[Tony Mac]

Hello everyone,


We've had our GLC 250d AMG Line, 20" wheels, 7k miles for 6 months, but since September have been experiencing an ever increasing and infuriating problem when simply reversing or driving forward with full-lock. The front wheels Judder and Skip, even when simply rolling backwards or forwards. The noise is awful and the impact from the tyres is moving the block-paving on our flat drive - not what we expected from a Mercedes.


Has anyone else experienced this problem?


Any ideas?


Thank you

 

[MercedesTheBest]

Hello everyone,


We've had our GLC 250d AMG Line, 20" wheels, 7k miles for 6 months, but since September have been experiencing an ever increasing and infuriating problem when simply reversing or driving forward with full-lock. The front wheels Judder and Skip, even when simply rolling backwards or forwards. The noise is awful and the impact from the tyres is moving the block-paving on our flat drive - not what we expected from a Mercedes.


Has anyone else experienced this problem?


Any ideas?


Thank you

i think i have noticed that in my car-park at work. i assumed it was just slipping on the wet surface of the parkade. if i turn the wheel fully to one direction it seems to happen at even slowish speeds.

 

[Tony Mac]

GLC 250d Wheel Judder

Researching other forums and this appears to be a relatively common problem, that MB are ignoring

The dealer has suggested fitting Winter Tyres - which seems excessive because the problem still occurs at temperature above 12'c, so the car would spend most of the year on soft, noisy, rapid wearing and costly tyres - CRAZY

We have had many different SUV 4x4 cars and never experienced anything like this awful and worrying behaviour - not what we expected from a Mercedes

Has anyone fitted winter tyres?

Thank you

 

[Klass]

Winter tires is their solution ?! How does that change anything. Why can't you get a softer compound all season tire or summer tire ?

 

[SalamiRenegade]

What do you mean by "full lock"?

 

[Tony Mac]

What do you mean by "full lock"?

When driving into or out of a parking space or around a corner, the steering wheel usually needs to be turned fully in one direction - full-lock.

The juddering problem is now happening even with small amounts of wheel turn. To work around the problem I'm doing 6 point turns, people watching must think I'm a rubbish driver :crying:

 

[Scotty]

I have a GLC Coupe and are currently fighting to reject the vehicle as there is now a letter from Mercedes Germany explaining why the tyres are doing this and apparently something to do with temperature dropping below 7 degrees, they are also trying to say it is a characteristic of the vehicle which is absolutely ridiculous. Now the dealer are offering me winter tyres to try and solve it, that speaks volumes obviously they know there is a problem and are trying to get me to go away. I'm waiting on finance company coming back to me tomorrow but not happy and such a shame as its a beautiful car
😡

 

[Teckno]

Had this happen to my 250d.
Dealer ignorded it. 1500km later I returned it with photo evidence of tyre rubber pulling on front passenger tyre. Had 4 wheel align done and it was fixed. Demanded a print of machine data with pre and post settings, proving tyres were out. Running on Pirelli run flats. Had tyres rotated to even out wear.
I will now have them rotated every 10000 (km).
Best is I now have factory settings so I can get cheaper third party tyre places to do an alignment later. Still a little crabbing on one small roundabout when wet, but so much better.
Demand alignment and copy of data from machine.
Photos at this link...
Tyre scrubbing on (full) lock - MBWorld.org Forums

 

[Tony Mac]

GLC wheel judder video

To get a feel for the amount of juddering and bouncing I am seeing with my GLC, please take a look at this video taken earlier this evening - hope this works,

www.cncworks.com/tm/videos/glc_judder/judder/GLC_Judder.html

Temperature was around 3 c, damp surface, although no different on a dry road surface

The video doesn’t truly do justice to how much the car bounces and how bad the noise is - very sad MB owner

 

[rhei55]

I have a 250d. Driving it for 3 months and have not had that problem. If temperature is a factor I am in Queensland, Australia where it is 30+ today and never gets below 10 celsius. But temperature is a strange explanation.

 

[CRNCYX]

Although it might be a bit of a stretch it will be a good idea to note the production date of our GLC's, that way it will help to pin point if this issue is related to a particular batch, that way it could even help some people take action ahead of this happening to them and weed out those that won't likely have it.

 

[Toobad]

I do feel your pain, guys. This is a prestige brand whose tagline is "The Best or Nothing". Unfortunately too many manufacturers will deny the existence of a problem for risk of opening the floodgates which will inevitably force implementation of their horrifically expensive recall procedure. The bean counters will have set the tipping point for the loss of brand confidence/loss of profit trade-off. As I have suggested in previous threads, the problem likely stems from a wheel alignment issue. It seems to be confined to right-hand drive cars fitted with rims greater than 18" in diameter. The phenomenon appears to be akin to locking the front differential (like you can in a "proper 4WD vehicle) causing the front tyres to skip/judder/drag themselves over the ground rather than rotate at the required different speeds when the steering wheel is turned. Thankfully, and for the record, my RHD 220d Sport doesn't exhibit this trait. It is fitted with the 18" rims from the off-road package. The popular dealer fob off appears to be the requirement of fitting winter tyres in colder temperatures but I suspect they have just discovered a swop in the rubber compound of the tyre successfully masks the noise generated somewhat.

There is a useful thread running over on MB World discussing this exact problem but on a more global level so I would advise people affected to keep an eye on developments there too. One UK member ("dejongj") has now gone as far as initiating the official MB process for rejecting his GLC43 on the grounds it is not fit for purpose. I would encourage others here afflicted with the problem to register and add their support to that thread. Just one successful rejection will establish a precedent which others can use as leverage in their own negotiations. The thread can be found by clicking on the link below:

The "Tyre Scrubbing on Full Lock" Thread on MB World

 

[Alfie]

Hi I have not as yet had this problem I have 18 wheels off road pack with hanhook tryes
When I change tyres will go for a four season tyre.
Goodyear 4 season gen-2 or Michelin cross climate.
If M/B say it's a temp problem with the why have thay got the same problem in the us and oz in the warmer states ?

 

[Tony Mac]

Wheel judder and Rapid tyre wear

I took a closer look at the tyres on my GLC today and was shocked to see that after just 8,000 miles the tread on the outer edge / 2" strip is virtually worn away, the rears are still like new - yikes.

In my opinion the juddering & bouncing along with such rapid tyre wear is being caused by faulty steering geometry.

I appreciate St13phil's comments, but if MB told customers they would need to fit winter tyres, even when winter hasn't actually arrived, and the standard tyres would only last 12,000 miles, my guess is that 90% of their GLC customers would have gone with an X3 or Audi. I most certainly would have.

This is not acceptable for a family SUV - it's 2017 and we should expect every new car to drive smoothly around corners, especially from a MB!!!

The tyres might be the issue / problem, but MB have to supply an almost £50k car on appropriate wheels and tyres that are fit for purpose.


The MB dealers are shocked by this behaviour, but afraid to say or do anything that might cause a problems with HQ - shocking way to treat high-value customers

 

[Toobad]

Thanks for that input Tony, yours is the first post I've read that has highlighted ridiculously excessive tyre wear. It certainly sounds like the "toe out" setting for the steering geometry is the cause. Tyre scrubbing at the extreme range of the steering rack is not confined to Mercedes and can be the bane of other manufacturers too, especially with their high performance models. The common trait is low profile tyres on large diameter rims. The effect becomes more noticeable if the underlying road surface is slippery. Low profile tyres don't have as tall a sidewall and consequently the rubber is less flexible at this point so can't absorb sheering forces as well as more conventional aspect ratios. Run-flat tyres also have a stiffer sidewall so you can continue to drive on them. And finally, when the temperature drops the rubber in normal tyres gets stiffer. Inevitably, as the weather gets colder you end up with a perfect storm creating very stiff rubber. The problem can be masked by fitting winter tyres, the ultimate solution would be to obtains a set of 17" standard rims shod with the corresponding high wall tyres to maintain the same overall diameter. Mercedes are suggesting this extra "give" will sort the phenomenon although the problem of incorrect steering geometry will remain. The theory of steering is laid down by a set of geometric principles attributed to Rudolph Ackermann back in the days of the horse and carriage but, with adaptation, still holds true today. It is the responsibility of Mercedes to address the underlying problem and not paper over it. Pressure can only be brought to bear by registering your disapproval with them. At the very least they should add a disclaimer regarding tyre lifespan and noise in their sales literature. It is good to see UK independent car review website Honest John publishes real-life owners observations along side its reviews and although initially giving the GLC a 5-star rating, it now highlights the tyre scrubbing problem:

Honest John - GLC steering problem

 

[Toobad]

Wow! I see the Honest John website has further picked up on the tyre scrubbing problem and has written a dedicated article on the subject and posted it in their News section. Hopefully this level of interest will force Mercedes to take notice and formulated a more satisfactory solution. I would urge all those here affected by the issue to add weight by commenting in the section below the article using this link:

Mercedes refuses to fix crabbing issue - Honest John website

 

[Tony Mac]

A YouTube version of my video showing the juddering and bouncing problem, can be viewed at the following link,

https://youtu.be/E9vpoYz0Msw

Thanks,
Tony

 

[Tony Mac]

I would strongly recommend that anyone thinking of purchasing a GLC should watch this YouTube video showing the unacceptable driving behaviour MB are telling customers is a 'characteristic' of all GLC models,

http://youtu.be/rO5rqpYPNjo

Also take a look at the many comments from unhappy GLC owners on the Honest John web site,

Mercedes-Benz refuses to fix crabbing problem on GLC and GLC Coupe | Motoring News | Honest John

 

[Tony Mac]

The new car sales manager at my dealer called me to say that after receiving dozens of complaints from GLC customers, he decided to test the GLC C43 for himself. He said it the worst low speed juddering and bouncing he'd experienced in a MB, it felt like the car was doing an 'Irish Jig' - I thought this was quite an appropriate way of putting it

He has been receiving the same - fit winter tyres - response from MB HQ, but doesn't believe this is really the answer. He also admitted that none of the sales people have told prospective GLC customers they will need to fit winter tyres, and nobody in a relatively warm UK should need to read the user manual before buying a £50,000 MB car - fitting a new set of tyres at <7'C temps in the UK is nonsense.

We also talked about the rapid tyre wear on our 250d AMG Line GLC - after 8,500 miles the fronts show excessive edge wear that will probably result in a total life of around 11 - 12,000 miles maximum - This is my Wife's car, it's being driven quite cautiously, averaging approx 43 mpg. She's not racing to and from the shops! As the GLC is relatively new model, the sales manager couldn't give me an answer on whether this was an acceptable level of wear, but did agree it was on the low side for a mid-sized car. He did not accept that the wheel juddering and tyre wear are related, but I believe they are.

He doesn't have any answers but is hoping, like all of us, that MB find a fix soon!

 

[Klass]

I thought I responded to this but I guess not ...? But anyhow, at least someone on the inside has experienced it first hand and can agree that the fitting a new tire is shear nonsense. Does everyone else with the juddering experience irregular tire wear as well? Putting those two together and we can definitely narrow it down to the suspension for sure.