monakh

Hi fellas. Concerning my E500 Sport. Well...the unthinkable has happened, while trying to make a late exit onto a ramp, I hit an inch high median that was difficult to see at night while I changed lanes. I felt the bump, felt my heart drop, and breathed a sigh of relief when it seemed nothing much had happened.

Turns out something is outta whack. I can't seem to go over 55mph without my steering shuddering, and the entire vehicle vibrating. What do you think has happened? Previously, I would just get the vibrations over about 80mph, and that happened, after I got a 4-inch nail stuck in my tire and had to get it repaired. Never thought much of the vibrations, since they were relatively minor. However, with these, I can no longer go over 65mph without the entire car feeling like it is on a bad road. I am really worried--any ideas? I am not sure if the rim is bent, or if it is the alignment or the balancing or a combination of the three...

Local dealer's garage is closed on Saturday and Sunday. Guess, I will have to wait till Monday.

muhri

Depends - Which wheels hit the bump? if they were the front - it could be a combination of you lost hte wheel balancing thingie and your alignment is out of place. If its the back then you need your wheel balanced again.. If your rim is bent, I'd think your ride would suffer even at lower speeds. I'd think you need your wheels re-balanced.

monakh

'twas the front right wheel that hit the median first, I think the rear left wheel may have hit it as well, but the impact did not feel as great. Hmmm....thanks for the reply.

benggolf

Monakh, sorry to hear about the off-road excursion. Have your MB dealer inspect your car to see if there any suspension/wheel components damage not easily visible to the eye.

I suggest a complete wheel alignment too (front and rear).

Hopefully nothing too serious happened.

RJC

Sorry to hear about the incident, could have been much worse though The median was only an inch high? Anyway, your car should not have any vibration to begin with. I would let the dealer know that you've been experiencing a minor vibration when new and all that has occured since then (nail, median etc).

monakh

I suppose, it could have been worse. I was planning to take it to the dealer tomorrow, but I am sure you all have heard of that crazy snow storm that has immobilized the mid-atlantic states.

We here in the DC area, are really not equipped to deal with storms like this. Looks like it will be a couple of days before it all gets back to normal.

skymast

yea, you need to wait until all of the slow and rain is gone.

Shuddering at 55 after a 'little' one inch divider?? If you go back and look it was probably a few inches higher than that!!

If was only that high, you might have knocked a balance weight off the wheel.

monakh

Hmmm...maybe it was a little higher than that, perhaps an inch and a half...or maybe I am wrong. Most medians are not that low, however that is the reason I missed it easily...it was too darned low.

monakh

MB dealer claims both my front wheels are bent. They are asking for $850 for two wheels.

Since I had Continentals on my car and I was thinking of upgrading my rims to 18s anyway, I am thinking of just taking the plunge and replace all four tires and wheels for some extra buckaroos.

Suggestions welcome. Where can I get a reasonable price on some decent rims and tires. If I can get some AMG-wannabes, that would be perfect

Ahh...I did like my Sport edition five-spoke rims.

Rich

You could look into having the rims repaired. I bent the left side ones on my 993 911 - went through a LARGE pothole at high speed. They both looked like eggs. I had them repaired at a machine shop. You couldn't tell that they had been repaired, and neither could the Porsche dealer that I traded the car to.
rich

'01 E55AMG
'99 ML 430
'96 911 C4 Cab

monakh

Know any dealer/machine shops in NoVA?

Rich

I don't know any in Virginia. I had mine repaired in Philadelphia - just looked in the Yellow pages. The shop that did it did a lot of race car work. I'm sure there are shops in N.Va/D.C. area that can do the repair. The auto mags have adds for that type of repair.