wjcandee

I just went through the replacement of a steering rack and steering punp on our 2008 W164, and wanted to share my experience in case it would be helpful to the group. Parts at the dealer, particularly new parts, are price-prohibitive, but there are some good online options in rebuilt parts, and I will walk you through our decisionmaking.

Turns out that the steering rack on the W164 is generally known to be a leaker; it wasn't entrely-unusual that it would need replacement after 8 years. The pump, not as much, but they can begin to leak, and this one had been leaking a bit for a while, apparently.

The steering pump is common to most versions of the W164, and given the price/value proposition, this one was an easy call. Maval's steering pump, remanufactured from the OE part, is widely-considered to be excellent. My mechanic won't install any Cardone parts, new or remanufactured. PartsGeek had the best price on the Maval, $163.33, with a $155 core charge. I had it in hand the next day with free UPS ground shipping. (I am near their New Jersey warehouse, on Long Island, NY.) Here's the link to the available pumps at Partsgeek: http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...ring_pump.html

The steering rack is trickier. The new part at the dealer is north of $3100. But even the dealers don't use it; it's almost-impossible to find in the US, from the dealers or otherwise. The rack comes in two flavors: one for vehicles with speed-sensitive (also called parametric) steering, and one for vehicles without. Parametric steering is Code 213, so you go to 17vin.com, enter your VIN, and look at the codes on your specific car's data card. If you have 213, you need the rack for that; if not, you need the rack for cars without it.

The MB part number for my new (non-parametric-steering) rack is 1644600500. The remanufactured rack is that same part number with a suffix – either 60 or 88. At my local dealer, their MB-boxed OEM-remanufactured rack was $1200+. One great option for folks who want the factory-remanufactured rack is Huskerparts.com, who has it for only $870.48. (Part No. 164460050060.) That's probably the best price out there. They also will want a core deposit of north of $300 before shipping it to you, and you can only return an OE rack as a core (i.e. not a broken “new” rack from a Chinese factory). Husker is a Mercedes dealer in Nebraska that sells parts online for a substantial discount. For me, that was an option because of the known quality of the part, but it was 4 days away by ground shipping, and the additional price of air shipping would make the price prohibitive if there was another option.

Maval makes a remanufactured OE rack. My mechanic was cool with it, as he has used Maval-remanufactured racks before with good results. He thought it was a great alternative and immediately said to get it. PartsGeek's price was the best: $323.33 plus a core deposit, and it was only a day away with free shipping. Unfortunately, they were out of stock. Maval's part number is 93276M, and I searched everywhere for it. Almost all the major suppliers carried it, but none had it in stock. PelicanParts.com showed it as available online, but cancelled my order for no stock. They were nice and called their supplier directly to see if they could find it somewhere, but no dice. The thing simply was nowhere to be found in the US. Every once in a while, one will pop up at Partsgeek, at the best price out there, but it's usually gone within a day. Remember to be sure the one you are buying is correct for your car's parametric or non-parametric steering. http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...ring_rack.html

Wanting the car not to be laid up for days (and requiring a rental), I remembered that CVJ Axles in Denver remanufactures steering racks. I knew that their reputation is stellar on axles, from when I was doing research on axles. They have been at it for 20+ years, and they build new and remanufactured axles and steering racks for NASCAR, with their primary customer being Roush Racing. Their material, at least, describes them as super-meticulous, and it's pretty-much impossible to find anyone with a bad word about their work. They specialize in Mercedes, so they have a lot of cores. If they have one, they will do up an axle or rack for you, usually that day, and ship it to you. They will also turn around your axle the same day, if you send it to them (calling first and setting it up in advance, of course). It may take longer for a steering rack. www.cvjreman.com (a simple web site that just tells you about the company and their philosophy and has their phone number)

The easiest way to check their stock is to call them. So I called. They didn't have my rack, but there is a company called Brinson -- www.brinsonco.com -- that buys their products, and apparently sends them racks and axles to rebuild, then stocks the finished product for same-day shipping. Brinson has a facility in Connecticut, which is a one-day UPS Ground ride for much of the NY/NJ/CT/MA area. Their other facility is in Louisiana. So I called Brinson in Connecticut, and they had the right CVJ-remanufactured rack in stock. (They make a markup, so it will always be cheaper to buy direct from CVJ if the shipping from Denver isn't too long a ride.) Brinson's guy, Mike, was super-knowledgeable and very-helpful. They usually sell to repair shops, but they will sell to a regular person as well. Brinson wanted $695 for their rack, plus a core deposit. That's a lot more than partsgeek.com wants for the Maval, but just about what Advance or whoever will get for the Cardone, which my mechanic won't install. They also suggested that my mechanic would need two little o-rings, at $2.50 each, which turned out to be correct. $25 UPS Ground shipping in the one-day service area. So $725 delivered, plus core charge.

So given that the Brinson/CVJ rack was likely to be as good or better than the Maval, and it was available for next-day delivery, I pulled the trigger. This was the best value proposition available given that I needed it now rather than later. (The Husker price on the-remanufactured rack in the Mercedes box was close enough to make it a strong option, but the proximity of the Brinson warehouse was the deciding factor.) They told me it would go out that day, and it did. Got it the next day. Brinson is a high-service operation that understands the need to get you the part ASAP.

My mechanic was pissed that it was from a remanufacturer he didn't know, but when he unboxed it and looked at it, he pronounced it satisfactory. It ended up going in smoothly, and he had no trouble adjusting things. The seals were tight, and no leaks a week later. Smooth operation of the steering from full-left to full-right, and it's driving perfectly.

So, given that a lot of us will probably be needing to replace their racks at or about this time, here are the options in short:

MB-box New Non-Parametric-Steering Rack (No Code 213): $3100+ list price, Part No. 1644600500

MB-box Remanufactured Rack: $870.48 plus core deposit from Huskerparts.com (Part No. 164460050060) (Husker offers very-inexpensive ground shipping)

CVJ-Remanufactured Rack: $695 plus core deposit from The Brinson Company plus $25 shipping

Maval-Remanufacured Rack: $323.33 plus core deposit from Partsgeek.com

Most auto parts shops (NAPA, Autozone, Advance) and resellers (AC/Delco, etc.) appear to offer racks that are actually remanufactured by Cardone, often at prices double what Partsgeek sells the Cardone product for. My guy won't use Cardone, in large part because it is so much work to do a rack change that he wants to do it once and never touch it again. From my perspective, if we're talking about an alternator that takes an hour to change, I don't mind taking a flier on an inexpensive part with a lifetime warranty (like the alternator I bought from Pep Boys, which actually turned out to be a Bosch-remanufactured Bosch alternator that was a great deal). If it fries early, it's cheap to replace. But for something like a steering rack, I want higher confidence in the quality. The CVJ rack was twice the price of the Maval (and the Cardone), but I am confident that it has been remanufactured with great pride and care, and will serve us well. (And it was available the next day, so the price differential wasn't eaten up by me having to rent a car.)

Hope this helps someone avoid paying $1200 at the Stealer.

If you have the parametric steering, by the way, I think it's the same decision tree, just different parts numbers and prices a nudge higher on everything (because the rack is more complex), but basically-similar.

EDIT: I wanted to add one more thing. Fast core refund. I gave Brinson a Visa card number over the phone. It was my debit card linked to my checking account. So, BLAM!, the whole amount gets immediately sucked from my checking. I sent Brinson the core back on Friday afternoon, by FedEx Ground, and it got there before 9am on Monday morning. Mike signed for it. By Thursday, the core deposit was back in my checking account and available for use. It technically credited overnight Wednesday night. I am more than happy with that fast refund.

clvincent

this great info

thanks for taking the time to write all that up

OUZO Power

Some good info here. Thanks for your effort and time.

wjcandee

My pleasure! Thanks guys! This forum has been a wonderful resource for me, on both our cars, so I try to give back. :-)

wjcandee

Just a follow-up a few weeks later. I am completely-satisfied with the steering rack that was remanufactured by CVJ Axles of Denver. It was an excellent piece of work, and it is operating smoothly. Further conversation with my mechanic indicates that he was very happy with its quality.

I have been looking around in the last couple of weeks because I am always revalidating decisions like this. As it turns out, the Maval racks continue to be almost impossible to find. Only Partsgeek seems to get them, and one will pop up on their site and be gone the same day, followed by a week or so where it shows to be out of stock. http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...ring_rack.html

So the only thing out there seems to be either the CVJ rack, the dealer-MB-rebuilt rack, or garbage. Even the Cardone racks that my mechanic refuses to use are in short supply. I guess demand is up; the original racks must be starting to leak en masse.

For this reason, the easiest thing to do if you have a Mercedes steering rack that needs replacement, particularly for a W164 ML350, and you want a quality rebuilt rack, is just to call Mike over at The Brinson Company, 203-234-7112, and ask him if he has a CVJ Axles-remanufactured rack in stock for your car. Be sure to check your VIN number as I mention in the big post above to determine whether you have speed-sensitive steering (parametric steering) or not, because there is one rack if you do and one if you don't. Mike promised to ship mine the same day, and he did, and I had it in hand the following day by UPS.

clvincent

thanks for the update, i will be needing one for my gl soon

jnr88

Thanks for some great research.

wjcandee

He charged me like 5.5 hours labor plus $199 for an alignment. Maybe a little less labor; he also put in new struts and springs at the same time so I am trying to remember the split on the hours. It was a big job and he earned every penny... :-) I have a wonderful Indy who is competent and crazy-honest. He gets $105 per hour. Total bill from him, including $200 in miscellaneous parts, was $1500 including tax, so about 9 hours total of Labor, including installing the new rack and installing new front struts and springs, & a few miscellaneous little adjustments to stuff that I asked him to do.