meazz1

I’m hearing some noise from underneath my 2013 C250. Initially, I thought the sway bars might be the issue, but after taking it to a shop, it turned out to be the front control arms are actually bad. The mechanic showed me that both the upper and lower control arms have significant play. Has anyone here dealt with this issue before? I’m looking for recommendations which ones to go with, I checked both FCP Euro, German Auto Parts and Rock Auto, and there are many choices. I want to stay within a reasonable budget. Also, are there any special tricks or tools I should know about for this repair?

Thanks in advance!

cvx5832

How many miles, and have the struts ever been replaced? Unless the bushings are leaking, my suspicion lay elsewhere.

CaliBenzDriver

Mercedes genuine parts are hood choices
else LEMFORDER is the next best choice for a reasonable price.

It's not just one specific part that is worned out, it's all of them that are a little worned loose.

Don't choose between stab-bar or control arms.... everything must go... ball joints and all the way to $60 strut bearings.

meazz1

The car has 140k.
The struts and bearings were replaced back in 2021, don't recall the mileage at that time.
I think I will start off with front lower+upper control arms, which should have the new ball joints already. Also, replace the the sway bar links, since I already bought the links.
I will change the rear ones eventually but wait till I get thru thru the front first.

antboii

@meazz1 - hey man. I replaced the front end suspension in my c250 a couple months back. Including front sway bar, end links, and control arms.

I went with the lemforder front control arm kit from FCP. It was straight forward just take your time.

once I had all the work completed, I took it to my Mercedes Benz dealer for an alignment and torque check. I was not able to fully torque the bolts laying on my back. You have to put everything together snugg but not tight. You do final torque down with the vehicles weight on the suspension. Same procedure Tim advised in your other thread.


I set the front of the car up on jack stands to complete the work. This gives you the most room and accessibility to work.

here’s a couple photos from the job. I’ll post a couple more from my other phone.

let me know if you have any specific questions!

ant

antboii

@meazz1 - it’s not letting me post the videos from my other phone due to format issues.

I’ll try and get them uploaded on YouTube for you to reference

ant

antboii

@meazz1 - check this YT short i just uploaded. i have a couple more videos on the front end suspension replacement.

All the parts from are from FCP Euro. i went with Lemforder for the fronts and Meile for the rears. My local MB dealer installed the rear for me when they did the rear sub-frame recall.

I drove the car on ramps and then jacked it up further from there. Once the car was fully jacked up, i then supported the car with two jack-stands as you'll see.

I used blocks of wood to support/hold the steering knuckle from binding and pulling on the brake line and ABS sensor. Let me know if you have any other specific questions.


ant

olebenz

Used some Karl brand off eBay and was impressed with the quality and they fit perfectly. Used Bison brand for the sway bar links also fit perfectly. Time will tell of their durability but they fixed the bushing noise and vastly tightened up the car.

meazz1

I appreciate everyone here with helpful suggestions.
As far as tools go, I have been watching some You tube videos and gathering tools for the work.
Do I need a ball joint separator?

olebenz

Yes you will absolutely need a ball joint separator. Use the little small ones that look like the letter V. Harbor freight should have them. You'll have to tap it in tight with a hammer being careful to work around the other areas. Do one arm at a time that way the knuckle is held a bit from flopping around so much and remember not to tighten up the arms fully until the vehicles suspension is at its normal compressed resting height.

antboii

@meazz1 - I don’t recall having to bust out the separator. I didn’t change the tie rods as mine were fine.

However, if you hit the knuckle where the ball joint is pressed into, you can free it without damaging it. That’s what I did.

Unless you are going to replace the tie rods/ball joints a separator is a good tool to have.