Progres

Hello to everyone on the forum.

The left front sway bar bushing is broken in half on my E320 4matic wagon. I have been told to order the entire front sway bar assembly in order to get one. Are there any other suggestions?

Thanks.

sgaar

Who told you that? Did you take it to a dealer and was told that you have to replace the whole thing?

Anyway, the picture is kinda bad so it is hard to see what is going on but if the cracked piece is part of the swaybar you most likely will have to replace the whole thing.

If you haen't had the car to a dealer yet I suggest that you do that and see what they say.

konigstiger

e320 4matic wagon (211.282)

FYI diagram shows breakdown of individual parts, note 110, 115, and 120. I have not seen the damage therefore cannot comment on exactly what, in total, needs replacement other than the obvious in your picture.

110 = Holder left A2113230540 (right A2113230640)
115 = Screw N000000003582
120 = Screw N000912008204

Progres

Thanks for the parts diagram.

I did take the car to our local dealer, and have it put up on a rack because I was directed off-road by a construction crew and something rubbed underneath the car. Turned out to be the skid plate. During that inspection, I noticed the cracked sway bar bushing. No other damage, just the AL bushing is cracked in half. I bought the car with 15k miles this summer, and the damage was pre-existing.

Do you think the bushing is available independently of the entire assembly?

Thanks very much.

Also, because of this forum I am adding Bluetooth to the car and am very happy about that.

konigstiger

I assume so if individual parts #s are given. Confirm by calling your local MB dealer parts dept.

crazypotato

MB doesn't sell individual bushings for sway bar. It has to be the whole assembly. That is very strange.

Alex Ngan

I have the same thing happen to my 2008 E350 during the winter weather of 2013, pot holes. Went to MB dealer and said in order to get the front half of the bracket, I will have to purchase the entire stabilizer bar for $380. The other half of the bracket get screw on to the frame is only $30 and the four screws is $22. WTF, my sway bar is perfectly fine and I don't see any reason why they would not sell it seperately, that is their way to screw up the environment by creating more unnecessary waste and most importantly squeeze more money out of you. The front bracket should of cost no more then $30 and they want you to purchase the entire bar for $380 and the worst part is everytime it gets hit and crack, well another $380. Shame on MB.

Btw, my mechanic said the sway bar replacement will cost $150 in labor. This pot hole incident cost me $600 in total and the time spend on it, Shame on NYC DOT.

My real estate tax goes up every year and double within the last few years, why is it they can never fix pot holes permanently? I literally see black tar randomly stuff into pot holes and they call that a repair job, Shame on NYC government.

vettdvr

Is it covered with your insurance? Might be way over your deductable.

ajbjr

My W211 had the same one broken via a pothole on the GW Bridge last year.The stabilizer bar is sold with the rubber bushings and the front half of thebrackets as all one assembly. They are all adhered very strongly I suspect to arrest anylateral movement (still seems ridiculous...heavy steel round with little cast brackets that shatter).

The rear half of the bracket(mounted to the sub-frame) is sold separately. I had to replace one. I used apry bar to manipulate the stabilizer bar to ease the upward shear against thelink arm bolt when removing and re-attaching. You can reuse the bolts but buy twonew nuts. They are one time locking nuts. The specified torque is 70 lb-ft withno 2nd stage (I just tightened one yesterday installing my leftsteering knuckle after changing the intermediate axle bearing and outer boot).The torque for the two (x2) bolts attaching the front bracket to its rear(mounted) counterpart I recall is very light. I could look it up if you need it.

spaceghost

Just changed my inner and outer tie rods, left and right side lower control arm bushings on my W211 07 E350 4matic.
Gotta love NYC

ChrisFernandes6

i have the exact same problem, hope you guys can help. Progres how'd you get it fixed? thanks!

ajbjr

Chris, sorry to hear about your E500. If your stabilizer bar's front bracket (one of the two) is broken then there are three options: buy a new bar, buy a used bar, or make a bracket. I made one but it required a lot of time and energy to hand make it perfectly. If I had to do it again I would buy the stabilizer bar assembly used.

I buy mostly new OEM parts. On a few occasions, I've purchased parts used on Ebay, with good results. There are reputable recyclers that have an established physical commercial business address and just use Ebay to boost sales. I bought a transfer case ($800 instead of many 1000s new) and a propeller shaft ($400 instead of $1,100 new). In both cases they had pics of the crashed car and disclosed the VIN. The parts have been on my car for 50k miles.

If you change it yourself, and don't have access to a lift, block the front end up on the sub frame skids. You need both wheels off the ground so one side won't push up on the other link arm. Also, I had to remove the cross tie above the radiator and the bumper frame brackets to lift the radiator for unrestricted access to the bar's bracket bolts.

wjcandee

These break all the time, and the dealers and parts suppliers want you to buy the whole assembly, which has an aftermarket price north of $300. My honest indy showed me the diagram and gave me its part number, and I did a search and found the bushings for that part, made in Germany by Febest, from Finest Auto Parts through Amazon. Finest is the US Febest dealer, and the Febest parts are what you want. $30+ for the bushings, and they are well-made German parts. What I bought:
Obviously, it's different for your vehicle, but you can pull up the Febest web site and get the info for your particular car and suspension part.

If you New Yorkers want an honest indy who will work hard to find you good parts and good prices, and will work with you to find those parts if you want to participate and do research, like I do, and who will then install them at a labor rate of $105/hr. and do it right the first time, try Michael Singh, the Service Manager and chief mechanic at Cove Tire in Sea Cliff, Long Island. He has been doing exceptional work for me, and gets it right the first time. They have done my rear brake pads and rotors (using Textar parts), my Rear Airmatic Shocks (where I got the Bilstein Air Shocks for less than half the dealer price at Partsgeek.com, $350 vs $700+ each), a huge job that Michael did affordably and excellently, my front sway bar links and sway bar bushings (amazing difference when fixed), some CV joints, and tires and routine maintenance. Always good work, always fair prices, and as I have said elsewhere, Michael will never sell you a pair of bulbs unless both are out. He will sell you one when everyone else will try to sell you the pair on the basis that the other one is probably going to go out soon. If you want the pair, you have to ask. And he won't try to sell you a tire until you really need it. Our family has decided that it's time for new tires long before Michael will tell you that you need one. And if he thinks something is better done at the dealer, because of warranty issues or such, he will just tell you that. An honest guy is hard to find and in my experience he is one. I trust him completely.

isstay

Well they are talking about the metal bracket that holds the bushing, bushings by itself can be found easily.

wjcandee

That's what I'm talking about. too. Take a look at the diagram and the photos of what I bought.

isstay

By looking the diagram and reading your post I understand that you need the part in red when every one is talking about the part in blue.

isstay

OP shows cracked bushing bracket, but he talks about the bushing, but they are two different parts (to get clear picture read post #12 and check the picture).

MercFiveHundred

Hi - I've pinpointed a 'pop' sound as the sway bar bushing when going over a bump/hill change on the passenger side (driving normally under 30 mph). I would like to replace the entire sway bar with a new one. I think have to drop the front sub frame to get to the bolts and remove the sway bar. Has anyone done this and can provide some tips/diy?

konigstiger

http://workshop-manuals.com/mercedes...pivot_bushing/ + next pages

MercFiveHundred

Thanks, but that was mid-joint on the control arm. I don't think it's from there (already had that noise and replaced). I am pretty sure it's the big glued on bushings on the sway/torsion bar mounting bracket to the sub frame. I used a prybar in the engine bay and duplicated the 'pop' sound. It's definitely a sound where rubber is being twisted (it's a precursor to the actual 'pop' sound).