shotgun_banjo

I now notice a "clunking" sound on my front suspension like "clunk-clunk-clunk". You will hear it when you drive over road imperfection and very noticeable when the front suspension hits a hump or deep depression on the road. What do you guys think what the problem is. I am sure it is coming from the front and not on the rear as when the hump hits the rear of the car it is just dead silent. Has anyone had this problem before and what was the culprit? I know it might be one of the suspension components but there should always be the one the breaks first.

alecmascot

There is a "suspension noise" sticky in the W203 forum that you should find useful.
The W203/W204 suspensions are almost identical.

arkim989

Push down sides of the hood on top of front wheels one at a time you might hear it, if not then drive like 2mph and wiggle the steering wheel left and right fast if you do hear cluncking noise then its your sway bar links.. happened to me before, easy and cheap change. Also how much miles do you have?

shotgun_banjo

I have 120k kilometers on the motor. Pushing the car on top of the wheel does not produce the sound. I will try to drive it like a snail and wiggle the steering wheel and see if that makes the clunking sound. One other thing I noticed is that when I am turning in a intersection and hit a road imperfection the clunk is really bad.

arkim989

Dont drive too fast, dont do snails, 5-10km/h all you want to do is shake up the car so u dont have to turn steering wheel all the way. Fast left right.. 120k is about time to check on suspension if you drive on bad roads..

shotgun_banjo

If it is the front sway bar bushing can I do this myself or will it be a pain and open my wallet for a specialist? I changed the rear sway bar bushing on my mini but that is just as easy as removing the wheel as it is all exposed. I am assuming Mercedes will be a little complicated than that. Also is the links are bad is it just a matter of swapping it or do I need to get an alignment done afterwards? Hopefully it is not the control arms.....

arkim989

links are easy to change, its only two bolts after you remove the wheel and bolts are not hiden. No alignment needed after that. But once you remove the wheel, put something under the disk and lower the car. Basicaly you want to load the suspension like its on the ground. It will be easyer to get link out and put new one on and thighten it.

Colin G

Arkim, I am experiencing light clunking also so this must be it on my car. I get zero noise when pushing on my car above the shocks. Just did this yesterday actually.

So, are links being replaced Arkim, or just the bushings in the sway bar links?

arkim989

links shoud be replaced.

Colin G

Thanks.

Looks pretty easy actually.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm

Do you know if the sway bar bushings are easy to replace? If I'm doing the brakes and sway bar links, I'd think bushings should also be replaced.

Tom in Austin

The links will make a lot of noise if you let them ... btw, does anyone know the torque spec on those 18 MM bolts? I got them as tight as I could when I put in my Koni FSDs last summer and had to take the car to a shop to tighten them the rest of the way so they'd shut up.

alecmascot

The bushings are bonded to the sway bar.......

alecmascot

98Nm

Colin G

Yes, I am just finding this out. Silly that you can't replace them.

shotgun_banjo

So does this mean that if the sway bar bushings are toast you need a new sway bar? What is the likelihood of this thing going bad?

Colin G

Correct. Need to buy the whole bar.

I guess the bushings last a while but still, pretty silly they are vulcanized to the bar.

shotgun_banjo

ohhh great. How will you know if the bushings are bad anyway? On other cars which the sway bar bushings are not attached to bar excessive side to side movement means bushings are bad. How about ours? You think the links are the main culprit of the knocking noise I get from humps?

arkim989

arkim989

Colin G

I am going to replace these links soon. So remove old ones, replace with new, tighten while car is jacked up and wheel is off, put on wheel, lower car then torque down to 98nm while suspension is loaded?

arkim989

Bcwalbeck

I have ran into an irritating "clunk" sound on my 2007 CLS 550. It only occur while in a right hand turn and going over some bumps. It almost seemed to be when the weight shifted and it would produce a clunk depending on the condition of the road. Now while i am turning into a parking spot or out of one when I turn the wheel to the right and almost to max angle it makes the clunk noise again. I am able to reproduce the sound when I turn the steering wheel all the way to the right and once I start turning it straight again even at a stand still it makes the clunk noise. Its not overly loud yet I want to ensure that if there is anything wrong I fix it before it turns into anything more. Whats your opinion on this? Would it be the Air suspension? The control arms oh and it comes from the Front Driver side. It does not do it while driving straight or while going over speed bumps it tends to only do it while the wheel is turned almost all the way clockwise and then it makes the noise as it turns back counterclockwise. Any insight or past experience is appreciated.

arkim989

Bcwalbeck

Thank you for the response! It does do it while at a stand still if I crank it almost to lock and on the way back it makes the noise and only on right turns. Will tie rod replacement require an alignment? It does makes the noise while hitting bumps if I'm turning right only right tho and makes the sound if it's a decently sharp turn. It got noticibly more frequent in the past day or two. If you do it before me please let me know as well!

superangrypenguin

Do you hear the noise when the suspension rebounds after driving over a speed bump?