Does your Mercedes make an awful noise on full lock in cold weather when parking or reversing off the drive to go to work?
Believe it or not this is normal! we get lots of questions regarding this fault, this is known as ‘tyre skip’ or ‘tyre judder’ and has effected Mercedes across most of the models and is especially worse in cold weather and when your tyre depth is below 5mm. There was a mechanical bulletin released by Mercedes for workshops about this fault and also an official statement was released by Mercedes back in 2017/18.
Below are both parts of information available which may put your mind at ease but either way if you have experienced this noise its frightening the 1st time you hear it!
Official statement
We’re sorry to hear that a small number of customers have experienced an issue with certain models, generally at cold ambient temperatures while manoeuvring at low speed with steering lock applied. The experience is of the front tyres apparently ‘skipping’. This is a comfort issue, and does not affect the safety or performance of the vehicle.
This characteristic comes from flexibility within the tyre sidewall, the grip between the front tyres and the type of road surface being driven over. It is something which can be felt only at very low speeds, and when a certain percentage of wheel lock is engaged for turning. This is demonstratively more evident in colder temperatures due to the changes in the tyre rubber elasticity.
Winter tyres and all-season tyres on 18- or 19-inch wheels improve this characteristic and we would always recommend their use in temperatures which fall below approximately +7 degrees Celsius. The use of 18-inch wheels with summer tyres also improves the issue.
We do, however, appreciate that is not always possible or practical for customers to fit alternative tyres or wheels, and our technical experts in the UK are investigating alternative ways to help minimise this characteristic.
Mechanical workshop information
Cause
Driving with summer tires in combination with low outside temperatures.
At low outside temperatures or in wet conditions, a noise may be produced at the outer wheel on the front axle while maneuvering with sharp steering angles.
Note:
The problem cannot be remedied by changing the axle settings.
Remedy
Convert the vehicle to winter tires (service not covered by W&G)
Note (extract from the owner’s manual):
Winter operation => Driving with summer tires:
…Summer tires lose a significant amount of their flexibility at low temperatures…
Convert your vehicle to M&S tires….