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Hey guys I spent countless hours doing research, driving back and forth to Home Depot, and piecing together everything I could find out about subframe/Mercedes subframe bushings to finally remove and install new (unfortunately not strongflex uk) but OEM subframe bushings.
now im not a mechanic so I wouldn't recommend doing what I did but I'd just like to share my experience if you're considering tackling this job yourself.
I think the best bet and what I chose to do was do drop the whole subframe.
the muffler and resonator were a huge pain in the ***. The flanges were super rusted connecting the resonator to the cats. I had to cut the 4 bolts which are now seized in the flanges. I am unsure what I will do to overcome this situation as of now.
tap each connection from differential to guibo disc on drive shaft with mallet lightly in order to loosen it up and make it easier to separate when dropping the rear end.
when it comes to the bushings on this car front control arm or subframe a nice strong air hammer would be your best friend. You should be able to blast them off in seconds. I highly suggest heating up the housing with a torch
the front bushings were shot and the center was completely separated on one. This is where I would hear a loud thud under very hard acceleration and what prompted me to inspect and find the worm bushing. ( I hope this is what that was haha)
the rear bushings seemed ok and from what I found go out far less often than the fronts. I think I would have been ok with leaving them but figured it would be wasteful not to replace them while having access.
i covered the bushings as well as I could as well as diff and axles etc and hit it with some rust reformer. All 4 of my rear control arm bushings are shot. That will have to be a project for another day.
keep the new bushings in the freezer over night
the fronts will literally go in nice and easily with a heavy mallet.
for the rear I obviously saw this idea once, but couldn't find it again. I used a little electrical box which fit perfectly over the center part of the bushing as well as a few plates (located in the same isle at Home Depot) some washers and a threaded rod. I also left them in the freezer. I hit it with a little bit of silicone lubricant and got it started with an impact gun.
you have to be careful because the little electrical boxes aren't the strongest. I would suggest decent size washers.
If you do not heat up the subframe housing for the bushing before you go to press it in you will crush the box.
Get it nice and warm and the bushing will work itself in. don't hit the bushing with direct flame though.
this took me about 12 hours, so I hope this helps anyone in the future 😂😂
Thanks! And same here...have not done a full test drive as I did major de rusting and don't have a engine splash shield right now (who would throw one of those out!!!)
but can say from just backing down ramps, there was an immediate noticeable difference. For a long time I thought it was my shocks which were bad. But with that and poly bushings upfront man is it tight, feels factory! Lol
@127k I would def check rear sway bar end links at least. They might look good but can definitely be bad.
also I need to get my exhaust back in. Man are those bolts frozen to the flanges.
it may be a bit long winded, but it goes back to the beginning of my ownership @ about 155k.
the front drag link was shot. For sure. As well as control arm bushings. But it was manageable. Very I would say "loose" steering and clunks in and out of driveways. No vibrations really even I would say at highway speeds. Had no problem driving it at high speeds, topping it out etc. I mean really going hard on it as if it were a more nimble car.
eventually did drag link replaced with febi as I was cheap, unsure of the future for the Benz and was new to the game. Also a pair of cheapo China control arms. About 3k miles laters I started to notice a vibration. Had wheels completely reman'd with new tires all around. Couldn't figure it out thought it had to be my suspension etc. had wheels road forced/re balanced multiple times.
pretty confident it was the ****ty febi drag link which the right side was basically shot. Replaced with genuine, will report back on that.
anyways. the car was brought to Mb dealer for cracked oil pan from a tow @ about 160-165k. All they recommended was drag link, dampener and leaking oil sender, as well as tires and alignment. I think quote was $5k lol.
idiots didn't even give me the chance to approve the oil sender which has to be done with the pan off and just "went ahead and did it it was an insurance job why would we do anything else" after I had requested while the car was being worked on to have it scanned and detailed attention to be given to my hvac as I would be willing to pay extra and would discuss other work after the advanced diagnosis had been done. But I digress...
at that point nothing in the rear was wrong, but I had always noticed clunking making right hand turns up grades. Couldn't figure it out.
now I had 5 e46 M3's coupes/verts mostly 01,02,05. Never did I experience or really concern for the now infamous read subframe issue. I would actually joke and be an idiot about how better this car was, no need to worry about it! I mean the bushings are far less bad of a job but probably cost more anywhere then a decent subframe upgrade on bmw which is pretty serious surgery.
Another "ex Mercedes tech of 12 years" who worked at a dealership I was a salesman at would make up the most hilarious of issues at about 175k. Trans connector leaking (oil from oil sender) cracked springs (cracked coating 😂 but all in all nothing was ever wrong.
Now at 182 I had started getting noises in the rear after parking on a steep hills when first driving over bumps n stuff something metallic sounding in the back. Full inspection, nothing. Decided the cheapest start was away bar endlinks. Pop first one out, boom SHOT would never have been able to tell unless removed. I saw a car fax on a 01 55 Amg which had its rear end links replaced like 4 times under warranty in the first 3 years. (They're plastic n ****ty. I actually went with duralast. The one of maybe 2 non genuine oem parts on the car lol)
anyways... I decided to finally investigate the subframe bushings, as under hard hard hard acceleration I was getting a clunk which was obviously subframe related. Passenger front was my suspect but looked ok. Then I decided to torque them. Actually felt the inner part of the bushing spin when I went to do the passenger front. Boom I knew what it was!
no when I dropped it, it was quite apparent. However the rears looked basically good! I've read they need changing far less often but hey if ur in there.
funny thing was when I dropped the subframe on the passenger side there was a piece of rubber tubing it seemed, on the spring. As odd to raise that side just a bit higher then the other. I was a bit perplexed (as this is the reason I can basically never have anyone else but myself work on any car I've ever owned) and was mainly concerned if I should put it back as it was.
so I still can't say 100% but from my experience as a "technician" and having spent as much time inside, outside under and in this ****in platform as I have, (probably close to 500 maybe 1000 hours) I think they were trying to make up for something back there.
but other than that my rear control arm bushings are still all shot. But other than that...
idk I haven't driven it haha have to get the exhaust thrown back on
much better all around!
Big improvement. Especially with suspension.
Not as comfy as stock but sporty for sure.
will be changing out rear outer control arm bushings (they are bad) as well as rear control arms.
I get pretty bad vibration when strongly applying breaks at high speeds.
Ive heard it could be rear discs but at 190k miles I'm thinking more likely rear wheel bearings.
since I have only done front wheels bearings which was a noticeable improvement.
next up is body shop.
Then
rear wheel bearings
rear main seal
center bearing
might as well do flex discs
Differential pinion seal and bushings.
hopefully that will be it 😂😂😂
found it funny how many threads just end and never get updated or find out solutions etc
Very interesting. I'm getting a constant vibration from my 55. Can't work out exactly what it is. There's also a clicking noise. I thought this may be from one of the inner CV joints, could even be the cause of vibration.
I went as far as removing the diff and opening it to take a look for wear, but there was nothing wrong other than a bit of backlash. It feels like there's play in the drivetrain which comes to light when going from drive to reverse and vice versa, but the flex discs look fine. I've changed engine and gearbox mounts, and changed gearbox and diff oil. The subframe bushes looked ok to me... but who can say for sure?
There's also a flat metal-rubber bushing in the area above diff housing, did you replace that part?
It could cause play in the rear, I saw this on US episode on Wheelers dealers when Mike bought a used W210 E55 and this car had lots of play in the rear.
Problem solved buying new flat bushing for differential.
02-02-2020, 12:38 AM
but all in all nothing was ever wrong. 
