I inadvertently left out one factoid: the problem appeared after I had it aligned at the MB dealer.

However: This problem has been around a while, by that I mean 50k miles probably.

I just replaced the brake pads and they didn't appear to have abnormal wear left or right. Though I will take the IR gun to them.

Tire wise all four have been replaced since the problem appeared, I suspected a bad tire when one went bald at 10k miles, alas the culprit remains. The front tires show some wear patters that remind me of having to keep the steering wheel canted to go straight.