Alignment nightmare
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: New Zealand
W210 E55 2000
Alignment nightmare
Hello,
I had an unexpected problem after an alignment, they did a horrible jobs, they left the steering wheel not straight, actually look pretty bad, its 2-3 cm of center position...
And the worst came after driving for 20KM 3 malfunctions came at same time, ABS, ESP and BAS...
Its not a proper mercedes shop they fixed a ball joint on my car and decide to do an alignment after that...
Any ideas that they could it hit something while doing the alignment?
There is no dealer near where I live, am in the middle of no where, my friend with a scanner will help me look at those malfunctions coming up...
Any suggestions would be much appreciated
I had an unexpected problem after an alignment, they did a horrible jobs, they left the steering wheel not straight, actually look pretty bad, its 2-3 cm of center position...
And the worst came after driving for 20KM 3 malfunctions came at same time, ABS, ESP and BAS...
Its not a proper mercedes shop they fixed a ball joint on my car and decide to do an alignment after that...
Any ideas that they could it hit something while doing the alignment?
There is no dealer near where I live, am in the middle of no where, my friend with a scanner will help me look at those malfunctions coming up...
Any suggestions would be much appreciated
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 343
Likes: 48
W109 300SEL6.3, W123 280TE, W123 200T, W210 E55
if the steeringwheel is not in the middle but the car drives straight you´ll get ABS/ESP/BAS errors ... because the ESP Control Module thinks you are doing a turn but the signals from the wheels doesent say so -> error.
Go back to that shop, let the do the alignment again!
greetings, Fabian
Go back to that shop, let the do the alignment again!
greetings, Fabian
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 3,969
Likes: 1,317
From: Republic of Texas
'99 and '05 E55 AMG
It's an easy fix. Assuming the wheel is canted approximately 30 degrees, it will take about 1/2 turn of each tie rod end to center it.
If steering wheel is canted to left, you need to kick out the rear of the right-side front wheel and pull in the rear of the left-side front wheel.
-Right-hand side, look at the threads and back the tie-rod end out 1/2 turn.
-Left-hand side, look at the threads and screw in the tie-rod end 1/2 turn.
-Take it for a drive to verify the wheel is straight; adjust as necessary, then verify toe-in is correct.
If steering wheel is canted to the right, reverse the above instructions.
I just did this with my W210 this past weekend. Changing the ball joints alone caused the steering wheel to go from straight to canted.
If steering wheel is canted to left, you need to kick out the rear of the right-side front wheel and pull in the rear of the left-side front wheel.
-Right-hand side, look at the threads and back the tie-rod end out 1/2 turn.
-Left-hand side, look at the threads and screw in the tie-rod end 1/2 turn.
-Take it for a drive to verify the wheel is straight; adjust as necessary, then verify toe-in is correct.
If steering wheel is canted to the right, reverse the above instructions.
I just did this with my W210 this past weekend. Changing the ball joints alone caused the steering wheel to go from straight to canted.
