E-Class (W211) 2003-2009
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E500 popping sound in front end...suspension related.

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Old 07-25-2011, 05:36 PM
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06 w211 cdi, 05 slk350, R1200GS
If you're a DIY type, I would suggest you drill & tap the ball joints & install grease zirks. It seems the OE Manufacturers now build these with failure in mind. Cars & trucks from a few years back all came with greasable ball joints & tie-rod ends, . . .with timely lubrication they lasted thousands of miles. Then some hot-shot engineer got the idea of eliminating the grease zirks & called the "new" ball jt/tie-rod "life-time". (yah, . . .well, who's life-time are they talking about??)
He probably got an extra $100 in his pay check that month for saving the company $.05 per unit for millions of "new, Life time" parts.
Anyhow, . . . it's a fairly simple concept, . . .when a moving part isn't lubricated, . . .it wears out!
PS: I installed grease zirks in my 06 CDI & haven't had any problems.
Dis-claimer: if you don't have the mechanical expertise to do this, . . .DON'T!!
Old 07-26-2011, 08:21 AM
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03 E500 and Corvette
Originally Posted by bobsquad7
If you're a DIY type, I would suggest you drill & tap the ball joints & install grease zirks. It seems the OE Manufacturers now build these with failure in mind. Cars & trucks from a few years back all came with greasable ball joints & tie-rod ends, . . .with timely lubrication they lasted thousands of miles. Then some hot-shot engineer got the idea of eliminating the grease zirks & called the "new" ball jt/tie-rod "life-time". (yah, . . .well, who's life-time are they talking about??)
He probably got an extra $100 in his pay check that month for saving the company $.05 per unit for millions of "new, Life time" parts.
Anyhow, . . . it's a fairly simple concept, . . .when a moving part isn't lubricated, . . .it wears out!
PS: I installed grease zirks in my 06 CDI & haven't had any problems.
Dis-claimer: if you don't have the mechanical expertise to do this, . . .DON'T!!
No grease fitting is a cost savings. Might be as much as $.10 / joint it adds up on mass produced cars. After all most of the time the lubricant in the joint will get you out of warranty and they the mfg doesn't have to pay for the repair.

What I have difficulty with is why my corvette joints run 100,000+ miles with and my E500 went out around the 70,000 mark.

Underdesigned for the application?

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