on my third differential
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 337
Likes: 5
2006 E55 AMG
on my third differential
Any one else keep blowing up there differentials? The car has 65k miles and its an 01 clk430 and im on my third diff!! Is it just me? Or is this common? I guess my spider gears turn into medal shaving after a while and the rear end locks up and then its time for a new one!
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 33
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From: Nashville
2003 E320 (228k miles) and 2004 SL600 (103k miles)
Not common
From what I've heard, this sounds rare on a W208, but everybody, please chime in if you've heard different.
My old car (different manufacturer) blew it's rear end twice. The first was a legit failure, but the second was due to the incompetence of my mechanic, he didn't set the clearance correctly and it failed 6 weeks later. Setting up a rearend takes a lot of skill, so you may want to ask for a 'differential guru'. I don't want to imply that your mechanic isn't good, it's just that rearends are super sensitive, and most mechanics don't have the time to be experts at everything. Good luck.
My old car (different manufacturer) blew it's rear end twice. The first was a legit failure, but the second was due to the incompetence of my mechanic, he didn't set the clearance correctly and it failed 6 weeks later. Setting up a rearend takes a lot of skill, so you may want to ask for a 'differential guru'. I don't want to imply that your mechanic isn't good, it's just that rearends are super sensitive, and most mechanics don't have the time to be experts at everything. Good luck.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 337
Likes: 5
2006 E55 AMG
no its not, that would totally make sense to me if it was but thats the thing its stock! Only wheels and outside stuff nothing motor wise! How can i upgrade the rear end so it dosent go out as fast?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,486
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From: San Antonio, Tx
2000 CLK430
I honestly dont believe that you need it to be beefed up. You probably just need to take it to someone more knowledgable with building mercedes differentials. I have 142,000 miles on my CLK430 and I drive it daily and tap on the gas a little more than I would like to and the differential is still going strong.
I thought I had a messed up DIFF a couple weeks ago and ended up finding out that it was a loose bolt. I even called the dealership and they stated that they didn't get many blown diffs.
An even better route would be to get a DIFF off of EBAY and install it yourself. They are extremely easy to bolt on. I would also check the flex plates to make sure that they are still good.
Good luck!!
I thought I had a messed up DIFF a couple weeks ago and ended up finding out that it was a loose bolt. I even called the dealership and they stated that they didn't get many blown diffs.
An even better route would be to get a DIFF off of EBAY and install it yourself. They are extremely easy to bolt on. I would also check the flex plates to make sure that they are still good.
Good luck!!
