What are factory setting values of camber, caster, and toe for W203?

Do we need to maintain those values when the car is lowered with springs?

No camber on the w203... Not sure what the other settings are.

I lowered with H&Rs but I never did the alignment. I can't find any indications of incorrectly. But the way I am treating my tires I wouldn't be able to tell anyway.

Front Camber- Negative 20 minutes
Front Caster- Positive 10 Degrees 20 Minutes
Front Toe- Positive 12 minutes each wheel for a total of 24 minutes towed in.

Rear Camber- Negative 1 Degree 30 Minutes
Rear Toe- Positive 16 minutes each wheel for a total of 32 Minutes Toe in

Once a car is lowered, its difficult to stay with in factory specifications.

There is a correction bolt which you can get to install in the front control arms to change the alignment.
These correction bolts will allow an adjustment for Camber and Caster.

There is no adjustment for rear Camber.

As far as what amount of toe to use, depends on how wide of a tire you are using. If its the factory size, then the factory toe will be good, if you are using a much wider tire, then you should use less toe.

I'm curious as to where these specifications came from?

Also, there is no listing of tolerance for each value, as there should be. Did you omit this?

Thanks!

-s-

Those are the specs from inside my head!

I suppose it would be necessary to have tolerances!

Front Camber: +/- 25 minutes
Cross Camber: +/- 20 minutes

Caster: +/- 30 minutes
Cross Caster: +/- 30 Minutes

Toe:
Front: +/- 5 minutes
Total Toe: +/- 10 minutes

Rear: +/- 5 minutes
Total Toe: +/- 10 minutes

Thank you, Mercedes Tuner

That's the answer I've been trying to find out for almost a month.

I just bought the new W203 last month and change the wheels to Brabus 8.5"x18" Front and 9.5"x18" Rear.

I went in and out 5 to 6 alignment shops, including the authorized Mercedes-Benz service center, but have never got the right alignment for my car.

They all got high-tech equipment but they seemed not to be able to get it right. And, yes, I got the new bolts from the Mercedes for free. I think I will just visit the alignment shop again and hand these numbers to them. What do you think the toe number should be if

1) I don't lower my car, but my wheel and tires are 8.5"x18" (225/40/18) Front and 9.5"x18" (255/35/18) Rear

2) I lower my car with H&R or Eibach springs. The car will be 1.2" or 1.4"lower. I guess in this case the camber and caster are needed to be adjusted too, right?

You're my hope. I thought there is no one reply this post. BTW, are those numbers really from your head?

----------------------------
It's terrible when the wheel were not correctly aligned

one stupid question
"less toe" means more negative or less negative value?

"Less toe" usually means more positive value, or as you put it, "less negative".

If you go to the run-of-the-mill alignment shop, when they see a specification like +/- 5 minutes, they will probably laugh...

(Mercedes themselves usually do not release specifications such as these, although since a W203 is a strut-type suspension, the manuals may have specs.)

-s-

What I can recommend you to do, would be to get the suspension done. Leave the Stock wheels on the car, and let a Mercedes Dealer set the alignment up correctly. With any luck the Alignment Technician will know what to do with the lowered car. You should mention to the Service Advisor that the car has been lowered, that way it could be put on the Repair Order. I would also recommend for you to mention that the Alignment be set to European Specifications, which are different then the US.

If you are willing to pay a little extra they should be able to do this for you.

After the alignment is done, drive the car make sure it feels good, then install the aftermarket wheels.

By saying less Toe, I'm meaning Closer to Zero Toe

Actually they are! I'm an Alignment Technician at a Dealer and from doing so many Alignments the Specs are sorta stuck in my head now!

Mercedes Tuner,

After several weeks, I still couldn't get a proper alignment from neither alignment shop or Mercedes service center.

Would you please give me the numbers of camber, caster, and toe for the W203 that have been lowered by 1.4"? I will just hand the numbers to them. The car is currently pull heavily to the left and those technician always say it's kind of Mercedes nature which is hard to correct. I don't believe that.



Thanks!

charnchon - I am sorry to hear that you are having so much trouble with the front end. Mercedes Tuner has provided the great list of alignment specs, but if the car is still pulling to one side, then the camber is probably more positive on the side that the car is pulling towards.

Unfortunately, if you provided the specs. you want to the shop/dealer, the technician is probably trying to match the numbers, or a least get close to them. If for some reason, the camber on one side cannot be corrected to the number you want, then the techician will adjust the camber +/- until it stops. This is not what you want.

If the technician knows what he is doing, rather than just number matching, then he/she would find a middle ground between the specs and what can actually be adjusted. The worst that can happen is that you have too much positive or negative camber, allowing more tire wear either on the outside or inside of the tread. But if properly matched, or compensated, the car should track straight.

Because of the lowering springs, you are probably on the edge of not getting enough positive camber on one side. I would suggest finding an independent shop that specializes in custom alignment. This may or may not be a shop that specializes with Mercedes cars, you may have to go to a custom car shop, that deals with hot rods and old cars. Some of these guys are very good at custom alignment.

For anyone in Sacramento, CA. Stock height or lowered, go to G12 on 16th street or Linville Bros. on El Camino.


Rob Lee

I can't tell you what the specs are for a car that's been lowered. There are no specs for modified vehicles. You would need to see what you have after the car is lowered before you can make a decision as to what needs to be adjusted.

If the alignment technician says he can't get the car to track straight then he has no clue what he is doing! There is another possibility though which should be considered. At what speed does the pull to the left occur? If it happens at low speed and gets worse at higher speed, its possible that you may have a bad tire on the left front. If the pull is only at high speeds, and it more drifts to the left and doesn't really pull left, then its probably an alignment issue.

Thank you rob_fed

Thank you Mercedes Tuner

My left camber is -35 minutes and my right camber is -1 degree 35 minutes. I think I need the bolts to correct camber. The caster was not right too. The left is +10 degrees 20 minutes and the right is +10 degrees 35 minutes.

I brought my car in to Mercedes service center and they refuse to provide the service because my car was lowered. It's the largest service center in Bangkok where I live. The imported German technician here is the owner of this idea. He's saying that the service center cannot take the risk if there's any damage becuase my car is no longer in factory specs.

I'm trying to get the bolts installed from another smaller dealer this weekend.

Are those readings the Before or After Lowering Readings?

After

Hi,

I'm really sorry about your car, I am just wandering if because of this problem the car actually makes some sounds (squaking or cracking sounds) from the front side??

Because if you do, I think I have the same problem as you... About three months ago I put on Brabus 19", but until today I haven't lowered it, i don't know why but the car keeps making noises, and I'm getting really frustrated about it, i don't know if this is the same problem as you are facing with your car.

*can anyone help me about it?*

I have C230K (2002) the sportscoupe with,

Brabus 19" (245/35/19 Front) & (275/30/19)

Right now, I'm really frustrated about the noises. The sounds came from the front side of the car...

Thank you,

The camber is off by a lot, to me that says you may have something bent in the front end. The caster is just about equal, I wouldn't worry about the caster. Since the Factory Camber spec is about -20 minutes, and now that you have lowered the car and its only reading -35 minutes on the left side, I would say that you either have a bent strut, or a bent spindle assembly. The reason why I say this is due to the fact that the caster has not changed much. If it were something else, it would have effected caster. Having the -1 degree and 35 minutes on the right side sounds about right for a car that's been lowered about 1.5 inches


A very comon problem on the W203 C Class is having the Front Sway Bar Bushings and Sway Bar Links wear out. They make this type of noise. You should have those inspected.

Those are pretty wide tires for the C230K - you might have something rubbing.

Hi zeppelin,

those tires are wide, but they don't actually rub to my fenders... I'm fine with the rear, but the front side of the car is horrible... i don't know, it's probably because of the sway bar or something....

any suggestions?

-Cheers...-

-=[c-Klasse]=-,
The tires could rub your shocks.

Update to my case:
I've put 4 bolts in and have the car aligned with the new shop. My dealer also sent the car to have the alignment with this shop. The car still pulls to the left just a bit but it's acceptable for me because the city I lived in, Bangkok, has the roads that slope to the left (the steering wheel is on the right side of the car).

I forgot to jot down the camber, caster, and toe but as I saw from the screen, none of them (left-right) were equal. It seems to me that my problem has been solved. I have been to 6 alignment shops and I visited most of them twice or more. The bolts really help.

hmm...usually...with a macpherson strut type...it's the toe-in that usually needs adjusting ... at least, that's what i've notices on the other cars with this setup...

c-Klasse,

Thanks for the pic of the rear. It looks like you could fit a 285 or 295 in there. I guess it is all a matter of the right rim offset. I heard of people with 265's that rub, so I was curious. Thanks

what is the part number for those bolts I want them now!!! Thanks Sean

Part Number: 000-330-00-18
For W203/220/211/219 Non-4Matic vehicles Only

awesome!!! how many do I need? 1 per corner? Thanks Sean