Steering - Veering To The Left - c -class

[Luengo-Jones]

c-Class
C220 CDI Esatate with factory sprts pack year 2004-04 (Pre-facelift Model)
It veers to the left when you let go of the steering.
Have had the tracking done 3 times
Now garage are claiming that it is "normal veering."
Does anyone else have similar experience and what did you do?
I have had the car in with them several times and they now blame Merc and say that the set up with sports pack makes it worse ..?
Any views or ideas on what to do as they now say that they will only look at it again if I agree to pay if they deem there is nothing wrong with it !

Thanks in advance, Steve

 

[996jimbo]

Mine (W202) goes gently to the left. Generally cars will tend to due to the camber of the road anyway.

I have also heard an arguement that cars are engineered to drift left incase you suddenly find yourself not driving (asleep, dead or whatever) and so the car will head off to the hard shoulder. Not convinced by the arguement but there you go.

 

[nicky]

Try driving it on the wrong side of the road and you will find it drifts to the right....

 

[Vangogh]

Hi
My wifes C180 2001 pulls very slightly to the left, went to France in it on a ciggy and booze run recently, and Nicky is quite right it pulled slightly to the right.
Best Regards
Vangogh
C180 2001
SLK230K 1998

 

[jberks]

All cars follow the camber to some degree. With wider tyres the problem becomes worse, but it should be road related so not so bad on motorways for example and in the outside lane it should drift to the right.
You could try upping the tyre pressures towards the load/speed range as this should reduce the contact area a little, but wil also tend to wear the tyres more in the middle.

 

[nicky]

Do all you guys with pulling to the left issues go into cars and take your hands off the steering wheel to see if it does it...Is this a merc drivers thing...

 

[Rory]

My post-facelift C270CDi estate does this too. I bought it at 6 months old from MB Direct and tried it out (for veering) on the test drive. The salesman laughed and said 'they all do that', but he took me a dual carriageway where the right lane was cambered to the right, and sure enough it drifted right!

I do find it annoying though, I have to quite definitely hold the car to the right, even on motorways. The car also doesn't feel 'planted' (or steady) on the motorway in the way that I expected a Merc to be (I'm told that's not unusual for this model?). However the tyres seem to be wearing evenly, which was my main fear.

Apparently the best way to track these things is to use 4 wheel laser alignment, and they're 'supposed' to put weights in the car to simulate its normal load (I've *never* seen that actually done). I'm not sure it'll make any difference to me but I'm going to get it done when the rapidly wearing out original Bridgestones need replacing.

 

[nicky]

I took a guy out the other day for a test drive in a C class,he only drove a few hundred yards down the road and then he removed his hands from the steering wheel,his next words where[the car pulls to the left] ....... must be a new merc drivers thing.....Other drivers dont seem to have this issue.....

 

[SLinKyjoe]

it must be this model. the SLK doesnt do it but then i suppose it may have a more sporting set up. it will gently veer to the left for those occasions when the driver nods off, it stops him or her veering over to oncoming traffic. but it isnt noticeable and you certainly are not holding it left or right.

i would have it checked out for peace of mind by that laser alignment stuff. then at least you will know something.

come back and tell us please

 

[rallen]

If tracking does not show anything out of the ordinary then swap the tyres around, that usually fixes it. Even if they look evenly worn by casual inspection.

My car pulls to the left too, and to the right when the road inclination is such. But predominantly to the left, so a tyre swap will be next weekend.

 

[996jimbo]

Do all you guys with pulling to the left issues go into cars and take your hands off the steering wheel to see if it does it...Is this a merc drivers thing...

Yup, though this is my first Mercedes.

I'm particularly conscious of tracking after I had an Alfa that could scrub the front inside treads down to the canvas in about 10k miles (this happened on both the 166's I had and was down to the suspension set up rather than tracking problems) - cost a fortune in tyres and with nice big fat tyres on my Mercedes I can't afford any undue tyre wear.

With uni-directional tyres and different sizes front and back swapping them around is not an option. In any case I wouldn't swap them as replacing tyres 2 at a time is less painfull than replacing them 4 at a time.

 

[rallen]

Do all you guys with pulling to the left issues go into cars and take your hands off the steering wheel to see if it does it...Is this a merc drivers thing...

You don't need to take your hands off , it is obvious when it's pulling to the left and you need to keep adjusting all the time. I'd pull my hands off only to demonstrate to someone.

 

[nicky]

You don't need to take your hands off , it is obvious when it's pulling to the left and you need to keep adjusting all the time. I'd pull my hands off only to demonstrate to someone.

well if it checks out ok after alingment,pressure checks,and tyre changes i would get shot of the car as the chassis is twisted...

 

[fionanallan]

Us Too!....

In a strange way we are feeling quite relieved that we are not the only one's to notice the car pulling to the left! A very gentle veer...but nonetheless! This is our first Merc, (C220 CDI), and we honestly thought there was something wrong! We had the car driven by the Mercedes Workshop Manager whilst we sat in it. He claimed that the majority of roads in this country cambered to the left, and this was exagarated by the fact that the vehicle was fitted with a 'camber sensor', and that it was a safety measure. Dont know if we actually believed that line, but it certainly sounded good! Anyway, we've just got used to it now, and I suppose it could be construed as a safety measure! On a straight flat road, the car performs A1, with no pull at all...but these types of road are few and far between! Other than that we love the car, and wouldn't change it...except for a newer bigger Merc of course!

 

[paulcallender]

Do all you guys with pulling to the left issues go into cars and take your hands off the steering wheel to see if it does it...Is this a merc drivers thing...

I think it really is, a Merc thing! Look at these simple economics:

Option 1:
Go to Mercedes garage and have tracking adjusted, 3 hours labour £185
Set of posh tyres lasting 3 years (4x £80) £320
TOTAL £505

Option 2:
Fit cheap set of tyres every year, due to poorly aligned tracking, for 3 years
(3x 4x £40) £480

 

[turnipsock]

I find my car veers towards the kerb in red light areas and I struggle to get over 5 mph out of it, does anybody else have this problem?

 

[nicky]

I find my car veers towards the kerb in red light areas and I struggle to get over 5 mph out of it, does anybody else have this problem?

This is probably the same problem that most of these guys have, with the pulling issues

 

[Rory]

Set of posh tyres lasting 3 years (4x £80) £320

Please tell me where I can get posh tyres for £80.
(And that'll last 3 yrs - with average mileage, say 36,000).

 

[Rory]

.. the vehicle was fitted with a 'camber sensor',

Hmm...never heard of camber sensor before. Anyone else?

 

[paulcallender]

Please tell me where I can get posh tyres for £80.
(And that'll last 3 yrs - with average mileage, say 36,000).

Nationwide Auto Centre, for 195/65VR15.