E430 Tire noise - WOG, WOG, WOG
08-18-2003, 06:22 PM
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2000 E430
E430 Tire noise - WOG, WOG, WOG
THIS MESSAGE USED TO BE ON THIS FORUM...
have 98" E430 with MB 17" wheels (and currently Michelin Pilot XGT P235/45 ZR17). The car 40K miles on it. It has had 2 sets of wheels and 3 sets of tires since it was new. Unbearable road noise & rhythmic thump that follows the speed. Dealer (World Wide Motors, Indianapolis IN) Service Manager says it again needs new tires, that they only last 10K or so. Says it is my fault for buying the 17" wheels and tires (from MB). Dealer recently put wheels/tires from E320 on it for test drive. After tires seated, you could hear the thump (very lightly, just like it was with all of the other new tire it has had, it slowly grows louder and louder as the mileage goes up). Manager heard the noise and said it was a part of the car, nothing was wrong, it was always going to be there and if I didn't like it to trade off the car. I really should post the other insults he wrote on the service ticket (but that another posting in itself). Has anyone else encountered this. I think it is something out of round that wears a flat spot, because the noise changes when the tires are rotated. I have repeatley ask them to put the tires on his tire analyer to check out my theory but they have never done that. Can anyone help?
Thanks, Jack
LATER, THERE WAS THIS RESPONSE...
Is it like "wog-wog-wog-wog-wog-wog" where the rythm goes up with speed, and louder as the mileage increase?
'had the same problem on my 99 C280... problem were alignment and the Continentals. Got a computer alignment and replaced the tires with the XGTV4 and the problem went away.
I'VE BEEN DEALING WITH THIS SAME PROBLEM FOR OVER TWO YEARS NOW. MY LATEST TRIP TO THE DEALERSHIP DROVE ME TO THIS FORUM...
Same problem on my 2000 E430. Everything's stock. Have been putting up with it for 2.5 years now because dealer (Smythe European San Jose Calif) always says it's this or that. I've rotated tires, replaced tires three times, alignment, wheel change. It's in right now, two technicians say there's something definately wrong. Service manager is recommending tires and alignment again. Sounds to me like back to square one. Every time they rotate the tires or change tires, sound goes away until the tires seat again. Takes about 4-6 weeks (I drive about 9K per year), and the wog-wog-wog sound is back. I don't like to drive the car on the freeway any more because it feels unsafe at high speed. It's done this since I bought the car. I thought I was doing everything right to follow their procedures to remedy the problem that was inherent in the car when I bought it. I've paid dearly for apparently unfruitful maintenance and tires in an effort to resolve this. Now I'm told it's just a characteristic of the E430. What slush.
REALLY, IF ANYONE HAS ANY SUGGESTIONS, THIS WOG-WOG-WOG SOUND IS DRIVING ME NUTS AND I FEEL TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF. IF THEY HAD SAID 2 YEARS AGO THAT I'D HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THIS SITUATION, I WOULDN'T HAVE BOUGHT THE CAR!
have 98" E430 with MB 17" wheels (and currently Michelin Pilot XGT P235/45 ZR17). The car 40K miles on it. It has had 2 sets of wheels and 3 sets of tires since it was new. Unbearable road noise & rhythmic thump that follows the speed. Dealer (World Wide Motors, Indianapolis IN) Service Manager says it again needs new tires, that they only last 10K or so. Says it is my fault for buying the 17" wheels and tires (from MB). Dealer recently put wheels/tires from E320 on it for test drive. After tires seated, you could hear the thump (very lightly, just like it was with all of the other new tire it has had, it slowly grows louder and louder as the mileage goes up). Manager heard the noise and said it was a part of the car, nothing was wrong, it was always going to be there and if I didn't like it to trade off the car. I really should post the other insults he wrote on the service ticket (but that another posting in itself). Has anyone else encountered this. I think it is something out of round that wears a flat spot, because the noise changes when the tires are rotated. I have repeatley ask them to put the tires on his tire analyer to check out my theory but they have never done that. Can anyone help?
Thanks, Jack
LATER, THERE WAS THIS RESPONSE...
Is it like "wog-wog-wog-wog-wog-wog" where the rythm goes up with speed, and louder as the mileage increase?
'had the same problem on my 99 C280... problem were alignment and the Continentals. Got a computer alignment and replaced the tires with the XGTV4 and the problem went away.
I'VE BEEN DEALING WITH THIS SAME PROBLEM FOR OVER TWO YEARS NOW. MY LATEST TRIP TO THE DEALERSHIP DROVE ME TO THIS FORUM...
Same problem on my 2000 E430. Everything's stock. Have been putting up with it for 2.5 years now because dealer (Smythe European San Jose Calif) always says it's this or that. I've rotated tires, replaced tires three times, alignment, wheel change. It's in right now, two technicians say there's something definately wrong. Service manager is recommending tires and alignment again. Sounds to me like back to square one. Every time they rotate the tires or change tires, sound goes away until the tires seat again. Takes about 4-6 weeks (I drive about 9K per year), and the wog-wog-wog sound is back. I don't like to drive the car on the freeway any more because it feels unsafe at high speed. It's done this since I bought the car. I thought I was doing everything right to follow their procedures to remedy the problem that was inherent in the car when I bought it. I've paid dearly for apparently unfruitful maintenance and tires in an effort to resolve this. Now I'm told it's just a characteristic of the E430. What slush.
REALLY, IF ANYONE HAS ANY SUGGESTIONS, THIS WOG-WOG-WOG SOUND IS DRIVING ME NUTS AND I FEEL TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF. IF THEY HAD SAID 2 YEARS AGO THAT I'D HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THIS SITUATION, I WOULDN'T HAVE BOUGHT THE CAR!
08-19-2003, 08:50 AM
#2
Sounds like the typical symptoms of tire "cupping" which is usually caused by worn suspension components such as shocks and bushings or poor alignment. At 40K miles I wouldn't think you had worn bushings or shocks, but I have heard of E class cars with low mileage, on 17 or 18 inch wheels have lower control arm bushings fail. Good luck.
08-19-2003, 03:57 PM
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E430
I knew a guy who had a similar problem with his Range Rover. He was living in the middle-east at the time at it got pretty hot.
It turned out that the car spent a lot of time sitting on the boiling tarmac and the tires became warped. Barely imperceptible to the eye, the effect was a repetitive thumping noise at 55mph.
Changing the tyres cured it.
It turned out that the car spent a lot of time sitting on the boiling tarmac and the tires became warped. Barely imperceptible to the eye, the effect was a repetitive thumping noise at 55mph.
Changing the tyres cured it.
08-25-2003, 04:45 PM
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1987 300D Turbo, 2007 ML63 AMG
Tire noise
Jim, tire noise? Same problem with the standard 16" tires. You hear and feel it as a harmonic, comes and goes, like the Chinese water torture. Dealer was no help. Then I took matters in my own hands and discovered a) the harmonics were generated between the engine and the tires, you could feel it in the steering wheel. Not much you can do about the engine so I changed the tire parameters. The recommended tire pressure is too low. Driving with 34 lbs. of pressure eliminated the vibration. I now have over 66,000 miles on the original tires and it looks like they are good for another 9,000 miles or so. I rotated them every 6,000 miles: spare to rt rear, rt rear to rt front, rt front to lft rear, lft rear to lft front, lft front to spare. The tires were ballanced maybe once or twice in five years when the dealer did warranty work. Rotating them is more important and unless the tire manufacturer expressly forbids reversing rotation, do it the way i did it.
