C01312A

HELLO TO ALL! NEW TO THE FORUM...

I RECENTLY PURCHASED A 2005 E500 WITH 40K MILES ON THE TICKER. I TOOK THE VEHICLE IN FOR THE B SERVICE TODAY AND THE MECHANIC POINTED OUT EXCESSIVE INNER TIRE WEAR AND BLAMED WORN OUT UPPER BALL JOINTS AND TORQUE STRUT BEARINGS AS THE CULPRIT TO NOT BEING ABLE TO DO AN ALIGNMENT.

SHORT OF BEING USED IN THE LEMANS,... IS THIS KIND OF WEAR NORMAL WITH THIS LOW OF MILES?

IS THE TEAR DOWN / REPLACE PROCESS PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD? ANY CATCHES TO BE AWARE OF? IF I CAN DO THE LEG WORK MYSELF THEN LET THE DEALERSHIP DO THE ALIGNMENT, IT'D SAVE A GRAND OR SO... (THATS A NEW SET OF TD ROCKERS FOR MY FE BBF ) THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

i_am_amused

it's a shame this wasn't caught in your pre-purchase inspection

SZMB

It doesn't surprise me that ball joints are worn out at 40k mi in these cars. A lot of people are reporting bad ball joints at 50k+ mi. I won't say that replacing ball joints is an easy DIY. Check out this DIY and see if that something you want to tackle. Once you have the experience in replacing one ball joint, the rest (including control arms, etc) is pretty straight forward.
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...oint-w211.html

stickygreen

Surprising...our '05 cdi has almost 140k and have never had to replace any of these. Tires have been lasting ~50k and car tracks straight.

So I would say...not normal. Are you running larger/heavier wheels & tires?

C01312A

THAT IS A GREAT DIY POST! DEFINITELY IN THE SCOPE OF A WEEKEND PROJECT. THANKS!

Morde5

IMHO this is unusual. Did you see the ball joints or they just told you? My CDI with 65K is OK. Sold W210 diesel with 120K miles - no problem. Overall from 15 cars I have owned I have replaced ball joints on 2 of them - Hyundai with 160K mi. on it - worn out and Volvo with 80K on it - they were OK but the rubber boots were torn so they were on the way.
DIY is not a rocket science. It may require some specific tools but definitely doable. You will save a ton of money and pick the parts that are going in. Good luck!

bc6t

I just replaced both lower ball joints (and end link) on my 04 E500 with 65K miles. From my research this is quite common at 50K and one might say its a defect in design and should be considered a recall item. Additionally, Mercedes changed the design of the ball joints because of way too early failure. If you get an independent mechanic to do it and buy the parts yourself, it's not that expensive...but it's definitely common and suspect design...

vettdvr

Welcome to the world of Mercedes ownership. I won't go into my list of R&R since I have driven the last 92,000 miles on our 2003 E500.

Just open your wallet and keep dishing out until the dealer says stop.

Now you own a Mercedes.