After my last oil change on my 2004 SL500, I complained that the steering wheel has too much free play after the alignment.

Yesterday as I drove in my garage, I herd a pop and lost my steering, My steering wheel can turn in circles and not move the tires. I was lucky that it happen in my garage. I will know on Monday what broke.

It is just odd that every time, I take my car if for service at this new Mercedes dealer, something breaks afterwards.

 

Hello, I hope this message arrives in time. I am not an automobile mechanic, in fact I am certified journeyman in another other related field . My comment and advice is this. Call the dealership. Politely ask for the service manager. Politely explain that you have experienced a very serious safety issue with their service . Inform the manager of the work you had performed. < Almost every State and province has a Motor vehicle inspector or the equivalent that will happily deal with the root of this issue >
Steering wheel play that is excessive is a serious safety issue. Life threatening . A competent motor vehicle inspection mechanic should and would FAIL your car and give you a written reason on your work order . The service managers job is to inform his customer of required service, and this is normally put in writing . I would be both angry and terrified that this dealership is failing their public responsibility and a judge may well find them liable. Follow up your complaint in writing to Mercedes Benz, the manager, and your State authorities. You may well save lives.
Further be prepared to use an attorney. Lawsuits are a huge cost of time and money and they will definitely not want negative advertising. They should remedy this issue immediately at their cost . Allan

 

It will only cost $450 to repair the spring and strip bolts/nuts in the steering shaft on my 2004 SL500. Everyone told me that I was lucky that it not happen on the interstate. It is kind of hard to drive with no steering.

Dealer told me it was normal wear and tear, but are there warning signs before this can happen? I could have been killed.

 

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/570.60 Fellow enthusiasts. This explains better than I can what is right. These are the maximum permissible limits used by police ,and mechanics in North America. Just for fun, I went outside and performed a legal test on my wrecked 190D that I just bought. The odometer is at 300,000 km or 180,000 miles. It has an 18 inch diameter steering wheel with exactly 1.127 inches of free play. My Daewoo wagon has 200,000 km and 0.890 inch on a 15 inch wheel.
I am very glad that you are alive. Hope this helps Allan