ghaffar23

I've done some brief reading after some interesting observations on my car. I changed to my summer wheels because of my winter tires being worn out. However, one of the tires had excessive flats spots on the tire...if you can't see it, you can sure as heck hear it. I figured since the tires weren't good quality, I figured that it was due to a defective tire.

When I placed my summer tires on (mind you, Yoko Advan Sport), there was that same annoying sound. This time, it was from the front. I thought to myself, "If I have the same sound coming from a NEWER set of tires, then something has got to be wrong with the integrity of the suspension set-up. Next, I did a quick Google search on 'flat spots occuring on tires', and came up with the following:

"When cupping or flat spots occur, it's due to excessive bouncing from the shocks and/or struts."

Lastly, I examined the front tires and sure enough: FLAT SPOTS. Apparently, The flat tires are a result of worn out shocks. I have 125,900 miles on my 2001 W210 4Matic, and I haven't replaced the shocks since I bought the car @ 49,100 miles. Now would be a good time to replace my shocks before I burn any more money on tires. To anyone else experiencing the same thing as me, more than likely it's bad shocks.

Tommy_s4

Get your wheels balanced, check if your wheels are bent

ghaffar23

For one of my winter OEM wheels, now that I recall, is actually out of round. However, this still doesn't explain why my Lorinser's could be faulty. I will check my Lorinser's today or early next week.

ohlord

profile tires?Besides the shocks and the items Tommy mentioned low profile tires on heavy cars tend to flat spot easier.Hd shocks usually provide the solution.
ohlord

ghaffar23

It has never been a problem until recently. My OEM 17's had flat spots. I just inspected one of my 18" front tires and it too has uneven, out-of-round spots on it as well. I am guessing the culprit has got to be faulty shocks. They're the same shocks that have been on the car since new. And with more than 125,900 miles on the clock, it's long overdue for a replacement.

MG

Just getting rid of the nose dive on braking is reason enough to change the shocks and springs.

Semikolon

For the average car, yes, but not for a w210.

The original shocks on a w210 usually don't need change before 400-500 000 km (250-300 000 miles).
That is at least what I have been told by a guy I know who works at the Mercedes dealer. And he really knows his E-Class.

But of course it could be that your shocks are worn out, but that is usually not the case that soon.

ohlord

anyone who has over 120000 miles and changes their shocks about the vast improvement in ride quality.The guy you talked to is a little off in his thinking.The bilsteins last but they don't last 250000 miles,you just gradually get used to the crappy ride and don't realize how bad it has gotten until you change them.
ohlord .

dsmith

That's the truth. Almost all stock shocks are bad WAY before 100k. I've even taken original Bilsteins off at 100k, and had them not even rebound!

OP, you have bad shocks. Replace them and check your suspension bushings and ball joints and check the alignment. Fix any issues there, then replace the tires.

raymond g-

mileage and longevity of a shock, natch, depends on the road conditions and
not simply from a simple mileage measure. still, it's difficult to imagine that
shocks would last much beyond 80-100k here in the US even under the best
of road conditions.

ghaffar23

It's been pretty rough ever since I've owned the car in March 2005. Three years later, I've racked up over 80,000 miles...I'm a big driver. I live in Illinois and Missouri, commuting back and forth between my parent's house. I also having periodic jaunts to Chicago and St. Louis. Not to mention the four times that I drove to Florida, weddings in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and just flat out enjoying my car on a nice day. I'm positive that it's the shocks.

I was driving back from St. Louis and I was noticing that my tire bounce is terrible. I could literally hit a bump and my car will jolt itself over. It's as though there's ice on the road and I'm slipping on it, due to poor tire-to-road contact. If you look at my tires, they will tell the story.

AlphaWolf

I had my shocks replaced around 130k and the result is astounding. Better handling, ride quality, and the car does not bounce after going over speed bump. Bought them from Autohauz for $400 and $200 installed. Saved like $700 over dealer.

ghaffar23

I had my dad looking at the tires and he told me that the ball joints are bad. However, from reading around, if the ball joints were bad, I'd be having some issues with some 'play' in my steering. I do not have such problems with my steering. I do know for a fact that all of the bushings need to be replaced. Is there anything else that would tell me that I need to look at something other than the shocks to replace? I'd hate to try to spend money and not have the problem fixed right the first time.

ohlord

the rear tires,jack the car up and grab the front wheel at the 12 and 6 position and lift vertically feel play ball joints.Or have an indie get it on a lift and check.If you have flat spots and worn bushings and shocks, and ball joints do it all while down there and get a proper wheel align and be done with it:cheaper to do it all in one fell swoop than having to go back in a second time for more work.
ohlord

ghaffar23

I'm waiting for a set of Lorinser springs that won't be here until sometime in June. I wanted to replace to shocks with the springs all at the same time, but after having my mom drive it, he insisted that he have them replaced. I went to service her car and she drive my car. I guess she complained of the horrible ride and terrible tire noise. I guess I'll have them replace the ball joints and bushings this time around. In the summer, I'll replace the springs and shocks.