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Hey Norsk, I replaced my struts at about 160K with Bilstien touring. the strut bearing was replaced then. The torque strut bushings I just had done are the ones that usually fail ( the ones closest to the front bumper). The wear was slow and til I started driving to Shreveport, it felt like I was running over speed bumps on the interstate. The front wheels were moving all over the place too. So after those two bushing were replaced and a four wheel alignment, it feels like a new car. Those same bumps are absorbed nicely and the car tracks straight. I was worried about the strut bearings too but the dealer looked at them and told me I didn't need to. Everything else with the exception of the swaybar links, are still great, those wear out too quickly. Sorry about the late reply work gets crazy at times...
No worries at all, man. I didn't notice you replied until now - Haha!
So today I had my indy replace all four front control arm bushings with OEM Lemförder (I didn't have the time or tools to DIY). I still need to get an alignment, but maaaaan is there a difference! It's amazing how much cushion there is now while driving on uneven/poor surfaced roads. Here's a pic of the originals, they were TOAST:
C230 Sport Coup + 2006 W164 ML350 + 99 Ford Escort (What the heck, it gets 38 mpg!)
How much did it set you back to do this work?
Where did you get the parts?
I f'd up recently and actually POPPED one of these, put the jack in the wrong place. Car is jumping all over the road.
Can someone point to a good DIY for this? There's a DIY garage closeby, and they even have presses.
Originally Posted by Norsk_Johnson
No worries at all, man. I didn't notice you replied until now - Haha!
So today I had my indy replace all four front control arm bushings with OEM Lemförder (I didn't have the time or tools to DIY). I still need to get an alignment, but maaaaan is there a difference! It's amazing how much cushion there is now while driving on uneven/poor surfaced roads. Here's a pic of the originals, they were TOAST:
How much did it set you back to do this work?
Where did you get the parts?
I f'd up recently and actually POPPED one of these, put the jack in the wrong place. Car is jumping all over the road.
Can someone point to a good DIY for this? There's a DIY garage closeby, and they even have presses.
Hey man, I'm sorry to hear...
Well, I bought all four Lemforder bushings from FCP, which cost just a little under $100. My Indy was able to remove and press all bushings without dissembling the ball-joints in 3.5 hours at $85/hour; costing me $298.
Lastly, because of all the suspension work, I had an alignment done at the dealer because the car was pulling right, costing me $180 (Included all new bolts, alignment and car wash).
So, all-in-all it ended up costing me $580 for everything.. Hope this helps, buddy. Good luck
C230 Sport Coup + 2006 W164 ML350 + 99 Ford Escort (What the heck, it gets 38 mpg!)
Sounds like you have a nice dealer.
Took my girls ML350 for an alignment, post collision. Suspension pieces were replaced, since they were bent.
The local dealer (Smythe) offered to do a 20 (or 30 or whatever) point inspection for free. We had to leave it overnight.
The next day they called and said the alignment machine was down.
So we waited a couple more days. The call came to pick up the car, whereas the service advisor proceeded to go through all the things they'd love to charge us for.
OK, cool. But what about the alignment? Where's the print out? Oh....says Jay.
He runs in the back and returns with the printout that they "forgot" to include. Got in the car, nothing felt different at all. When I got home read the sheet. that says that essentially the alignment was dead on BEFORE we even took it there, which was impossible.
So they never did it. Just printed out a printout and that's all.
Ended up going to Firestone and it was waaaaay off and finally done.
But yeah, I wanted the dealer to do it properly. Didn't happen.
I'm the one who insisted we go there. DOH!
Originally Posted by Norsk_Johnson
Hey man, I'm sorry to hear...
Well, I bought all four Lemforder bushings from FCP, which cost just a little under $100. My Indy was able to remove and press all bushings without dissembling the ball-joints in 3.5 hours at $85/hour; costing me $298.
Lastly, because of all the suspension work, I had an alignment done at the dealer because the car was pulling right, costing me $180 (Included all new bolts, alignment and car wash).
So, all-in-all it ended up costing me $580 for everything.. Hope this helps, buddy. Good luck
Sounds like you have a nice dealer.
Took my girls ML350 for an alignment, post collision. Suspension pieces were replaced, since they were bent.
The local dealer (Smythe) offered to do a 20 (or 30 or whatever) point inspection for free. We had to leave it overnight.
The next day they called and said the alignment machine was down.
So we waited a couple more days. The call came to pick up the car, whereas the service advisor proceeded to go through all the things they'd love to charge us for.
OK, cool. But what about the alignment? Where's the print out? Oh....says Jay.
He runs in the back and returns with the printout that they "forgot" to include. Got in the car, nothing felt different at all. When I got home read the sheet. that says that essentially the alignment was dead on BEFORE we even took it there, which was impossible.
So they never did it. Just printed out a printout and that's all.
Ended up going to Firestone and it was waaaaay off and finally done.
But yeah, I wanted the dealer to do it properly. Didn't happen.
I'm the one who insisted we go there. DOH!
Yikes!
I'm sorry you had to go through that, man...
I didn't know Firestone could do alignments for our vehicles? Hmm.
Yeah, the dealership I go to (RBM Atlanta) has been around since '64 and their staff is always very friendly and customer focused - which is a rarity.. However, I drive an extra 15 mins to that one, in place of the Stealership right up the road from me; their pompous attitudes exhibit similarly to those you speak of by you..
Speaking of, what are the google reviews of your dealership? You should leave a nice 1-Star for them, considering your heightened knowledge over the average customer
I bought a 2001 c320 in Florida a year ago with 80k miles on it for $4500. I've put a mixture of hwy and mountain road miles on it and it now has 148k (i travel a lot.). I usually trade or sell and buy a different used car every couple of years and this is my second Mercedes in a row. I liked my 96 e class more but this one is nice too. I want a cls63 next.
Last edited by doswoods01c320; 10-22-2016 at 10:36 PM.
Reason: Misspelled word
My w203 c200 is 2001 and it has got around 500.000 km. Works fine, minor problems. Never had a major problem with the engine (turbo never broke, only had the MAF sensor replaced once).
They traveled constantly, took good care of car as far as I can tell.
It reports having 390,000 miles, plus a few more.
Build date I think was November 2003, but I can't recall where I saw that. Car was built in Germany. Uses OEM D2S Xenon low beams which I had to order. Appx $90 each in the local parts house. $75 for a pair online.
I'm liking it so far.
Except for the left front parking light that is constantly on (always, key in, key out, car off or on, so had to remove the bulb until I get smart enough to figure that out...
Well starting over today at 26 miles. Got a CLA250 Motorsports Edition today, let the good times roll!
Nice! I have started to really like these CLAs, just a shame they start at ~$60k over here with much less options as standard compared to the US spec. The Shooting Brake edition is also quite nice when you see it in real life
2016 year end mileage for me: 251 000 miles. And the compressor is still wrecked, running the car with shorter belt to by-pass the broken compressor atm
For my amusement, I asked a quote from different official dealers located in cheap Baltic countries (mini holiday+car fixing ) to replace the compressor, drier, expansion valve etc and they all were over $2100
If you are asking me, no. It was totalled by my insurance company. Hit a big piece of junk in the road at night (didn't see it til on top of it) and crushed the A/C Condensor, radiator, intercooler, and a couple of other things besides breaking the fog lights and messing up the bumper.
So on to the new ride, hope to get at least the same amount of miles out of this one.
Still have mine.
January 2nd 2017.
2005 C240 4Matic.
235,000 Miles. Still going. Just came back from a 300mile round trip. Rides very well still. Other then the annoying interior rattles/creeks it is a good little car.
C230 SC 2002 White 1992 Toyota Hilux 225,000 miles, 2017 Subaru STI
68,000 miles on a 1000 mile round trip to Atlanta.
Bullet proof mechanicals. Lousy interior. (It was the low end of the MB product line)
Going to do the brake fluid change and radiator fluid replaced this spring.
A great highway cruiser.
Added a 2017 Subaru STI to the stable. Can't wait to take the chains off that beast when I hit 1000 miles.
10-04-2016, 06:06 PM
I have started to really like these CLAs, just a shame they start at ~$60k over here with much less options as standard compared to the US spec. The Shooting Brake edition is also quite nice when you see it in real life
) to replace the compressor, drier, expansion valve etc and they all were over $2100 
