humming / drone noise on highway...
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 256
Likes: 39
From: Vancouver, BC, and sometimes AZ
2015 E63S
humming / drone noise on highway...
Hey guys, wondering if anyone might be able to provide some insight here...
here's my story:
A few month's ago a hit a piece of debris on the highway on the frontpassenger side while changing lanes... it was a HARD it, the debris was roughly the size of a phonebook, I think it was a piece of asphalt. I think immediately after I stopped swearing and cursing to myself that I could hear a droning/humming sound coming from the front end around 100kph (60mph)... coincidentally I was on route to a track day that morning, so the noise remained on the wayhome and I coughed it up to being front tire wear from being pretty hard on herthat day.
Had it all looked at a reputable shop, they said everything looked good,wheel looked true round, no loose parts or obvious damage anywhere, but front tires looked worn.
Brought it to my dealer, they basically said the same, bearing didn’t seemlike its noisy, but front tires looked to have ‘saw-tooth’ wear to them... so everything was pointing to the front tires.
At this point i was ready for winter tires anyways so I went and got some Hankook WRG2's on all stock 19" rims, wasn’t terribly happy with them because I thought they were too noisy both at low/high speeds. I changed them last week to a set of Conti DWS's, MUCH happier with them, BUT the problem remains with the humming sound at speed, so the problem wasnt tires after all.
-the drone/humming appears like its coming from the front end
-the drone/humming happens only at speeds between 95kph and seems to dissipate after about 110kph. Its more evident on smooth new highways.
-there are no vibrations in the cabin from the car or alignment which seems perfect, tracks true straight and "feels" otherwise perfect.
-the drone sound seems to dissipate when turning slight left, but gets a bit louder when turning slight right.
Is it safe to say i have damaged a wheel bearing slightly that visually the dealer didn’t spot it, or even worse do you think its a bent wheel?
thanks for any insight!
here's my story:
A few month's ago a hit a piece of debris on the highway on the frontpassenger side while changing lanes... it was a HARD it, the debris was roughly the size of a phonebook, I think it was a piece of asphalt. I think immediately after I stopped swearing and cursing to myself that I could hear a droning/humming sound coming from the front end around 100kph (60mph)... coincidentally I was on route to a track day that morning, so the noise remained on the wayhome and I coughed it up to being front tire wear from being pretty hard on herthat day.
Had it all looked at a reputable shop, they said everything looked good,wheel looked true round, no loose parts or obvious damage anywhere, but front tires looked worn.
Brought it to my dealer, they basically said the same, bearing didn’t seemlike its noisy, but front tires looked to have ‘saw-tooth’ wear to them... so everything was pointing to the front tires.
At this point i was ready for winter tires anyways so I went and got some Hankook WRG2's on all stock 19" rims, wasn’t terribly happy with them because I thought they were too noisy both at low/high speeds. I changed them last week to a set of Conti DWS's, MUCH happier with them, BUT the problem remains with the humming sound at speed, so the problem wasnt tires after all.
-the drone/humming appears like its coming from the front end
-the drone/humming happens only at speeds between 95kph and seems to dissipate after about 110kph. Its more evident on smooth new highways.
-there are no vibrations in the cabin from the car or alignment which seems perfect, tracks true straight and "feels" otherwise perfect.
-the drone sound seems to dissipate when turning slight left, but gets a bit louder when turning slight right.
Is it safe to say i have damaged a wheel bearing slightly that visually the dealer didn’t spot it, or even worse do you think its a bent wheel?
thanks for any insight!
Last edited by van_rider; Jan 23, 2013 at 04:12 PM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 6,621
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From: Naperville, IL/Chicago
2008 CLK63 Black Series 2012 C63 Black Series 2014 SLS Black Series
I agree with Vivid on the wheel bearing, if not then may have some internal damage to your tire belting that only becomes evident when the tire is in rotation at speed.
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2013 C63 Coupe
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Joined: Mar 2017
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c63 amg PP (w204)
I'm just curious whether the OP was able resolve his issue.
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Joined: Apr 2013
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From: Sidney, BC
2009 SLK55 AMG. & 2022 GLA250 4Matic
If you can get a different set of wheels and tires even as loners from a friend or winter tires on different rims, bolting them on and checking for this noise should tell you something. I have had situations in my 30 yr of Benz ownership and 11 cars - and others with other makes would have similar experience I am sure - where my winter tires have sat in storage and when put on the car there is somine problem such as a vibration and when taken off and the summers back on it goes away. Tires.
The other most probably cause as others have noted is a wheel bearing.
They tend to start out a a specific harmonic at a specific speed but as time goes by the noise gets louder and comes in at lower speeds and stays longer as speed increases.
The problem is internal to the bearing you can push it but if it ends up seizing and damages the spindle it gets much more costly.
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Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 149
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c63 amg PP (w204)
Typically these situation boil down to bearings or tires in my experience.
If you can get a different set of wheels and tires even as loners from a friend or winter tires on different rims, bolting them on and checking for this noise should tell you something. I have had situations in my 30 yr of Benz ownership and 11 cars - and others with other makes would have similar experience I am sure - where my winter tires have sat in storage and when put on the car there is somine problem such as a vibration and when taken off and the summers back on it goes away. Tires.
The other most probably cause as others have noted is a wheel bearing.
They tend to start out a a specific harmonic at a specific speed but as time goes by the noise gets louder and comes in at lower speeds and stays longer as speed increases.
The problem is internal to the bearing you can push it but if it ends up seizing and damages the spindle it gets much more costly.
If you can get a different set of wheels and tires even as loners from a friend or winter tires on different rims, bolting them on and checking for this noise should tell you something. I have had situations in my 30 yr of Benz ownership and 11 cars - and others with other makes would have similar experience I am sure - where my winter tires have sat in storage and when put on the car there is somine problem such as a vibration and when taken off and the summers back on it goes away. Tires.
The other most probably cause as others have noted is a wheel bearing.
They tend to start out a a specific harmonic at a specific speed but as time goes by the noise gets louder and comes in at lower speeds and stays longer as speed increases.
The problem is internal to the bearing you can push it but if it ends up seizing and damages the spindle it gets much more costly.
The frequency of the sound doesn't change with speed. The droning sound is just there at a specific speed range. This leads me to believe it's a tire issue.
Anyways my two front tires are gonna be replaced under warranty tomorrow - I'll report on whether it'll cure the droning.
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