Burk Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 Tuesday I took delivery of my 2004 LS430 Sport. :P It replaced my 1994 BMW 740i that I had driven for ten years and I was extremely happy to make the switch. I'll probably like it even more if I get a chance to drive it. The car came with the Bridgestone Turanzo Er33 18" tires and tracked well at any speed. The dealer agreed to exchange my tires for the much touted Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires and a small cash donation <_< . The exchange was performed today and on the way home I noticed the car pulling slightly to the right at speeds above 60mph. :( So I returned to the dealer and they rotated the tires front to back but the pull to the right was still evident. They have no other Michelin A/S's in stock so tomorrow they are going to try swaping the tires around on different rims in hopes of finding a solution. If this doesn't work they plan to order two additional Michelins Monday and proceed to swap tires until they find a combination that eliminates the pull. Is this a fairly unique problem? Is the dealer's solution viable? Based upon my limited exposure the the service department I'm not real confident that they know what they are doing. Thanks for any advice. I need it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chips229 Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 Hi,id says theres abit more to it than the tyres,may be a tracking check? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burk Posted May 16, 2004 Author Share Posted May 16, 2004 Thanks for the reply Chips229. What is a tracking check? If this is the same as an alignment you just might be on target. Today (Saturday) the dealer swapped the tires by removing them from the rims and moving them left to right but the pull to the right persists. However, today they found an alignment problem caused by a rear strut :( . Because the strut is not adjustable they will need to order a new one and it won't be delivered until Tuesday at the earliest. I asked how a new car could be out of alignment and they had no idea. I know that in the few miles that I drove the car nothing occurred that could have caused such a problem. Maybe it happened when being transferred off the boat? I do know that there was no perceptible alignment problem symptoms prior to installing the Michelins. The car tracked perfectly until the Michelins were installed. Upon researching the review narratives for the tire on Tirerack.com a few people reported having a unsolvable problem of the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S pulling to the right. But there are also several reviewers with heavier cars similar to the 430LS that have not had any problems. I also discovered that Mercedes has issued a service bulletin stating that they will not do alignments on Mercedes that have this tire. I will post an update when something new developes. In the meanwhile if anyone has any ideas I sure would appreciate hearing from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burk Posted May 21, 2004 Author Share Posted May 21, 2004 The outcome of my problem: The good news- The dealership found that it's alignment equipment was at fault and my new LS did not need re-aligned. The bad news- All efforts to correct the pulling to the right have failed. Even after ordering and installing a new pair of Michelin P.S.A/S tires there was no change. So today they are re-installing the original Bridgestone RE33 tires. After thoroughly researching the many instances of this "Pull to the right" problem that is associated with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S on heavier vehicles it's my opinion that if you encounter this problem there is little chance that it can be corrected. Yet many who have selected this tire have been fortunate and had no problem at all. Be aware that Mercedes has recognized this problem and found no solution. In January 2004 they issued a service bulletin stating they refuse to try to correct any tracking problem when this tire is in use. Here's a link to a copy of the bulletin: http://www.mbnz.org/forums/forums/t...&posts=2&fid=39 Hopefully my experience will help others to avoid pursuing a solution if the pulling problem is encountered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiller91ls Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 one tracking problem that is not car or tire related, is that new roads and mainly two lane road are built with the center being higher that the outsides of the road to help keep the rain off the road which will make your car drift to the right. If you can and the road is clear try and get on the other lane or just pass another car slowly and see if the drift goes to the left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.