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b200 2007 strange steering problem.

8K views 14 replies 6 participants last post by  DEVOURS 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I have a strange problem on a 2007 b200. steering turn right by is self when i start the engine. The trouble start after changing the transmission.

any ideas?
 
#2 ·
Are you able to bring the steering back easily..?..or does it resist.

Remember that the B has full electric steering and you have to get this "right" before you do any driving..

There could be a short in the circuits ..and it keeps sending the steering motor/linkage to the one side..
 
#8 ·
I have a B200 Turbo with the same problem: when ignition is turned on the wheel makes a quarter turn clockwise on it's own and when shutting down, a quarter turn anti-clockwise. When driving turning from center to right requires much less force on the wheel than turning left from center. Force to the left is normal, to the right much less than normal, compared to my other B200 Turbo.

Left front turn signal is dead and new bulbs, adjusting the contacts in the bulb holder etc. does not correct the problem. Siemens and Lucas must have been related. :rolleyes:
 
#12 · (Edited)
Thanks for that. Possibly that is a problem, although I suspect the steering wheel position sensor is the core problem Enough of those fail that like the CVT circuit board there is a minor industry repairing them apparently.

Overall, the quality of this vehicle is a joke: sticky buttons on the steering wheel, comically flimsy door handles, peeling metallic layer on the steering wheel spokes.

Then there is the miserable design of the center console: top drawer lid that constantly gets pushed forward (open) by one's arm. Tiny little change(?) compartment under the top cover which isn't ever fully opened by the nuisance top cover. Cup holder so close to the AC controls and the gear shift few cups will fit in it. Rear cup holder too close to parking brake lever....

Then there is the flimsy faux leather trimming the cloth seats that has peeled and cracked at 150K Kms.

Wasted space under the front seats where Toyota would put a pair of sliding drawers, as on their Sienna.

We could mention the cheap little plastic center wheel caps which are mostly broken now. They catch and hold brake dust beautifully though.

Or how about the dash clock to set which you need to read the owner's manual as the buttons are completely counter-intuitive. LOL

And let's not forget the painted steel wheel bolts which after a couple of fittings lose their paint on all their sharp edges and begin to rust beautifully. Of course to hide that we recessed them into the aluminum rim creating nice 1" diameter deep holes which also collect brake dust and where the clear coating soon begins to to break down as a result. If you want to clean those you have only the minor task of removing the wheels!

Don't despair though, we made the inner slots of the aluminum wheels too small to clean with anything but a bottle brush so the "dark accents" that will acculate there will match the bolt holes nicely. :rolleyes:

Oh, sorry, I got a little carried away there! We will save the sh---ty leaking four piece sunroof and plugging drains for another day! :sneaky:
 
#13 ·
...and then there is the flip side of our B's..from the past below......I also do NOT have the weaker options that you have. I bought my B new back in 05 and chose what I wanted. I'm fully satistfied with my B.


 
#14 ·
I am glad you have had good luck with yours and are happy with it. I can see that the POs (no pun intended) of these two didn't change the oil often enough, but matters are in hand to correct that.

If M-B wants to have a reputation for quality, they need to actually build quality. Quality is not only "remembered long after the price is forgotten", it confers on a piece of machinery a degree of immunity to neglect or abuse. The minds at M-B seem to be increasingly of the view that the customer is a peon who must do exactly as told in order to have any sort of moral claim on the company. Sadly, they don't keep up their end of the bargain: failing circuit boards are not due to the actions of the owner, but the defective design, methods or materials of the manufacturer. The moral contract, or more precisely, the pure corporate self-interest of M-B, would dictate that they fix without charge what they failed to do properly in the first place. If someone is to be penalized let it be the designer or the supplier as appropriate.

In the past most German businesses seemed to have a good understanding of the fundamentals of customer service and reputation; a better one than most companies in the Anglosphere I believe. The cultural devotion to quality and workmanship is well known, though often saddled with an unfortunate fascination for complexity, which more recently seems to have morphed into a fascination with qualitative corner-cutting. Arrogance without substance is a recipe for disaster. As elsewhere in the world, it seems more recent generations are increasingly out of touch with such realities.

So the current corporate leadership is bent on squeezing profits out of the former reputation of the company? What they seem not to realize is that their reputation was founded on quality more than style. Take away the quality and what is left? How long will the corporate image survive? One customer at a time they are eroding and degrading that reputation, and seem to have forgotten that word travels faster and wider now than at any time in history. This is a silent death of a thousand cuts, their reputation is bleeding away and everything goes with it. Once it reaches the tipping point where that three pointed star has acquired a different meaning in the minds of potential buyers - what then? It will be too late to correct not matter what is done. This is what bean-counters fail to realize, or simply choose to ignore.

In North America where corporate governance is in the hands of stock market speculators everything is sacrificed to short term profits. Executives have likewise become greedy short-term thinkers mostly intent on profiting as much as they can personally before moving on to some other victim. If that mentality and behaviour has infected Germany they are done. The war-time and post-war generations understood this.

Toyota has built their success on quality, and good design. Take away the quality and there is nothing left. The resale value of M-B and BMW products even in the Japanese market where owners take better care of their vehicles is puny, often no more than 10% of new price. That is not true of most Japanese built vehicles, here or there.

There, I have got that off my chest! 😄
 
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