I just bought a 2003 S430 4matic with 35K miles on it. I noticed tread on the front tires uneven. I changed the tires, but was told it might be an alignment issue. Different people told me different things as far as alignment:

1) MUST do it at the dealer as they weigh the car with sand bags to do the alignement which the dealer can only do

2) NTB told me they can do it but without the weighing down!!!


Anyone can please help with this issue? as far as doing it at NTB (and save about 150 dollars) VS doing it at the dealer ?

Thanks in advance

 

Hi.

Firstly MB's tend to wear the shoulders of the front tyres even when the track / geometry is correct.

As I have explained previously once the factory setting have been changed it is unlikely that the geometry will ever be correct again.
However if it has already been potentially changed (the USA seem to have a thing about "tracking") it is important that the correct MB procedure is followed.
In factory tracking is set dynamically which takes into account any "designed" play in components and is determined at multiple points around the diameter of the wheel so as to allow for any out of true of the road wheels / hub / tyres.

All these fancy laser etc systems are little better than the original optical systems unless they take there reference points from ALL 4 WHEELS simultaneously BUT they sound impressive from a marketing point of view!!

Yes it is very important that the vehicle sills are aligned correctly (using sand bags or similar) since the ride height of the car alters the CASTOR angle which in turn impacts CAMBER and TRACKING. The differences are small BUT significant.

The key observation is how the tyres have worn. this needs an expert eye to determine what is "normal" MB shoulder wear and what COULD BE a tracking issue.
Tracking causes all the blocks on the tread to have a sharp edge on one side.

How about posting a photo to my PM and I will give my opinion.