What's up everyone -

My 2023 E63 S sedan originally came with Pirelli P-Zero tires.

Because of the climate here where I live, I decided to switch out the P-Zero's for a set of Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 tires in the same size as the Pirelli's (265/35ZR20 and 295/30/ZR20).

I'm definitely no tire expert. But after researching these Michelin's, I thought they might provide a good option to get me through cold/potentially snowy winters without compromising too much performance during the warmer months.

I figured that by just switching out the Pirelli's for these Michelin's, I'd be saving myself the trouble of a)purchasing the OEM winter wheel/tire setup and b)switching wheels/tires twice a year.

With this as my rationale, I went in yesterday to have the Michelin's installed.

I understand that when a vehicle's tires are changed, it can have different impacts on the way the car drives/feels. And I definitely noticed some changes.

The steering was extremely heavy with the Pirellis - something my forearms and I had grown accustomed to while driving the car during the first month - and it has lightened up noticeably with the Michelin's. I wouldn't say it became better or worse in this regard, just different as you might expect when changing out the tires.

However, the steering now feels a tiny bit "off-center" after they put on the new Michelin's. It's as if the steering wheel's center position has been rotated a degree or two clockwise. When driving on a flat surface, it will stay in this slightly off-center position. It does not pull in one direction or the other.

It's a very slight difference. If someone new to the car got in to drive it, I guess it's possible they might not notice it. But it's a difference I definitely notice and it bothers me because this is an expensive, basically-brand-new E63S and the steering should be perfect as it was before I changed the tires out.

After the installation, they did perform an alignment. And I returned to the dealership again today to ask them to address the issue and after another examination they said there is nothing they can do.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

Thanks in advance and I greatly look forward to reading your responses.

-Derz

 

The Michelin tire is a better tire and I don't think your tires are causing an issue here.
There was no need for you to do an alignment on a tire change assuming it was driving straight before and didn't pull. So they scammed you there.
It sounds to me that the dealership didn't do the alignment correctly, I would ask to speak to a manager about your issues and if they're not helping, take it to another shop and see what they say

 

Firstly, you are not crazy, lol. This is a fairly common issue and it was most likely caused by them adjusting your toe while your steering wheel was not perfectly centered.

This can be easily corrected by the alignment shop adjusting your tie rod ends. The fact that the shop said there's nothing they can do for this widely known condition, I would never bring my car back to them, ever. But that's just me... they are showing a severe lack of knowledge IMO.

I would either find someone at the shop where you got this done that knows what they are doing or take it to an alignment shop and they can correct it for you within minutes.

Good luck man!!

 

I have the same Michelin all season changed over as well. The steering does feel lighter and I do not feel the steering is somehow off by even a slight degree. I also did a 4-wheel alignments at the dealer as well, given our front negative camber can chew up the inner tires very quickly.

The other thing you can check yourself is the tire pressure and making sure the tires are mounted correctly with the rotation arrow pointing the forward direction.

 

Incorrect alignment for wheel center during toe-in adjustment. Get the shop to correct.

 

As most have said. They did an unnecessary alignment. It's not unusual for the steering to be somewhat off center after an alignment if they didn't hold the steering wheel perfectly center. They do have a tool to arrest the steering wheel in its center position during an alignment, but there's always a certain tolerance, assuming they used the tool correctly in the first place. To be fair even new cars coming from the factory can have an off center steering wheel. It all depends on how crooked the vision is of the tech doing the alignment. Technically the mentioned tool is supposed to take individual judgment out of the equation, but I've had issues in the past with off center steering wheels after an alignment. So far the tech doing the alignment at my MB dealership seems to know what they are doing. I've had several alignments over the last 4 years and never had to go back. Also some shops deliberately do the alignment slightly off center to account for road camber. On US roads you will otherwise always have to slightly steer left in order to drive straight.

 

Asymmetric tire pressures can sometimes cause couple degree deviation in steering, but I'm understanding this to mean that you had tires replaced and then an alignment just because of their recommendation ... and that's when you first noticed the steering issue.

 

Thank the car gods for this forum.

 

I've had pilot sports feel a little weird brand new. Once they break in a little , it gradually changed. I also had some minor tire noise on the hwy. that went away within the first thousand miles or so.

 

Yes, that's generally the case with all new tires. They need about 500 miles for the lubricants from the mold to wear off and all the layers of the tire to come together for optimal performance. Brand new tires can be quite slippery during this phase, so you do wanna take it easy. In addition to that there's quite a bit of flex in the tread when the tire is new. Most performance tires don't start to feel proper until they are worn down to about 7/32". This is why streetable track tires such as the Cup 2 come with an initial tread depth of around that right from the factory. The more worn the tires get the better they become in the dry, think slicks for maximum performance in the dry. Remember, tires only have grooves to evacuate water when it's wet. They don't help in the dry. Places like Tire Rack offer tire shaving, so you can have a brand new tire shaved down to whatever tread depth you desire.