ohlord

read the posts and I already instructed on how to examine the area.
ohlord

also read post #8 above on the 300D

rdsaal

OhLord, thanks for the advice. The dealer claimed everything looked good in August and they can't see rust under the paint.

I never had to talk about the mastic because MB is paying for the entire repair including the other side so it won't happen again.

I hope I can trust the repair to last better than the original?

ishethere2001

I have an E300 TD 1999

Transmission fell apart (internally) and the purge on the left side is rusted. I told them to replace left and right, quoted me 6 hrs labor for each one... yikes.

John

ohlord

as on the other thread,you need to wean yourself from the dealer.
Do not buy a new benz.
Find a good indie shop, or have deep pockets if you persist in going to the dealer shop for any work.It is where they make the money.

just in two threads you have 5000 bucks+ for trans work,and 1800 bucks or more for perch work on a car thats not worth that much more in current condition.What will go next?that the dealer can screw you for?

aTOMic

My 96 E320 had a perch fail - thank God we were not driving at the time. Dealer - affiliated body shop in Nashville fixed it at a "discounted" rate of $770 and TWO MONTHS in the shop!
=Tom

tirona

did they give you a brand new mb as a loaner?
mine was kept by their shop for 8 days, and i was given a brand new c280 as a loaner at the time. i don't remember exactly how much my part was, but it was less than $200. and they pretty nice.

BostonC4S

Just lost my right perch yesterday. My daughter was driving at the time going only 35 mph when the spring blew out. Previously I lost my left perch (6/03). I had the MB body shop complete the repair of the left perch and while it was in the shop I had them inspect the right perch. They informed me that it was fine; yeah right. Has anyone had recent success in having MB absorb the cost of this repair? I'm the original owner of the car, it currently has 180K miles and it's been garaged it's entire life. Mechanically, it's in very good shape, although the body has a dramatic case of rust in all of the "usual" areas. Manufacture date was November 1995. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

ohlord

manager and also copy the letter Mercedes in New Jersey.
A nice letter written in a nice tone explaining the situation has as directed resulted in mbusa paying totally for or a great portion of the repair.
You are a loyal customer. They are desperately trying to rebuild the brand. You let them know (nicely)how frustrated you are that repairs were not insured to both sides when done the first time.
Iv'e gotten more members than you can shake a stick at
good results.
Go get em.
Keep us posted
and if it works out to your satisfaction let mbusa know they did the right thing. Let the forum members know they did the right thing.

BostonC4S

ohlord, thanks for the response. I will be speaking with the service tech and mgr on monday once they have "diagnosed" the problem. I'm hoping for the best; I'll keep the forum updated as things progress.

Rossi430

I have had my '99, E430 in to the dealer several times over the last 3 years ... and they never mentioned this to me beofre. Is this something they should have told me about and also checked and corrected if found to be an issue ?

BostonC4S

Rossi, definitely get both perches checked out.
Saga update: MB service tech called yesterday to inform me that the right perch is broken (duh!). Additionally, he said that the previously repaired left perch had developed a crack and needs to be repaired. Both front and rear coil springs were all broken! Cost to repair.....priceless. Goodwill repair was not a consideration due to the extensive rust throughout the car. No surprise here, although being the original owner (and this is my 3rd MB) I'm quite disappointed at how my car disintegrated due to the poor build quality/lack of corrosion protection. The car is being scrapped today. I'll be selling a few items......Black MB rubber floor mats (set of 4), a set of winter wheels and snow tires, drivers side visor (beige) with Homelink with new style "scramble codes". Please contact me if these items are of interest. Thanks.

ohlord

but besides the mb problem you are also contending with the new england rust problem.I would not get a car back east unless it wash professionally treated with zbart or better. In every nook and cranny.
Maybe you could leave the keys in it someplace

BostonC4S

Yes, the new england winters certainly must have accelerated the self inflicted MB rust issues. However, we've had 2 Audi A6's and they never had any such issues. Our current A6 is an '02 and it doesn't have any rust areas (undercarriage or bodywork) whatsoever. I believe the Audi has an 11 year rust warranty! Still can't believe that I was driving my car on the highway at 65 mph on Friday afternoon and today it was loaded onto a flatbed on it's way to a salvage yard; YIKES.

speedyunk

Did you check what It would cost to repair it at a bodyshop, considering the spring perches? (at an indy bodyshop)

It seems to me that scrapping It only for broken coil springs and rust on the spring perches was a bit unnecessary. You said there was also a lot of rust elsewhere on the car. Was there a lot of rust on the floor or chassi then I could understand your decision. If not and It was still running ok mechanically wise I would never scrap It for those reasons alone.

vcelentano

My 2000 E 320 Mercedes Benz station wagon, on which there are 130,000 miles, blew a passenger side spring perch tower recently. I was operating the vehicle which was traveling approximately 40 miles per hour when the failure occurred. There was a thud and shudder felt in the steering and body of car as the spring and whatever else broke off and passed underneath the body of the vehicle. I stopped and only observed the spring missing. I attempted to drive to a garage but after approximately two miles, with scraping and grinding sounds at the slightest touch of the steering the front end collapsed onto the wheel, rendering the car inoperable. I managed to maneuver the vehicle into a parking lot, approximately 100 from the collapse. The front of the car was sagging over and covering the tire portion of the wheel. I was unaware of this problem and when brought to my attention I contacted the Mercedes Benz Customer Assistance department wondering why I was never notified of this apparently widespread problem and they responded first by saying that it "not a known problem" and when I then referenced the NHTSA investigation they then responded that there is "no recall" and my vehicle is "out of warranty." When I asked to speak to someone outside of the Customer Assistance department, the CEO's office for example, I was refused. I've spoken with a Safety Defects Specialist" at the NHTSA who has strong opinions about this and who claims that the investigation should not have been closed down and that Mercedes Benz made a huge mistake in not issuing a recall. The dealship concurred and claims that Mercedes Benz is burdening dealers with responsibility of addressing this problem, which address primarily via a dealer "goodwill program" which subsidizes 50% of the repair expense, which is approximately $2,800.00 in Connecticut. I am very suspicious of the NHSTA findings given the way the stability and handling of my own vehicle was crippled such a short distance, and at low speed after that spring blew. I can only imagine what could have happened had I been traveling at high speed in actual driving conditions and had to maneuver the car off the road? I wonder what could have happened to an unskilled and easily panicked driver in the same circumstance, and had to avoid other vehicles, objects, etc.? This spring perch failure is the latest in a long line of build quality and design problems I've had with this car. It has been hugely disappointing and very expensive to maintain post warranty. My contacts with Mercedes Benz regarding this matter were maddening and futile and so I have submitted a formal complaint to the NHTSA and have contacted the Connecticut State Attorney General's office regarding this matter and will contact any and all state and federal agencies who can potentially convince Mercedes Benz to act responsibly and take this matter seriously before it is too late and someone is killed.

Wess

My vehicle was manufactured, 2/2000. What is the difference between the 99 and 2000 that it's not included?

vcelentano

I don't know the answer to your question. It seems that the NHTSA investigation was limited to those model years. My vehicle was manufactured in 1999 and sold as a 2000 model. The perch spring failure problem though seems widespread and continuing for E Class model years 1996 through 2003 when the W210 era ended. For more information you will most probably have to contact a dealer however it is unknown whether they will be willing to discuss this matter openly and candidly. The dealer from whom I purchased my car and has since serviced it spoke "off the record" regarding this problem. Larry Long though at the NHTSA is an excellent source of information and he spoke to me openly, candidly and expansively on this matter. His telephone number is; 202 366 6281. Mercedes Benz USA would not discuss this matter other than to say that no recall has been issued. While I can only speak for myself, it cannot be overstated the catastrophic nature in which my vehicle's handling was destabilized within 2 miles after the spring perch blew. What has compelled me to come forward with this complaint is Mercedes Benz refusal to take responsibility for this obvious design flaw, their unwillingness to even acknowledge it exists, and the NHTSA
and Mercedes Benz dealer's very strong opinion that Mercedes Benz should have indeed issued a recall, that this a "big problem," and that Mercedes Benz is acting "irresponsibly" in response to what they, and I, regard as very serious matter.

speedyunk

I'm surprised that nothing or at least not much has been done to adress this issue from either Mercedes or NHTSA to this date. It has been a known fault on the MB W210 for years. And I think it's about time that pressure against Mercedes is being raised to fix all the concerned vehicles for free of charge for all owners of a W210 worldwide. In the US where consumer rights is a lot stronger than anywere else in the world this issue should absolutely be noted to the public and above that Mercedes should be ashamed for not taking proper responsibility of their products.

C280 Sport

Any new updates on the spring perch failure? I have a 2002 E320 with 97k. What are the chances of mine going?

bad hare

By the sounds of this, my volkswagens were built better.

roomor

I drive a 2003 E500 and my wife drives a '98 E430 Sport that we have owned for 6-7 years. Always take great care of our cars, but also drive them like they were built to be driven. I, like many, do my own routine maintenance but visit the dealer from time to time for any more major repairs. The spring perch check/issue has NEVER been mentioned by the dealer and I had no idea of the waiting catastrophe.

Two days ago my wife made a stop on her way home from the office and, as she rolled into a parking lot off the service road, the front DS coil spring blew out from under the car, dropping the front suspension. She was moving about 20-25mph. No damage, and she rolled it into a parking spot. A tow by AAA later and now rental car for a week, the dealer called in a MB certified body shop here and they called me yesterday. They have fixed "a few...or should I say, QUITE a few of these" according to the shop. I am told $700 per side rough ballpark for the fix. They will inspect the PS, but I have already told them I won't hesitate to have both sides repaired. The car has approx. 145K on the odometer.

I am sick about such a major suspension component failing on a car with a $64K window sticker in 1998. We own two MB's and are the 3rd owner in both cases (I just don't believe in paying for that depreciation from $60K to $20K -- and couldn't probably drive a MB if we didn't buy used). Anyhow, I love these cars but it has really thrown a bad feeling for MB into our mind. We were already looking at our next purchase last weekend - she wants a MB SUV. Now, after this, not sure which way we'll turn.

Maybe time to turn to Audi or some other brand that was in our top picks when we purchased our first MB.

Fabio D

Well.. I know is a common problem in the W210 & some W201 too, but really is a problem caused by the weather & salt in the roads. NOW this days Mercedes-Benz have many experienced with that problems.. but in the production date Mercedes-Benz not have 15 years experience with this models to know the fails.. certainly 10 - 15 years after they have more experience..

We need to recognice. Fails, are in all brands.. & Mercedes Benz is one of the best

(I KNOW IS A VERY DANGEROUS FAIL..) but we with our cars need to pay attention to this issue now.

Fabio Daniel

roomor

All due respect, the spring perch failure and the obsessive rust on our W210 is not simply due to where we live. I just sold our '97 K2500 Suburban with 240K miles that was driven in every MN winter since new, taken care of same as our MBs are. The truck had a couple of hidden surface rust spots that were honestly tough to find, and never a suspension failure due to salt and snow.

A foot-long front coil spring falling out from under the car is downright ridiculous - obviously a poor design and I haven't seen other cars out littering the road with springs and perches (well, I do remember that Ford Taurus front strut issue 8-10 years ago).

The body corrosion that has now started to really pop is obviously due to the MB paint changeover in the late 90's, after all the reading available on that subject.

You're right - every car has some small collection of regular items / problems / repairs, whether it is Dexcool coolant killing gasket seals, or mandatory timing belt change at 100K miles, or recalls on a electrical component that might overheat, etc. The major suspension component is simply pretty shocking - especially with no warning and no formal MB recall or TSB. The rust is sickening as there just isn't much one can do about it.

michakaveli

I examined my perches a few years back as I did have some rusting in the area(s) as described. I attacked the corroded areas with Eastwood's Rust Converter (Part A & B). I applied 2-3 coats to ensure coverage and covered with the Rust Encapsulator. Been holding up well since. I approached MB about the issue, but they thanked me for my concern and sent me on my way.

bad hare

sounds like complaining about this issue is equivalent to pissing in the wind? lol