gavingray

Hi All,

I've got an '04 E500 Wagon that seems "not right" in the front end. The car is under a CPO warranty and has 48,xxx miles. I have searched, searched, searched, and have found various symptoms that sound familiar, but not exactly like my situation, and the car has been to the dealer multiple times for multiple days with no positive effect.

The symptoms: Over various bumps (manhole covers, ripples in the road, big potholes), the front end, particularly the drivers side, sounds/feels "crashy" or "sloppy" or "clunky". I can feel a secondary bump in the wheel/in my foot when on the dead pedal in more severe situations, but on lesser bumps I can audibly hear a clunk. This is more prounounced when I hit the bump on the drivers side vs. the passenger side. It doesn't rattle, squeak, shimmy, wander, pull or do anything else that would indicate a problem. The sound makes the front end "sound loose", even when it doesn't "feel loose", if that makes any sense. If this were a conventionally suspended car, I would probably say it could be a bad shock absorber or strut top mount...

It does not seem to matter if the Airmatic suspension is set to Comfort, Sport I or Sport II, although for some reason I feel like it's less pronounced in Sport I, but I suspect that is in my head.

My dealer says nothing is wrong, they can't hear anything, everything is fine, etc. An upper control arm was replaced early on in the diagnosis, but nothing else has been repaired in the suspension. Also, motor mounts and trans mounts were recently replaced after a vibration began in the exhaust system. The problem was around before the mounts were replaced, and remains afterword.

I have a hard time believing that an "executive" class car with a high-tech air suspension and a $70k new pricetage should make any suspension noises if things are in working order. My '95 E320 with 250k miles and a conventional spring suspension is quieter over the same bumps.

My thoughts variously have been sway bar bushings, loose subframe bolts, loose steering column... Maybe it's nothing to do with the suspension at all, but some other component that is mis-adjusted, loose, etc.?? Again, dealer indicates nothing is wrong. I just don't know what's up and the dealer is useless.

I throw myself at your collective feet for your wisdom!

Thanks,
Gavin

Benz-O-Rama

Similar symptoms in my E500 turned out to be lower control arm and thrust arm bushing. Common problem on the W211 chassis.

gavingray

Thanks. How the heck do I get the dealer to investigate this? Do I have to wait for it to get noticeably worse before they can "recreate" the problem?

Thanks,

Gavin

deimos

Yeah, a similar problem on my car was the result of broken thrust arm bushings on the front end. They should be able to detect if there's a problem by putting your car on a lift and inspecting them.

Vik888

If its a CPO, *any* MB dealer should be able to fix it. Is there another dealer you can take it to?

Talk to the shop foreman rather than your SA? Find some other threads from this forum about the same problem and print them out and give them to him to read.

Last step, take it up w/ MBUSA.

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

critterracing

mine was the right upper ball joint making those same noises.

RJCAthens

Just joined this site. It's been almost a year since the original post, but curious if your problem was ever resolved. My 2004 E500 4M Wagon has the same "loose" or "hollow" feel in the steering wheel when I go over bumps. Dealership replaced both lower ball joints 10/2008, but still have the problem.

R.J.

gavingray

The last thing they did was replace the steering rack, and it seemed to solve the problem. This was after a week in the shop with new air struts, ball joints, sway bars, etc. So, the dealer and I both think it was the steering rack. It's finally fixed!!

Dexion

In the "etc" part of what was being fixed. I bet they threw in a new bushing for the LCA-Thrust Arm. I have the same issue but I confirmed it myself . I went under the front of the car and tugged on the thrust arm. Sure enough there was some play. Hopefully just getting a bushing and having an Indy do it for me will solve the problem.

Purist

@Dexion - Any luck? I have the same thing...

Dexion

Lower Control Arm ball joint was causing the clunking.. wasn't the bushing. I bought a heavy duty replacement off ebay for under $80 for both sides