E320 CDi Front Tyre Wear

Tom6873

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Hi
My 2003 (W210) E320 CDI estate has very bad tyre wear on the inner edge of the front tyres.

I bought the car at 36000 miles and it has now done 78000 and has has this problem throughout. I first became aware of the issue when I experienced a blow-out on the A3 on my front offside tyre at 60 mph. The tyre had worn through the rubber to the steel on the inside edge.
I hadn't noticed the problem because the outside edge of the tyre looked in very good condition.

The car is an Avantgarde model (slightly lower/stiffer suspension) but is standard spec - Standard 17" wheels / Tyres / springs / shocks etc...

When I had the tyre replaced I had the front wheel alignment checked and adjusted, thinking that this might resolve the tyre wear issue.

It hasn't resolved the issue, and the tyre now needs replacing again as the inner edge is badly worn.

I've been reading endless posts from other owners about adjusting wheel camber / replacing camber bolts to rectify similar issues.
I don't know whether this is the answer. It seems odd to have to make these kind of fundamental changes to a factory spec car, just to attempt to cure a tyre wear issue.

Yesterday the car went to my local merc independent garage for a pre-MOT check. The car passed but noted the tyre wear issue.
The MOT found no problem with worn front ball joints - A common cause of uneven tyre wear.

When I mentioned to the Merc indie about the tyre wear, he said that the front springs could be the issue as they are probably getting tired. As they are 7-8 years old (and 320 CDI is heavy unit), they may have compressed/softened resulting in reduced ride height of the car, which will alter the angle the tyres make contact with the road (Camber).

I apologies for this being a slightly long post, but I would be interested to hear any views. I have not found any posts about changing tired springs to overcome inner edge tyre wear and I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has been down this route before.
 

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Tom6873

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Hi,
Thanks for replying..
Interesting that you think it is ball joints / bushes. Would this not have shown up on the MOT?
Whats your thought on tired springs?
 

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The springs are doubtful as they would have to drop a long way.

Back to the ball joints. Bolide a member here put up a good post on these swivels,,they are not picked up on the MOT as the rust insides prevents any play being detected, and we have had many post where the joint has failed and the wheel collapsed. They are not expensive and easy to fit. As bolide said they should be changed every few years.

I cannot guarantee that this will fix the problem,,but most that have changed them have said that it did
 

MPK

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Tom - I had similiar problem with my car wearing tyres on the inside edges.

Took car to Wheels in Motion in Chesham and was advised that car springs needed to be replaced, as they were unable to adjust within tolerances. ( Car front had sank ) - You can check / measure this yourslef with gap from top of tyres to bottom of wing, across all 4 corners.

Bought genuine MB springs - They are colour codes aginst the chassis number - And replaced.

Brought back to get re-aligned, hardly any adjustment needed with new springs.

Rides nicer too across speed bumps.

Mike
 

LYNALL

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My fronts did the same to my tyres, went to wheels in motion very good fronts have now done 11k ish and are still fine.
Worth the money google them.



Lynall
 

Alex Crow

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i better point out that this is the third or fourth 210 with this problem in a couple of months - WITH 17" wheels!! some others have posted pictures of the wear, and pointed out how close to the upper suspension the tyre is, i really feel this is far more than an alignment issue, whether camber, castor or toe...

TOM, what brand of tyres suffer this problem on your car, also, any chance of pictures please?
 

OlafMaxwell

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I have 166k miles up from new. Ball joints replaced about 95k. Drop links replaced last month [3rd set since new-they dont last and are cheap]. New tyres last month. I have never had a problem with uneven front tyre wear. Ball joints were checked with last service and were ok. At 78k if roads are not great ball joints are a very likely culprit and they must be near end of life. My next service will be around 180k and I am expecting to need ball joints again.
 
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Tom6873

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uneven tyre wear

will try and upload some pics...
 
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Tom6873

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pictures..
 

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There is slight camber wear issues,,could be bottom swivels or camber adjustment,,but if the swivels have never been changed,,i would change them
 

toby1

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I have a slimlar problem with mine. The OSF tyre was bald as a coot on the inner edge. My steering doesn't self-centre very well either.

I'm off to Wheels In Motion for them to check it out. I have 17" wheels if that's relevant.

Will report back next week sometime.
 

Alex M Grieve

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Me too

I had the same problem with my W 211 320 CDI AG. It seems to be a characteristic of that combination of diesel engine (heavier?) and 17 inch wheels.

Inner edge wear, equal on both sides but not enough to stop me getting 27,000 from the front tyres.

On cars with fixed servicing (I had a Volvo 850 diesel which had a service every 10,000), I would have the wheels moved round at each service, and that evened out wear of this sort (got 70,000 on a set of MXV Pilots).

I don't hear of many people doing that these days. Might be a result of less frequent servicing (the E Class was about every 17,000 miles), or cars where the front tyres are a different size from the rears, and can not be moved round.

Some you win, some you lose! :neutral:
 

jberks

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On cars with fixed servicing (I had a Volvo 850 diesel which had a service every 10,000), I would have the wheels moved round at each service, and that evened out wear of this sort (got 70,000 on a set of MXV Pilots).

That was my plan - do around 8-10k, then swap front to back and eek out another 8k. Sadly my front ones are bald on the inside edge after covering less than 5k. So I didn't get the chance!
Here's hoping that after MB Harrogate plays with it, I won't have to worry about rotating them at all. If so, it will be worth the money.
 

jberks

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As I say, you think you have problems!
5,000 miles and tracking done when they were fitted. The other side isn't any better.
 

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turbopete

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As I say, you think you have problems!
5,000 miles and tracking done when they were fitted. The other side isn't any better.

camber must be miles out if the tracking is right, looking at that! or thats how it looks to me anyhow
 

toby1

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That's how mine looked before changing, jberks.

My booking with WIM isn't until Feb 13th however. Fortunately my mileage is low, day-to-day.
 

jberks

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Well, dropped her off, newly shod last light so we'll see what they find.
They've promised me a before and after print out and apparently the machine was only recalibrated on Monday so it should be spot on.

They've also warned me (quite reasonably) that it may not just be an adjustment.

I'm hoping not but I am suspecting I'll get a call this morning telling me I need a new bottom arm or something. To be fair, she's over 5 now and has done 91k and thinking about it, aside from the 2 front springs, I've never replaced so much as a bush.
We'll see.
 


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