I had a torn cv boot and decided to try and resolve the issue myself..It was right side on my 4Matic. I also replaced the lower ball joint at the same time. I encourage you to do it yourself, it was not a difficult job. However, I had the luxury of an extra vehicle , so I took my time and didn't allow myself to get discouraged.

You do not need any special tools and it is a fairly straight forward job and you can save a ton of money doing it yourself. I have an account with alldatadiy.com for 16bucks a year and followed their instructions with a few mods that I will share. You do not need to remove caliper and rotor! And I did not loosen the lower wishbone nuts (lower control arm.) Nor did I need to remove the underskirt.

1. remove center disc on mag and loosen axle nut or bolt whichever you have before jacking car..27mm?..If you didn't do this you will have to put a screwdriver into the cooling vent of the rotor and brace it against the caliper then loosen the axle bolt/nut.
2. jack up car be safe , take all precautions .
3.Remove the tire .Detach the retaining bracket of the torsion bar from the lower wishbone...13mm two bolts ...simple
4.pull the rubber mount off the torsion bar...simple ..use a crow bar to push down on the torsion bar
5.remove the tie rod to steering knuckle self locking nut (22mm), you may need to use a 5mm hex in the hole in top of the bolt to keep the bolt from turning when you remove the nut (simple) .Press (knock) tie rod end out of steering knuckle..you will have to bang it with a small sledge hammer to loosen it ...it will come, bang the yolk on the steering knucle that it sits in ,not the tie rod itself. No special tools other than a heavy hammer.
6.Press supporting joint out of the steering knuckle (22mm ). This is the lower ball joint to steering knucle. Remove the bottom nut first and then pry the steering knucle away from the ball joint . Again I had to use my small sledge hammer . Now if you choose you can remove the top nut on the lower ball joint so you can remove and replace it.
7. Detach the shock absorber from the lower wishbone..22mm ..simple
8. Press down on the torsion bar with a crow bar and move it over the retaing bracket and out of the way. I used two small crow bars ...simple
9. Pull steering knuckle outwards and slide axle shaft out of the front axle shaft flange. Tie steering knuckle to one side with suitable wire etc...simple
10. Press out and remove the front axle shaft. I used a large screwdriver, laying underneath the car. I pried out the inner cv joint from the tranny...not difficult. Go to utube and see how it is done if need be .
11. Press down on the lower wishbone when removing the axle..careful not to damage axle ....simple.No fluid came out rom tranny when I did this.
12. I bought a new axle from Phil at www.mercedesshop.com for $125.00 USD. It is made in China but says it meets or exceeds manufactures spcs.
13. Install is in reverse order.
14. Relace all self locking nuts that you are suppose to ,tie rod ,ball joint ,shock absorber etc as they are self locking. I bought them at Mercedes ..cheap.
15. I bought new cv boot kits ($30) and will rebuild axle I took out as I have two 4Matic Mercedes.

So do a bit of research , I recommend buying the alldata program so you can see all the diagrams. Look up the lower ball joint online so you can appreciate the anatomy of it ..it will make removal easier as there is a positioning pin on it that you need to be aware of. If this is your first time doing this allow 5 hours or so. I could now do this in 2 hours or less. UTube was a great resource watching removal and replacement of the axle. Torque bolts to proper specs. Axle nut is approx 220lbs/ball joint and tie rod approx 75 lbs but check yourself. Alldata gives torque in NM , you will need to multiply that by (.74) to get foot pounds.

Good luck , be safe , have fun and you'll be able to tell your friends you did it. !

 

write up.
Good idea to replace ball joint on both sides.And you need to get it aligned now.
Hunter machine.
You may also want to post the diy on benzworld.org in the w210 section.

 

I am attaching these drawings since they are related to your topic. One shows the torque spects. They may be helpfull.
Good luck

 

Hey, thanks guys..I have this repair coming up... Think I will try to wait till spring, as that car does very little driving, and the boot only has a small crack.
Great help!!!

 

Well it warmed up in Canada and I was able to complete replacing the cv boots, both inner and outer . However the inner seemed fine ..but what the heck. Just a few notes .. Previously I said that you didn't have to remove the under skirt to remove the axle ..while this was true on the right side , not so on the driver's side (North America). You need to remove it because you have to knock out the axle shaft and I used a 3 foot piece of 2x4 and my trusty small sledge ...a few taps on the inner cv joint and it popped right out...easy. Just a note , I reverse the process when reinstalling...worked great. Remember when installing the cv bands or clamps that they are size specific, the thicker one goes on the outer cv boot. I made the mistake and had to go buy an additional one. When separating the outer cv joint, put the axle in a vice wrapped in a towel so as not to mark axle...hold the splines of the outer joint horizontal with the axle and give a good wrap on the outside housing on the cv joint and the joint will separate nicely...easy. U-tube was a good resource especialy the ATV clip on how to remove cv joint. Messy job but easy! ..You can do it!! You will need special crimpers to crimp the cv bands KD makes the tool for 30 bucks or getr a cheaper knock off. My understanding is there are two tools for this job depending on the bands or clamps included in the cv boot kit. There is a band tightening tool and also a crimping tool. My kit ccontained the crimping kind..identified by litte 'ears' on the clamp... By the way my chinese axle that i replaced (from Phil at mercedesshop) is still running great.

 

Which way to turn the axle bolt during removal? Is this counter clockwise tread?

 

Working on doing this job on my 98. Both outer boots are split. I got a new axle from peachparts for one side because it has been acting up for a while. I will update this post with what I learn along the way.

1. It is easier to remove the axle nut with the wheels off if you have the older 12 side collar nut. With the wheel on its hard to apply torque with a breaker bar.