Hi all, I am new to this forum, I recently got a silver CLK 270 avantgarde W209 model, overall it is a great car, however it has a steering issue. I have taken the car to several garages who agreed it is a strange fault but seemed unsure what to do short of changing parts on an elimination basis, nice if you got the money. Advice has ranged from look at the springs/suspension, I had the steering fluid renewed, steering coupling is ok, wheels and tyres check out ok (one rear wheel was replaced with a new one as it was actually a front wheel), "might be the rack". I actually purchased a warranty from the dealer but after taking it there, I lost confidence in them after they failed to spot the rear wheel was a front, and similarly with the mercedes franchise who charged me for a service and said "its OK now" when it wasn`t.
Anyway gripes over, this is what happens;
1 Driving along, sometimes the front wheels seem to change direction slightly on their own, hence the `ghost driver` effect, I have to compensate for it and re-align the steering wheel, through the wheel I can feel like the wheel wants to move itself left a bit then right a bit , its quite tiring trying to keep it straight.
2 Over small undulations the car really is rough, and the steering wheel can violently jerk one way or the other and change the cars direction.
3 At slow speeds, like 5 mph - 20 mph, say, turning in a car park, both hands on the wheel, the steering wheel moves almost in notchy `stages` like the steering pump is providing power in small `bursts`
4 the steering usually feels quite heavy to move at times
The weird thing is it is not consistently doing it, and after reading on the forum I have disabled the ABS and ESP temporarily - it does improve it a little I think but still exhibits the same symptoms maybe to a smaller degree.
We have well bumpy roads in GB, and drive down a bumpy road and it is very uncomfortable and rough, my girlfriend hates it and I cant have that can I.
Am I right to think knackered suspension lends itself to this description? Could the suspension be knackered at 57,000 miles? The car has AMG alloys which the indy said he checked they are the factory sports wheels/suspension so doesnt think thats been tampered with. Anyone had this fault before or should I have it exorcised. If it would help I can video the naughty steering wheel and post it on here to give a more accurate idea. Many thanks RL