dredge999

I know there have been a ton of vibration threads and I have read quite a few but I wondered if the experts might be able to help me out.

I just purchased an E550 Sport and about 100 miles into my drive home I decided that that the annoying vibration > 70 was too much to bear. I pulled over and checked tire pressure and low and behold I was running in the 20's all around. once I aired it up to around 40 all around the vibration was much better but not completely eliminated.

Since then I have experimented with 45psi in the rears and 40 in the front (I know, seems backward from what most run). That seems to almost eliminate the issue. The rears are quite old and need replacement but I just wanted to make sure this was a tire issue and not something else since the car is so new to me. Vibration can be felt in the steering wheel but mostly in the seat as well. New tires and a proper balance would be the fix?

This car has only 25k miles on it (2007).

One other issue is the brakes. When I come to a stop I can hear a brake squeek about 70% of the time. It's only just before stopping and may be from just one rear wheel. Is this an indication that I need to have the pads replaced and/or rotors? I read somewhere that this was common in brakes worn to just 50% with the E/S class.

Thanks for the help. I love the car, and coming from BMW I can now understand what all the fuss is about the E class. The power is amazing and the car rides like a dream.

Thanks,

Rick

MBNewbie2008

Hi Rick, I had the very same problem with the vibration and the squeeking brakes. It wasn't low air in the tires. It was the tires themselves. My indy did a full inspection because I thought the vibration might be the wheel bearings. He said the car is fine its your tires that have gone bad. These days tread depth means nothing its the age of the tire. When a tire gets old the tire doesn't grip the road it starts bouncing on it and thats the vibration you feel. I'll bet you also hear alot of road noise too. I did. my mechanic said you should get new tires every three years because the elements do in tires alot faster than mileage. Took his advice got new Michelin Pilot Sports and a wheel alingnment and now she's whisper quiet and no vibration. The squeek in the brakes are the result of aftermarket brake pads and not oem pads. Other than getting oem pads there's not much that I can do but with the new tires and alingnment the squeek is much less. I hope this helps.

Vik888

If the car was driven for thousands of miles with low pressure the tires are probably worn unevenly and are causing a lot of your trouble.