benzl

Hi guys,
I have a stock '02 C32 which rides so harsh ride now that I no longer feel comfortable driving the car. Is it normal for the suspension to wear out at this point of the car's life? Will I be able to get the dealer to replace it for me under warranty?

And one more thing is that the front suspension (at least thats where I think its coming from) is squeaking and rattling on uneven roads. I know that the squeaking is widely known but for the rattling, do you guys know what may have caused it? Thanks

s4iscool

have your suspension and sway bar bushings checked. your dealer should be able to take care of these issues for you. and nope, sus should not go out that fast.

Zeppelin

The suspension will never wear out to the point of being harsh. The only thing that could wear would be the shocks/struts and if these go bad the ride would feel floaty not harsh. How long have you owned the car? The C32 does ride a little harsh since it is a performance car.

benzl

I've bought the car when it was 12k miles about a year ago. I understand that its supposed to have a firm ride and I have enjoyed it but in the last couple of months I have noticed (even my gf who dont usually care pointed out) that the ride is getting worse. I dont know, it might just be my mental perception having owned the car for so long.

Prasith32

when did you buy the car? during the winter?

have you checked tire pressures? They go up during the summer and those can affect ride greatly. The difference that 5 psi can make is remarkable.

Other than that it could be bushings but they don't usually make the ride harsh. Have you checked to see if you wheels are properly balanced? Sometimes having the balance off can cause vibration and cause a false sense of harshness.

CynCarvin32

Im going to get hit with a stick here but here we go anyhow!

I am ultra picky and maybe you are as well. MB shocks do not "wear out" at 30k miles but around 40-50k they get soft to the point where I would change them. The factory would call them with in spec but I dont like the car feeling "old" so I would get new ones at this point.

If you have a harsh ride, the bushings can be at fault. If a bushings fails or becomes very firm it could cause a vibration and also make the car ride very poorly. Normally this happens around 100k miles but I have seen it happen as early as 20-30k miles.

Have the dealer ship look at it and see what they think.

Good luck!

Kar don

i bet the tires are worn and old, try new tires or shocks.

vimzin

try getting the wheels balanced.. I replaced my tires and whoever balanced them did a poor job it makes a world of a diffrence when the wheels are done properly..

benzl

yes the tires are worn but does that effect the ride at all. I'm going to ask the dealer to take a look at the bushings and give you guys an update. thanks for the reply guys

FrankW

worn tires affect the ride as well. there's less rubber to absorb the impact. I felt this as the original PilotSport came w/ the car starts to worn out.

just ask them to check for the squeaking sound coming from the front suspension. they found mine to have some problem w/ the thrust arm, so they ordered the parts and i'm still waiting.

S_C32AMG

I had a squeaking sound from ~15K to 30K before I could reproduce it for the tech. During the ride the tech tried to blame the bushings, yeah right, not if they are rubber.

FYI, I suggested the sway bar links but he said MB links tend to click rather than squeak.

They replace both (!) thrust arms!

I had also complained that the braking did not seem as good as my previous E36M3. I would apply the brakes and the car did not seem to slow as "fast" as it should I and would end up applying a lot more pressure near the end causing passengers to fall forward. I think this was also a symptom of the bad thrust arms.