Weird steering/suspention issue.
I have never experienced something like that in a car, so it's weird to explain

When I drive on they highway, after a wind gust strong enought to roll the body a bit, the steering become unprecise, and I have a hard time keeping the car straight, resulting in some unwanted swerving. It's like if the the front right suspension had become totally soft, causing the car to dip. The same behavior happen when I go over an expansion joint on a bridge. The suspension float and make the car a lot less precise to steer.
At slow speed, twisting the wheel cause the body to "float" over the suspension, even in sport mode
When backing off from my driveway, I can hear stuff clunk in the front end.
Mercedes has replaced the front upper tabs and did an alignment 2 weeks ago, but it didn't do much.
I'm really puzzled on that




Any comments, ideas ?
Last edited by julienjj; May 17, 2014 at 08:40 PM.
The steering becoming "swervy" for the lack of a better word on highways and espcially more noticeable on windy areas. My previous cars audi and bmw when i drove on the exact same routes (work - home) i never felt this way.
And also the clunk noise when backing up in my drive way which i am less worried about than the swerving.
I have a 2011 e350 coupe.
probably something is loose, 2010-2011 coupe are known for front strut problems there is a recall for it, google it
Last edited by champaign777; May 19, 2014 at 10:51 PM.
I will definitively look for that suspention recall. The "advisor" sounded like it's normal that it drive like that.... yeah right. Said it might be due to the large tires in the tracking in the the grooves on the highway. LOL.
I think I will have to bring the tech on a drive to really show them the issue. It's starting to **** me off big time.
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LI32.25-P-051123 FEB11 – 212 without Airmatic (489), 207 without vehicle dynamics (483)
dull thumping noises or metallic rattling from the area of the front axle occurring @ speeds 10-45 mph, modified front struts should be installed.
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LI32.25-P-051123 FEB11 – 212 without Airmatic (489), 207 without vehicle dynamics (483)
dull thumping noises or metallic rattling from the area of the front axle occurring @ speeds 10-45 mph, modified front struts should be installed.
It is entirely a drivability problem, no noise are emitted when moving.
I'm showing a friend how to do his own brakes/rotors this week-end, but if I have time I will lift the cabrio and fiddle with the suspention to see if anything is wrong.
From my experience with BMW/MB the "floating" issue usually related to bad struts or bad steering rack
Ask them to replace your all front suspension , who care if they cant find the root of it
LOL
Last edited by champaign777; Oct 29, 2014 at 06:54 PM.
My third party warranty did not cover it when Mercedes diagnosed the front struts being the problem, but they had not "failed".
However as mentioned in a previous post on this matter Mercedes came out on top with a a very fair solution given my car was out of warranty, to their great credit!!!
Having had the suspension struts at the front replaced I was pleasantly surprised at how tight the car had become, much better than previous driving experience of some 20K miles. Another thing that surprised me was they did a printout of the vehicles geometry, which had only 2 elements out of spec. which on a car as complex geometry wise as a Mercedes gave me great confidence into the robustness of the suspension, given the state of the roads here in the UK!!
"The struts where replaced on the basis of good engineering practice"....... not my statement!!!!!!!!!! There is a technical bulletin on this issue of suspension struts..........
Last edited by theraven333; Oct 30, 2014 at 03:17 PM.
Worst case they have to replace all the front suspention bits.... something not remotely complex on a RWD car.
If they fix it I will definitely post the diagnostic & required parts to fix here... looks like such a common issue with those models.
I called back at the dealer after the tire swap and spoke with the technician. He told me he would had called out my tires as the source of the problem, but since they had the "Mercedes benz original" logo on them ( "MO" initials stamped by the tire name) he couldn't blame them.
The car drives like new and is enjoyable again.


