow. It's interesting to watch how much the Ferrari wheel then jiggles about, telling you what the front wheels are doing. The Mercedes wheels just sit there.

For those whose cars drift, how much are they drifting? - say in terms of if you took your hands off the wheel at 60mph, how long would they take to effectively change lane - a couple of seconds (yikes), 5 seconds, 10 seconds? I'd say mine are in the 10 second category.

Finally, of course, it's very important to have matching tyre pressures and tyre wear on both sides of the car. If a wheel has a larger rolling diameter than the other, that will cause the car to steer in the opposite direction.

vraa

Sport model might make a difference like blueSL said, about the tire wear and such.

Two SL's, one at 15k miles and no drift, and then I drove ano0oj's and no drift there either. Your dealer is feeding you B.S. with a large spoon.

sillydriver

I think BlueSL is right about the crown of the road being a factor, but in my experience the effect runs the opposite way. I’ve found that these cars drift toward the edge of the road: to the right on a two-lane road (USA of course, not Britain) and to the left when in the left lane of a divided highway. The effect was noticeable in my old SL55 and S500 with the sport package wheels and tires, much less noticeable with the narrower snow tires on my S500.

richard2725

Thank you Team! I did a 100 mile two way run yesterday with my wife on I-95 and at 100 MPH with as visually flat road as possible (i.e neutral crown) the drift was about 7-10 seconds for a 18 foot lane change to the right.. Did a tire (tyre) pressure check first. Dealer has promised to re-check next Tuesady and involve zone rep. By the way I have Michelin Pilots (great tires) with Sport package. Car just sings along at 100 MPH. We now have almost 500 miles on the odometer.

Further thought could it be the driver's weight causing issue. Did this test with a full tank of fuel. Car averaged 21 MPG for an avergage speed over a 75 mile distance of 84 MPH. Normal drift is experience with only myself in the car.

The seven speed automatic is a great transmission with a notible kick down even at + 90 MPH speeds. Thank you V-1 for providing us with some great protection

Wife's new E500 due in port today for delivery on Thursday.

By the way ran a German Company for a few years and traditional winter break in for last two weeks of Dec.

blueSL

Taking the worst case of 7 seconds, you are travelling 1026 feet at 100mph in that time, if the car moves laterally 18 feet in that time, that suggest a misalignment of 18/1026 radians which is almost exactly one degree effective misalignment. They should definitely be able to dial that out.

richard2725

Thank you. For the advise. To the Dealer again Tuesday